President Election Help

GSII · #1 11-24-2011, 06:35 PM

Hey everyone and Happy Thanksgiving! I'm new to this forum so I hope you guys can help out a newbie!

We have our elections coming up this Tuesday and I'm running for President against one other person. Basically the election is me, the serious person who wants to get stuff done, versus the popular fun guy. Both of us have the exact same Executive board experience, but I have held more minor positions, and have done much much more for our fraternity.

While I'll admit that i'm not the perfect candidate for President, but the thing that separates me from him is that he is the type that wants our meetings to be a mini-party, leaves everything to the last minute, is always busy with school (I'm riding the AP Credit train so I can take 4 courses the next two semester), and doesn't have the ability to take charge of a situation. He's a talker and has all these good ideas, but his actions and plans start and end in his
Mouth. In important situations he will hope that they'll resolve itself or someone else will deal with it. I'm the polar opposite so my Brothers are seeing me as the enforcer instead of the fun guy who wants to party 24/7. Right now our chapter is in a very vulnerable state since we lost a lot of dedicated Brothers, there's a huge sentiment of apathy, so we need someone who can take charge.

Has anyone that has been in this situation have any advice they can give so I can hopefully win the election? I plan on calling all of our Brothers this weekend, at least I know that they won't be too busy over the break, but does anyone have any advice on what I can say or do to our Brothers to pursuade them to vote for me?

Psi U MC Vito · #2 11-25-2011, 06:40 PM

You need to be able to articulate why you would make a good president, not why the other guy would make a bad one. It makes you seem bitter.

Kevin · #3 11-26-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSII

Hey everyone and Happy Thanksgiving! I'm new to this forum so I hope you guys can help out a newbie!

We have our elections coming up this Tuesday and I'm running for President against one other person. Basically the election is me, the serious person who wants to get stuff done, versus the popular fun guy. Both of us have the exact same Executive board experience, but I have held more minor positions, and have done much much more for our fraternity.

While I'll admit that i'm not the perfect candidate for President, but the thing that separates me from him is that he is the type that wants our meetings to be a mini-party, leaves everything to the last minute, is always busy with school (I'm riding the AP Credit train so I can take 4 courses the next two semester), and doesn't have the ability to take charge of a situation. He's a talker and has all these good ideas, but his actions and plans start and end in his
Mouth. In important situations he will hope that they'll resolve itself or someone else will deal with it. I'm the polar opposite so my Brothers are seeing me as the enforcer instead of the fun guy who wants to party 24/7. Right now our chapter is in a very vulnerable state since we lost a lot of dedicated Brothers, there's a huge sentiment of apathy, so we need someone who can take charge.

Has anyone that has been in this situation have any advice they can give so I can hopefully win the election? I plan on calling all of our Brothers this weekend, at least I know that they won't be too busy over the break, but does anyone have any advice on what I can say or do to our Brothers to pursuade them to vote for me?

If I were you, I'd run on my record of getting stuff done. Tell folks what you have done in the past and followed through with it, then tell the explicitly what you will do in the future. Tell 'em that this election is about differences and it's up to them to decide which kind of leader (do not be negative about your opponent) they want next year.

Apathy is always a problem in fraternities. It's caused by not winning stuff, not doing well at Rush or not doing well socially. Whatever your chapter's focus is, you need to have a plan to turn that around by actually working together to accomplish something. Do y'all have a focus? Something your chapter has historically done well at? Have a plan to be great in that area again. Perhaps you come off as pushy, aggressive, etc., but maybe that's what your chapter needs? A swift kick in the ass?

You sound more like an ideal internal VP than a President. I hope you throw your hat into that race as well if things don't go well for you in the top job.

33girl · #4 11-27-2011, 12:00 AM

Honestly? You sound like you would be wasted as President. Remember the Pres is supposed to remain impartial. I agree with Kevin, you sound more like an internal VP or VP of operations (whatever your group calls that).

If the thing that's going to bug you is getting things done but not having the title...then you need to rethink why you want to hold any office in the first place.

DubaiSis · #5 11-27-2011, 06:12 AM

It was mentioned above but I think it bears repeating. People want to vote FOR things, not AGAINST. And going negative isn't cool in these types of elections. Yes, it might work, but you could do more damage to the organization than you hope to gain by better running the chapter once in the role.

I think the biggest secret in the world is the president doesn't actually DO anything, if he's doing it right anyway. He motivates, delegates, peace-keeps, etc. But if he's doing the actual work, he's doing it wrong. This popular fun guy may be more capable of getting the feet-draggers on board without actually doing anything himself than you could as the do it all himself guy. Just something to keep in mind. Of course I don't know you or the other guy, but assuming this guy is going to be a disaster may be seeing things a little skewed. Good luck to you and the chapter!

Church · #6 11-29-2011, 11:38 PM

You need to run based on what you want to accomplish.

I agree popluarity contests are not what makes for a good candidate. But neither does a candidate running on the "not him" platform.

Zeta_heart · #7 11-30-2011, 01:32 PM

I agree with the above posters, negativity is not a good way to begin anything. I was in a very similar situation when I ran for office. First thing you need to do is find out what is actually important to the chapter. If there is a lot of apathy in the chapter, as you have stated, they aren't going to be excited by the things you find important (even if they are important!). Find out what the chapter is looking for, what they see as the issues, and present to them an action plan on how you will lead the chapter to making these changes. Remeber, you cannot do everything yourself as president, it is the fastest way to stress yourself out and anger the chapter. Focus on the issues that are important to them, and how you will work together to make them. Tell the HOW. Get them excited about it. Good luck!