working on a few municipal campaigns here and there for the upcoming elections in October. In between those jobs, and trying to have a social life, I must remind myself that I am also a candidate. This summer will be vital to my success. There will be many opportunities for me to be out in the various communities that make up my riding, where I can interact with residents. At the moment, I continue to work on establishing a pub-
lic profile. Aside from the Trudeau breakfast – which was my first major profile boost, I am relatively unknown in the public eye. To increase my profile, I will need to conduct a large outreach campaign. I need to send out brochures to every house. I need to put ads in the paper, write opinion- editorials, news releases, and build up my web and social me- dia presence. But all these things cost money and running as a Liberal candidate, in a Tory-heavy riding, makes it difficult to raise the funds needed. I will tap into my base at home and in my life in Toronto and hopefully I will raise enough money to run a formidable campaign. The success of the profile campaign will ensure that when
I attend events, I’m not walking around as a faceless per- son, but someone people recognize. Once the whisper cam- paign starts about who I am and I begin to have ‘presence’ at these events, I know I am doing something right. I will also start canvassing. Going door to door, introducing myself one person at a time because that’s how you win an elec- tion. Identify your supporters and your votes, nurture them, appreciate them, communicate with them, and when the
election is called, you do whatever is necessary to get them out to vote. In my riding the last Liberal candidate had just over
11,000 votes, while the Conservative incumbent had just over 29,000 votes. The hill I must climb and the number of people and votes I must identify and swing to win is stag- gering. So, as I move forward from my first major fundraiser, I
know there will be many more in my future. I will continue to build my Election Team. I will attend community events and BBQ’s, church dinners and fairs. I will continue to raise money, canvass as many homes as possible and build my pro- file through the media and in any other way that I can. I will set lofty goals for myself and will stake my ground within the Liberal Party and as someone “…who will not go gently into that good night.” The future is an unknown path and only I can dictate
what adventures I will have. But, if what I have experienced so far is any indication of what I have to look forward to, then I can assure you, this isn’t the last you will hear from me. I may be naïve and not yet jaded by politics and the games I understand are often played, but there is a dialogue to be had on the future of this great nation, the nation of Canada, and I want to be a part of it one way or another.
Barry Peters can be reached at
Barry@barrypeters.ca, and www.
barrypeters.ca . Follow him @WHHFLA.
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June 2010 | Campaigns & Elections 27
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