Campaigning During a Pandemic

[TygrBright]

How does a responsible candidate run a campaign during an escalating pandemic of a highly contagious disease whose transmission mechanism is not yet completely mapped and understood?

1. Stop having big public rallies. Instead, invite journalists and targeted supporters, via media, social media, and email, to sign up to attend a broadcast speech related to those targets' presumed interest areas (geographic or issue), and offer them the chance to submit questions and comments to be read during the broadcast. Rinse and repeat, endlessly.

2. Get off the campaign "trail" and target small groups in various geographic areas with a sequence of geographic-focused webinar-type Q&As and introductions, featuring the candidate, local campaign folks, and supporters, using teleconferencing and internet.

3. Close local physical offices and move to virtual campaign offices- and lots of them. Develop "cluster" email and chat groups to promote local supporters' communications.

4. Get creative with fundraising- ask supporters to pledge based on numbers of questions asked and answered at virtual events, for each day they spend in virtual or actual quarantine, for every public event foregone, etc.

5. Motivate supporters to participate voluntarily in efforts to help deal with the pandemic in their area - whether its healthy people delivering supplies to shut-ins or helping health care professionals monitor transmission chains via citizen science, or whatever emerges as 'more help needed' as treatment and vaccination options emerge, wearing your Candidate armband or sticker or whatever while you help out builds positive awareness.

Other ideas?

Post them in the responses.

creatively,
Bright

[IronLionZion]

1. Or the complete opposite in Trump's case

He's all about big public rallies and relentless denial. He's been telling his supporters this is all a liberal conspiracy.

[GemDigger]

2. Those are good ideas Bright.

I would also include local radio because a lot of older peeps aren't into social media yet but they do listen to local AM radio stations.

[TygrBright]

3. EXCELLENT idea and very true... local radio can be powerful.

And will doubtless be more so as people self-quarantine or quarantine or just preventively stay away from public places/gathering.

Since you can connect to any radio station with a phone connection now, it's a very effective way to minimize contact.

appreciatively,
Bright

[Squinch]

4. YES! We need Joe healthy so we can stop the madness!