Archives for Grassroots

Why Conservatives Should Organize in Churches

January 18, 2024 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | 1 Comment

ducks 2It’s hard to imagine conservatives being more successful in politics without being joined by even MORE conservatives at the ballot box.

That means that in order to win we have to do more to identify, educate and mobilize others who think like we do.  The question is what’s the most effective way to go about finding them?

One of the answers to that question is to look in the churches.

Focusing on organizing in churches offers a great way for conservatives to leverage their time and existing relationships to have a great impact on the things they care about.

Churches are where the conservatives are

If you want to hunt ducks, you go where the ducks are.  It’s the same principle with politics and organization.

The statistics don’t lie. Conservatives are more likely to attend church than liberals. Very conservative individuals attend more frequently.  If you want to look at it from a partisan standpoint, all you need to know is that Romney beat Obama by 20 points among those who attend church at least once a week.

Again, it’s a matter of hunting where the ducks are.  There are hundreds of thousands of churches all across the country that bring their members together every Sunday, and they can have a tremendous impact when they are informed and motivated.

Sadly, people in most churches are little better than others when it comes to the basics of citizenship, such as registering and actually voting on Election Day.  On average, only about half are actually registered to vote, and about half of those will cast a ballot on Election Day, much less in primaries.

That is not a recipe for conservative political success.

Tremendous latent potential

Given that the average race is usually won or lost by about five percent, the possibilities are obvious. Just imagine the impact if every church in your community had a contact person who worked to register and inform their fellow members and get them involved in the local political system. What kind of difference do you think that would make?

Simply put, more organization in churches means more victories for the conservative movement.

The goal is not to make churches into an annex of a political party, but rather to educate and encourage conservatives in those churches who share your values to become better citizens and advocates for their values in the public arena.

Remember, politics is all about math, and our job is to focus on addition and multiplication. That means getting more conservatives involved.

Churches are full of them – so get busy!

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

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.

Why Conservatives Should Focus on Precinct Organization

May 13, 2022 by Drew McKissick in Grassroots Tips | 3 Comments

precinct organizationIt’s a truism in politics to say that “all politics is local”, but truisms are truisms because they’re usually true. In this case it’s right on the money.

The precinct is the most “local” unit in American politics.

If you’re not familiar with it, put simply, a “precinct” is essentially your neighborhood. It’s a geographic area with specific boundaries, (usually defined by your state), that surrounds the place where you go to vote. The name of your precinct is listed on your voter registration card.

There are more than 203,000 precincts in the United States, each with an average of about 1,000 registered voters. Politically, they represent the building blocks of the entire American political and electoral system. Every political district in America, (whether school board, local council, state legislature or congress) is just a different combination of different precincts.

They are the pieces to the American political jigsaw puzzle.

Politics (and political power) is all about people

In American politics power flows from the bottom (the precinct level) up, because precincts are where the people are.

Bottom line? If you’re organized in the precincts you can have an influence on multiple elections at all levels.

It also helps in grassroots lobbying campaigns, since most incumbent politicians are interested in getting re-elected – and people who are organized in the precincts tend to get their attention.

Good grassroots organization emphasizes the important role that precincts play by focusing on individuals who are willing to identify, educate and organize others in their own neighborhoods. That goes for campaigns, grassroots lobbying efforts and gaining influence in the Republican Party.

No matter what issue you have a problem with, or what aspect of politics you’re interested in, having an impact at the precinct level means being able to have an impact further up the political food chain.

You could say it’s a case of “think globally, act locally”.

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Have other ideas or thoughts? Share them in the comments section below.

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