Pothole Prairie by Tim Engstrom

Do voters elect the best candidate? Of course not. They elect the best politician.

I’ve been doing journalism for, oh, 19 years now. There are many things I have learned along the way. I’ve worked in Iowa, Texas, Washington state and Minnesota.

Working in Iowa, it allowed me to meet candidates big and small, from former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, former vice presidential candidate John Edwards, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former President Bill Clinton, presidential candidate and former Sen. Jack Kemp, presidential candidate and former Sen. Bill Bradley, presidential candidate and tire executive Morry Taylor (I once covered a rally for him where only two reporters showed up and no supporters), former presidential candidate and Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander and former presidential candidate and Ambassador Alan Keyes.

And I even have met presidential hopeful and the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone.

In Texas, I met former presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Phil Gramm. (I also met Jack Nicklaus, but that’s another column.)

In Washington state, I didn’t meet anyone with presidential aspirations, but I dined with Gov. Gary Locke and his wife at the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia. I also met just about everyone in leadership positions of state government, including Attorney General Christine Gregoire, who soon became the governor. The chief of the state patrol even spoke to my Kiwanis club there, at my invitation. (And I met Arnold Palmer.)

Of course, back in Iowa, I had been the political reporter who covered gubernatorial candidate Tom Vilsack when he visited my editor at the Ames Tribune, former NBC News President Michael Gartner. Vilsack went on to serve two terms as Iowa governor and today is the U.S. secretary of agriculture. I also have met Sens. Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley. I am distantly related to Grassley.

Here in Minnesota, I’ve spoken with former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who almost became Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential candidate in 2008. McCain went on to pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and lose to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. I have met incumbent Gov. Mark Dayton a few times. I have met Minnesota Sens. Norm Coleman, Al Franken, Amy Klobuchar and I have even had the pleasure of imbibing a couple of afternoon beers with former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie at W.A. Frost & Co. in St. Paul.

But I have witnessed many, many elections on the small scale, too, from school boards to mayors to county leaders to city councils to state legislative seats. It seems many of the same traits leads to winning elections.

First, you have to campaign and not just run on your record. You might have won the darn Super Bowl of politics as a candidate, but if you don’t remind people of it during the election season, they won’t vote for you. Campaign. Campaign. Campaign. Get that name out there. You have to be top of mind.

Secondly, candidates have to have an innate desire to be liked by all kinds of people, whether rich, poor, white, black and all kinds of professions and backgrounds. Kissing babies is a true metaphor. These people aren’t afraid to knock on door after door after door.

Third, they aren’t afraid of rejection. They have thick skin. They are willing to get back up off the floor after receiving the worst criticism. They are up and at ’em every day. They aren’t afraid to speak to people who do not necessarily agree with them in an attempt to win over new voters.

Fourthly, but not least, the candidate who wins is the one who turns out to be better at the art and craft of politicking. They are good at debates, good at crafting messages, good at inspiring an election staff and great at explaining why they ought to be a leader. Some can even speak into cameras well.

They might not actually be a better leader, or the right person for elective office, but who hasn’t worked for a bad boss and wondered how in the heck did that person got the job? He or she was good at interviewing. Well, candidates who triumph in elections are good at politicking.

Finally, there are always a few uncontrollable factors, such as people being upset with the economy and thus one of the two political parties are blamed. Outside-the-campaign advertising can skew voters one way or another. Skeletons come out of closets. Every election has a few unexpected bombs.

Still, the ones who lose fail most of these steps in one way or another, such as speaking only to people who agree with them or neglecting to knock on doors, and they wonder why they lose. A good politician can win again and again and retire from politics. The playbook is out there. It’s actually quite simple. Win or go home.

Democracy is not the best form of government, but humankind hasn’t been able to come up with a better one.

 

Albert Lea Tribune Editor Tim Engstrom’s column appears every Tuesday.