Campaign staff checklist: from first draft to launch day

Campaign staff help a candidate meet the Top 10 standard by preparing the ground, protecting one focused hour, reviewing the record as a voter would and publishing it where voters look. The candidate gives every answer. Staff make sure the full record is complete, dated and easy to find. The campaign shares one thing, the full PDF record: no single cards and no social images. Work through the checklist below in order; each item takes minutes.

Who should complete the campaign’s Top 10?

The candidate should complete the campaign’s Top 10 personally, every answer. The record carries the candidate’s name and office on its cover and is self-reported by the candidate, with the date, and voters will hold the candidate to every answer at forums, in interviews and in office. Staff can prepare materials, keep time and read the finished record back. Staff do not choose answers or write “In my words.” A record the candidate cannot explain answer by answer will come apart at the first debate.

Before the session: what should staff prepare?

Before the session, staff should prepare the materials, the device and the time.

• Read the standard together. Walk the candidate through Every subject, every answer so the goal is clear: the board produces the full record only once every subject and every answer is complete.
• Print the subject scopes. The Subjects page gives each of the ten subjects a one line scope.
• Pull the “who decides” pages for the office. For a city race, start with Housing and communities: who decides and Infrastructure and transport: who decides. See Every level of office.
• Confirm the exact name and office title for the cover. The state or local election office is the place to check details about elections in your area.⁠¹
• Choose one device and one browser that the campaign controls. Answers stay in the browser where they were made, and there is no account, so the whole session happens on that device.
• Book one uninterrupted hour on the candidate’s calendar, with phones away.

During the session: what should staff do?

During the session, staff should keep time, keep notes and keep quiet about answers. Open “I’m running for office” at myvoteforward.com/top10/#run, enter the name and office, and let the candidate work through the four parts in order.

• MyPriorities: the ten subjects in order, most important first, and the issues inside each subject in order. Note the candidate’s one sentence reason for the top three.
• MyBudget: the full $1 billion split. Note the hardest cut. See MyBudget for officials.
• MyGrade: every subject graded 0 to 10. Note which government the grades describe. See MyGrade for incumbents and challengers.
• MyOpinion: where the candidate stands on every question on every subject. Note any answer that departs from the party’s usual position. See MyOpinion for officials.
• In my words: the candidate writes the optional statement for the subjects that need a reason.

The step by step guide for the candidate is Fill out your Top 10.

Before sharing: how should staff review the record?

Before sharing, staff should read the full record back to the candidate the way a skeptical voter would, and ask three questions. Does the order in MyPriorities match how the candidate talks on the trail? Does MyBudget follow the order, or is there a stated reason it does not? Is there any answer the candidate would not say out loud at a forum? Change anything that fails, then produce the full PDF record.

• Check the cover: name, office and date completed.
• Save every PDF the campaign shares, with the date in the file name.
• Draft a short post in the candidate’s words: first subject and why, hardest tradeoff, and the date.

Launch day: where does the record go?

On launch day, the full record goes to the campaign website first, and everything else points to it, all on the same day.

• Website page at a plain address such as /top10, linking the current PDF and every earlier dated PDF. The page pattern is on Share your record.
• Campaign disclaimer. Federal political committees must place a clear and conspicuous disclaimer on public communications, including committee websites available to the general public.⁠² Use the disclaimer the campaign already uses; state and local campaigns follow their state’s rules.
• Posts on every official account, each linking the website page. No card images: the record is shared whole.
• Newsletter to the full list, with the link.
• Press and organizers. Send the PDF to local reporters and to every debate and forum organizer on the calendar.

After launch: what keeps the record useful?

After launch, the record stays useful when the campaign answers every request with it and keeps it current.

• Reply to voter requests with the link. Voters following Ask your officials will ask for it in those words.
• Prepare the candidate for record based questions from moderators and reporters. See For journalists and debate moderators.
• Bring printed copies to forums where handouts are allowed.
• Update by the standard. When an answer changes, produce the new full record, give a one sentence reason and leave the earlier record up. See Changing answers.
• Review each season. If nothing changed, post “Reviewed [date], no changes.”

Unresolved questions

Two questions campaign teams raise are still open.

1. Staff turnover. What is the simplest handoff when the staff member who managed the record leaves, so dated PDFs and the website page stay complete?
2. Many races, one team. How should a party or slate help several candidates each meet the standard on their own, without shaping their answers?

Make my Top 10

Fill it all out, or don’t run. We deserve to know. Book the hour, then make the full record with your candidate.

I’m running for officeMake my Top 10