Ah campaign season!
For some of us this season is music to our ears! The Hustle and Bustle of getting back out there hitting the pavement trying to turn folks out for your favorite candidate that has decided to run. Or maybe you are very passionate about a ballot measure that has come up during this upcoming election season and feel like this affects someone else within your community. or maybe you strongly believe that it affects your entire community and they need to know about this. Or maybe you have decided to run because no one else you feel represents you in the race and you strongly believe that you have something better to offer.
But I know for me it can bring up much anxiety, PTSD triggers and even depression.
Why!? you might feel like asking; it's because not many folks fully understand the energy, time and mental health that goes into running a campaign. Not even the organizers themselves. The long hours and days, constant on the go, lack of time to eat, strategic meetings using all that experience and knowledge that you have. This all complies up into a huge weight on your shoulders that will cause you to have severe health problems from insomnia, to having a heart attack or stroke at an early age if you are not careful.
From personal experience I have had panic attacks during running campaigns, in the middle of working an event, or after. I have gotten sick during a campaign multiple times. This all comes back to stress. When you are witnessing tons and tons of stress you are compromising both your physical and mental health.
So how can you create a better campaign that is not only focused on winning but also focused on the well-being of your staff and campaign members/volunteers. Well first you have to ask yourself. Do I care about the well-being of others? If that's a no. you might want to go back to take a look at why you are running again. if its a yes, then follow these three words. LET THEM UNIONIZE! by letting your campaign staff unionize you are putting your staff first which is the first thing you do in any people-run campaign. Remind them that you do have expectations for them to achieve as you would do in any campaign position. But make sure you are flexible with working hours, time-off for both physical and mental health and pay them a living wage. Just those three things along will bring a peace of mind to campaign workers and volunteers.
Both Candidates and Organizers must realize that we are not machines, we are humans that need both substances and rest just like everyone else. We can’t continue on with this hazardous life-style of working until we can’t anymore. Otherwise our bodies and minds will break down. I have been involved in a lot of local campaigns from student body president to my very own national campaign for National Programs Director. It’s important for us as candidates and organizers to know our limits and as well as understanding that your campaign staff will have limits as well too. By unionizing you are coming to the table with a set of expectations that you put on the negotiation table and you as a candidate and organizers will have to come with a humble heart and a logical mind.
A unionized staff is a happy staff. A happy staff is a successful campaign. And a successful campaign is a winning campaign. How can you learn how to organize your campaign especially as a Campaign Staff. You can go to Oregon Campaign Guild, For Public Sector or Private Sector workers looking to organize I would reach out too SEIU, or Oregon Afscme.
