Grassroots Tips

Issues Win Campaigns

August 8, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

Whether you’re running a grassroots organization, a lobbying campaign or an election campaign, issues matter.

As legendary South Carolina political consultant Lee Atwater used to say “Issues win campaigns”, and he was exactly right. Issues win campaigns because campaigns are about people…and people are moved by issues.

Issues can be used to unite voters behind a cause or candidate, or divide them away from a cause or candidate that they may currently support. They can also be used to compliment a candidate or group’s image, if they’re consistent with the image that you want to portray.

Choose the Right Issues

Most people hate politics. They don’t typically get involved because they’ve got too much spare time on their hands. Something motivates them. They care about something. Find out what that is.

Find issues that are relevant to the people whose support you need and that are important enough to move them to take action. The kind that not only motivate people, but that sometimes may even divide your supporters from your opponents – passionately.

In many cases it can even work to your advantage to make an election, a vote you’re lobbying, or even a PR campaign, into a “referendum” on a specific issue or group of issues. In other words, you can piggy-back on public support for an issue that people care about by equating support for your cause or campaign with support for that issue.

Highlight Your Issues

Don’t try to talk about every issue under the sun. It’s one thing to have a lot of issue positions as part of a platform, but that doesn’t mean that you spend all of your time and resources talking about all of them. Focus on YOUR issues.

Remember that in order for issues to have an impact, people must be aware of the differences between you and the opposition. They have to be highlighted aggressively and repeatedly.

Zoom in on the few issues that will do your cause or campaign the most good…and then wear them out like a rented mule.

Basic Political Negotiation Techniques

July 9, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

Sun Tzu1Grassroots politics or lobbying isn’t always just about conflict. Sometimes it’s about negotiating and compromise.

As Sun Tzu put it, “Better to take all under Heaven intact than to fight”. If you can “win” without having to fight, expend resources, or potentially make enemies that you might need as friends in the next fight, it’s always better.

There can be a lot of reasons to negotiate and compromise. From the reality that “you’re going to lose” to “even if you win it will cost too much to fight it out”…or maybe you just need to stall for time to fight later.  However you arrive at the decision, you need to be just as clear-eyed as to how to go about it as you would if you were starting a campaign.

Define Success

Before you negotiate anything, make sure that you do your homework. What’s the objective? What do you want or need? What represents a good deal? What could put you in a better position to fight the next battle and make more progress in the future?

What do the other guys need, and why? What kind of pressure are they under to make a deal? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are theirs? Who needs to make a deal more?

Decide what you can afford to give up in order to get a good deal – and what you absolutely can’t negotiate. The more information that you have the stronger your position will be…and the less likely you’ll be to make a bad deal.

Have a Plan

Don’t fly by the seat of your pants. Make sure that you have a reason for every concession that you make…and that you get something in return for everything that you give up. Otherwise, it’s not much of a compromise.

Negotiate From Strength

Sometimes the whole point of going on offense with an over-reaching, unreasonable position is specifically to be able to win an easier victory by “compromising” the position back a little later on. Of course this just reinforces the principle that you should always be on offense to begin with.

But if you’re in a weak position, your best bet is to try to get something that will either make you stronger next time, or buy more time to get stronger.

Never Go First

It’s a basic principle of negotiation that you should never be the first one to name a price. Usually, that person loses. When you throw out the first offer, you’ve given away some valuable information to the other side about how weak or strong you may be. They will also know what you’re willing to give up…and then they’ll want more.

Shut Your Trap

Let the other side talk. You’ll learn more that way. Listen to what they’re saying…and what they’re NOT saying. They might tip their hand. You’ll get a better idea of what they really want or need.

Take Your Time

Don’t get in a hurry. When you do, you usually screw up somewhere. Make the other side invest time. People usually get impatient and want to “get it over with”…and then they mess up. Make sure that it’s the other side, not you.

Have an Out

Always keep something in your pocket that’s your “out” if things start to go the wrong way. Something you can blame it on when you have to call it off, without damaging a relationship that you might need later.

Be Willing to Walk Away

If you seem too eager to make a deal, you’ll look weak and they’ll take advantage of you. But if you go into a negotiation willing to just walk away, it will show – and make your position look stronger.

It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

Stay focused on the deal and the moving parts. Don’t let it get personal. In politics, the odds are that you may need to work with them again in the future. Don’t be so pushy that the other guys feel trapped. Give them some room. As Confucius put it, “Build a golden bridge of escape for your enemies”. Let them see the way out that you want them to take.

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Remember, political negotiating and compromise are just means to an end, the same as political conflict. Just be sure that you know what defines a win that will help advance the “ends”.

What churches Can and Cannot Do in Politics

June 24, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | Leave a comment

church and stateWhen it comes to politics in churches, there is a lot of confusion (especially on the part of pastors)about what type of political activities churches can engage in given their non-profit tax status.

Some believe that all political activity is out of bounds and would put that status at risk.  Wrong. 

Of course a lot of this confusion is generated by liberals who don’t want to see churches dominated by conservatives get more politically involved, (go figure). As a result, most of what pastors and church members hear about it being legally “taboo” is garbage.

The problem is that a lack of knowledge leads to fear…and that leads to inactivity and ineffectiveness.

The thing to know is that there is a LOT that churches can do that most of them currently don’t do.

Church based groups do have some limitations when it comes to political advocacy however.  In order to be more effective, (and avoid any problems), it is important to know what type of activities can and cannot be conducted in or by a church.

The Dos and Don’ts for Politics in Churches

A Church Can:

  • Conduct non-partisan voter registration drives
  • Conduct non-partisan voter identification drives to identify conservative voters
  • Conduct “get-out-the-vote” drives, encouraging conservatives to vote
  • Distribute non-partisan voter education information
  • Allow political candidates to address the congregation
  • Host candidate forums where all candidates are invited and allowed to speak
  • Educate church members on legislative matters
  • Lobby elected officials on behalf of specific legislation
  • Make expenditures on behalf of state referendums
  • Rent church member contact lists to favored candidates at fair market value
  • Pastors may endorse candidates as individuals, but not on behalf of a church

A Church Cannot:

  • Directly endorse candidates in the name of the church
  • Contribute money to a campaign, or make “in kind” contributions, (such as resources or services), to a candidate or party
  • Contribute to political action committees (PACs)
  • Distribute materials that endorse a particular candidate or political party
  • Pay for partisan political events with church funds
  • Allow candidates to solicit funds from the congregation (from the pulpit)
  • Create a church political committee that would do any of the above

The bottom line is to avoid any partisan preferences in any activity done on behalf of the church itself.

However, what people do on their own time is their own business.   Once they are registered to vote, or receive information that educates them on how various candidates stand on important faith and family related issues, it probably won’t take them long to figure out who to support.

Encourage your church to do what it can do and get engaged!

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Related entries:

(You can find tips like this and much more in my “Grassroots 101: Grassroots Training Series”.)

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