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Monday, 4 October 04 ::
amazing how difficult...
i'm wondering if anyone out there knows how much work goes into those mailers that appear in your mailboxes from your favorite (or not so favorite) political candidates?
*sigh*
we started work last week. not we collectively, one of our campaign volunteers started last week. on the comparison piece. yeah, its the most vital piece of the campaign, its the piece that hits your door step that tells you why our opponent is a scuzz bag and our candidate is the man of your dreams.. or the commissioner of your dreams. or.. whatever.
so, we started last week. we knew it was coming, we knew what our deadline was. we've gotta get this piece on the doorsteps the day the ballots hit (thats campaign speak for arrive).. and it takes a week to print. and days to mail. and we are two weeks out from the day the ballots are dropped (thats election talk for 'mailed'). (fyi: oregon has postal voting. ballots get dropped 15 october, so logically some of us could vote as early 16 october)
last week. friday to be specific. *agh* a team of 3 brought in to work with the volunteer. 1 of us is absent, family stuff. but thats okay, she can work from home. the other 2 of us can work from home, and then together. it'll all go smoothly, we'll be done so we can all have a life sunday afternoon. or maybe even saturday night!oh, wouldn't that be nice? yeah, it would have been.
see, each person has a different take on each word, and each rural person has a different take on what will fly in the rurals, and each urban person thinks that the other urban people are wrong about what will fly in the rurals. and the candidate, he's a good guy, but gollee, his opinion differs from co-manager who lives out there, and city councilor, maybe he's too urban? or maybe he just thinks we should take bigger risks? or .. and then those folks from our opponents home turf. golleee.. you'd think they'd all have a similiar opinion..
but no.
no one has a similiar opinion. ideas from 2 days ago just striking some, others bring in whole new ideas the moment we need to be done..
it all comes down to the voters. how will we not alienate the voters, how will we get them to come to our side. how do we do this without pissing off our opponents donors so they don't send more money to his bottomless bank account (unlike ours) but while also making a point that they are all evildoers and will ruin this county if he's elected with his henchmen in tow?
do we use the words "resource extraction," is it too high fallutin, to educated? and the word "extremist", is it too extreme? do we link him to urban issues who's spin shows the awfulness of his connections, will the rural folks care? how do we make the point of his inxperience, his willingness to rape and pillage the local forests? do we use the words 'rape and pillage'? do we scare them or do we hand it to them on a piece of milk toast? periods? do we use them? and verbs? do we start sentences with verbs? and and and and and.
each and every word is carefully gone over. examined. each and every sentence fragment.. and thats not to mention the citations. we must have exact citiations. we go on wild goose chases, cause our volunteer seems to like to do that to *cough* me, not the first time. well meaning, but not the first time.
when you look at those pieces in your boxes, don't just toss them aside. realize that highly educated, highly experienced, well thought out large committees of people have put together those simple little sentences and images. realize that the mailer might be small, but the work that went into it was more like the work that goes into.. well.. a short novel? but in fast forward time.
its not as easy as it appears, this literature creating. no, its not as easy as it looks. so, do us a favor. read the literature. don't just toss it away. and appreciate the crafting that went into it.
posted by brooke at October 4, 2004 06:48 PM
