OTHER BOOKS BY CATHY HARRIS

The Cathy Harris Story

The Failure of Homeland In-Security

Police Interactions 101

Domestic and International Traveler’s Survival Guide

Recession Survival Guide

Workplace Survival Guide

Discrimination 101 (Volume I & Volume II)

A Woman’s Guide to Buying a New or Used Vehicle (Part I & II)

How To Write A Book

My Hair, My Crown, My Glory

Politics 101

Cancer Cures

A Self-Help Guide to Empowering Your Family and the Entire Community (Series 1)

A Self-Help Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Series 2)

A Self-Help Guide to Becoming Healthier Over the Next 30 Days (Series 3)

POLITICS 101: HOW TO WIN YOUR POLITICAL SEAT

by

Cathy Harris

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:

Angels Press on Smashwords

Angels Press

P.O. Box 5288

Atlanta, GA 31107

http://www.AngelsPress.com

info@AngelsPress.com

Politics 101: How To Win Your Political Seat

Copyright 2012 by Cathy Harris

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Chapter 1: How To Find the Issues You Will Run On

Chapter 2: How To Run Your Campaign

Chapter 3: How To Work With Incumbents

Chapter 4: How To Get Legislation Passed

Chapter 5: How To Work Effectively with the Media

Chapter 6: How To Launch Your Own Media Campaign

Chapter 7: How To Mobilize Effectively in The Community

Chapter 8: How To Become an Effective Leader in the Community

About the Author

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the community leaders, organizers, activists and advocates who have spent tiredness hours trying to elect ‘honest’ politicians. Your work will not be in vain –All in divine order.

This book is also dedicated to my two lovely daughters who are my true inspiration for all my books.

PREFACE – A NOTE TO THE READER

I despise politics! How many times have you heard others say this? When the political season comes around, many in the community will not be feeling it. But year after year --it will be right in our faces which means we have to deal with it!

Is there a local issue that has you hopping mad? Think you can do a better job than the people who represent you? Don’t just sit there - help fix the problem by running for office.

Whether you’re seeking a political seat on your local school board, city council, commissioner’s board, as a state representative, state senator or a term as U.S. President -- running for office is a challenging endeavor. Being successful requires careful attention to detail, a rigorous schedule, and a lot of volunteers who believe in you.

Don’t be fooled --many legislators are corrupt and they don’t care anything about the community. They are steering people the wrong way! However, there are ways to become effective politicians, but we must learn to identify who is sincere and who is not. Who is really a voice for the people and who really is out for him or herself?

Many politicians are only in office because of their paychecks, the publicity they receive, and the power they obtain. Many Congressmen and Senators, care more about what’s happening on Capitol Hill than in their own districts.

Legislators are responsible for many things that happen in the community. It’s always good to build relationships with legislators but don’t get so friendly with them that you lose touch when they don’t do the right thing. They must do the right thing and the people must demand it!

We must learn to support candidates financially both before and after they win their seats if they truly speak for the people. If we can’t change their minds and they are not committed to being courageous and visionary legislators, then we must change their faces and vote them out of office.

During political season many ‘unethical’ politicians who have been in hiding for the past couple of years or more --will surface to try to win their seats again. Other incumbents already in office will put on their thinking caps and try to come up with every trick in their books to continue to pass laws to deprive citizens from their rights to vote.

At one time in my life I was asked to run for the Congress and the Senate as both a ‘Democrat’ and ‘Republican’ even though I had no political aspirations. I believe my job as an Empowerment Speaker, Self-Help Author and Community Organizer/Advocate is to assist others who I think would do a good job.

Like others I am not a big fan of the political season. But it’s time for us to open our eyes and really look at the big picture and look at the power we have to put good politicians into office and vote bad politicians out.

But how do we do this? We do this by first educating ourselves and the people around us who we truly care about –on how politics really work. This book is an easy-to-read, simple guide on how politics really work. If you truly would like to change your community from the inside out and make it better, then you need to understand up front that it will take political and economic empowerment to do this.

This book lays out everything you need to know about the political season --whether you are a veteran politician or someone just starting out, this book will give you a good first start on how you can win your political seat. Good luck!

CHAPTER 1: HOW TO FIND THE ISSUES YOU WILL RUN ON

Exploratory Committee Meeting

You are not going to run for office alone. You will be relying heavily on the people around you. Do not decide to run for office alone, but involve those people who will be working on your campaign in the decision.

The first thing a prospective candidate usually does is to host a small gathering in their home to pitch the idea and see what kind of support might be available. It is very important to get the right people at this meeting. Do not simply invite your friends. Invite people who will be critical of the