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How to be an effective Precinct Committeeman.

By: Brian Hibbert (Diary)  |  October 22nd, 2010 at 08:23 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Last night, MRiggio I attended a seminar given by our local county party entitled “How to be an effective Precinct Committeeman.”

After hearing the stump speeches of some of our local candidates (good people, one and all), we heard from a man who has been a precinct committeeman in our county since the days of Goldwater. In fact, the way he described his entry into politics as an enthusiastic Goldwater supporter reminded me of the way many Tea Party activists are getting involved today. It seems he was part of a group of political neophytes who didn’t think Goldwater was getting enough support, so they started supporting him themselves. They even opened a local campaign office for Goldwater on their own. The really telling part was that he said many of the old guard came around wondering who these guys were and were worrying that they were going to take over the party (sound familiar?). Anyway, enough of the history and on to the lessons…..

The big secret to winning elections and being a GREAT precinct committeeman is…

Wait for it…….

Knock on doors and talk to your neighbors.

That’s it. It’s the single most effective way to win elections. A person from the neighborhood having a one on one discussion with his neighbors is going to get more people to vote and get more people to vote for the candidates you promote. That’s a simple fact and the best way to build support.

Some of the other items he suggested:

The best time to knock on doors is on Halloween. People are already expecting to have visitors and are more receptive to being interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s also only 2 days before the election so the visit will be fresh on election day.

Have a packet of campaign flyers to hand the person and/or write your own letter explaining why you support the particular candidates. I just spent about 2 weeks stuffing envelopes for a mailing to 46,000 people with the flyers, so I’ll probably write a short letter of support instead.

Be HONEST. Don’t sugar coat things or lie about the opposition. Tell them legitimate reasons WHY your candidate is better. For example: our candidate for 10th Judicial Circuit Judge, John Vespa, has experience with both criminal and civil cases and was a police officer before becoming a lawyer, the Democrat is a very good lawyer that specializes in JUST Insurance law. A circuit judge needs to be experienced in both types of law.

If you are honest, people will trust your opinion for future elections (Oh, didn’t I tell you? Being Precinct Committeeman is a long term plan to move this country back to the right and get honest people elected to public office.)

Plan your list ahead of time. You can get walking lists from Voter Vault or from your county clerk that identify the hard R’s and independents. Knocking on the door of a hard D may be counter productive, he said you don’t want to stir them up and remind THEM to vote, but we DO want to get the R’s and R leaners out. (I think we should be reaching out to the D’s, but this close to the election, he’s probably right.) Contact your county headquarters if you don’t know how to get either of these.

Be a poll watcher. Get an alphabetical list of voters in your area and check them off as they come in to vote. Towards the end of the day, about an hour before the polls close, start calling the hard R’s that you haven’t seen yet. Many of them intended to vote, but just forgot and will hurry to the polls. He said he’s had many close races over the years decided by a margin of votes that is less than the number of calls he made at the end of the day. If EVERYONE in EVERY PRECINCT did this, we’d never lose an election.

There’s probably a few pointers I forgot. If so, I hope MRiggio can fill in the gaps.

Finally, if you aren’t a precinct committeeman yet…. GET OFF YOUR DUFF and DO SOMETHING! All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to stand by and do nothing. You’re all good people so DO SOMETHING.

Go to the Precinct Project and the Concord Project for information or just call your local county GOP and ask how YOU can be a Precinct Committeeman too.

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  • http://lheal.amplify.com Socrates

    Anyone can do it, and an unofficial person will sometimes be better.

    If you can, make a list of the candidates you support on 1/4 sheet of paper. Ask people to stick it on their bulletin board or fridge.

    For the official PCs:

    Carry the literature around, in packets. Some candidates have door hanger bags. These are great, because you can put swag like pencils and nail files in the bags. Put your own card in the bag, and tell the people to call you or get you online if they have any questions, would they like a yard sign, or want to volunteer. Maybe 1 in 100 will want to, but you have to ask everyone.

    Find out what kind of voter each person is. They’ll tell you, whether they mean to or not, or close enough for your needs. Are they an uninterested indy, a traditional R, a pro-life D, whatever. Do two things with that information.

    First:
    For the Republicans: make sure they come out to vote for our candidates on November 2, the first Tuesday after Holloween.

    For the “i-like-whoever-has-good-ads” indies: Nationalize the election. It’s about the spending, and the taxes that are sure to come from it. Or whatever their national issues are, our candidates are good for them. Here’s the list. They’re all great.

    For the D’s: Make sure they know that this Democratic Party is more interested in Karl Marx than FDR (don’t bother telling them that FDR was more into Marx than FDR). Then wish them good luck in the Democrat election on Wednesday, Nov 3. Yes, of course I’m kidding. Don’t mention the date at all unless they say they’re crossing over.

    Second:
    Write down every contact. You can’t possibly remember the hot buttons of every voter, so jot it down. It’s not a waste of effort if you fail to note it, but you will have less work down the road if you know what your precinct looks like.

    • JadedByPolitics

      it works better if you are a Committeeman/woman :)

      • Brian Hibbert

        It’s what I’ve been preaching for years and it’s why Cold Warrior started the precinct project.

