KICK-OFF PARTY

This blog is coming soon...

TECHNOLOGY IS STILL GOOD

This is a bit of a continuum of my Facebook post from yesterday. A tool that the campaign has been utilizing on Facebook is the ability to post and link to other sites. There are couple of links to Youtube clips of Kathleen Thomas speaking at different events. This is a great way to get out the message for those that are not able to hear her speak in person. I have posted a Youtube clip of Kathleen Thomas speaking to a group of citizens at New Salem State Park.

FILING

Last Monday was filing day in Illinois. Every candidate for any office needed to file on this day(October 26) in Springfield IL. Luckily Kathleen Thomas and her campaign are based in Springfield, so there was no long drive to get there. It feels good for all the Chicago politicians to have to come down state for a change.

The line to file was fairly long (out the door and down a few blocks), so the goal here was to get a good spot in line. Some people slept in line over night and that is what a volunteer from the campaign did. He slept all night third in line (what a sport!). We were surprised to find out later though that the person number two in line was saving a spot for 30 or so house democrats. This didn't seem fair to us, but Kathleen Thomas ended up being 33rd in line anyway.

The filing process was fairly simple and it ran smoothly. Dr. Thomas simply filled out paper in a few different rooms, and as it turns out the waiting in line is the most tedious part of the process.

Kathleen Thomas is now filed and will be on the February primary ballot!

FACEBOOK, DUH!

This one will seem obvious to most. Use Facebook! All politicians are on it these days because that's where the cool kids are. Seriously though, one of the first things the campaign did was set up a Facebook account. I set one up for Kathleen Thomas, and later a politician fan page was set up. The fan page has been a great way to get out the message about upcoming events that Dr. Thomas will be attending, and the personal page has been a great way for Dr. Thomas to express her views on issues through status updates and message boards. With 200 million people on facebook and half of those logging on at least once a day, it is by far the cheapest way to get the name out.

PARADES

Parades are a fun way to get a name out. (Here is a picture of Kathleen Thomas and her grandson at the Barry Apple Festival parade).

The campaign decided to give out balloons along the parade route for name recognition. The thought behind balloons is that if you give a kid a helium filled balloon they will keep it for a few days until it finally deflates. In the meantime the parent of a kid will see the words 'Kathleen Thomas for U.S. Senate' repeatedly until the helium dies out.

Something smart the campaign did was have volunteers walk the parade route before the candidate got there. The volunteers would talk to people about her and her stances so that by the time she got there people knew who she was and were excited to see her.

At this particular parade Kathleen Thomas was the only politician, which can become a big deal to the people watching. While Barry Illinois is not a big town, the festival is a big deal and so is the parade. People like knowing that a politician took time to come. Kathleen Thomas and the rest of the volunteers sure had an enjoyable time.