Almost every great campaign has a great political campaign manager standing behind it. Apart from the candidate, the campaign manager is the most important person on the team, responsible not only for the day to day operations of the campaign, but also for a significant portion of the big-picture planning and strategy.

Small local campaigns often have a hard time finding a qualified and available campaign manager. Often, their solution is to have the candidate serve as his own campaign manager, guiding a team of volunteers, family, and friends. This is a huge mistake. Every campaign needs a manager that is not the candidate, even if the manager is only a volunteer or part-time staff member. Candidates need to shake hands, make speeches, and ask for donations… they can’t do those jobs if they are also trying to run the day to day operations of the campaign. » Read more: How Do I Find a Good Political Campaign Manager?