Juanita Said:

I'm 23 years old and running for Maryland House of Delegates against 3 career politicians - any suggestions?

We Answered:

If you want to have a pretty good chance of blowing the Democrat opponents into the weeds, you could do no worse than learn some valuable lessons from how the Conservative Party over here in Britain have been enjoying a come back in recent years...... adapting them for use where you are.
The key things you need to be are:
- Candid, honest, and capable of making "off the cuff" answers to questions about policy
- Able to rip your opponents to shreds via humour with a large element of truth behind it
- Strong on fiscal & financial responsibility ("fiscal" = how tax payers money is spent)
- Hardworking & approachable.... do your research so you've got ammunition to nail your opponents with, and also get out there and meet the people you hope will vote for you.

One of the things that seemingly helped the Conservatives along the way was their "Stand up, Speak up" campaign a few years ago.......... which gave the public a chance to have their say on Policy (rather than just Politicians & Lobbyists, etc)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1…

Another thing they used is "Cameron Direct", where the party leader (and now British Prime Minister) David Cameron held public "town hall style" meetings with the public.... a bit like the big campaign rallies held in US Presidential elections, only smaller & more intimate (I guess).
http://www.conservatives.com/Get_involve…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopi…

Then there's the "Webcameron" video blog.... showing what goes on behind the scenes, etc
http://www.youtube.com/user/webcameronuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md0RWA5qe…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4l3SfgVn…

Another valuable lesson, and back to how doing your research properly reaps dividends in thrashing your opponents, something I saw during the recent British general election about a previous UK election: "During the campaign of 1992 Cameron would get up at 5am to scour the political stories in the press before briefing the prime minister."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/…
The Conservatives were expected (via the polls) to lose that election in 1992... however with the information gleaned from getting up early to do that research, they turned things round into a narrow victory.

Then there's the party's other "big hitters" who are well worth watching & learning from to see how Politics should be done.
First up, William Hague.... statesman like, dignified, history enthusiast, expert at oratory (debating / making speeches)... and also the master at tearing opponents apart via the use of humour rather than with slanging matches that could back-fire on you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Cj1b-rp…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geWERiWP7…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi19DQOow…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWEXv3C90…

Next up, Boris Johnson (Mayor of London)... incidently born in the city of New York, USA.
On the surface he may appear to be an eccentric gibbering idiot, look deeper... and there's another expert at debating, making speeches, and shredding opponents using the art of humour with an element of truth behind it (and another colourful character of modern politics):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phDcim82F…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2_D93XZE…
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetor…
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localg…

Daniel Hannan is another good 'un to learn from... British MEP, has a pretty big enthusiasm towards to the US Constitution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOVCJvDWs…
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/daniel…
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/daniel…
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/daniel…

Eric Pickles, former party chairman... now bringing a hefty dose of commonsense into the running of public services:
http://twitter.com/ericpickles
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localg…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/busines…

Another Brit worth learning from is John Redwood... he may be considered "dull", and nicknamed "the vulcan", but looking through his blog you'll see an economic genius and pick up some pretty good knowledge to use yourself:
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5826
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5435
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5264
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5463
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5460
http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=5155

On your side of the pond.... have a look what Glenn Beck has to say... some people say he's an over the top fruitcake, but look at the message he's trying to get across:
http://www.glennbeck.com/

Also keep tabs on what http://www.consumerfreedom.com/ has to say about what dirty tricks various activist groups such as P.E.T.A have been up to (indoctrinating kids behind parents backs + funding groups the FBI have been watching for Terrorist activity).