For years, Iâve watched the same story play out in American politics. A candidate is expected to win. The polls look good, the messaging sounds right, then election night comes, and somehow, they lose, and often by a lot.
When that happens, the usual excuses start flying. People blame demographics. They blame messaging. They blame personality. But after reading âRun Right: A Complete Election Playbook to Winâ by Cliff Maloney, itâs clear those explanations miss the real issue.
The truth is much simpler. The left organizes far better than the right.
The problem isnât ideas â itâs execution.
In his trademark style, Maloney makes a bold claim right out of the gate.
âConservatives donât have an ideas problem. They have an organization problem.â
While that may sound harsh, itâs proven by the outcomes weâve watched in horror for decades. Conservative voters show up with passion. They believe strongly in their values. But passion alone doesnât win elections.
Organization does.
Maloney isnât just talking theory here. As the head of Citizens Alliance, he has led teams that knocked on more than 9 million doors and played a role in over 400 campaign victories.
That kind of record matters. It means his advice isnât based on guesswork or even logical theories. It comes purely from real-world results.
Why âDisney politicsâ doesnât work.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is how it pushes back against what Maloney calls âDisney politics.â
Thatâs the myth that if you have good intentions, care about voters, and say the right things, youâll easily win elections. While that sounds great in theory, itâs unfortunately not how politics works; it only works in cartoon movies written for children.
In reality, politics is about power. It always has been.
Maloney explains that elections are often won by groups that are smaller, but better organized, while larger groups lose because they lack structure and discipline.
As I said earlier, politics is ultimately about power. Unfortunately, the left is well organized, far better than the right. That gives them the power to win elections, which then in turn gives them the political power to implement policy which ends up harming the very communities they allege to be helping.
That explains why incumbents win so often even when voters claim they donât like them.
Respect comes from strength, not access.
Itâs also important to highlight the subtle difference between access and power.
Many grassroots activists mistakenly believe that if they build relationships with their elected officials, theyâll have influence with them. But Maloney says thatâs not how it works.
He states plainly: âUnless you are politically feared, you will not be politically respected.â
That line stands out because it destroys a common misunderstanding. In politics, respect doesnât come from being liked. It comes from being able to affect outcomesâ especially elections.
If a politician knows you canât help or hurt their chances of winning, your opinion wonât carry much weight.
âRun Rightâ explains the nuts and bolts of winning.
Where âRun Rightâ really stands out is in its practical advice. The book breaks down campaigns into clear actionable steps. It walks readers through everything from picking the right district to building a budget, raising money and managing volunteers, all from Maloneyâs real world case studies of wins.
But one of the most useful sections focuses on targeting voters.
Instead of going for volume and simply knocking on random doors, Maloney explains how to build a âtarget universe.â That means separating voters into groups âyour base, people you can persuade, and those who will probably never support you. Then youâll focus your efforts on the voters who matter most.
It sounds simple, but many campaigns donât do this well. They waste time and resources chasing voters who will never support them, while ignoring the ones who will.
Door knocking still wins elections.
In a world filled with social media and slick digital ads, some people think old-school tactics donât matter anymore. Maloney strongly disagrees.
His work shows that knocking on doors and speaking directly with voters is still one of the most effective ways to win elections. Itâs also worth noting that since most people have abandoned old school tactics like door knocking, itâs essentially low hanging fruit that can move the needle in a huge way.
That approach played a role in efforts all across the country. In 2024, he was hired by Charlie Kirk to launch PA CHASE, an operation comprised of 124 people responsible for knocking over 510,000 doors in order to boost the share of Trumpâs vote by nearly 13 percentage points among mail-in votes from 22% in the fight against Joe Biden to 34.5% in the battle against Kamala Harris. And it can be seen in examples from Ron DeSantis, Lauren Boebert, Byron Donalds and others in the MAGA coalition as well.
Itâs not flashy. Itâs not exciting. Itâs gritty and it works.
What happens after you win?
Most campaign books focus on how to win, but few talk about what happens next.
Maloney doesnât ignore that part because winning is just the first step, and frankly, the least important part of the equation. Thatâs because a win is meaningless if it doesnât result in meaningful legislation.
He points out that many politicians donât fail because theyâre corrupt. They fail because it becomes easy to drift away from their principles.
They get complacent because they listen to the wrong people. And when that happens, they start focusing more on staying in office than on why they ran in the first place.
Thatâs a warning worth paying attention to. Winning an election is only the beginning â staying focused on your mission of implementing conservative policies is the real challenge.
There are risks facing the movement.
Looking ahead, Maloney warns about two dangers that could hurt conservatives in the future.
The first is relying too much on any one person. Some believe everything depends on leaders like Donald Trump. But movements that depend on one figure often struggle when that figure is gone. The movement becomes unscalable.
The second danger is thinking that talking about issues is enough. Commentary matters, but it doesnât replace the hard work of building campaigns and organizing voters to take action.
Real change requires structure. It requires systems. It demands that people are willing to do the hard work on the ground. Thatâs always been a challenge for the right because weâre typically busy working, running businesses, and leading our local communities. That absolutely needs to change for the future of America.
A blueprint that demands action.
âRun Rightâ is not a subtle book. Nothing from Maloney ever is. It doesnât try to be neutral, because itâs clearly written for conservatives who want to win elections.
But even people outside of that world can learn from it. At its core, the book is about execution. Itâs about turning ideas into results. And that lesson applies to far more than politics.
For years, the Left has focused heavily on building systems and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Right has often relied on energy and momentum. Maloney argues that needs to change and heâs absolutely right.
Because in the end, elections arenât won by the side with the best arguments. Theyâre won by the side that shows up, puts in the work, and follows through to convert voters.
Thatâs not a theory. Itâs a fact proven time and time again.
The only question is whether the right is willing to act on it.
Nate Jurewicz is a citizen journalist covering politics and real estate, both local to Florida, and on a national level, as well a conservative political activist and aspiring politician.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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