Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” yesterday announced his candidacy in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, currently held by Democrat Marcy Kaptur.
I especially liked the way Joe spoke about how each of us has a “civic responsibility” consisting of more than just showing up for jury duty. I believe we’ll be hearing more from Joe as his campaign unfolds about how one can carry out their “civic responsibility” by helping to Get Out The Vote, by volunteering to be a poll watcher or worker, and by participating, if possible, in party politics with respect to one’s precinct and local party committee.
Herman Cain’s stump speech often ended with the message of “Stay Informed,” “Stay Involved” and “Stay Inspired,” with short discussions of each point.
Last week I listened to Herman make those points again in Phoenix at an AZ GOP fundraiser where Herman was the keynote speaker. A little birdie ran into Mark Block during Herman’s speech (Mark was walking around observing the crowd’s reaction to the speech) and suggested that “Stay Involved” might be a bit obscure, and that the new message ought to be, at this point in the campaign for the presidency, to more specifically and concretely ask Herman’s supporters to “Get Involved.”
The little birdie explained that many in the audience, listening to Herman, want to, and are willing to, “get involved.” They want to “do something.” But, they don’t know what, specifically, they ought do to help their favored candidates. And that Herman ought to be telling his audiences exactly how he would like them to help his campaign and the Republican Party. And tell them how crucial GOTV will be in the 2012 elections. And that if Herman will ask them to do a bit more than usual, to make a few phone calls, perhaps, or actually walk a precinct, targeting the Republican voters who did not vote in the last two general elections, for example, then maybe we’ll greatly increase the number of Republican victories next year.
Herman had not yet gotten to the “Stay Involved” portion of the speech by the time the little birdie’s discussion with Mark ended, but Herman ended the speech with the same three points. That night, for example, after asking those in attendance to “Stay Involved,” he explained that obviously they were involved just by their attendance at the fundraising dinner for the AZ GOP. But, he then asked them, with a hearty, friendly yell, to “KICK IT UP A NOTCH!” A rousing round of applause followed. He added that “everyone can do something” and “do what you can do!”
Now Mark Block has succeeded in getting out that “Get Involved!” message to current and potential Cain supporters. Friends of Herman Cain sent out a video yesterday morning, and you’ve probably already watched it or at least heard about it:
The buzz over this video led to this interview on Fox News this morning with Megan Kelly, allowing the Cain campaign to again get out the main message to current and potential Cain supporters: the time has come to get involved with the Cain campaign.
Herman Cain promised that as an “unconventional” candidate he would run an unconventional campaign. It appears he and Mark Block are delivering on that promise.
Stay tuned — I believe the Cain campaign will provide more unconventional messaging for the American people. The little birdie gave Mark a few other ideas.
Yes, these Occupy Americans, at least in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 15, 2011 in downtown Phoenix, are somewhat dazed and confused when it comes to articulating what they believe with respect to whether President Obama has been an effective president and whether they will vote for him again. Enjoy!
This fellow really does not like Republicans.
Hey, Obama just needs four more years!
This courageous peacenik will vote for the warmonger again because he’s the lesser of two evils.
This fellow was a font of knowledge on a variety of subjects and will vote again for Obama even though it doesn’t seem to make much sense. Seems Obama just lacks a “popular movement” in the streets. Or something. And this fellow seems to really, really like FDR and his “jobs programs.”
This nice lady just thinks Obama needs more time to give us all free health care.
And this fellow is really, really torqued over Obama raiding the California medical marijuana freedom fighers’ stores.
And then we have this youngster who spoke for a couple of minutes during the “open mike” portion of the rally, basically presenting a litany of wants and desires which other people ought to pony up their money for to give him and his posse mo’ money, mo’ money.
The Occupy Phoenix freedom fighters were left with this parting shot to boost their morale.
I talked to many more Occupy Phoenix folks and more video will be posted elsewhere. I met many union members and government workers.
I come to Redstate just about every day and see comment after Diary after comment after Diary about this, that and the other thing about Republican Party politics.
And what I just about never see, in the sig lines of the contributors at Redstate, including the moderators/editors, is information relating to their participation in the Republican Party itself.
Me? I’m an elected precinct committeeman in Arizona’s no. 918 precinct. And an elected member of the Maricopa County Republican Committee Executive Guidance Council.
Hint: Guess who voted in the Republican Party of Florida straw poll the other day for Herman Cain? It wasn’t “mere” registered Republican Florida voters. It was those “mere” Republican Party registered voters who took the next step and became Republican Party of Florida precinct committeemen and who then got elected to become delegates to the Republican Party of Florida state committee functions. And then shelled out some hard-earned cash to cast a vote. And hard-earned cash and time to attend the event.
And you know why Herman Cain won the straw poll? Because more conservatives got involved in the Party as precinct committeemen and, in turn, elected more conservatives as delegates to the Republican Party of Florida get together that sponsored the straw poll.
