Grassroots Tips

The Four Rules to Winning an Election

September 27, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

winning an election

Do.  Not.  Get.  Sidetracked.

When it comes to winning an election or organizing for grassroots success, it’s not complicated.  It’s not some secret formula that you need to figure out or pay a lot of money for.

It’s pretty simple and straightforward.  In fact, the rules haven’t changed since this country first started holding elections.

The “rules” were spelled out best by someone who (at the time) was a little known congressman from Illinois who went on to get himself elected President, (shortly before hiring a general who burned my hometown to the ground, but I’ll let it go…).

The four rules to winning an election are:

  1. Obtain a complete list of voters
  2. Determine how they will vote
  3. Contact the favorable voters
  4. Get your voters to the polls

In other words, start with the outer rings of the target and work your way down towards the bulls-eye.  When it comes to summarizing the basics of a get-out-the-vote strategy, you can’t do much better than that.

Of course there are a number of other elements to campaigning, but they don’t really matter very much if you don’t do the basics.  No matter how much modern technology may change “how” things are done, the fundamentals still apply.

These rules don’t just apply to campaigns, but they also apply to successful grassroots political organization in general. You start with those who are registered to vote, identify those who agree with you, provide them with the information they need, and get them to take action when it’s necessary.

Successful campaigns and organizations adopt and apply these rules to effectively mobilize supporters at the local level.

No matter what kind of election or issue-based campaign you’re working on, don’t let yourself get sidetracked.

Do the basics. You’ll be glad you did.

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Three Fundamentals of Political Campaigns

September 15, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

It’s a fundamental truth of politics that if you don’t win, you can’t govern.

You can’t implement policy if you aren’t elected to a position that allows you to do so, or if you don’t have sympathetic elected officials that are willing to help.

With that being the case, it’s critical that conservatives know the basics of effective campaigning if we expect to see our ideas implemented in government.

The good news is that the fundamentals of a successful campaign of any type is the same today as it was thousands of years ago.

Julius Caesar once said that the only thing needed to conquer the world was “men and money”. Modify that idea slightly by adding “message” and you’ve got a good thumbnail sketch of what political campaigns are all about.

They’re known as “the Three M’s”:

  • Manpower: Do you have the supporters that can build a successful campaign organization?
  • Money: Do you have the resources to run a campaign that identifies, informs and mobilizes your supporters – and gets your message out?
  • Message: What are you saying? And does it motivate people to get involved?

These three elements are universal to all campaigns. They don’t change. That means that you should arrange your campaign accordingly (time, staff, etc.) around those areas of responsibility.

Regardless of whether a campaign is national, state or local in scope, the objective is the same. To win.

Having the most devoted and numerous volunteers, the most money (or enough) and the most compelling message goes a long way towards that goal.

Fight Downhill

August 28, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

In terms of political messaging, fighting uphill is when you’re trying to make people care about issues and be motivated to vote on the basis of issues that they don’t currently care about, aren’t motivated by, or maybe that they aren’t even aware of.

The smarter move is to try and convince people to vote on the basis of the issues that they already care about. The ones that hit them in the face every day. They already know why they’re important, and they already have strong feelings about them. The goal then is to communicate a message showing how your position is relevant to what they care about and to get them to vote on that basis.

In other words, fight downhill.

In messaging, repetition equals impact. But if your message needs more repetition than you have in terms of time and money, then you’ve got a problem. The more limited the time-frame to communicate, the more expensive it is and the less likely you are to succeed. You’re fighting uphill.

The solution? Don’t try to fight an uphill battle.

Fight downhill!

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