Grassroots Tips

Run Unopposed, or Run Scared!

June 24, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

It’s been said that there are only two ways to run a political campaign: unopposed or scared. But just what exactly does that mean?

It means that before you get in race (or as soon as you do) you do everything that you can to freeze out any potential competition in the campaign, or if you do have competition, you go 110% all-out, all the time and do anything and everything that you need to do in order to win and leave no stones unturned.

Run Unopposed

Having competition can be expensive, and it makes winning more problematic.  It’s better to invest time and effort early on in order to avoid it rather than having to spend the extra time and money it will cost later.  It’s why so many candidates and elected officials will focus so much on fundraising and putting as much money in the bank as possible, as early as possible, in order to scare off potential competition.

It means working to pick off as many critical allies and resources as early as possible and to leave nothing (or no one) that might encourage a potential competitor, (from major donors to big name endorsements or critical volunteers).  Anything that could help their ability to successfully organize or raise money. Leave them discouraged from even thinking about running.

Run Scared

If you can’t avoid competition, then commit to running all-out like you’re being chased by a pack of wild dogs.  Leave nothing undone and no resource unutilized.  Be as fast and overwhelming as possible.

It doesn’t mean that you’re fearful of others, it just means that you’re flat out doing everything that YOU have control over.  That you’re NOT going to let anyone outwork you. That you’re going to leave it all on the field.

That kind of commitment attracts others.  Whether it’s volunteers or donors, people like to be with someone who looks like a winner.

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Whichever way it works out, the larger point is that if you’re going to run, RUN!  Anything less invites defeat.

 

Politics is Spelled P.E.O.P.L.E.

June 12, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

Politics is all about people. People agreeing, disagreeing and how they do it. Successful politics is about identifying MORE people that agree with you and working together to get something done on the things that you care about.

Without people, you have no organization. Without organization, you have no campaign. Without a campaign, you have no victory. Without victory, you have no ability to change policy. You just have more stuff to complain about.

More people means more opportunities to get stuff done. It means more man-hours (time) and more skill-sets. More people means more relationships to grow the network (and bring in even more people). In short, more people can mean a bigger, better, more productive organization and greater chances for success.

Work to bring in more people, then empower them to “do”, and watch the results. Put out the “buffet table” of activity and let them find what they like, (and they’ll keep coming back).

Are your meetings the type that more people would want to come to, or run away from? Do you have social opportunities that might attract more people? There are a lot of other important things to know and do to be successful in politics, but PEOPLE are the most important element.

What are you, your organization or campaign doing to bring more people in the door? This should be your top priority.

If you do it well, you’ll be successful!

Informing Conservatives for Action

May 14, 2025 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

informing conservativesIt is one thing to identify other people who care about the same things as you do, but an uninformed group of people, no matter what the size, isn’t well equipped to have much of an impact on anything.

They’ve got to be informed.

Here are some basic steps you can take to informing conservatives so that they’re better prepared for effective action.

Set up a Database

It doesn’t help your cause to have a large group of people who agree with you but that you can’t easily get in touch with. That’s why the most important element of any group of identified fellow malcontents is the actual LIST. Who are they? Where are they? How can you get in touch with them?

Make things easy on yourself from the start by settings things up in a simple database program. If nothing else, a simple Excel spreadsheet will do. Identify names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. You could even throw in links to Facebook or Twitter profiles.

Good contact information is critical. Start it off right and keep it up to date.

Communicate Regularly

Once you’ve identified people who have common concerns you need a way to communicate and keep them up to date with what’s going on with the issue at hand. Make sure they have access to basic information, talking points, key dates or meetings they need to be aware of or attend, what happened, and action alerts when specific critical action is needed.

Email is the cheapest format to use. But the larger your list becomes, the more you may want to set things up on a professional email service, (such as, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc.). Many of these offer free service to lists with fewer than 2,000 contacts. It will make your communications look more professional and will be easier for you to manage in the long-run. Also, settle on a regular schedule, so people know what to expect and when, (such as a monthly update…excluding any action alerts you may need to distribute).

You could also take the next step and set up a simple place online where you can put more extensive information that you can link to in newsletters. Don’t let this intimidate you, as you can use any number of free services to create a “home base”, (from Facebook pages, to Google Groups to WordPress). It’s so simple a caveman could do it.

Have Regular Meetings

No one likes long, boring meetings. So don’t have any. But it does make a difference when like-minded people get together, so have a regular meeting for your “core” group to review priorities and make plans. You can always hold “informational” meetings for larger groups when it makes sense.

It’s important that people feel like they’re a part of the process. If they do, they “buy in” to the plan and are more likely to help out.

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An informed group is a group that can have more of an impact. So take some basic steps to make sure you’re all on the same page.

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