So, who was driving this “narrative?” Bloggers? Or the Republican Party members who actually got involved in Party politics INSIDE the Republican Party and gave the bloggers something to write about?
In other words, who were the real ball players in the real ball game of party politics? And who were the spectators? Were the Party members who voted in the straw poll the ball players? And were the spectators those who just wrote about what the real ball players did?
As the old saying goes, there are people who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder, “What happened?”
In terms of Republican Party politics, which group are you in?
Recent reporting reveals the obvious strategy Obama needs to win reelection: get more of his “traditional base” voters to the polls.
Exit polls showed that Obama won 43 percent of the white vote in 2008 — in the typical range for a Democrat — but Gallup shows that his approval rating among whites now stands at less than a third.
Ultimately, the Obama strategy for reaching independents will depend largely on whom the GOP nominates; polls suggest a variation in how the different Republican candidates might perform with that group.
Still, the formula for Obama comes down to this: convincing enough additional minorities and core liberals to turn out and vote next year to make up for a loss of support from centrist and conservative whites.
I am far less interested in which of the current Republican contenders for the Republican nomination for the presidency utlimately wins the nomination than whether we Republicans will significantly increase the percentage of registered Republicans, and otherwise Republican-leaning voters, who will actually vote for our nominee in the 2012 election. Which brings me to the fun with Voter Vault.
Friday I decided to do some analysis of my precinct using the Republican Party’s Voter Vault system. How does one get access to the Voter Vault system? Well, unless you are a candidate for public office, a volunteer for a candidate, or a Republican Party staffer, you have to become a voting member of the Party. Here in Arizona, that means becoming an elected precinct committeeman. Voter Vault is an online system that allows one to create walking lists and telephone calling lists for all the registered voters in one’s precinct. You have to sign an agreement that you will only use it for non-commercial political purposes.
In my precinct, we have 895 registered Republicans and 8 PC slots, with all 8 filled. By doing some very basic filtering of the voter records of the voters in my precinct, I was able to determine the following regarding the Republican voters.
Of the 895 Republican voters, 329, or 36.7%, are “perfect voters;” they voted in the last 2 primaries and last 2 general elections.
66 of the total, 7.3%, were “zeroes;” they did not vote at all in the last four elections.
113 of the total, 12.6%, were “1 in fours;” they only voted once in the last four elections.
121 of the total, 13.5%, were “2 in fours;” they only voted twice in the last four elections.
That’s a total of 300, or 33.5%, of the whole who are, shall we say, less than stellar Republicans in terms of casting a vote despite the fact that some Americans fought for, and fought and died for, the right of these Republicans to elect those who are to represent them in the halls of government.
And, we have 20 brand new registered voters who are newly registered in our precinct.
So, the 8 of us have 320 Republican voters we need to go out and “touch” somehow. That’s just 40 a piece. We figure we don’t need to “touch” (by touch, I mean call, visit, leave literature at their door, etc.) the Perfect Voters and those who voted 3 out of 4 times — these are the Republicans who will most probably vote again with no prodding. But we PCs will need to reach out to the others and make sure they vote this time.
Just 40 a piece. A cake walk. A few hours of time.
Each PC can do what they want in terms of contacting the voters about whom to vote for in Arizona’s closed presidential preference primary, because we do not work for the Party — no one can tell a PC for whom they must get out the vote (“GOTV”). In the Tempe mayoral and city council elections in the spring, we’ll work together to help GOTV for the Republicans in those races. Right now, we are just beginning to go door-to-door for these candidates to obtain nominating petition signatures. If each of us spend just a few hours going door-to-door to the Perfect Voters (who are most likely to sign the petitions), we’ll help these candidates gain ballot access and also get to know better those Perfect Voter Republicans in our precinct — who might make good PCs in the future or Party volunteers, such as poll watchers. We might even find among them future precinct committeemen — we’ll certainly let them know about our Legislative District Committee’s monthly meetings and invite them to attend.
Now, imagine if we could get this kind of targeted GOTV activity in EVERY precinct in America. We could. If we got conservatives to fill up every vacant precinct committeeman slot. About half of the slots are vacant, on average, in every precinct in America. And about one-third of the precincts have ZERO precinct committeeman. One our our counties here in Arizona has no Republican organization at all. None. So who is helping to GOTV in that county? Well, it’s not the county’s Republican Party committee. Because there is none.
Again, I’m less concerned about whom our nominee will be, and more concerned about making sure, in the 2012 general election, we get every possible Republican to the polls for our nominee and the other Republican candidates. I’m not willing to put my hope in some charismatic Republican presidential nominee who will inspire every Republican and Republican-leaning registered voter to actually vote. So I became a precinct committeeman and encourage others to do the same. So we can, together, help maximize the voter turnout in our respective precincts for our Republican candidates.
If we do that, we can run the board against the leftists and their Democrat Party candidates.
I will be presenting these findings to my fellow PCs in my precinct and then get them on board to carry out this plan.
