Archives for Drew McKissick

Political List Building for Success

November 15, 2023 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

political list building

In most any serious political endeavor, one of the first things that you (and those working with you) need to do is to start making lists.

Whether you’re just a budding activist with a burr in your britches about something, or a potential candidate for office, you won’t have much success without knowing who could help out and then making an effort to get them involved.

Remember, politics is all about people. But taken further, successful politics means organizing people…and it’s hard to organize people if you don’t have a good idea “who” to organize, “where” they are, “how” to get in touch with them, “what” they care about and what resources they could bring to the table.

That’s what political list building is for.

Look for people who think like you do. Who’s upset about the things that you are? If you’re running for office (or helping someone), who could support the campaign in any possible way? In election campaigns, this can also help identify the people needed to form an actual “campaign committee” that may be required in your state.

Political List Building Ideas:

  • Family and friends (for obvious reasons)
  • Fellow conservatives who care about your cause or campaign
  • Possible volunteers (who’s willing to work?)
  • Possible donors (who has money and might support the effort?)
  • Grassroots organizers (who is well organized and good with people?)
  • People who have big networks and credibility (who can help you connect with others that you don’t already know?)
  • Business associates (they know your reputation)
  • Church members (a great place to find fellow conservatives)
  • Pastors (they know who the political junkies are in their churches)
  • Social networks (aka, social media friends who can help you get viral exposure)
  • Helpful political officials (past and present…who know they system and are well connected)

These are just some ideas, but you get the picture. As you are listing people, categorize them based on what other types of lists they could eventually be added to. Some people will obviously fit into several categories. Make a note of it.

After you have filled up a few sheets on a legal pad, you can take the next step and organize it on a spreadsheet (maybe even adding a new tab for each list)… eventually adding their contact information to make it easy to import into your own contact lists, an email program or other more sophisticated database (if necessary…but not usually). Spreadsheets are also formats that are easily shared with others that you may be working with.

What you are doing is building your “activism database”. Without fellow activists, you’re just a Lone Ranger. And even he needed Tonto.

Get out a pen and paper and start writing.

Local Lobbying (or How to Fight City Hall)

October 28, 2023 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

local lobbyingHave a problem with local government? You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last. But what can you do about it?  That’s were local lobbying comes in.

Keep in mind that there are some key differences between lobbying for local change, versus at the state or national levels.  And there are some specific tactics that you should keep in mind to be more effective in local lobbying.

Unique Aspects of Local Government:

One Chamber: As opposed to state legislatures and Congress, whether you’re talking about school boards, city/county councils or commissions, you’re only dealing with one group of elected officials, rather than two.

Fewer Officials: The typical local government has fewer elected officials to keep an eye on, (the national average is six), versus potentially hundreds at higher levels.

They Represent Fewer People: Local elected officials represent far fewer constituents.  This means that they are more susceptible to organized, outside pressure.

Fewer Targets: When you have fewer elected officials that means that there are going to be fewer “undecided” or persuadable officials that you need to target…possibly just one or two.

Local Lobbying Tips:

Learn the Process: There can be wide variances in the legislative process (from cities, to counties, to school boards), so research how the process works in your area.  Contact your local council or board member and ask for information.  The more you know about the process in your area, the more effective you will be.

Do Your Research and Identify Your Targets: Find out exactly where they stand, and then relentlessly focus all of your time and attention on the undecided/persuadable votes.  When you consider that you’re focusing on just a couple of officials who themselves represent a small number of constituents, this gives you tremendous leverage.

Choose the Right Lobbying Tactics: Phone calls, letters, emails, personal visits, petitions, something else or all of the above?  “What” you do can depend on how much time you have and how many people are willing to help.  Choose those that best leverage your resources.  (You can see some of the basics in my “Nine Grassroots Opportunities” report).

Get to Know Them: Personal relationships at this level of government go farther than at the state and national levels.  Make an effort to get to know them personally.  Contribute to and help the ones who think like you do.  Be active in local organizations that they are involved in (especially the local GOP).  Remember, “politics is people”!

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You can “beat City Hall” (or any other local government), but you need to do your homework first.  And don’t forget, most state and national politicians used to be local politicians – so investing in local lobbying can pay big lobbying dividends in the future!

Tips on Candidate Recruitment

October 8, 2023 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

Candidate RecruitmentAs Ronald Reagan once said, “Personnel is policy”. The public policies we have (and tend to complain about) are the direct result of “who” gets to make them. That means that if you want to change public policy, the best way to do it is by changing the people who are making it. And that means winning elections. But in order to do that, you need good candidates.

That’s where candidate recruitment comes in.

There’s an old saying in politics that you can’t beat somebody with nobody; and it’s true on a couple of levels. If you don’t have a candidate to support (or you aren’t one yourself), then you’re not going to “win” on Election Day. And if you don’t win, you can’t have much of an impact on public policy. But even if you do have a candidate, you’re also less likely to win without a “good” candidate.

It’s not enough to focus on finding someone/anyone to run who’s willing to pay a filing fee and put their name on a ballot. You need to focus on finding quality candidates that can actually win.

So how do you recruit good candidates? And what offices should you focus on recruiting them for?

What Offices to Recruit For?

This is the first question that too often gets overlooked in candidate recruitment efforts. Focus on those races with districts that a good candidate would have a reasonable chance of winning. Don’t waste time finding someone to run for an office that a Republican can’t win – to say nothing of all of the resources that will be lost and the people (and candidates) who will get discouraged by losing.

So which districts? Take some time to look at the last few sets of election returns (available at your county election office) for the races that you are interested in and do a little math. Did any Republican get over 50% of the vote in that area? If not, move on. If so, what was the highest GOP percentage? What was the lowest? If the “high” is over 50% and the “low” is respectable, it’s probably winnable. Start recruiting!

How to Recruit?

Put together a small committee of people who not only know a lot of other people, but know “about” them and can offer honest/critical assessments. Talk to community leaders (pastors, business people, conservative organization leaders) and get their opinions. Put a list together and form a consensus. Then go talk to your prospects about running.

You should be looking for:

  1. People who have solid conservative principles,
  2. People who are passionate and can communicate a conservative message that will attract supporters and help them raise money, and
  3. People who have good people skills and are savvy enough to navigate the world of politics.

Further, look for candidates that can excite the grassroots base of the party, as well as gain the respect of others. The more a candidate can pull the party together buy unifying around the base (rather than against it), the more unified and energized the party will be in the fall and the better the chances of winning.

Keep in mind that it will help convince a good potential recruit to run if they know that you (and the people you’re working with) will be there to help them put a campaign together and spread the word to find other support. Don’t recruit them and then leave them hanging in the wind.

A Conservative Opportunity

Organized candidate recruitment is one of the areas where conservatives have a tremendous opportunity to leverage their networks and connections to identify good prospects as well as to coalesce support for them in the process. This can have an even greater impact in Republican party primary elections, (which is tantamount to be elected in some areas).

The better the candidates that we recruit and run at the local level, the better off the conservative movement will be over the long-run as the cream begins to rise up the political ranks and they run for higher office.

Of course, there are no “perfect” candidates. But there are “better” candidates. And the better the candidate and the more favorable the district, the better your chances of backing a winner.

Good candidate recruitment matters. Don’t miss the opportunity!

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