So, I'm still employed. Barely.
Long story short, thanks to some kind of data-entry snafu, I have no way of proving I've actually done anything here for the last three weeks or so. Granted, I know what I've done, my campaign knows what I've done, the local party knows what I've done, and my candidate knows what I've done. All of them, by the way, are quite pleased with my job performance so far...
...but that's just not good enough for the state party, who are the ones who are currently signing my paychecks.
So my immediate supervisor made the long-ass road-trip from the state capital to my new home city today to give me an earful. So I did the only thing I knew I could do: I stacked the deck in my favor. I had my campaign manager, my field guy, the county party chairman, AND my candidate show up before my arrival to sing my praises loudly. This little impromptu bit of street theater was, in all likelihood, the ONLY thing that saved my ass this time around. But he made it amply clear that this is my LAST "wake-up call," as he put it.
So now I've got to start keeping a rediculous paper trail for all my activities. I'm all for accountability, don't get me wrong. And I'll adhere to his field plan as best as I can. But saving ALL of my old call sheets, separated by date? Maintaining a Google calendar to let him know exactly what I'm doing and when I'm doing it, all day, every day? Having to get direct approval from him before I can go to ANY community event?
I call bullshit.
It gets worse. We've got a canvass going out tomorrow in one of my northern counties. Since he's been riding my ass since I got here about the fact I haven't gone canvassing yet (never mind that I couldn't, seeing as I had no literature to distribute), I went ahead and reported the good news. Which was apparently the wrong thing to do, since I didn't directly recruit the volunteers myself. I thought the whole point of building professional relationships was to be able to tap into the volunteer networks that are already established here. There's no need to re-invent the wheel every election cycle. So who cares if it was the candidate's campaign who recruited the volunteers and not me? At least the work is getting done, right?
So seriously, what the hell.
I've been working campaigns since 1990. (Yeah, I know. I got off to a VERY early start.) I can't help but wonder, what exactly was HE doing in 1990? Somehow, I seriously doubt he was out canvassing neighbourhoods himself. It should be fairly obvious by now that I know what the hell I'm doing and don't need him looking over my shoulder constantly to make sure I'm doing it. If he wanted to do that, he should've hired me to work in the same office he does. But, whatever. I'm going to grin and bear it -- for now. Believe it or not, this is NOT the worst campaign I've ever worked on. So, if he insists on micro-managing (which he claims he doesn't want to do), I'll let him do his thing....
...at least until the primary is over with, 11 days from now. After that, we shall see. My resignation letter is already written and ready to send...you know, just in case.
Long story short, thanks to some kind of data-entry snafu, I have no way of proving I've actually done anything here for the last three weeks or so. Granted, I know what I've done, my campaign knows what I've done, the local party knows what I've done, and my candidate knows what I've done. All of them, by the way, are quite pleased with my job performance so far...
...but that's just not good enough for the state party, who are the ones who are currently signing my paychecks.
So my immediate supervisor made the long-ass road-trip from the state capital to my new home city today to give me an earful. So I did the only thing I knew I could do: I stacked the deck in my favor. I had my campaign manager, my field guy, the county party chairman, AND my candidate show up before my arrival to sing my praises loudly. This little impromptu bit of street theater was, in all likelihood, the ONLY thing that saved my ass this time around. But he made it amply clear that this is my LAST "wake-up call," as he put it.
So now I've got to start keeping a rediculous paper trail for all my activities. I'm all for accountability, don't get me wrong. And I'll adhere to his field plan as best as I can. But saving ALL of my old call sheets, separated by date? Maintaining a Google calendar to let him know exactly what I'm doing and when I'm doing it, all day, every day? Having to get direct approval from him before I can go to ANY community event?
I call bullshit.
It gets worse. We've got a canvass going out tomorrow in one of my northern counties. Since he's been riding my ass since I got here about the fact I haven't gone canvassing yet (never mind that I couldn't, seeing as I had no literature to distribute), I went ahead and reported the good news. Which was apparently the wrong thing to do, since I didn't directly recruit the volunteers myself. I thought the whole point of building professional relationships was to be able to tap into the volunteer networks that are already established here. There's no need to re-invent the wheel every election cycle. So who cares if it was the candidate's campaign who recruited the volunteers and not me? At least the work is getting done, right?
So seriously, what the hell.
I've been working campaigns since 1990. (Yeah, I know. I got off to a VERY early start.) I can't help but wonder, what exactly was HE doing in 1990? Somehow, I seriously doubt he was out canvassing neighbourhoods himself. It should be fairly obvious by now that I know what the hell I'm doing and don't need him looking over my shoulder constantly to make sure I'm doing it. If he wanted to do that, he should've hired me to work in the same office he does. But, whatever. I'm going to grin and bear it -- for now. Believe it or not, this is NOT the worst campaign I've ever worked on. So, if he insists on micro-managing (which he claims he doesn't want to do), I'll let him do his thing....
...at least until the primary is over with, 11 days from now. After that, we shall see. My resignation letter is already written and ready to send...you know, just in case.
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Hows things goin?