We have some great tools now to connect like-minded conservatives. FreedomWorks has created the FreedomConnector, for example.
Before the 2010 general election, The Concord Project was created to provide video tutorials and other information about how to GOTV.
Will we conservatives do a better job at getting out the vote than will Obama and his minions? How many of us will be GOTV heroes? Time will tell.
As you may have heard, Obama is asking some in his core constituencies to “take off your bedroom slippers — put on your marching shoes.” (A thirty second ad may play before you get to see the CNN video.)
(By the way, there’s much in the last segment of this video that could be used for a parody of Obama, juxtaposing video clips of his remarks about the need to press on and marching, etc., with video clips of his golfing excursions. Hint, hint. )
Back on August 8, 2011, somebody outlined these goals for fixing our current Obama-caused mess:
We need to stop this deficit spending, balance our budget, repeal Obamacare, cancel all unused stimulus funds, and reform our entitlement programs. We have to have an adult conversation about our spending commitments; circumstances have changed, and we must adapt. I know none of this will be easy, but, “thick” or not, the average American outside the D.C. politico bubble knows that we no longer have a choice! We will have entitlement reform and a balanced budget; it’s just a matter of how. We can do it ourselves in a calm, methodical, and responsible manner, or we can wait for the world’s capital markets to ram it down on us. Let’s be responsible and do it ourselves. And let’s get serious about reducing the size of government across the board and rooting out waste. How many more reports (that today are destined to merely gather dust on the shelf) do we need about duplicative and unnecessary programs before we actually do something about government waste?
We need to get this economy moving again, and the real stimulus we’ve been waiting for is domestic energy development. We must reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil by responsibly developing natural resources here. This will provide good paying jobs, reduce our trade deficit, increase federal and state revenue, ensure environmental standards, and actually stimulate our economy without incurring any debt. That’s real stimulus! Affordable, plentiful, and secure energy is the foundation of every thriving economy. Let’s make it the foundation of ours. Let’s do the opposite of President Obama’s manipulation of U.S. energy supplies. Let’s drill here, build refineries, and stop kowtowing to foreign countries in asking them to ramp up energy production which makes us even more beholden to them as we rely on their foreign product. Let’s move on tapping our massive domestic natural gas reserves. Natural gas is the perfect “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got a lot of it. Let’s drill. Let’s build an infrastructure for natural gas cars and power plants. Energy development can help kick start our economic engine.
In addition to energy security, I embrace a pro-growth agenda that can make American corporations far more competitive on the global stage. (I will be writing more about this in the coming days.) We need to tell the world, “America is open for business again!” And let’s welcome industry by reducing burdensome regulations. The Obama administration keeps strangling businesses in red tape. From the EPA’s rulings to that nightmare known as Obamacare, the Obama administration is hanging one regulatory albatross after another around the private sector’s neck. Let’s get government out of the way and give the private sector room to breathe, grow, and thrive. We can provide businesses confidence to expand and hire Americans in a stable environment.
Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to “fix” the debt problem. The more he tries to “fix” things, the worse they get because his “solutions” always involve spending more, taxing more, growing government, and increasing debt. This debt problem is the greatest challenge facing our country today. Obviously, President Obama doesn’t have a plan or even a notion of how to deal with it. His press conference today was just a rehash of his old talking points and finger-pointing. That’s why he can’t be re-elected in 2012.
Those goals were then followed by instructions on how “we the people” can achieve them:
Our destiny is still in our own hands if we pick ourselves up and act responsibly and quickly. We must all get involved. Concerned Americans must seek truth, work harder than ever, and be willing to sacrifice today to ensure freedom tomorrow. Please get engaged in 2012 electoral politics and support experienced, vetted, pro-free market fiscal conservatives who will dedicate all to preserving our Republic and protecting our Constitution.
Getting engaged in electoral politics and supporting experienced, vetted, pro-free market fiscal conservatives who will dedicate all to preserving our Republic and protecting our constitution. That sounds like a good prescription for getting involved in party politics and get out the vote efforts for the best Constitutional conservative candidates in the Republican Party primary electons and for the Republican winners of those primary elections as they go on to the general election.
You probably know that the person who wrote the above was Sarah Palin, back on August 8, 2011, on her Facebook page.
On September 3, in a speech in Indianola, Iowa, she offered another bit of common sense: the seemingly obvious idea that now all grass roots conservative Americans, who have created tea party and 9.12 and other organizations, should unite. I have not heard any of the announced Republican presidential candidates say this. In Indianola, after outlining her five part plan for restoring America’s strong, free market economy, Sarah Palin said:
This plan is a first step in a long march towards fundamental restoration of a strong and free market economy. And it represents the kind of real reform that we need. And, folks, it must come from you. It must come from the American people. Real hope is in you.
In other words, there is no cavalry that will save us at the last minute. We’re the cavalry.
