This is the second part of our series of recommendations for a challenger candidate’s first 30 days. The first part of Preparing for Take-Off, What Do I Say?, included the first 7 of our 30 recommendations, this part proposes the next 17.

What Do I Do?

#8. Understand the responsibilities of being a candidate to know your real place and function. 

Campaigns are candidate-driven - and the candidate is the highest power in the campaign. The candidate is the chief fundraiser, vote­ getter and focal point. With all of that comes enormous responsibility. Not only do you have to go out and campaign, but you have to be able to provide leadership for the rest of the team.

You're going to be picking and choosing people for the campaign even as you are asking to be chosen by voters. You are sometimes directing while being directed. All the while you are aware, or should be, that it is your name alone on the ballot. So you want to make sure that what is going on in your name is good.

All of this sounds confusing - and the truth is, campaigns are often in a seemingly confusing state of creative chaos. Call it what you will, but there are a few clarifying points.

Getting the right people on your campaign team is essential.

Not only people who are competent, but people you can trust. You want people who have good judgment, who can motivate others and who have political know-how. Next you want to make sure that you're not micro-managing. If you try to micro manage things as a candidate, you won't have time to win support and raise money and all of the things the candidate must do. So understand that of all the responsibilities of the candidate, the greatest is to be the candidate ­not to be the campaign manager, or advertising expert - be the candidate.

#9. Do your homework on the basic issues.

What do I do for preparation?

Understanding the issues is not the same as simply reading the newspaper and forming your own opinions. It is one thing to have an opinion - it is another thing to have an informed, credible opinion that you can defend under fire. And you should also learn the other side of the debate. Don't think you're prepared just by picking up a few facts that support your own view. You must understand the arguments and facts marshaled by the opponent. You don't have to agree with any of it, of course, but you should understand it for argument's sake.

Moreover, you should understand the emotional and personal dimensions to these issues. For example, the issue of healthcare. In many cases people aren't interested in hearing you detail a complex detailed policy filled with fiscal projections. What they really want to know is where is your heart on this issue? Do you care about them? Do you share their fear of rising health costs, of people uninsured?

If you do, then they are ready emotionally to hear your facts and figures and logic. If you don't care; if it's all academic; then maybe they've got better things to do than to listen to you. That's politics. It's not always about philosophy; it's not always about things fiscal and rational. It's not the business world. It's about ideas, yes, but also emotion - like fear, like vision.

#10. Analyze your district.

It doesn't hurt to start with maps - unless you happen to be one of those people who prefer the three dimensional, in which case just do windshield research. Drive around the district, look and see, take it in, understand the nature of the district first hand, learn about the communities, learn the population.

What are the main industries, businesses, churches and social groups, sports and entertainment? The people who make up the district cannot be understood in purely political terms, but learn that too. Study past election results, polling, party registration. Read the local news weeklies, listen to talk radio. The district you want to represent must first be understood by you.

#11. Evaluate the incumbent.

This is a huge job - and you need to find a capable researcher who can help you. You want to look at their voting record - and there are plenty of sources in Washington D.C. who keep tabs on that.

You will want to analyze whether the incumbent has been effective or not. Has he missed key votes? Taken controversial junkets? Did he break past campaign promises? Does he routinely vote for higher taxes while voting for congressional pay hikes? Has he been involved in any scandal? Is he influenced by special interest campaign money? Has he failed to meet the needs of the district? Does his past rhetoric match up with his actual record?

Research can give you the arguments and evidence you need to make the case for change. But beware. Triple-check your facts before going public. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, the saddest words in politics are not "What might have been," but rather, "Oops, I guess I should have checked that again."

Small errors can croak you because the opponent will use your false accusations as proof you should not be trusted. Research the opponent early, thoroughly and accurately.

#12. Figure out the best initial message of contrast.

If a challenger does not frame what the choice is all about - the contrast between candidates - voters are not likely to reject the better known, experienced incumbent. As with our system of justice, most voters presume an incumbent is not guilty unless proven guilty - so they re-elect him.

Your challenge is to offer a strong contrast: watch-dog for the tax payer versus wasteful spender, new energy versus tired status quo, new ideas versus failed liberalism, underdog citizen versus entrenched establishment. .. whatever.

Despite the need for the challenger to be aggressive in drawing a contrast, it's amazing how many fail to do that. Many Republican challengers are uncomfortable with controversy and criticism. They eagerly believe naive friends who tell them, "Just be positive. Don't mention the incumbent. People just want to hear about what you would do."

Too bad that isn't true. The bottom line is this: Contrast is vital. Otherwise voters see no reason to fire the incumbent and hire someone new.

#13. Write, or ask someone to write, a one-page biography or biographical sketch about you.

You want it to demonstrate that you are capable - that you have met problems and dealt with them successfully. You want it to reveal that you are very much a part of the community you aspire to represent. Places and people; organizations and causes; significant awards and achievements should be mentioned. And certainly you want to include your family.

Every phase of this bio should be 100% accurate. You can bet it will be analyzed with great scrutiny by the opposition. And if there is anything inflated or misstated or misleading, you can have real trouble with reporters. Many campaigns have self-destructed this way. When in doubt about the accuracy of your bio, be modest, be cautious.

