It might now be too late to run for Alderman!

Today is election day in Chicago for national, state and county offices. Next February (in 2011), alderman and a new mayor of Chicago will be elected.

The deadline for submitting petitions to run for office still isn't for another 3 weeks. The subsequent elections are Feb. 1.  However, you might be too late in running for office. What do I mean?

There are several things you need in order tohave a successful campaign

• Integrity. If you don't have this, then forget about this entire blog. If you do not have the character to run, then you shouldn't try. Even you have gifts, such as charm or a god speaking voice, it means nothing without the character to use them. Some signs that you aren't ready : you are willing to lie about your opponents, you have alliances with questionable people and are willing to deceive others about it, easily angry at people who criticize you, can't account for your personal financial accounts, happy to gossip about people you don't like.
• Neighborhood accomplishments.  It's easy to criticize about what other people are not doing.  But ultimately, if you wish to be a community leader, you need to be a servant leader first. How will people know you can lead a whole ward, if you haven't helped even your local neighborhood?
• A team.  Having willing bodies is good, but you need to have a team of people who have skills in different areasto help you accomplish
• A coalition.  Not everyone voting for you has the desire or ability to be a part of your team.  But many people in the community can not just vote for you, but also sign your petition so that a person could even vote for you. Building coalitions with community leaders can help spread the word about you and get you the support you need to win.
• Methods of communication. Even a basic web page can help people to know a little bt about you, what you stand for, and then how you  can help
• Campaign cash. While it might be wise to not have much until after the Nov. 2 election (where you may need to report large sums of donations, which are then made public), if you don't have much lined up you can't get the word out.

The 2011 Aldermanic Election in Chicago will be an exiciting one, with many opportunties for citizens as they city will also get a new mayor. But if you haven't already laid the groundwork, you may be far too behind by now to possibly win, or even place high enough for a runoff election.

Contact Do-Gooder Consulting to see how we can help you in your campaign. We can research prospective donors, targeted areas of support, sending text messages by e-mail, work with EarlyAnd Often.org , and provide other tools to help you reach your constituency.