Sarah Palin went on to say in her speech:
Don’t wait for the permanent political class to reform anything for you. They won’t. They can’t.
We’ve got to unite. We’ve got to stand together.
In other words, to restore our Republic, “we the people” truly will have to do more than just show up and vote. We will have to “act” and “get involved” in “electoral politics” so we can elect “experienced, vetted, pro-free market fiscal conservatives who will dedicate all to preserving our Republic and protecting our Constitution.” Because “the permanent political class” will not reform anything for us. We must unite and do it ourselves. We must get involved in “electoral politics” and unite inside the Republican Party as never before. And elect new public servants.
Good advice, I think. Will we follow it? Will we become our own cavalry?
Sorry to be such a “jerk.” Some people here don’t like blunt talk. They believe little ol’ ColdWarrior drives away from the fight those who might otherwise turn into fighters.
Too funny.
That mean old ColdWarrior! Would like to see some evidence that mean old CW drove someone away — with names.
So far, no such names have been forthcoming. If you don’t want blunt talk, don’t let your, or any of the little darlings you know who might be offended by straight talk, read further.
Fair enough?
Probably not for some. Such is life.
For the faint of heart, don’t read any further.
For those of you up for the fight, read on.
I look up and down at the “Front Page” Diaries by those who are favored there to write.
And I look up and down the Member Diaries.
And the Recommended [Member] Diaries.
And I see all sorts of “news” that has already been reported elsewhere. And all sorts of “gee, if only ‘the Republicans’ would listen to me” articles.
Etc.
Oh, and then I also see all sorts of “gee, this is my pet issue, and, golly gee, if only someone would read this and act upon it, maybe then they’d see that the Islamists are bad, etc.”
Let’s be clear.
One. Obama and his administration are BAD PEOPLE.
Two. Obama and his bad people want to “fundamentally transform” the United States into a socialist “paradise.”
Three. Obama and his BAD PEOPLE need to be replaced.
Four. To replace Obama and his bad people we need to get more good, decent Americans to VOTE in the 2012 elections. (Did you know that only 25% of Americans who regularly attend Sunday church services vote? Look it up. Did you know the same is true of the 4 million NRA members. Don’t believe it? Look it up. Well, what are you going to DO about it?)
Five. Other than writing to the conservative choir online about the above, what are YOU going to DO to help make sure that more good, decent Americans vote in the 2012 elections?
Well?
Please, tell us.
Seriously, post here in the comments what, specifically, you are going to DO to make sure, where you live, that more “center-right” Americans are going to vote in 2012 for conservative candidates. How many doors will you knock upon? How many phone calls will you make? How will you get involved in GOTV? (GOTV is not a new cable channel — it stands for Get Out The Vote.)
Or, are you just going to pontificate on the ‘net?
I live in a city that borders Phoenix, Arizona. Yesterday was the last day to cast a vote in the Phoenix city government election, in which those city residents who bothered to register to vote could cast a vote for their next mayor, for their city council representative, and for two ballot initiatives. (Only about 5/8 of the residents, though, got to vote for a city council representative, as only half of the eight slots are voted upon every two years. As one of the mayoral candidates had stepped down from one of the council seats not up for election this year, that district also had an election.)
The Phoenix city government currently grapples with many problems, including bloated government bureaucracies, public employee pension funding shortfalls, etc. And things are so bad, that a whopping 15% of those registered to vote bothered to cast a ballot for their elected city representatives. Unfortunately, the “tea party” candidate for Phoenix mayor, Jennifer Wright, did not make the cut; as no candidate received a majority in the mayoral race, the two top vote-getters, one a Republican, one a Democrat, will compete in a runoff election in November. I volunteered to make GOTV phone calls for Ms. Wright’s campaign yesterday and her campaign was doing it the old-fashioned way — a volunteer calls the campaign, then the campaign e-mails the volunteer a precinct call list from Voter Vault along with scripts, fact sheets, etc. The GOTV calls I made targeted those Republicans, in a particular precinct, who “usually” voted. Some said “not interested” as soon as they heard I was a volunteer for a candidate for mayor and then hung up. Others said they had already voted or would go to the polls.
Fifteen per cent. Even when the city makes it easy to vote, with vote-by-mail and the opportunity to vote in person at any one of many “voting centers” over the course of several days, only 15% turned out. Of course, this represented a huge opportunity for Republicans, but the Republican vote was split between five candidates. (The race is non-partisan, but everyone knows who the lone Democrat candidate was.) The Democrat got the most votes, 37,759 (37.85%), the Republicans got 61,556 votes. The Republican receiving the most votes, and who will to to the runoff election in November against the Democrat, received 20,492 votes. The results are here: http://www.phoenix.gov/election/results.html.
Voter registration figures reveal that 200,940 Phoenicians registered Republican, 217,636 Democrat and 220,220 independent. But only 15% could bother with voting. Which represented a huge opportunity for Republicans if only we could get more of them to actually vote.
