2008’s electoral results are getting clearer as we close in on a final result in MN and GA. As President-elect Obama sorts out his administration and we all eat turkey sandwiches there are some great lessons to be learned from GOP campaigns of 2008.

In the coming weeks I will interview consultants, campaign staff and candidates to look at the tactics and where they made a difference. Before I start the interviews I want to hear from you on what questions you want answered.

Some of the questions I am considering asking are:

• What campaign on the GOP side showed real innovation in fundraising?
• What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective use of New Media?
• What candidate on the GOP side best leveraged earned media to get traction?
• What campaign on the GOP side showed the greatest comeback?
• What campaign on the GOP side showed the best mobilization of grassroots supporters?
• What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective GOTV organization?
• What GOP media consultant showed the most appreciation for web video and integrated it into their mix?
• What GOP pollster was the most accurate?
• What GOP mail vendor had the most creative and effective designs? (yes, I am biased)
• What GOP campaign showed the best ability to integrate it’s website into its’ over all campaign operation?
• What GOP candidate has the biggest ideas for the future of our party (even if they lost)?
• What GOP campaign showed the best use of its email list?
• What GOP campaign was really good at the small stuff? (yard signs, bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc)I also have a sizeable list of people to interview, if you have some you would like to see, let me know.Email your suggested questions and interviewees to chris@faulknerstrategies.com

Yard signs, t-shirts and stickers.

There are few subjects that will invoke more anger, frustration and crazy stories from veteran campaign staff than these mundane items.

Mundane? Yes. Simple? No.

Anyone who has ever had the privilege of working on any campaign of any size is familiar with the sanity-testing exercise of keeping donors, activists and volunteers happy. Undoubtedly, these supporters of our candidate want a visual representation of their support for our candidate.

It used to be we could give them a “Smith for Congress” yard sign or a “Jones for Governor” bumper sticker and call it a day. Not anymore. Welcome to a micro targeted, coalition driven, Long Tail world of campaign collateral.

“C’mon Chris I thought this would be a substantive discussion on REAL campaign logistics?” Trust me, it is. Just hang with me for a few minutes.

We are starting to see more segmentation of campaign collateral as our supporters ID themselves as “Veterans for Smith”, “Viva la Bush!”, “Sportsman for Kennedy” or even “Asian American Pacific Islanders for Bloomberg”. I am not making that last one up, I have a button to prove it.

Enter the The Long Tail. Recently I finished reading The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and was blown away by such a simple but powerful concept. People want more choice in everything they do…including their politics.

Now add Threadless. Read a great article in Inc. Magazine on the success of Threadless and how it uses its user driven community that cuts out all the advertising and marketing and just prints the shirts customers actually want. Free lance designers upload their art, community members vote on their favorites and then that same community buys them by the truck load.

So what if a big campaign that had some online store component actually asked it’s online supporters (specifically the small dollar donors) what they wanted? How many “Frat boys for McCain”, “Dentists for Coleman” or “Pet owners for Mitch” would want a t-shirt, bumper sticker or yard sign?

Even better than having to give it away at Campaign HQ all the time what if supporters actually pay for their own stuff. Allow them to “actively” participate in the campaign and engage on their own terms under their own label.

Now that would be a cool idea.