Student Profile: Calvin Blaylock

Name: Calvin Blaylock

From: Currently in Washington, DC; originally from Washington, Missouri

Occupation/Education: Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Development at The Heritage Foundation, and 2018 graduate of the University of Missouri

Campaign-In-A-Days Attended: Forge 2020

American Majority’s Campaign-In-A-Day experience primed me for future campaign leadership positions by modeling the challenges that I’ll experience in a real-life campaign – and most importantly, equipping me to overcome those obstacles to successfully elect a candidate.

During our Campaign-In-A-Day simulation, I served as my campaign’s Director of Fundraising and Finance. My main responsibilities included assembling an advisory committee of community leaders, bringing the candidate to donor events, and strategizing how to spend our campaign’s resources. With limited time and funds, my direction helped our team pursue the most fruitful opportunities available to earn our constituents’ votes.

One significant takeaway was how to prioritize tasks and efficiently manage time. Each round of the activity required us to bounce between times of group decision-making and individual work before submitting a finished product. This greatly put our abilities in time management to the test. With strict deadlines to complete tasks, we were motivated to stay vigilant and organized. Surprise twists throughout the simulation tested our adaptability to shift campaign strategies on a moment’s notice. From crafting press releases, to writing stump speeches, to developing answers, to potential debate questions – every leader on our campaign had to be prepared to publicly represent the candidate.

Another significant takeaway was how to craft a consistent messaging strategy based on a candidate’s unique strengths and weaknesses. Our campaign contemplated how our candidate should ideally be perceived in the district based on their policy priorities, as well as how the opposition would go about detracting from our core messages. During our face-off with the competing candidate, we put this messaging approach into practice while confronting real-time opposition.

The main challenges of Campaign-In-A-Day were the intense pace and having to maintain strong internal communication. The rapid tempo required major strategic choices to be made at a moment’s notice. If leaders were dispersed around the room for individual projects, we’d have to track down each member to convene an emergency meeting. Our campaign leadership needed to collaborate well together under immense pressure for the collective good of the team. We overcame this challenge by not making perfect the enemy of good, by specialization of tasks, and by balancing constructive criticism with meaningful encouragement.

The Campaign-In-A-Day simulation provides you with a tangible way to understand the appeals, challenges, and culture of working on a political campaign. Participating in a CIAD simulation is a valuable experience to determine whether or not campaigns are the type of political career you should pursue. To future attendees, I’d advise that you eagerly jump at opportunities to participate throughout the simulation. If a specific campaign role meshes with your passions, advocate for yourself to serve in that position. If you have advice on how to overcome the obstacles that your team faces, boldly share. If you’re curious to learn about a project that your teammate is completing, ask them to invite you into the process. The Campaign-In-A-Day is a great low-stakes learning opportunity, so be outgoing and never let the fear of failure prevent you from fully participating.