Does the fact that the Republican candidates received about 62% of the votes mean that the Republican should win handily in November? One would think so. But then Democrat turnout might have been light because only one Democrat was in this initial race. Also, it’s unlikely Republican turnout will be much better in November, based upon the general election turnout for the mayoral race back in the fall of 2007: a whopping 18.69%. Also, the Democrat will have the benefit of the use of VoteBuilder software to help coordinate the Democrat GOTV effort; the Republican Party likely will have no such software. Maybe the Republican candidate will.
Oh, and how much support did our Republican candidates receive from the Republican Party precinct committeemen who reside within Phoenix? For the 9 Legislative District Republican Party committees that sit wholly or partially within the Phoenix city limits, about 59 per cent of the allotted slots are vacant. And, on average, over a third of the precincts have no elected precinct committeemen at all.
But we’re trying to change that. For example, tomorrow night, at the Maricopa County Republican Party committee meeting, we’ll be devoting the bulk of the meeting for a brainstorming session on how to further increase the number of precinct committeemen in the county (we’ve gone from about 31 per cent of allotted slots filled in 2008 to now being at just over 50 per cent) and how to improve our abilities to help get Republicans and Republican-leaning independent registered voters to actually get to the polls and pull the lever for Republican candidates.
If you have not already taken the plunge, I hope you will consider getting involved with the Republican Party in your locale by attending your local committee meetings and exploring how to become a voting member of it. It’s actually very interesting, can be a lot of fun, and you’ll have an opportunity to put your talents to good use. (Indeed, there are some locales where the Republican Party has no organization at all — you might be appointed to be the chairman of an organization just by asking!) You’ll also be able to vote for the Party officers. Please see the links below for more information. Volunteering for a local Party position is a great way for conservatives to carry out their civic duty. I believe it’s the best way, especially in light of the fact that nationwide, on average, the Republican Party is at half strength. The Party needs more Redstaters in it — if you can spare a few hours a month to attend your local committee meeting, I believe you’ll find that time to be well spent.
We’ll have a more conservative Republican Party when we have more conservatives in it.
Occasionally, I gently suggest here that conservative Republicans ought to consider, if they have not already, where their priorities lay with respect to actually, demonstrably, causing the best conservatives to get the most votes in the primary elections where they live and, then, go on to get the most votes in the general election. And how to actually become a “voting member” of the Republican Party; that is, to achieve the right to vote for those Republicans in the officer positions (for example, the local, county, state and RNC chairmen and the rest of the officers at each organizational level).
I have meekly advocated that the best way to to accomplish those objectives is by becoming a voting member of the Republican Party. That is, by taking the step beyond simply registering to vote as a Republican. That is, again, having the right, and the power, to vote for the leadership of the Party, locally, and having the political power (assuming the committee bylaws allow it) to vote to endorse the best conservative in the primary election. If all of this sounds foreign to you, take heart — it is not difficult to learn.
We can actually learn a few things from the progressive Democrats, as they are beginning to figure out how this all works.
Here is a site you may want to spend a few minutes at, the Union of Progressive Precinct Organizers: http://uppo.deepbluechange.org
Time
Wednesday, August 31 at 10:00am – November 30 at 10:00am
Location
All 3,141 Counties in America
Created By
Joseph Cardwell
More Info
Each county in America has two PACs, a Democratic PAC, and a Republican PAC. These PACs are run by a democratically elected executive committee. These PACs endorse 99% of the candidates that get elected. 50% of those committee seats are vacant. Many of the seats that are filled, are occupied by conservatives, even in the Democratic party.
If you feel like the Democratic Party is not making the progressive argument, it’s because progressives do not fill the Democratic County Party Executive Committee seats.
That has to change.
We are flash-mobbing the democratic party county party executive committees to fill the 200,000 empty seats and displace any conservatives that occupy them now. We are taking control of these committees, to take control of the party, and take control of our government.
America should not be number 13. We should be number 1, and only progressive values in our government will make it that way.
In other words, if conservative Republicans stay at home, and do not seek out their local Republican Party committee, “creative” and crafty Progressives may just fill up the empty precinct committeeman slots in that locale.
Now that the progressives know about The Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy, do you think maybe it might be a good idea for you to attend your local Republican Party committee meeting as soon as possible to see whether you can get involved as a voting member of your local and state Republican Party? To achieve real political power where you live?
I hope so. And I pray so. (Plus, there’s a silver lining: you may find your attendance at the meetings exhilarating and fun! I do!) I hope you will give it a try. See the links below if you are interested. And, if you have any questions, shoot them to me at coldwarrior1978 at gmail dot com.
Fact: In Arizona, where I live, HALF of the local, precinct-level (“precinct committeeman”) elected positions inside the Republican Party are vacant. And this is the way it is all across the country. Open the mailers you’ve received from the RNC, the NRCC, and the NRCC. And from your state Republican Party committee. See any mention of this?