#14. When you're looking for a campaign manager, understand that the job description is not the same as for a corporate manager.

Indeed, running a campaign is more of an entrepreneurial job than a management job. You need the instincts of an entrepreneur - creating something out of nothing, rather than simply managing resources that already exist.

Like an entrepreneur you will probably be operating on a shoe-string, making decisions by the seat of your pants. Management is about control. The directing of a challenger campaign is about motivation, judgment, creativity. Can this would-be campaign director motivate people? Can he or she make the campaign interesting, fun? Can this person create a spirit of team work? These are the kinds of questions that should guide you.

#15. Talk to political consultants - but don't feel pressured to hire immediately.

Again, let's start with some basic premises. First you hire political consultants to do the things you can't do yourself. Second, with consultants you get professional, outside advise and council. It may be good, it may be bad, but it's usually more objective. Third, you should understand what you want before you hire.

There are different kinds of political consultants. There are general consultants who help determine overall strategy and plan the campaign. Sometimes they help find a campaign manager and put together the staff. With a general consultant, it's particularly important to find out exactly what you will get. Who in the consulting firm will actually be assigned to the race? Is it the major partner who is selling you - or once the contract is signed will it be a junior associate? Will the consultant be an active, involved strategist, available for day-to-day advice?

The general consultant is usually the principle strategist; someone you have trust and confidence in; someone you will listen to during the course of the campaign, in bad times as well as good. The general consultant usually coordinates with other consultants, sometimes bringing them in.

They are going to arrange for you to meet with various advertising firms or media consultants so that you can see an array of talent available within your price range. There are a host of specialist consultants ­from research to finance to direct mail. Before a race begins, you don't need a whole flock of consultants. You don't want to kill your campaign with high consultant costs right off the bat. Proceed as your own budget, timing and common sense dictate.

#16. Consider whether you want a so ­called "kitchen cabinet" - a group of unpaid, unofficial advisors to help keep the campaign on course.

Campaign directors and political consultants usually don't want the candidate influenced on strategy or tactics by non­professionals.

But sometimes a candidate benefits from listening to old friends and trusted colleagues )non-political or not) people who know you; people who can say "no" to your face without you trying to wrestle them to the ground; allies who would cut off their right arm for you during the campaign. Candidates often use such a group - three, four, five trusted people - to help make major decisions ­about the use of time, money and talent.

If the people are chosen properly and if they are fulfilling their responsibility, they can be very useful to the campaign director, too. Sometimes they can help the campaign director convince the candidate to do something unpleasant but necessary (like spend more time fundraising or dismissing someone on the staff).

Sometimes they are just an advisory board with no real decision-making involved; a sounding board from the community to provide good, solid advice and then to help implement it if asked. There are usually three levels of organization to a campaign ­consciously or not: deciders, doers and hangers-on.

#17. Figure out your scheduling operation.

If you can find the right scheduler early, it certainly makes it a lot easier to plot the first phase of the campaign. In the early days of the campaign, one of the resources that is free is time. How you utilize your time is critical.

Previously mentioned are any number of things needing to be scheduled already - talking to your friends or associates, party leaders, researching the district first hand, trolling for issues by talking to people throughout the district, etc.

But what about the things not mentioned? When are your local fairs, parades, festivals? Where are the media outlets? Which are the targeted precincts where the swing voters will decide the election outcome? What about fundraising calls and fundraising events? All of that requires a good time-management operation and you want to have somebody help you in all of that. Someone who will read the local newspapers to see what events you should attend. Someone who will call community and party leaders to see what events are scheduled.

And you, you need to sit back and honestly figure out how much time you have available to campaign. Sort it through with your family and associates at work. Are you going to be able to clear your schedule for full-time campaigning, weekends, evenings?

One of the bigger problems in a campaign is deciding where to go and where not to go. The where to go becomes a major migraine when supporters are calling to complain that you missed some event they recommended. There are few easy answers in scheduling. It depends on your situation and your strategy. I

If you're involved in a Republican primary, then you'll want to spend your time where Republicans go: if you don't get through the primary, you don't have to worry about the general election. On the other hand, if you are not in a primary, you need to have a much higher general visibility in the early stages. You need to go where people generally go.

As you search for a scheduler, look for:

· Someone who is wonderful on the phone - because it is a lot of phone work.

· Someone who can be insistent when they have to be, but gentle at the same time so they don't offend unnecessarily; people who can say "no" nicely.

· Someone who is meticulous about details - writing down directions on how to get to a location, the exact times, who will be at the event, who will meet you there, who will introduce you?

· Someone who finds out exactly what is expected of you when you arrive - do you speak? If so, for how long; on what?

18.) Start the search process for a press secretary (but first make sure that you have the right view of the news media).

You shouldn't be paranoid - but neither should you be naive. Just keep in mind that, yes, reporters are biased - and their bias is for news ... news from whatever source, even a conservative Republican.