        We have to take over the party.

        The little comment about Goldwater enthusiasts above should be instructive. While those guys didn’t instigate a coup to take over the party, they DID join up as PCs and work their precincts. A few years later they had a majority of the party and were able to nominate none other than the Great Ronaldus Magnus for president. It’s THAT sort of take over that I’m looking for. It’s a slower approach, but in the fullness of time it will yield much fruit.

    • Brian Hibbert

      And yes, anyone can do the door knocking but….

      1. If you’re going to be doing the job, get the title. Like Jaded mentioned, it’s the precinct committeemen/women that influence the direction of the PARTY as a whole.

      2. As a precinct committeeman, you get automatic right to be a poll watcher (but get your poll watcher certificate from your county chair).

      3. As a precinct committeeman, you also get the right to be a voter registrar. You’ll need to get sworn in and get your paperwork from the county clerk’s office. (At least that’s the process in Illinois.)

      4. You get all that mail addressed to “The Honorable Socrates” (I know, it’s fluff, but it’s also kind of cool the first few times you’re addressed that way.)

      5. When you go to candidate forums, the candidates look for YOU instead of you having to find THEM. They’re also more likely to pay attention to your very wise and honorable thoughts than they would to some schmo without the job. It may not be the ideal situation, but they really do take PCs more seriously than just regular folks.

      I like your suggestion for the indies, except what’s been working around here is to make it a state level issue rather than nationalizing it. With this state in such a financial ruin, that’s what’s been resonating. Of course the candidate I’ve been pushing the hardest is for a State Rep that both parties have turned into a tier 1 race so that may be distorting the local issues a bit.

      P.S. I was manning the local GOP HQ yesterday and a sweet older woman that I am acquainted with walked in and said she’s always voted Dem before, but this year has ALREADY voted Republican. She’s finally fed up with the BS of the Dems. I think it’s a good sign.

      • http://lheal.amplify.com Socrates

        I only said to nationalize the indies because people outside our state read here. But actually, I do end up mostly going with the state budget mess, since Washington seems a lot more distant than Springfield.

        [And then I went on and on for several paragraphs. I'm turning it into a diary.]

  • mriggio

    And equally excellent commentary afterward.

    Two quick comments: First, kudos to you personally and to your faithful volunteers for a yeoman’s effort in stuffing 46,000 plus mailings to our electorate. The postage expense (first class, no less!) is only exceeded by the wonderful sweat equity in this important project.

    Second, the remark our elder PC coach/speaker made that most stuck in my mind was this: he’s become such a familiar and reliable person in his precinct over the years, that VOTERS CALL HIM AND ASK WHO THEY SHOULD VOTE FOR! To me, this is the most enviable goal we should be aiming to achieve. When your own reputation is such that the local folks, who, for whatever reasons, aren’t as ‘up to speed’ on politics, actually seek out your guidance as the election nears.

    How did he get there? Just as Brian says, knock on doors, be friendly and honest, downplay the negativity but boost your side’s positives, and just be out there, offering help. All the rest follows.

    Folks, it ain’t rocket science, just good old common sense and shoe leather. And yes, just like cold-calling, expect some rejection, but don’t let it, or the pet dogs, rain on your work ethic. Now, let’s please GOTV, OK? Thanks, and cheers!

    • mriggio

      Either my ‘puter is unwell, or the site/interwebs are malfunctioning, but Brian’s excellent diary on How to be an Effective PC isn’t showing up in the right hand column titled Member Diaries; the only way to get here is click on a comment; is it me, or is it Memorex? Thanks again!

      • http://lheal.amplify.com Socrates

        The comments have been especially good.

      • George Neitz

        of the list apparently, I guess enough people did not recommend the diary too bad cause it really hits the point well.

        • mriggio
    • Brian Hibbert

      they WILL call you to ask your advise. Thanks for reminding me, but that was really the main reason to be totally honest with your neighbors. Always.

      Go ahead and tell them that Mark Kirk is not your ideal candidate, but you recommend a vote for him anyway because his flaws are minor in comparison to those of Alexi Gianoulias.

      Above all, for LONG TERM SUCCESS we want to build trust. We want to leave the impression that rank and file Republicans are trustworthy (in my experience it’s more true than not). There’s no quicker way to lose a voter forever than to lie to them.

      And in case I didn’t emphasize it enough. this is a long term plan it’s going to take time to rebuild the trust of independents. We have to get back to the level where the Democrat fabrications just look silly to most Americans. Unfortunately, right now, the wilder the accusation, the more the independent believe.

  • ocleverone

    .

    • Brian Hibbert
      • penguin2

        with your hands on effort, and I was thrilled to see that mriggio and you have met up. Two great conservatives working for the Cause. :)

  • Donald Ayotte

    In Delaware, we call ourselves “Elective District,” Committeepersons.
    Same Job, different title.
    I agree that knocking on doors in my Elective District is the key to winning. They are the people that I see at the gas station, the grocery or at church and they know that I am their Committeeperson. I ask them their opinions and I REALLY LISTEN. I tell them what is going on in the state legislature and why. I keep them informed.
    This strategy wins elections.

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