Okay, let’s don’t please go overboard on the jokes here.
But I admit that I have thought, intermittantly, about going into politics. Assuming that my new life’s goal is to become governor of my state (FL), what is the route to power to winning this office? How should I make myself ready for a political career, and what chain of offices should I attempt to win? Or have I got this wrong, and should I focus on a private professional career before I begin my forays into politics?
First, go to college; do well, and get a graduate degree – law school is best; business school is good too; a graduate degree in some aspect of public service (labor relations, civic planning, etc.) won’t hurt.
Work in your field for a few years, and build your network. Seek a role in public life – this can be working in campaigns, running for local office, serving on committees or in appointed posts – anything that demonstrates your interest in politics and your ability to master issues and get things done.
Most recent governors in Florida served in the state legislature or Congress, but some went straight to – well, not the top, exactly, but they ran for Lt. Governor, which gives excellent name recognition, and puts you right into the governor’s seat if the current governor dies or quits or leaves for a higher office. Those guys had serious political standing because of their other work, such as the committees and such I mentioned above.
It seems that there are many different paths. Some people start with city council and work their way up through county and state offices, but some go directly to national office. If I’m not mistaken, the very first election that Eisenhower participated in was his winning bid for President.
So, you can be a war hero, or a businessman, or a lawyer. But you don’t have to be. That guy that took over Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate had zero qualifications and experience; he was just a good-looking guy with a pickup truck. I hear “Joe the Plumber” is running for Congress this year, too.
I’d guess the easiest way for somebody with no money, connections, or experience is to latch on to some Tea Party/Religious Right issue, and start a blog or something, with the next step being getting on TV about it. From there, the louder you are with a couple catch phrases, the better your chances. Pubs seem to put much less weight on intelligence and coherence than Dems.
A good way to get started is to pick one of the two major parties and get involved in local politics. There should be something like a district committee for each party. Ask anyone working in local goverment how to get in touch with one of the committee members, they’ll be happy to help you out.
Moving to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
College first and perhaps get involved in a campaign at some level. Fetching coffee if nothing else. They’ll take notice and give you more responsibilities. They always need leaflets handed out and yard signs. You’ll make important contacts and gradually learn who has the power in your local community.
Those contacts will be indispensable if you run for a local office.
It depends what you want to do with a career in politics. And when you say politics, do you mean that you want to run for office, you want to run campaigns or that you want to be involved in government? What level are you interested in? The best advice is to volunteer on a campaign, for a thinktank or for a political party. Get a idea of what kind of life you’re looking at. It’s helpful to have a skill to fall back on when your party is out of power or you lose an election.
My goal, I think, or at least the goal that appeals to me, is to run for and hold some kind of elected office.
Lucky you- it’s an election year. Work (volunteer) on a campaign- that will give you a taste of the industry and get you connected. You really will get a taste of the pace of campaign life, if you are involved in a competitive race of any kind. If your focus is local (state), you might want to consider doing some federal (Presidential work) to build good connections with your state political party, but think strategically as well. If there are good, competitive state races that you want to be involved in, that might be a real foot-in-the-door opportunity.
If you pick an underdog party, you may be able to get on the ballot as a challenger for an otherwise uncontested office this year. Sometimes, due to public opinion about the parties shifting broadly, such people even get in, like several no-experience NDP candidates in Québec in Canada’s last federal election that are now MP’s.
Contact your local blahblah party and get the election schedule.
I tried to look up Florida’s at http://election.dos.state.fl.us/ but…yeah, your state is different than mine, I’m not sure I’m reading that page right.
Usually when people go into politics, it’s because of a cause they support, or a candidate they like, or some other reason. You seem to have none, other than a vague desire for power or for leadership, or for–what, exactly? I’d feel better about giving you advice and encouragement if I had a little sense of why you want this. It’s a lot of hard work, often leading nowhere, usually frustrating, tough on your family, and without that extra fuel of knowing where you want to be on issues, etc. you’re going to be asking yourself “Why did I ever get into this?” --most pols have answers to that question. Do you?
In many places one party or the other has a stranglehold on local politics. Make sure You are in an area in whih your party isn’t totally ineffectual. Start off as a volunteer or try to get a low level job. Set yourself up with the party and get in a position where they feel you would be a good fit for local office.
For higher office it seems like if you are not wealthy on your own you have a big disadvantage. For statewide or federal office: get a degree (law school would be nice), become wealthy, have a skeleton free closet, don’t bang the pages assistants hangerson etc. And be tall and attractive.
I know of a kid who was elected to his city council at age 19. Five (or so) years later he’s still on city council, but has made some noise about running for county commissioner. It seems fairly clear that his goal is to just keep moving up the ladder of politics. I would say he’s on the right track. Get into politics as early as you can, make the connections, gain constituents’ support and just keep trying to carry that on to the next rung of the ladder. Having money doesn’t hurt, either.
There are three basic ways you can get into office:
Be famous or highly influential in a particular area relating to public policy. When you announce you’re running you’ll already have support for your campaign.
Have a shit ton of money so that you can say “politics be damned! I’m running!” and be able to finance your entire campaign.
Work your way up from the inside. Work your way up a campaign. Run for school board. Become a ward boss for your local party. Make connections and find the right opportunities to go higher.
My first question would be “Why?”.
Having come from a political family (father and older brother), I can give you lots of reasons this will complicate your family life and have you walking on eggshells and invading every aspect of your life. We once had a crazy person with a gun roaming our yard, and at one point, the barrel of his shotgun was stuck through my bedroom window. The police finally got there and took him away, but not a pleasant memory.
In a smaller, local political arena, this might be OK - but once you start climbing that ladder, you have lots of people rooting for you to fall and doing everything they can to make you fall.
Thankless, underpaid, unpleasant for any family members; I appreciate your altruistic efforts to perhaps make your community/state/nation a better place, but just remember you and all family members will be living in a goldfish bowl.
Step One: Be born into a rich family that has political connections with one of the political parties.
Step Two: Learn how to shake hands, smile, listen and say nothing of substance.
Step Three: Set up a campaign for an office of your choice.
Step Four: Spend six hours a day on the phone asking people for contributions and to set up fundraisers.
Step Five: Repeat Step Four every day for the rest of your career.
That sounds like a good summation of most politicians. They want power; principles be damned.
This answer also goes out to DMark, who asked a similar question.
The drive for power is part of it, I won’t deny - and I consider myself especially well-suited as I have no dependants or relations whose lives would be affected by celebrity. They tell me that being state governor is a very cushy job.
Politically, I am pretty far to the left for my state. I am not unaware of the need to keep to a budget, but I would increase public investment across the board. If I was going to establish a ‘personal political trademark,’ it would be my absolute disinterest in the pet moral causes of the tea party and the religious right; I’m not a Christian, never have been, and have no interest in adhering to the reactionary demands of the far-right. I also think the American left is in dire need of somebody who can reply to harsh critics in kind.
Seeing as Democrats are practically in open retreat in Florida, I could see myself running as something disparagingly called a ‘Republican in name only.’ Hell, I’m technically registered R since high school, though I haven’t voted on their ticket in ages. My Miami upbringing should make me appealing to the Cuban vote, but I’m as Anglo as Anglo can be, thus making me unthreatening to the panhandle.
Hmm…unmarried with no kids?
Normally, voters like to see the happy family surrounding the politician, otherwise there might be other scandals brewing.
Good luck with being a footloose, fancy-free, single politician. Not that there has never been one, but few go far and it certainly invites a lot of other scrutiny and whispers.