Political consultant Larry Levine says most politicians are honest, but the process of getting elected is not.
Levine was invited to speak about running a political campaign at the leadership workshop event hosted by The Malibu Times on Friday, Aug. 19. City council candidates Jennifer deNicola, Carl Randall, Laureen Sills and Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner attended the event.
“I guess I’m supposed to tell you how to run a campaign. I wish I knew — they’re all different,” Levine said.
Originally a journalist, Levine has been a political consultant for over 200 campaigns and has a winning record of nearly 90 percent. He has consulted for local ballot propositions in California, Oregon, Washington, Ohio, Arizona and Missouri.
Six candidates are running for the three Malibu City Council seats open in the Nov. 8 election.
Every race is different, Levine said, but there are some universal tricks candidates can use to their advantage.
“Don’t say anything stupid that gets into the paper,” Levine, not a big fan of debates, cautioned candidates.
When candidates filed their papers they chose a “title.” This title appears below his or her name on the ballot. The instruction that’s given to the candidates when they file for their candidacy is to write the career or description where they received most of their income. There are limitations for what words can be used; for example, “advocate” cannot be used in a candidate’s title.
“If you file anything that comes close to true, it’s going to cost your opponent $10,000 in legal fees to challenge it,” Levine said. “That’s one of the corruptest parts of the entire election process.”
Levine explained how not all titles are created equal. For voters, seeing “Community College Trustee” as a candidate’s title conveys the words “community,” “college” and “trust.” Many times these titles are fudged from what the candidate actually does for a living.
“We’ve had candidates where we get them a lecturing gig so they can be an ‘American Government Lecturer,’” Levine said.
Levine asked the four candidates in attendance how they chose to list their titles. One candidate explained she had chosen two titles and separated them with a slash mark — Levine was not impressed.
“I would’ve told you not to do that,” Levine said. “I have a personal aversion to slashes. If you can’t decide who you are, come back when you decide.”
Other candidates had slashes in their titles, and Levine quipped that the field was “evening out” after hearing all of the candidates’ titles.
Bending the rules on title usage represented one of the ways the political process is hidden from ordinary citizens. The workshop divided the day into informing people about the ins and outs of government.
Before Levine’s session, some of Malibu’s current city council gave presentations on how the government is structured in Malibu.
City Attorney Christi Hogin explained that Malibu operates on a “city manager” form of government, the second most popular form of government in California, which delegates management of city hall to a city manager instead of elected council.
“The idea is we have professionals that are bound to whatever the current law is and not be apart of changing it or making it,” Hogin said.
City Manager Reva Feldman gave her own presentation that gave an in-depth look at the city’s finances.
Mayor Lou La Monte and Council Member Laura Rosenthal also attended the event and passed on words of advice to the prospective candidates.
“Piece of advice I got from a council member in Calabasas: Read the packet,” La Monte said. “It’s 175 pages, sometimes they run 300 pages. When I first started, I read every single word of every single contract this city did,” La Monte said of the packet. “You’ll find a lot of interesting stuff in there.”
Some aspects of governing are not covered in government-issued staff reports, such as the complicated reasons between disagreeing sides on the various issues in Malibu.
The second half of the Political Workshop hosted a panel of well-informed Malibu citizens and stakeholders who discussed the details of topics including development in Malibu, the school district “unification” process and the water infrastructure process.
Many of these issues required long, nuanced explanations for particular viewpoints. The panel was an opportunity for information to flow, but a reminder for Levine’s lessons on mailers and what voters will tolerate from campaigns.
“Don’t expect a voter to read,” Levine said. “My guideline is give them 20 seconds from the door to the trash.”
According to Levine, the most effective method of convincing voters is by meeting them in person. This particular form of voter outreach is considerably more difficult in Malibu where door-to-door isn’t necessarily a viable method of campaigning, but Levine insists on the method. Reaching 20 percent of the voter base from knocking on doors is still more effective than not reaching anyone.
“Voters will vote for somebody they identify with,” Levine said. “You’ve got to give them something to think about.”
