I talked about Paul Wellstone in yesterday's entry.  What should come to my view this morning in the newspaper but a reference to a new book!

"Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way"
 - A Comprehensive Guide for Candidates and Campaign Workers
Jeff Blodgett and Bill Lofy

Here's a quote from the book on "Winning an Election"

1. Be an authentic candidate. Communicate authenticity to voters by standing up for what you believe in and sharing with voters what it is that calls you to public service.
2. Election Day is a turnout game, so make sure that you have a robust effort to get your supporters to the polls. Get-Out-the-Vote planning should begin on day one of your campaign.
3. Work with reporters to earn media coverage to help communicate the message of your campaign to a broader audience.
4. Even on a grassroots campaign, don’t underestimate the importance of raising money. Start by generating a list of personal contacts and send a letter asking for their support.
5. You won’t get what you don’t ask for. Ask directly for people’s money, time, and, of course, their vote.
6. Convert undecided voters into supporters, and supporters into active volunteers and leaders. Ignore the people you’ll never convince!
7. Generate repeated, direct, personal contacts with voters. The more personal the conversation, the more effective it is at persuading voters to support you.
8. Repeat that message over and over and over again. When you are completely tired of repeating your message, voters are just beginning to hear it.
9. Develop a compelling message that connects with voters and conveys the central argument of your campaign—why you are running, and why voters should choose you.
10. Lay out your path to victory in a campaign plan that you refer to often. Your plan is not a plan unless it’s written down!

A good plan!

By the way...  as I was pulling in to The Y to do my ever-other-day (more or less.  mostly less) exercise routine a nice lady, probably in her late 70's, shouted at me "Don't forget to vote for Obama!".  Cool, eh?