Grassroots Tips

How Did that Idiot Get Elected? (Impact of Apathy in Politics)

October 31, 2013 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

apathy in politicsEver sit at home and watch the evening news or read the paper and see a story about some elected official who does something so incredibly stupid that it makes you mutter (or yell) to yourself, “How did that idiot get elected?”  If so, you’re not alone.

So how did they get that job?  The short answer is usually, “he (or she) showed up” – plus “apathy”.

  • They went to the meetings nobody else wanted to go to.
  • They volunteered to do the things nobody else would do.
  • They were then asked to serve on some committee.
  • Eventually they were put in charge of something because there were so few people willing to do anything.
  • When that vacancy for school board or some other commission opened up, there they were.  Somebody decided they should get promoted (or just wanted to get them out of the job they were in to be rid of them).
  • When a city or county council seat opened up, there they were.
  • Then it was the state legislature…and before you know it, they’re a congressman, governor…or even President.

The Result of Apathy in Politics

It’s sort of a political version of the “Peter Principle“, which states that “employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence”.  I call it the “Unified Theory of Political Incompetence”: people in politics rise beyond their level of incompetence due to the apathy of others.

Apathy in politics is why only around sixty percent of the people in our country register to vote, and about half of those bother to vote in the average election.  Fewer still will vote in primaries, local or special elections.  And only a fraction of those people bother to participate any further, which leaves political parties and other civic groups starved for participation.

Politics, like everything else in nature, abhors a vacuum.  Of course suffering under incompetence is one thing, but it can be worse.  As Edmund Burke put it, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

“Apathy plus showing up” is not a formula for good leadership.

Everyone started somewhere.  Whether we like it or not, the lower ranks of American politics serve as the “farm team”.

Don’t abandon the lower ranks to idiots and you’ll have less to complain about.

Mobilizing Conservatives for Action

October 17, 2013 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

mobilization 2An old Chinese proverb says that “To know and not to do is not to know”.

The whole point of identifying and informing conservatives politically is so that they can ultimately have an impact on something they care about. It’s one thing to get people riled up about something, but it’s another (more effective) thing to point them towards an outlet.

In other words, mobilizing conservatives for a specific shared purpose.

Organize to Mobilize:

An essential element of mobilization is organization.  Once you’ve got a group of people identified and informed around a particular issue, the larger the group (or the scope of action), the more you need to break things up into manageable chunks that specific people can be responsible for.  The same goes for areas you might be working on or want to keep tabs on, (such as different state or local government meetings, etc.).

When you keep things simpler and smaller, you keep it more organized. 

People may have good intentions, but they’re more likely to “do” when someone is specifically tasked with following up with them. They will feel more accountable to do what they’ve said they would.

Find a Trigger:

Depending on what issue (or issues) you’re involved with, this could be specific government meetings (such as a local school board), a petition effort to change text books, a fight over a local bond referendum, or lobbying state legislators over a specific piece of legislation.

A trigger needs to be directly and understandably relevant to the overall reason people are involved to begin with.  They need to be able to directly see and understand how taking a specific action will have an impact on the thing they care about.

The more specific, simple and direct the “triggers” are the better results you’ll see.

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People are busy.  Part of the reason they’ll join with you and others is that doing so provides them a service, or a “shorthand” way of letting someone else do the investigating into what needs to be done, how, when and where. So give it to them.

They’re ready to take action.  Just make an effort to give them the details.

Leveraging the Benefits of Local Grassroots Lobbying

September 23, 2013 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

grassroots lobbyingA critical element of successful grassroots lobbying is knowing how to leverage your strengths.  If you do, your chances of success are much higher.

Part of that involves knowing where to focus.

There is a tendency in American politics to focus too much of our time and attention on federal elected officials.  Granted, the folks in DC spend way too much time and money sticking their noses into things that shouldn’t concern the feds, but don’t let that distract you from spending any time focusing on state and local government.

State and local grassroots lobbying can leverage your assets!

Leverage your numbers:

Since grassroots lobbying is all about local activists working to effectively communicate with and influence elected officials, the more local the office, the greater the potential influence you can have.

While the average member of Congress represents over 700,000 people (and millions per Senator), the average state legislator may represent between 60,000 and 160,000, depending on your state.  And when it comes to city or county councils, or school boards, the numbers are even lower.

Result?  The lower down the political “food chain” your lobbying target is, the larger a percentage of constituents you represent, and the greater your potential political leverage will be.

Leverage your time:

Generally, state legislatures have shorter sessions that run from January through April. There are some states (such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California) that have “full time” legislatures that run from January to December, with recesses only in the spring and fall.

The point is that they generally have less time to deal with whatever they are going to deal with.  Focused grassroots lobbying efforts can help issues see the light of day in otherwise crowded schedules.

Leverage your expertise:

Another nuance to keep in mind is that state lawmakers don’t often have well-rounded expertise on every issue, (no, really!) Many are working full-time at other jobs and legislating on the side. This is even more true at the city/county/school board levels.

In other words, your state representative may be a banker and know a great deal about the economy, but know very little at all about education.

Further, unlike members of Congress, state legislators tend to have little or no staff – much less so at the local level.

As a member of a team that might have extensive knowledge of certain issues, you can be a tremendous asset to your locally elected officials, (especially the friendly ones).

This is a grassroots lobbying opportunity.  Get to know them and then offer your help!

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Don’t let a focus on Washington, DC distract you from what’s going on locally. 

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