Gee, maybe the Republican Party does not want you. If you are represented in the Senate or House, have you received a mailer from the incumbents’ campaigns imploring you to become a voting member of the Republican Party? (Psst.: I know the answer.)
I always apologize to the week-kneed, if I can, for asking hard questions, that hurt people’s feelings. But, decades ago, my job, on behalf of the U.S. government (and I have the unclassified commendations to prove it) was to recruit (that was the hardest part) and then train the recruits (most would not pass the test) for secret and dangerous missions on behalf of the United States government. And I had to tell them straight up that if they screwed up, the U.S. Government would not acknowledge they even existed. And I started doing these kinds of operations decades before some of my critics here were out of diapers.
And where did I gain my undergraduate degree? The “Un-College.” USMA.
Soldiering on from the South Hudson Institute of Technology (there’s a joke there), I ventured into the arcane world of Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence. The Soviets were on the march in Afghanistan, Angola, Nicaragua, Grenada and elsewhere. And I aimed to stop them. As did others. And Ronald Reagan.
As for the week-kneed whom I could not recruit to go on the secret and dangerous missions? I sent them on their way. As for those who can’t understand that it might be a good idea to show up at their local Republican Party committee meeting, or who would criticize me for suggesting that they do, I apologize for hurting your feelings. And I’m sorry if you want to depart on your ways.
If the RedState “powers that be” would like me to depart, you won’t hear from me again.
Recruitment. There’s a formula.
1. Explain to the recruit that if they do not do what you want, they will lose their liberties.
2 Prove you’ve done what you want the recruit to do.
3. Prove to the recruit that you can teach them what they need to do to achieve their goal to preserve their liberties.
4. Assure the recruit you will not abandon them as they carry out the mission to preserve their liberties.
If you don’t like this formula, no matter.
Here’s the bottom line: I want to fill up the vacant Republican Party precinct committeeman slots. If we don’t do that, we lose our country.
Period.
If my recruitment methods scare away people because they do not even know what “committee” means in the context of basic American civics, I’m sorry. I’ll try to explain it a little bit better — sometimes one does not know how little someone in law school, for example, knows. I hope those who know much more than I will jump in and help me. And explain what really needs to be accomplished to help Get Out The Vote and to accomplish a conservative take over of the Republican Party.
Perhaps those Restate “editors” or whatever they call themselves (that is, those who have the power to ban Redstate contributors with something they refer to as a “Krakken” hammer or whatever it’s called) who don’t care for little ol’ ColdWarrior should fess up and let the Redstate contributors know whether you are a voting member of the Republican Party. And, if not, why not? (For example, LUR has a valid reason why not to be.) Aaron G. has joined the fray. EE is “in it.” What about the rest of you? If you’ve got a reason for not being involved, I’d like to hear it. Publicly or privately. I’ll respect your candor. And not comment on it. But it would be good to know where you “stand.”
So, chime in.
Are you a “voting member” of the Republican Party where you live?
If not, why not?
Honesty is the best policy.
Am I being blunt? Yes. Guilty as charged.
Me? I’m an elected PC in LD 17 in Tempe, AZ. And an elected member of the Maricopa County Republican Party Committee. And an elected Arizona Republican Party state committeeman (hint why that’s important — I get to vote for AZ’s three RNC delegates).
So, the rest of you Redstaters, if you think little ol’ ColdWarrior should leave Redstate (or be “banned” or “Krakkened” or whatever it’s called), take a vote. I’ll respect the results. Let’s see an up/down vote by the Redstate “editors” and the rank and file.
Meanwhile? Visit UP’s Activist Hub. And consider becoming a voting member of the Republican Party where you live. You won’t regret it. I’ve yet to hear from any Redstater, who has followed my advice, regretting having gone to their local Republican Party committee meeting.
1. Do you know where your local Republican Party committee meets?
2. Have you ever attended your local Republican Party committee meeting?
3. Do you know the name and number of your precinct?
4. Do you know any fellow Republicans in your precinct?
5. Do you know the percentage of registered Republican voters who turned out in the most recent election?
6. Do you know how to find out the percentage of registered Republican voters who turned out in the most recent election?
7. Did you engage in ANY Get Out The Vote (“GOTV”) activities in the 2010 elections?
8. Did you seek out any opportunity to make GOTV telephone calls for the WI “Recall Republicans?”
9. Are you going to do anything to help GOTV for conservative Republicans in the 2012 primary elections other than typing away at a keyboard?
10. In the past two years, have you actually gathered signatures on a ballot form for either a candidate for public office, a voter initiative or a voter referendum?
11. In the last two years, have you ever cast a vote for a Republican Party officer?
12. Are you tired of ColdWarrior’s harangues?
13. If you are tired of ColdWarrior’s harangues, what are you going to do about it?
14. If you want to change the Republican Party, what are you going to DO about it?
Can you believe that HALF of regular church-goers are not registered to vote? Don’t we need to do something about that?
