organization
Great use of video to get conservatives involved in the GOP
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 16:50Here in South Carolina, the Republican Party will be having its bi-annual reorganization this year. For the uninitiated, that means that, by law, the party must hold what are known as organizational meetings which are open to anyone with a valid voter registration card.
At these meetings, new precinct leadership is elected, (precinct presidents, committeemen to serve on the county committee, etc.), and delegates to the next level, the county convention. From there, the process repeats at the county level, where officers are elected and delegates are elected to go to the state convention, which will be held this coming May.
The long and short of it is, if you don't get involved at the precinct level, you can't get involved (or have a voice) at the higher levels.
Follow @DrewMcKissickHow to get elected to a local party office
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Mon, 05/03/2010 - 19:24
Thinking about tossing your hat in the ring and running for a party office? If you want to have an even greater impact on the things you care about, serving in a party office is another great opportunity to do exactly that.
But you need keep a few things in mind...
Political parties tend to promote from within
Whether you’re seeking to become chairman of your favorite service club or you want to rise in the political arena, the best way to do so is the time-honored method of “paying your dues”. People have greater trust and respect for those that they have seen working and sacrificing for the cause for long periods of time.
Follow @DrewMcKissickParty organization: where to start?
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Mon, 04/26/2010 - 21:07As I've mentioned before, getting involved in a political party is one of the best ways to have an impact on the things you care about. And for conservatives, that means getting involved in the GOP. But it helps to have an idea of how a party is usually organized - and then where to begin.
Structure of Political Parties
Political parties are structured in the form of a pyramid, with the leaders at the top and the base of supporters at the foundation. The following chart represents the general organizational framework of America’s political parties.
Grassroots organization planning
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 22:11So just how DO you get started with grassroots organizing? It's simple and doesn't take a lot of time, but action is critical. We all know the hardest part of “doing” anything is getting started. Having a plan makes it possible.
Fail to plan, plan to fail
Map out a plan of action that's appropriate for your neighborhood or precinct. Use it to spell out exactly what sort of impact you want to have and what activities you’ll focus on to make it happen...(along with "who" can do "what", "when", "where" and "how").
Keep upcoming events on the political calendar in mind when making these decisions, (such as pending elections, important issues to lobby with local elected bodies, Republican Party organizational meetings, etc.).
Follow @DrewMcKissickChecklists for conservative grassroots organization
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Thu, 04/08/2010 - 20:32When it comes to successful grassroots organization, there are a lot of things you can do, but there are on ly a few fundamentals, and they apply to whatever type of methods you employ.
The Grassroots Fundamentals are:
-
Identifying your supporters
- Informing them
- And Mobilizing them
OK, so those are the fundamentals. But how do you go about it? Here’s a list of “to do” items to focus on in each case:
Follow @DrewMcKissickHow volunteers can avoid burnout
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Mon, 04/05/2010 - 19:20So you're all excited or worked up about something and you decide it's time to volunteer and try to make a difference? That's great. But there's always a risk that you'll be overzealous, jump in to anything and everything with both feet and soon get burned out. And then you won't have much of an impact on anything.
If you really want to make a difference over the long haul, you'll look (and "think") before you leap and make commitments that overwhelm you or you just get tired of.
Follow @DrewMcKissickFive grassroots tools you can use for local precinct organization
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 22:19Here’s a handy list of the most basic tools you should have at your disposal if you’re going to try and build an organization at the precinct level that can truly have an impact on the things you care about.
A list of all registered voters in the precinct.
It’s hard to identify and organize if you don’t know who the registered voters are, (or aren’t). You can get this from your local election (or voter registration) board.
Blank voter registration forms.
For all those new people you’re going to register. Because if people aren’t registered, they can’t vote…and don’t count.
A map of the precinct.
Having a map makes it easier to get an idea of who is where and how to get to them. You should be able to get this from your local planning commission or voter registration office, (or they will know where). Try to get one with street lines and names overlaid on it.
Follow @DrewMcKissickOrganizing the precincts
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 15:15As I've mentioned previously, the best way to impact politics is to organize at the precinct level. And the best way to organize is to put someone in charge. In terms of precinct organizing, that means a "precinct captain".
So what is a precinct captain? Put simply, a precinct captain is someone who serves as a point of contact between the people in their local neighborhood and outside conservative political groups and activities.
By distributing petitions, getting political information to conservative neighbors, making get-out-the-vote phone calls on or before an Election Day, a precinct captain can mobilize a large bloc of people to influence political and legislative activities.
Follow @DrewMcKissickWhy conservatives should focus on precinct organization
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 19:29
It’s a truism in politics to say that “all politics is local”, but truisms are truisms because they’re usually true. In this case it’s right on the money. And the precinct is the most “local” organizational unit in American politics.
Put simply, a "precinct" is essentially your neighborhood. It’s a geographic area with specific boundaries, (usually defined by your state), that surrounds the place where you go to vote. The name of your precinct is listed on your voter registration card.
There are more than 203,000 precincts in the United States, each with an average of about 1,000 registered voters. Politically, they represent the building blocks that comprise all other political districts in America, (whether local council, state legislature or congress). And precincts are where the voters are – which means that’s where the power is in our political system.
A menu of effective grassroots activities
Submitted by Drew Mckissick on Tue, 01/19/2010 - 12:05So you’ve got a group of malcontents together and you’re ready to get active. Now what do you do?
The point of this post is to review a relatively easy to do list of grassroots activities that have been proven successful in giving citizens a greater voice in their government. These items are purposely easy to implement and, when coupled with similar activities in surrounding churches and/or precincts, they can greatly strengthen the political impact of conservatives in your community.
While this is by no means a comprehensive list, the purpose here is to relay the basics, which, if you’re not doing them in some fashion, you’re greatly reducing the chances of any long term impact.
So with that, here’s the list…
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