What I Saw at the Campaign

Unable to write for the past few weeks. Demands of the Randy Alexander for Senate campaign and my day job absorbed all my time and every last brain cell. Who deigned the week before the primary to be during my university’s finals week? Then, right into a couple of accelerated online summer school courses.

Exhausting.

A victory for Randy was a stretch to say the least. And of the eight Republican candidates, he only garnered 3% of the vote. Initially, I agreed to work in his campaign because as a fellow Washington County Tea Party member I had pledged to help him if he ran for office. He decided to run, so I kept my word. As I worked with him and got to know him better I came to believe he was the best candidate for the job. Still do. That said, I’m totally behind the winner in the primary, my Congressman, John Boozman. More on that in my Arkie Malarky segment.

One of our fellow campaign workers said the money (not to mention the effort) we spent on the Alexander campaign was “tuition.” Indeed. This whole experience of about six months was a time of learning. We’re filing away these lessons for the future. And Randy is not done with politics.

The biggest thing I learned was that it takes a lot of money to run for office.

I did most of the radio and cable TV buys. I could have used $40,000 just for radio. We had about $4,000 for both media. A drop in the bucket.

After it was all over, I realized that Randy should have had $300,000 to run for the Republican nomination. We had a tenth of that.

It takes a lot of money to run for office.

But relating to money, there were positive things. For instance, it was interesting to see a Randy, a self-described introvert, grow into the position of being a candidate and doing what needed to be done: ask for money.

Other positive things related to our campaign team: a great, hard-working group.

And the Cutest Community Organizer to whom I’m married was dynamite. Said Randy: “If I had a hundred Barbras, I’d be a U. S. Senator.”

Week in and week out (daily as the election approached), Barbra took to the streets hanging Alexander for Senate literature on doors, talking to people she came in contact with. Initially she tried to organize teams to go out; but if there was nobody to go with her, she went by her self. Dynamite.

It was an interesting experience. We learned a lot. We got to know some great people.

And it sure takes a lot of money to run for office.