Spinning grassroots into gold may seem like a task for Rumpelstiltskin. But it may very well be the key to reversing America’s decline. The second part of this series will be presenting strategies and plans to overcome the regressive philosophy that is turning the land of the free into the home of the power-crazed elitists. The very first thing that We the People must do is to stop acting like victims and unite in a common cause – the cause to preserve our liberties and bring sanity back to government. This may also be the most difficult task to accomplish. It seems that the more liberty-loving we are, the less likely we are to unite. Egos and hidden agendas, coupled with my-way-or-the-highway attitudes, fuel disunity among fiercely independent people. The kind of cooperation that is needed to achieve unity is often not achievable once people are asked to get “behind” and idea or a strategy. This is the first obstacle that must be overcome.

Unity for freedom

Is the unity that will yield success possible? The 2014 elections will answer that question. But until that question is answered, we must fight for liberty in every way possible. After 2014, the point may be moot and you may find yourself looking for that clothespin you use for your nose to eradicate the smell of mediocrity every election time.

While Part One of this series addressed the re-education of our youth, and with it the real possibility of re-educating the urban areas, Part Two will deal with winning elections. Again, easier said than done but not impossible. It will, however, take an out-of-the-box approach that will require a strong and organized grassroots movement. If you have ever been involved in a campaign for a good candidate that was unsuccessful, you probably feel discouraged. True, the establishment candidates are well-funded, have the media in their back pockets, and have opposition researches that perform like character assassins – but we have numbers.

Change the game

Benjamin Franklin, engraving from a painting by Duplessis.

The second course of action after uniting is changing the way the game is played so that we can win elections. We have to stop looking at what we don’t have and start looking at what we do have. It’s simple: they have money; we have people. They also have organization, but we have good old American ingenuity. It’s about time we start using it.

Here’s my suggestions:

1. Recruit and then vet potential candidates. Ask them to honestly investigate themselves. Check out OPRA records, reveal any past lawsuits and/or bankruptcies, Google their names, etc. Keep in mind that you will never find the perfect candidate anymore than you will find the perfect anything. Think about how you can change potential problems into assets. For example, if a business owner paid his taxes late (which will be revealed in OPRA searches), make sure you reveal that before your opponents do (and they will) with the “spin” that this person knows what it’s like to live in the real world. They feel your pain and have been behind the 8-ball, just like you. This is why they are the best person to represent you – and not some career politician that is out of touch with reality and has been living in his or her ivory tower, that you paid for.
2. Develop a networking system of databases. Realize that you will never get your message communicated through traditional media venues. They are subservient to the establishment. Don’t have unrealistic expectations that any conservative organization or person of influence is going to handover their database to you. However, you can develop a system to dispatch your candidate’s press releases to a grassroots’ networking system. You will need those within this system to commit to sending out the necessary email blasts to their personal/organizational databases.
3. Utilize your spheres of influence. Everyone has family, friends, and neighbors within their voting districts that are not political but know that you are fighting on their behalf. Create a postcard asking them to vote and support your candidate. Print it out on your computer. Don’t try to handwrite every postcard. Word of mouth support can produce strong results. Ask everyone within your databases to do likewise. If you have 500 people in your personal database (family, friends, neighbors, church members), you have to realize that they probably have the same. Don’t ask for something unrealistic. Ask 50 people to send out postcards supporting your candidate to another 50 people, with the request that everyone they send to do the same. The numbers can grow exponentially.
4. Remember – we’re not playing the same game. Because grassroots’ operations are never well-funded, don’t expect that you will be able to buy the chrome-coated glossies that career politicians have professionally done and have sent numerous times to all constituents. In NJ, those glossies cost upwards of $30,000 per mailing. Part of your campaign rhetoric should be that no one should vote for anyone who can afford to send out such expensive literature. Conversely, have a good writer with an artistic eye prepare a flyer that includes a statement by your candidate with the platform they are running under. I strongly suggest it be an anti-Obamacare message – simple and understandable – something that can be read with a glance. Distribute this flyer through your networking system and ask everyone to print out their own copies and distribute to their own town by good old-fashioned knocking on doors and leaving the flyers on the premises (not in mailboxes, which is illegal). NOTE: it is not necessary to knock on every door. You can get a list of those who voted in the last two elections from your County Board of Elections. If you are supporting a conservative candidate, I suggest you ask for a list of Republicans and Unaffiliated voters – a list that includes both their addresses and their phone numbers. If the population of the town is large, put together a team with assigned areas. IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU USE THIS OPTION AS PART OF YOUR GET OUT THE VOTE INITIATIVE.
5. Create phone banks. Use the telephone numbers of the people in the lists you have obtained from the County Board of Elections and have people committed to calling “x” amount of voters. Some people will prefer making phone calls, others will prefer knocking on doors or sending out postcards. Find out who prefers what. Write a two or three sentence script for them to follow – nothing complicated. Keep it simple and not intimidating for the caller. Again, make your request realistic. If you give someone a list of 500, chances they won’t make any calls at all. Suggest that the best time to do this is on the weekends, using their cell phones when the calls are free. And if no one is home, they should leave a message. Be sure the script includes asking for the recipient’s vote for such-and-such on such-and-such a date.
6. Organize events. Find out where groups or organizations are meeting during the campaign season and do your best to schedule your candidate as a guest speaker for their meetings. If possible, arrange for a fundraiser. This may not be possible as the failing economy is a real obstacle.
7. Be smart about where money is spent. Your candidate’s sole responsibility should be to raise funds and meeting as many people as possible. If it is possible to buy time on local radio stations (which is usually cheaper than the large networks), try to buy time during commuter hours. Don’t go for the bargain that airs your message at 1:00 PM in the morning. Once again, use your network. Have someone videograph a YouTube message from your candidate – not to exceed five minutes. Not a problem if it is not professional-looking. Remember to always say this is a citizen representative and not a career politician. Do your own opposition research on find out who has contributed to your opponent’s campaign and use that against them. If you communicate this successfully, the professional materials will actually work against your opponents instead of for them. Post the video on YouTube and then share it with your database and ask them to share it with everyone they know. Also, have someone who is knowledgeable about social media to take charge of all the options available there. You can create groups on FaceBook that will allow you to send your message to everyone in the group with one click of the mouse and you can post the YouTube videos on FaceBook pages as well.
8. Signs. Hopefully your candidate will have created a website with a header. Download the header onto your computer, send it to your network, and have everyone print it out and tape it to the inside windows of their cars. Also, if funds permit, have the header enlarged at a photocopying entity and display it in your windows, at every bulletin board you can think of and even hand out wherever possible.
9. Last but not least – GET OUT THE VOTE!!!!!!!!!! Call, drive, do whatever you can to be sure that your candidate’s supporters are energized and realize the importance of actually getting out there and voting.

Remember, you don’t have to do all of this. Create unity and a good network and all the tasks above can be divided up among you and your teams. It may sound like a lot – and it is, if you try to do all of it yourself.

I will close with the words of Winston Churchill,

Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.

Well, that’s my two cents. Take it and turn it into a million – better yet, turn it into grassroots gold.

[subscribe2]