Are you running against an incumbent? If so, that is a different type of a race. It's a unique race. It's not like an open race and it simply May the best man may the best woman run and eight names are in a hat. If you're running against an incumbent, keep in mind unless that uncomfort is in jail or halfway to jail, that can come as a huge, huge advantage and advantage in name recognition, staff top money, endorsements campaign organization, doesn't mean you can't win. But you do have to make the case as to why that incumbent deserves to be fired.

Now, you don't have to necessarily use that language. But that's what you're asking voters to do. If you're running to replace a sitting city councilman, Councilwoman, you've got to make the case to the constituents in your district, that this person needs to be fired, they need to be replaced. So what you're really doing is telling the voters They made a mistake again, you're not going to couch it in those terms. But that's essentially the argument you're making. And most voters don't like to admit to making mistakes most people don't like to admit to making mistakes.

Think of it this way. If you are desperate for administrative assistant and I come to you and I say, Look, I've got great credentials, resume references, here they are, I typed 200 words a minute. And you really need someone Well, I may have a good chance of being hired by you. But if you have administrative assistant, and this person has worked for you for 10 years, and you know, this person is a single parent who supports two children and has not the most competent person in the world but basically gets along well with everyone in the office is an honest person, and maybe types 40 words a minute. Are you going to fire that person to bring me on even though I typed 200 words a minute Chances are now it's human nature not to want to fire people who are already there. So, so much of your challenge, if you're running against an incumbent is you've got to make the case as to why this person should be fired.

What are they done that was incompetent? What votes did they cast that were really detrimental to the citizens? What initiatives? Did they fail to support that were needed? by this political jurisdiction? You've got to make the case now, I'm not suggesting you throw mud or you go through their bedsheets or through their trash?

What I am suggesting is you have to look at the public record. What have they done, what have they not done? And this should in fact, relate to why you're running. because presumably, if the incumbent is doing everything, well, there's no rational reason for you to run other than vanity or ego. You don't want people to think that and I hope that's not the case. So if you're running against an incumbent, you've got Give one main reason, something they've done that's either incompetent and effective, perhaps corrupt or unethical.

But you've got to really tell people why this person does not deserve their trust anymore. Why this person does not deserve their vote and additional time and why you can do better. That is your challenge. When you're running against an incumbent, if you say, well, TJ, I don't want to be negative, I just want to say my own platform, my own credentials and let the voters decide. Again, unless that incumbent is halfway to jail, or cited for major ethical violations, you're not going to win just by saying what's good about you, you're going to have to make the case as to why the other person should be fine. Back to my example earlier about your administrative assistant as I laid it out, before you You're not going to fire that administrative assistant.

But if I can give you evidence showing your administrative assistant has embezzled, $100,000 from you and that the authorities are about to arrest this person. Well, now maybe you might actually hire me history assistant. Now, he might not want me for a variety of reasons. But I think you get my point you're going to have to make the case in a factual, substantive manner as to why the incumbent should be fired and you should replace that income. It