be more relaxed and really tell people what they want to hear for the school. say if you know a thing a lot of people do but it is not applied at your school, tell the school that you will bring it in. and do
Come up with a snazzy slogan. DO NOT stoop to ugly politics. You don't want to win on those terms. Running against your friend is a tricky thing to do. You run the risk of losing her as a friend.
I hate to break it to you, but it is a popularity contest
the best thing to do is go up to every single student, and write down what they want done differently at their school and *only* if you can, promise them it if they vote for you.