TAKING THE INITIATIVE, SUCCESS DOESN'T COME CHEAP

All told, from the first failed attempt to make the ballot in 2002 to final victory in 2004, DCCC spent approximately $114,000. Of that total, $32,000 came form MPP, $22,000 from locally raised contributions and $60,000 from my personal funds. In retrospect, out of simple ignorance and naivete, something approaching half of that spending was unnecessary.

Knowing what we know now, had DCCC done the job right the first time, the cost would have been about $65,000 all inclusive.

Nonetheless, hindsight is always 20/20, and it was worth every penny for the lessons learned and mistakes that will never be made again. Among these:

  1. A reformer can spend far too much time, money and effort in trying to win the support of local politicians, community leaders and elected officials. In fact, it may well have been because DCCC had a number of prominent politicians and community leaders on our steering committee, the opposition was even more rabid and fanatical in their efforts to delegitimize and defeat the initiative. In the next three winning municipal inititiatives in Michigan, there were no political steering committees, and much less effort was made to win our community leaders. (And the next three initiatives won by even bigger margins then in Detroit.)
  2. When you are running ahead in the polls, the key is to not make stupid mistakes, try to reinvent the wheel, or make special efforts to appeal to the unconverted. Spend your money on those who will be likely voters.
  3. If you are running behind - or even - in the polls (as is the case with many initiatives decriminalizing marijuana altogether, not just for medical purposes) then "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) efforts among people at the margins, who do not usually vote, can be critical to winning.
  4. Take your legal work very seriously. Of course, gratuitous legal challenges can come from deep pocketed municipalities, their officials or private parties - even if you r legal work is perfect. That being said, money spent in court usually means you screwed up somewhere.
  5. Run your campaign on a quasi military/team basis - not by a committee of equals. Every military style team ultimately has one leader, fully responsible for making the final strategic campaign decision(s) in the event of disagreement within the team itself.
In Detroit, a core team of five did most of the heavy lifting:
  1. State Representative LaMar Lemmons III was an expert in community organizating and Detroit voter psychology.
  2. Neal Bush handled legal matters and served as campaign coordinator.
  3. Tim O'Brien specialized in advertising, marketing, printing and direct mail.
  4. The DCCC Chairman, myself, was the public and media face, as well as the final strategic decision maker as necessary.
  5. The last member of the team was actually another team - MPP and t staff, all of whom possessed broad, general political savvy, and who also provided a substantial portion of the funding.

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