(CN) – Toilet paper is an unusual issue for the campaign trail, but candidates are rolling with the times. When Denver’s stay-at-home order interrupted her bid for the Colorado Senate, Democrat Maria Orms did what she does best: she organized her neighbors.
The Air Force veteran stepped into politics to protest fracking operations near her home. Now, instead of organizing the opposition to residential oil and gas production, Orms is reaching out to help her community online. Within two weeks, her Facebook group “Help Needed in Denver Metro COVID-19” surpassed 10,000 members.
When her southeastern Denver neighbors in District 31 are ready to talk issues again, she will be ready to broach environmental policy and teacher pay. For now, Orms said, “I’m driving to give people toilet paper and baby food and help with the rent.”
Around the country, social-distancing measures aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus contagion have also halted conventional campaigning during peak primary season. No longer can candidates break selfie records or pack supporters into large stadiums.
State party organizers acted on the fly to eliminate the need for in-person assemblies.
The Colorado Democratic Party is collecting YouTube speeches from Senate and congressional candidates ahead of its June primary. Last month, county parties rescheduled their assemblies and conventions as e-meetings or used mail-in ballot systems.
In Colorado’s northern Weld County, the Republican Party held its first drive-through assembly in a high school parking lot.
“Our top priority is to ensure critical party business moves forward, but that it does so in a safe and healthy way,” said Kristi Burton Brown, vice-chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
For candidates, Brown advised, “Send out emails, post videos of yourself addressing certain issues, strengthen your social media presence—do all these things that campaigns often don't have the time to do because they are out at events and knocking on doors.”
This is not how Republican Charlie Winn imagined campaigning for Colorado’s 2nd District. The liberal enclave of Boulder hasn’t had an elephant in the room since 1975.
As a former Navy flight surgeon and civilian radiologist, Winn said he cares about health care, the environment and education, but his biggest issue is partisanship.
Winn’s community at the base of the Rocky Mountains north of Denver “has a single-party system and they’re not just creating their own narrative, they’re creating my narrative too. People are constantly telling me what a conservative is, but they haven’t talked to a single one.”
He added: “When you start calling people names, you can’t have a substantive discussion on how to address the issues.”
It’s a pitch he planned to make person-to-person, and now must figure out how to make it online.
Nevertheless, this is not the time for viral gimmicks. Even if extreme personalities seem to generate web traffic, some consultants counter that candidates should focus on content that reflects who they are — both online and in real life.
“There's a tendency for candidates to think we have to go the most outrageous to get attention and in order to rev up the base,’” said Washington-based Republican strategist Liz Mair. “Now, as before, the most important thing is that candidates are making sure that they are authentically depicting themselves.”
She added, “You don't want your campaign to be the story of the day. If your campaign is the story of the day, there's a real risk that information that could literally save your voters' lives isn't going to get to them.”
With the U.S. Department of Labor recording uncharted numbers of unemployment, it’s hard for campaigns to ask for money and it’s hard for voters to give it.
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