Reporters tend to be more liberal than the general electorate, and tend to be more cynical and distrusting of politicians. But they would prefer to have a lively race to cover - and that favors the challenger! The vast majority of them sincerely want to be fair, so don't lose an advantage by assuming that a reporter is the enemy. If you believe the latter, your belief will be self-fulfilling. Reporters will pick up on your attitude.

Follow Ronald Reagan's example. He got his message through the media much better than Carter and Mondale - despite his conservatism. He understood the importance of remaining upbeat and winning at public relations. So, in talking with would-be press secretaries, make sure of one thing: that they respect reporters and would work hard to win the respect of reporters for you and your campaign.

#19. Prepare a list of media outlets in the district and get an idea of advertising costs so you can be realistic in estimating your budget for media.

This is where an advertising agency or media placement firm can easily help you. What you spend on advertising will likely be the largest item in your campaign budget. To understand your district, and to understand what the budget should be, you need to understand the media make-up of your area.

#20. Develop a list of people who might volunteer to work for you on the campaign.

Look for effective field organizers - but be wary of boastful claims. It is harder these days to get people to donate their time to a campaign - people are busier or more stressed out or watching more TV.

The reasons are somewhat obscure, but it is not easy to mobilize large numbers of people to canvass every voter household in the district. It's rarer and rarer that campaigns are successful that way. However, don't give up on utilizing volunteers. They are especially important to challenger campaigns to make up for the money advantage the incumbent usually enjoys.

#21. Even though it's early in the campaign, begin to jot down any ideas you have or hear on strategy.

Even if the ideas aren't on target, you at least begin the process of elimination- ideas that don't work, assumptions that are rejected.

Hopefully you'll have one principle strategist (perhaps it's your general consultant or campaign manager, or campaign chairman or whomever) but at some point it's best to have one mind synthesizing the ideas of many different people, from many different sources ­polling, research, media coverage, the press secretary, your field organizers and so on. A good strategist will feel accountable. He or she will be able to realize that the strategy must be clear and explainable and not some mish-mash of compromise and half-baked ideas. There is no set formula for winning.

Each campaign is different - the opponent is unique, the district is unique, you are unique, the election climate is unique, the people in your campaign are unique. The strategy must be tailored to fit your unique condition.

A good strategy always evolves - the winning strategy is not apparent right from the start, and it's going to have to be flexible enough to adjust for the unexpected changes in your opponent's strategy, the media coverage and new issues that suddenly emerge nationally and locally. But it's not too early to jot down some of the assumptions that consciously or unconsciously are shaping your decisions about hiring, spending and scheduling.

A cautionary note about strategy. Beware the Washington D.C. syndrome. Don't look to the national party for your strategy and reality. Your district looks a lot different 600 or 900 miles away from inside a party committee, by someone who might not have ever set foot in your district. So when you are discussing your race with D.C. operatives, be confident in your own grounding - and of course know what you're talking about. But don't be discouraged if they are not encouraging, they probably don't know as much as you presume they know.

#22. Have good photographs taken of you and your family.

You want some black and white glossies for the newspaper and for a brochure of your own. The picture of you with your family might also be used, of course, for the campaign brochure. You'll also probably want to have a horizontal color slide done at the same time so that you can give them to local television stations for possible use in news stories.

#23. Talk to political media consultants and/or advertising agencies about your advertising needs.

You might not be advertising for many months, but you'll want the firm responsible for your message and image to be thinking and planning well in advance. You don't want them doing catch up research on you and the campaign right before they're to come up with a TV spot. You want them involved early.

A couple of things to keep in mind about your advertising. Experts in corporate advertising are NOT necessarily experts in political advertising. Selling and positioning a candy bar is not the same thing as introducing a new candidate or communicating issues.

Also, keep in mind the difference between production value and persuasive value. Candidates are often impressed by slick commercials. Let's face it, no one wants his or her image conveyed in a lack­luster or amateurish way. But what impresses voters more is sincerity. If your advertising is too cute, or contrived, or too fake, voters are quickly turned off. Above all, they want candidates they can trust. So don't rush into hiring an ad agency or a media consultant. Make sure they have the values you want, respect for you and your ideas, and respect for the voters.

#24. Poll several pollsters before hiring.

Talking to pollsters about polling can be very useful. Don't be shy about admitting what you don't know. They are happy to explain the so-called science of survey research and what it can and can't do.

At the same time realize that these people are in business. They need customers to exist, so they want you to do as much polling as practical. Yet, to be fair, they're quite sincere in urging you to poll early and often for reasons other than their making money.

They want you to take an early poll, for example, before you announce so that if there is a clearer message that you should be driving home, you can do it right off. I have to admit, I'm very skeptical of early polling for challenger candidates in districts where incumbents are well known and fairly popular because, number one, the poll is going to say that the incumbent is well ­known and popular (and that you aren't). That could be demoralizing to a candidate and campaign. Candidates and their supporters invariably hope that their numbers are going to be surprisingly good. Rarely does that ever happen.

It may well be better to use polling in the later stages of the campaign, when in fact it's going to have an impact on how you spend your money and how you craft your advertise message. Talk to more than one pollster before hiring.