UPDATE: A reader wrote in with another helpful suggestion to help future candidates avoid Perlmutter’s mistakes. See 1A.
A number of political outfits in Colorado have made some pretty rookie mistakes recently, from poor photoshop decisions to union attack websites that forgot to spellcheck. In an effort to improve the professionalism of politics in Colorado, here are 6 ways to avoid effing up your political paraphernalia.
1) Don’t Mess With Minorities: Don’t photoshop them in or out of photos. People notice and it never helps.
1a) Know Your “Foreigners”: If you are going to attack an opponent for outsourcing, don’t use an American citizen and veteran as the face of it. You’ll be accused of both racism and stupidity.
2) Spell Check: Always check that your grammar and spelling are correct, most especially if your site, mailer or yard sign is related to education issues. Yes, we’re talking about you, AFL-CIO/Douglas County Classrooms.
3) Make Sure They’re Colorado Mountains: If you’re going to use photos of mountains in your campaign schwag, just ensure they’re in Colorado.
4) Made In The USA: Don’t buy campaign t-shirts or hats made in China. For Democrats, check that they have the union bug on them signifying they were made in a union shop. For Republicans, the reverse is true — make sure they don’t have a union bug.
5) Campaign Staff Are Not Constituents: Ed Perlmutter learned this the hard way when his campaign staff accidentally uploaded raw cuts of a web ad to YouTube, exposing an alleged constituent as nothing more than a campaign staffer play acting.
6) Don’t Let Your Mailer Step On Your Message: If you’re sending out mail about the importance of hiring in-state workers, don’t do it with an out-of-state mail firm. Right, Evie Hudak?