Advice for Politicians and those contemplating a run

This comes from Tim Tagaris of the Swing State Project:

Let's assume you are working on a campaign that has a very clear message. You are part of a functional effort that sends out consistent press releases, talking points, and uses the Internet to foster participation within your congressional district, legislative district, or even statewide.

Step 1: Start collecting each and every single blog that exists within the universe your campaign is operating in. Find them out, email them directly, then introduce yourself and your campaign.

Step 2 Give your supporters the tools to create their own blogs. And do it your website. Heck, it takes 3 minutes to start a blog - walk them through it on your homepage or get involved page. Get a volunteer in the office whose task it is to take people through it step by step over the phone if necessary.

Step 3: If a blog, even a small blog, asks for an interview, grant it! If it gets to be too much, then schedule a weekly/bi-weekly half hour conference call with all the bloggers who want to participate.

Step 4 Back to the press releases and talking points. Send them to bloggers. Send them in the same mass email that you are sending out to the traditional media outlets. Give them the same opportunity to ask questions of the campaign.

Step 5: Invite bloggers to attend your events, just like the press. Make your press conferences and events wi-fi when possible.

Step 6: Nurture the relationship. Rinse and repeat. Bloggers love the inside scoop before the newspapers can get it in print the next day or the news broadcasts it a few hours later

And this plan holds for medium sized blogs as well. The ones that candidates and their staffs would have never dared to enter before because there weren't enough ATM cards found on a consistent basis.

Tim is working for Chuck Pennacchio, a Democratic candidate running for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania. Someone is starting the race against Rick Santorum.

UPDATE: I screwed up the link for Tim's Swing State Project. It's fixed now. Listening to Billy Joel and Buddy Holly. I have my Buddy Holly impersonation down very well--as well as former Vice President Al Gore. The Rob Lowe SNL episode is on sometime this week on E! Just search for Frank Serpa's SNL listings. The Best of Jimmy Fallon reruns on January 29, 2005. I missed it the first time.