Phil: For the candidates, Election Day can’t come soon enough. They have been living and breathing for your vote since last January, if not before. They begin every day thinking voters wake up to find out how your campaign is doing. Except they aren’t. Till right about now.

Ethan: I bet you remember those days like I do. Campaigning in near obscurity for months suddenly turns into a frenzy. Every moment and dollar counts and every moment and dollar disappears more quickly than you can fathom.

Phil: Candidates, their family and loyal supporters have my admiration regardless of party. It’s tough putting your heart and soul into the daily pursuit of attracting voters to your side. Bad weather on Election Day or a simple misstep can vaporize all the momentum built over the last months.

Ethan: Even worse, many races are determined by factors well beyond the candidate’s control. Like a Republican running in Portland or a Democrat running in rock-ribbed Republican Piscaquis County. For congressional or statewide candidates, their fate is often influenced by national, economic or historical issues over which they have no control.

Phil: All candidates need to have a well-managed plan for money and people. Without a competent manager, things can quickly turn to chaos. And of course handling the unexpected push poll or negative ad can put the candidate on the defensive unless he is ready.

Ethan: Let’s not forget those special-interest political action committees who ambush and/or pleasantly surprise with unexpected attacks or support.

Phil: As renowned political strategist Christian Potholm often opined, it’s your supporters who do the most harm by telling you what you want to hear, not what you need to know. Or they focus time and money on people who are already going to vote for you, or who will never do so in a million years, rather than on people you need to win over.

Ethan: So true. Sadly, your friends are often the ones giving you the worst advice. Telling you to focus on some obscure issue. I remember someone in Portland once wanting me to focus my state Senate campaign on the low pay crossing guards receive. I agreed with the issue, but it obviously was not an issue at the heart of why people send someone to the Legislature.

Phil: And what about pollsters? Candidates pay big money for them, yet too often they only tell you what voters thought a week ago. Meanwhile, good news is released by the candidate as proof he is winning and bad news buried for no one to see.

Ethan: The worst pollsters are the ones you mention. Those who simply show you the horse race. In order to be useful, they need to provide a messaging path to victory. It is very hard, but imperative to success.

Phil: Even as campaigns have become more high tech through social media and targeting, they still must remain high touch. Candidates who think they can “mail it in” will likely lose.

Ethan: Agreed. Show me the candidate with calloused knuckles and I’ll show you a winner.

Phil: You weren’t referring to “knuckle draggers,” were you?

Ethan: No, no. While I am sure there are some of those out there on the campaign trail, no amount of door knocking will win them votes (we hope, anyway!).

Phil: So, as candidates go into the final days of the emotional roller coaster, any final words of advice?

Ethan: Just keep reminding yourself why you decided to do this in the first place. It is so easy to lose sight of the original spark. The dirty river. The inadequate schools. The high cost of health care.

Phil: Or the cumbersome regulation and high taxes. Do you remember what first got you into running?

Ethan: Yeah, it was seeing kids in jail. It felt like we, as a society, had failed miserably when a 12-year-old child was sitting in a cell every night in South Portland. It isn’t the issue I have focused on the most in politics, but it provided the spark and has always been present. What first sparked you?

Phil: As a 10-year-old, I served as a page when my grandfather was a representative. Two decades later, I took my 10-year-old daughter to the State House to meet Gov. McKernan. It happened to be during the state shutdown and the meanest partisanship of the John Martin, Charlie Pray era. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Protesters holding signs telling McKernan to go to the same place as his recently deceased son. I decided to run and change the way we treat one another. The way Maine used to be, as it were.

Ethan: Well, you certainly have lived up to that standard with me. And for that, I am grateful.

Phil: As hip as you may be, you are actually kind of old-school when it comes the way politics should be in Maine. I too am grateful.

Ethan: Well, let’s hope the winners in two weeks are able to do the same.

Phil: Hear, hear. And good luck to them all.