I am also happy to see that American Majority will be presenting training at the Redstate Gathering on why and how to become a voting member of the Republican Party.
Apparently it’s true. This progressive fellow Thom Hartmann said so on Russia Today television and has the scoop!
Let’s cheer on Thom Hartmann and his progressive cohorts’ mission to go to their “local Democratic Party headquarters” to infiltrate the Democrat Party itself through claiming precinct committee positions so they will be able to elect “real deal progressives” in the 2012 elections. Yes, that’s the ticket for electing more Democrats: lurch the Democrat Party even further to the left!
Republican Party and Democrat Party leaders, and incumbent U.S. House and Senate incumbents, as well as state legislators and governors, have expressed serious concern regarding the surge in attendance by grass roots “tea partiers” and “9.12-er’s” and other members of grass roots conservative organizations at their respective local Republican Party committee meetings. “It seems our worst fears have become realized,” said one long-time incumbent Republican U.S. House member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It looks like these wing nuts have figured out what we’ve been neglecting to say to them: that the people can take over the Republican Party if they just spend a little bit of time and effort, united, participating in party politics.”
Want to learn more about what to do? To make this a reality? See the links below.
Thank you.
For Liberty,
ColdWarrior
P.S. If you don’t do it now, the leftist will beat you to it. They are on the scent:
But don’t worry, he’s not trying to take over the Republican Party and turn it into a conservative powerhouse. No, he’s figured out The Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy and he’s succeeded, according to him, in taking over the Antrim County, Michigan Democrat Party Committee. He wants to turn the Democrat Party into a leftist Get Out The Vote powerhouse for leftist/progressive candidates. He’s figured out that the best political tool for accomplishing that is the Democrat Party, because it already has automatic ballot access. And it looks like he had some success where he lives up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Here he explains how he did it:
(If you are so inclined to watch, or read, the entire interview of the gelatinous blob of quivering jelly, go here.)
Go here to see his name on the Antrim County Democrat County Executive Committee:
Are you going to let a leftist like Michael Moore beat us?
Out work you? Take away your liberties?
Or are you going to get yourself to your local Republican Party committee meeting, along with every other conservative you know, and make sure your local Republican Party committee has a conservative majority? Want to learn more? Go to the links below.
Satisfied with the performance of our current crop of “conservative Republicans” in the House and Senate? In your state’s legislature? Then do nothing. If you do nothing, nothing will change.
Only your country and your liberties depend upon what you do.
Have you ever received an invitation to join your local Republican Party committee? Has anyone from your local Republican Party explained to you what it means to be “in” the Party as a voting member of it? Of all those “issue surveys” you’ve received in the mail from the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee, did any of them ever explain to you that about half of the “voting member” slots of the Party are vacant and how you could go about becoming a voting member of the Party?
Ever recall seeing or hearing an incumbent Republican explaining to a conservative audience, without a prompt from a questioner from the audience, that the Republican Party is at half strength nationwide at the precinct level, that it’s relatively easy to become a precinct committeeman, that precinct committeeman are the Party because only they have the power to vote for the Party officers, and that precinct committeeman are, obviously, vital for Get Out The Vote? I’ve been to two Redstate Gatherings and two RightOnline Conferences in the past three years and have watched quite a few videos of Republican incumbents at conservative conferences. I’ve yet to hear a single Republican Party officer or elected Republican governor or congressman say one word to these conservative audiences about the need for conservatives to fill up all of the empty precinct committeeman slots where they live.
Wouldn’t it make sense for conservative incumbent Republicans to encourage more participation by conservative Republicans inside the Party itself at the precinct and local committee level? Why don’t these conservative Republican incumbents implore conservatives to come into the Party as voting members of it?
I think I know why. Self-interest. For an incumbent, either a Party officer or an elected public servant, adding more conservatives to the PC ranks is not in their self-interest. Why? Because while all those vacant PC slots represent a huge opportunity to those conservative registered Republicans who would like to make our Party more conservative and elect more Republicans who are conservative, an increase of conservatives in the voting ranks of the Party at the precinct level represents a huge potential threat to the status quo. And the one thing an incumbent loves is the status quo among his constituency. As long as his constituency stays the same, an incumbent has a better than 90 per cent chance of winning both their next primary election and next general election.
Case in point. Rep. Allen West. The “tea party” candidate. You would think he would take every opportunity to encourage more conservatives to become precinct committeeman in his Florida district. But it is not in his self-interest to do so. Look what happened recently. He “broke ranks” with his tea party supporters when he voted for the Boehner budget bill. What if he had been encouraging conservative “tea partiers” to become precinct committeemen back in his district? Well, if he had been doing that, and was successful in filling up all the vacancies, he might have planted the seeds to his own political demise. Because all those new conservative precinct committeeman might, ultimately, come the next primary election, support a challenger from the right against Rep. West. And help get out the vote in their precincts not for Rep. West, but for the newcomer.
