Lessons From 1999

In 1999 the Economy of Scale concept was tried on a small scale in Virginia (which has state elections on odd-numbered years). The number of candidates available to split print runs was limited, so only small batches (500 signs/issue) were printed of three issues: "Real School Choice", "Defend the Second Amendment", and "End the Insane War on Drugs". Several important lessons were learned.

Deciding on Slogans

With a small number of candidates running, is was necessary to have buy-in by a large fraction to gain the economies of scale to make the project cost effective. Several attempts were made to poll the candidates as to what their preferred slogans would be.

What didn't work. Asking candidates what their preferred slogans were given a list did not work. There was very little overlap. Asking them for alternates or second-favorites was also not effective. Candidates gave back very short lists, with little overlap.

What worked. Give all the candidates a list of slogans with candidates to rank each slogan on a scale from 1 to 5 with:

  1. This is detrimental to my campaign. Keep it out of my district.
  2. Irrelevant to my campaign.
  3. OK. Will use it if you give it to me.
  4. Like it.
  5. One of my favorites.

The candidates were given this list to rank as above. This list went through several incarnations as candidates suggested additions. The poll results for 1999 candidates and prospective 2000 candidates and poll results for just 1999 candidates were taken to the 1999 VA State LP Convention. The poll results were used to decide three slogans and the State Communications director added a fourth. (The original plan was to have the state party fund the slogan signs as an issue campaign while the candidates ran similar-looking name signs. This turned out to have uncertain legal implications, so this plan was dropped in favor of support by a few major donors.) This method worked reasonably well.

Of course, if a national organization were to do bulk purchases of signs, then a smaller percentage buy-in would be needed given the much larger number of candidates. Not all campaigns would have to like the idea.

Stake Issues

For reasons of economy, we went with wooden stakes. It is possible to put two or even four (if both sides are seen) signs on a single stake. Also, stakes work well with the single-sided paper signs. With the small scale of the experiment, single-sided paper was the cheapest way to allow multiple slogans. Finally, staked signs are perhaps harder to steal, since it takes more effort to pull them up.

However, inexperienced campaigners like myself (and many LP campaigners!) have difficulty finding stakes. They are generally not available over the counter. So here are a few lessons learned for those in a similar situation.

Stakes can be ordered from a lumber yard if a bulk purchase is made and the order is far enough in advance. However, we are talking about lots of a thousand or more for a decent price. Double-check with your local lumber yard. Some of my knowledge is second-hand here.

You can make your own stakes using furring strips. Here is how to do so efficiently.

  1. Recruit a carpenter or someone with a nice set of power tools. You need a volunteer who has a mitre saw. This is the best tool for the job.
  2. It takes two people to work efficiently -- one to carry handfuls (3-4) of furring strips and one to work the saw.
  3. Wear ear plugs! The saw is loud and it takes an evening to cut 1000 stakes. Ear plugs will reduce fatigue as well as save your hearing. Also wear gloves.
  4. Set up the saw on a long table or boards on a pair of sawhorses. Nail a block of wood 4 feet from the saw blade. This allows instant measuring. You don't have to be exact at first. You can move the saw to fine tune the distance.
  5. Now you can do mass production. One person carries wood. The other works the saw. Push the stack against the block and make the first cut. Flip the pieces from the block side and make second cut to make a symmetric point. (Yes! You want two cuts or you will go nuts trying to hammer the stakes straight!) Move the completed stakes and push the other halves against the block and make the second cut.
  6. Repeat continuously. Eventually "flow" will set in and even hard-core Objectivists will understand certain aspects of oriental philosophy. (once again, the earplugs help in this regard)