The Political Whore

Ready to run and Democratic? Two local consultants, Larry Biddle (a veteran of online fundraising and social networking in the Howard Dean presidential year) and Mitch Kates (who has won some big upsets in Tampa Bay, including Kevin Beckner’s and Mary Mulhern’s wins in Hillsborough) are offering a seminar on how to prepare to run and win.

The announcement of their $65-a-head workshop, however, set off the buzzing-gnat comment-ers over at Buzz blog, who launched into a wild attack against Biddle, his party, his mortgage and house and his age (which they overstated by 14 years). When somebody came to Biddle’s defense, the crowd turn on Kates as an alternative. Nothing like a digital mugging.

Details on the workshop after the jump:

Workshop to Prepare Potential Candidates on the Realities of Running for Office

“Walk Before You Run – A Primer on Running for Political Office” to be held March 28 in downtown St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Fla. (February 23, 2009) – If the thought of running for political office has ever crossed your mind, then don’t miss the workshop, “Walk Before You Run – A Primer on Running for Political Office,” hosted by Common Language, Think Big! and PlanningWorks. The program was designed to offer people who’d like to run for elected office valuable insights into what it’s like to be a political candidate and help them determine if they have what it takes to launch a campaign.

“Walk Before You Run” will be held on Saturday, March 28, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Studio @620 in St. Petersburg.

“It’s been our experience that most people have a lot of unreal expectations when it comes to running for office. They don’t really understand what they’re getting themselves and their families into,” said Larry Biddle, owner and principal of PlanningWorks. “This workshop will enlighten potential candidates about the realities of running for office, like asking people for money and building a support system of volunteers.”

“Walk Before You Run” will feature numerous local elected officials, party leaders and political commentators sharing their advice and experience on a variety of topics, including:

·         Overview of criteria for a viable political candidate
·         What challenges can you expect as a candidate, and how would you overcome them?
·         What it takes to get started:  determining if you’re qualified, testing the waters, and getting candidate training
·         Initial campaign planning

At the end of the day, attendees will break out into groups for an exercise on designing a campaign for a fictitious “Candidate Joe” to understand how what they learned is applied in practice.

“We want to make sure people have an understanding of the process as well as the role of the office for which they’re considering a run,” said Mitch Kates, political consultant and principal of Think Big! “You’d be surprised how many people actually get into office and once there, think, ‘Gee, this is not the job I thought it would be.’ It’s really important that candidates ask themselves if they fully understand what their responsibilities would be and if they’re running for the right office.”

Confirmed speakers at this time include Kevin Beckner, Hillsborough County Commissioner; Mary Mulhern, Tampa City Councilwoman; Rep. Bill Heller; Alison Morano, Pasco County DEC chair; Patricia Kemp, Hillsborough County DEC chair; Ken Quinnell, Florida Progressive Coalition and Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director of Progress Florida.

The cost of the full-day workshop is $65 and will include lunch. To register, visit:

http://common-language.com/index.php?option=conference&action=conference.

(Disclosure: Larry Biddle is the domestic partner of CL Editor David Warner, who did not participate in the selection or editing of this blog post.)

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