The Race for the Blaine House - An Inside View of Five Campaigns

Say you're fed up with politics. So fed up that you decide to run for public office. And not just any  office.Governor. The thing is, you have no political experience. You don't belong to any party. And  you only have four months to put together a winning campaign. This is where Shawn Moody found  himself last June. Independent producer Patty Wight spent over 90 hours with all five campaigns  in the race for the Blaine House, and tonight begins a five-part series on the view from inside the  campaigns.

If there is one thing that Shawn Moody is known for, it's that he's a nice guy. Humility may be a  virtue, but Moody says it made campaigning a real challenge. "Well, truthfully, the campaign has really got me out of my comfort zone in the sense - I'm not  a self-promoter." Getting your name out is one of the first and biggest challenges a candidate faces. One way to do  it is through something called "retail politicking": essentially, going out and meeting voters face to  face. So, one summer afternoon, Moody stopped by Sabre Yachts in Windham to take one of their  workshop tours, and attempt a little self-promotion. "Hi there. We're runnin' a little bit late. I  don't know if we're too late to get in on the tour." It's clear the receptionist doesn't know who Moody is. "I'm Shawn - Shawn Moody." Receptionist: "Nice to meet you." Moody: "How ya doin?" After the exchange, Moody is unaware that he left out some important information. Patty Wight: "So do you say, ya know, 'Hi - I'm Shawn Moody I'm running for governor.' Or do you  just talk to people and wait for them to sort of ask or figure it out?" Moody: "Well we just went in the office in there, you saw for yourself. How did that go?" Wight: "Well you didn't introduce yourself. I think you said, 'I'm Shawn Moody' - but I don't think  you said, 'I'm running for governor.'" Moody: "Did I leave that out?" Wight: "I think you did." Moody: "I've gotta get better at that." Shawn Moody is an outsider when it comes to politics. And when he set out on the campaign  trail, he thought that's precisely what would attract voters to him. "I don't have an axe to grind.  I don't have anybody's palm to grease. I'm just a working person with a family and I think people are  starving for that type of representation." To his credit, Moody has created a successful auto repair business that was just listed as one of the  top 40 places to work in Maine. He wanted to lead the state with the same philosophy he leads  Moody's Collision Centers: quality, efficiency, frugality, and compassion. The trick was getting that message out. And this is where frugality would play an important part.  Of the $500,000 Moody ultimately invested in his campaign, most of the money went into tv  advertising. Moody campaign consultant Dennis Bailey says money is critical in a major race, but it doesn't  guarantee success. "You have to have money to win. But you can have money and lose--the  landscape is littered with candidates who had all the money in the world and lost." Bailey says what matters is how you spend your money. Moody used what he called the  'small ball' approach: unconventional steps here and there that would hopefully lead to a home  run. Things like flying a campaign banner over beaches and fairs, or running ads on community  access stations. Moody had a steep mountain to climb. He jumped into the race in June after the party primaries,  and almost a year after most other candidates started. By September, he was polling at 5  percent. Still, Bailey saw an opening for Moody at the time. "I don't think the other Independents in the race are catching on. I do think Paul LePage has got  a substantial lead. I do think he's gonna come down, and the only question is how much and where  are those votes gonna go?" Bailey thought they'd go to Moody. In fact, he said, Moody's success ultimately depended on  Le Page's failure. "And it's tough to have a strategy based on another candidate failing, ya know? I  don't like to do that, but that's the position we're in right now." To open himself up for those potential votes, Moody needed to increase his name recognition.  Forums and debates were a good chance to do that. But there were dozens of them, hosted by  special interest groups, and focused on very specific topics. It took hours to prepare. The key, Bailey kept telling Moody, was to keep one thing in mind. "I always say, 'what do I want  to see in the headline tomorrow or in the story tomorrow about me?' And that's the game plan." Probably the best example of where this strategy may have worked for Moody was in the first  live televised debate on WGME in Augusta. He walked in armed and ready with a punch line. Dennis Bailey: "And our strategy was to sit back." Moody: "He said - these guys are gonna go at each other. It's primetime live tv. This is where it  happens." Debate: Sen. Libby Mitchell: "And you say you're going to cut everything." Moody: "Just be prepared, because you're probably gonna have an opening." Debate: "Mr. Cutler, your chance to respond, then we're gonna move on. Cutler: "Libby, I never..." Bailey: "And he just came in and said, ya know what?" Debate: Moody: "We've heard from the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Green Party, the  tea party. Well guess what? The party's over." Moody: "The party's over. That really had a ripple effect that no matter where I went for the next  couple of weeks. People really -- whether they were supporters or not -- they really connected with  that." The campaign saw this debate as a turning point, in which Moody seemed to be gaining momentum.  A new poll came out showing him on the heels of the leading independent Eliot Cutler. A few  days later, Moody was endorsed by the former chair of the State Republican party. Bailey: "Ya know, this is a game of perception, and part of it is momentum. Now we've got someone  that's been in the party saying - this guy can do it. It helps with people saying -- ok -- maybe this guy  is real or legitimate." In the final weeks, Moody won other endorsements. He had good performances in other debates.  But his polling numbers still hovered in the single digits, and republican Paul LePage maintained  his lead over the field. Moody says he remained hopeful to the end, but on election day he got just 5  percent of the vote. Moody: "One thing I will say is that those 5 percent are loyal supporters… You're not gonna move  them with a stick of dynamite!" At the start of this race, Moody figured that being a political outsider was an asset. He still believes  that. But, looking back, he says he may not have understood how it might also be seen as a liability. "What do the people of Maine want when they say they want someone who's got experience?  Ya know, do you want someone who has had experience and tremendous success in the private  sector and in life? Or do you want someone who's had experience in politics? Because politics is  what got us to this point." As for the lessons learned, Moody says he should have started earlier. He should have done a  better job selling the voters on his business experience. And despite his showing in the 2010  governor's race, he says he's not ready to close the book on politics just yet. "It's kinda like the beginning of -- we made that commitment to get into politics. To make that run,  and take away from that all the things that we've learned and all the people we've met and the  experience and build on it." Tomorrow, running on a shoestring: the campaign of Independent Kevin Scott. http://www.mpbn.net/News/MPBNNews/tabid/1159/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3762/ItemId/14635/ Default.aspx