Redstate’s own Moe Lane interviewed Rep. West on camera at a CPAC conference a few months ago and specifically asked Rep. West what conservatives ought to do to become more politically active. Did Rep. West say conservatives ought to become voting members of their Party; that is, precinct committeemen? Nope. Instead, he said they could spend their time and effort visiting web sites like Redstate, getting involved in a grass roots conservative group like a tea party or 9.12 group, and by just getting more educated. Hmmm. Not a word about actually becoming a “player” inside the Republican Party itself, thereby being eligible to vote for the local and county Party officers (indeed, even for RNC delegates, assuming one also became a state committeeman) and being in the best position to get out the vote for the best conservatives in the crucial, traditionally very low turnout Republican primary elections — the first election every incumbent must win to attempt to retain their beloved seat.
You can read Moe’s article about the interview here.
Here’s the video interview. Moe’s question about how to become “politically active” comes at the 1:18 mark.
I don’t blame Rep. West and the incumbent Republicans for acting in their self-interests. It’s human nature. It’s not their job to educate us on “how it works” and “what to do.”
That’s our job.
It’s not rocket science. It’s just good, old-fashioned basic American civics. And doing our civic duty by participating in our two-party political process. It’s not terribly time-consuming and open to everyone.
“We the people,” the guardians of our Constitution, are collectively failing at our civic duty. Big time. We stay in the bleachers, as spectators of the political process, instead of getting down onto the ball field to play in the game. Time is short. I hope you will find your local Republican Party committee and attend its next meeting. Make sure it’s not a Republican “club” that some Republican officers try to shunt newcomers off into, but the actual committee of party members who have the right to vote for the Party officers.
We hear over and over that this is a “center-right” nation. But that ought to mean that we’d be getting out the vote for more “center-right” candidates for the House and Senate and for the presidency. Maybe the fact that we did not elect more “center-right” House and Senate members in 2010 has something to do with the fact that, on average, across America, only about half of the Republican precinct committeeman slots were filled and about one-third of the precincts had not even a single Republican precinct committeeman.
Don’t expect your local Republican Party committee to find you. You have to go find it.
So, your political party of choice keeps serving you crap sandwiches. Are you going to keep going to the same restaurant? Or change the cooks?
Because if you don’t change the cooks, they will keep serving you the same crap sandwiches.
What are you going to do to change the cooks? If you want to change the cooks, the best way to do it is to buy the restaurant. If all the customers get together and chip in a little, they can buy the restaurant and fire the cooks.
If you are a conservative Republican, the only way you will be able to change the Republican cooks in DC (and in the Party officer ranks within the Party itself) is to buy their restaurant. You can do that by becoming an “owner” of the Party. That means becoming a voting member of it. A precinct committeeman. Oh, and it really does not cost anything. Except a little bit of your time. And, in some states, nominal dues.
You just have to show up. (Psst. When you get involved in Republican Party politics locally, and start recruiting conservatives to join you, you will meet all sorts of great conservatives!)
Want to learn more? Want to DO more? Then go to the links below.
Or keep doing what you have been doing. And enjoy eating those scrumptious crap sandwiches.
Thank you.
For Liberty,
ColdWarrior
P.S. If, after digesting the Neighborhood Precinct Committeeman Strategy at my little blog below and the other links, you have a better strategy, come back here and explain it. I am all ears. We do not have a lot of time. We conservative Republicans need to unite and get organized politically. INSIDE our Party. The Left understands this strategy. Do you? And, even if you do, what are you going to DO? More blogging? Or are you going to get your fanny to your local Republican Party committee meeting? Someday, your children and grandchildren may ask, in a much different America, why you did not DO SOMETHING POLITICALLY in 2011 and 2012. I have my answer. What is yours?
Also, this is not theory. It is just common sense. And it works. I know this from first-hand experience. I’m not just talking the talk. I have walked the walk. Do a few Google searches on coldwarrior and precinct project and arizona. Check out my Redstate blog: www.redstate.com/coldwarrior.
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I’m not referring to registered Republicans. Instead, I’m referring to those Republicans who can vote for the leadership of the Party. Anyone can ask to register as a Republican . But only MEMBERS of the Party can vote for the leadership of the Party. Have you ever become eligible to do so?
Well?
Please, if you are so inclined, answer my rude question.
It’s an important question, no? For the “members” of this oh-so-influential-conservative web site?
Are you actually a player in the real ball game of politics on behalf of your party? Are you a “member” of your Party where you live? Do you attend the local Party committee meetings? Are you qualified to vote for the local Party committee officers?
Yes, I am an elected Republican Party precinct committeeman and I have cast votes for my local committee officers and my county officers. And I was lucky enough to be elected to the position of state committeeman, which gave me the right to vote for the state committee officers and the RNC delegates. This did not take much time.
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Jeff Emanuel
Dan Spencer
Neil Stevens
Caleb Howe
Daniel Horowitz
Lori Ziganto
Moe Lane
