I love this take. Charlotte Swasey, a self-proclaimed political data nerd, says Democrats need to get weird:

“Maybe what your district needs is an entirely row-boat-based campaign. There’s essentially no downside here. If you’re running in an R +20 district, that marginal 10 votes from a careful, ordinary campaign is just not going to matter. It should be hail-mary all the way.” –Charlotte Swasey

She’s arguing that campaigns for state legislature are a great place to experiment and try weird things. Especially in races that are incredibly lopsided—there’s nothing to lose, so try something different.

I love the idea of doing something different to connect with voters. That’s half the battle—breaking through all the noise so voters can even consider you.

It’s important that every race is contested, even the ones that don’t have a chance. Because anything can happen in an election. So contest the race, and try some things. You’ll likely lose, but you could change some minds and you might learn something for future races in other places.

Instead of always focusing on the tight races, I think politicians need to force the debate even when it’s going to be a landslide. Make those candidates have defend their positions. Don’t just hand it to them.

Too often politicians play it safe. It doesn’t have to be that way. I think there’s one important lesson from the Trump era—change is OK. If there’s one thing you can say about Trump, it’s that he’s thrown convention out the window. Sometimes that’s shocking and bad. But in some cases it’s just fine.

Be willing to experiment. Lean into your authentic self and do what works for you. If that doesn’t fit the typical political mold, so be it.

I’d especially love to see this in local races. Too often I see safe campaigns with vague safe platitudes. I see campaign websites written with buzzwords to activate certain constituencies or so vague they’re trying not to tip their hat. It would be refreshing to see a local candidate just say what they mean.

I don’t know if we’ll ever get there, but trying some weird approaches on a campaign is a good first step.