But I don’t think we solve all the problems just by becoming Precinct Captains–. There’s a few more things to add to the mix:

– Having candidates to vote for that have a record, a vision and a sense of humor.

– Having others in your precinct to help with the work. If you’re going to urge us to be PCs, we also might need some help learning how to motivate volunteers and hold their interest over a lengthy campaign. Any ideas there?

– Creating opportunities to interact with people in ways that enable our message to get out. Booths at county fairs and shopping malls only go so far. What else/Where else should we be?

– Being able to engage people in the debate and adapt the presentation of the message to hit ‘their buttons’ rather than talking past them.

– Encouraging the party leadership to accept the ‘new blood’ and truly harness their energies.

I have been to the local meetings and participated….but it takes an iron constitution and a high tolerance for adminisitrivia to endure.

I respect your passion and focus, as well as your desire for change.

But, of course, first we have to get conservatives to show up at the local GOP meetings. With half the precinct committeeman slots int the GOP vacant in the 2008 election cycle, obviously we conservatives have talked a good game but have not “walked the walk” where it really matters.

I desire, for example, a conservative at the head of my county and state GOP. It matters greatly. I want to make sure that the Arizona delegates to the RNC are conservatives. It matters greatly. Those things only happen if enough conservatives in Arizona actually show up and participate at their local GOP meetings and become precinct committeemen.

Again, thank you for all your great points and for being a “player.”

ColdWarrior

I think you have a very astute grasp of campaign dynamics, you’d make an excellent strategist if you are not one already.

I like a lot of the things that you say, but if i may cordially engage in a debate here…

“We outnumber the socialists/liberals/Commies. But they outwork us in the grass roots trenches. No?”
- I heard democratic strategists bemoan the “well-oiled machine” neocons used to turn out votes during the Bush years… I don’t think liberals do outwork the trenches, I think the conservative base is far more organized and capable in affecting public dialogue and policy.

- You rightly perceive the split in the party. I think the reason there is no “how” to the questions you raised is because the answer depends on which side you’re on. Right now people are just trying to position themselves. If moderates win out they lose the support of the grass root base that has been so effective in previous years, if the christian conservatives win out it means the moderates will swing dem. So the question is now, how do you want your actions now, to shape the future of the party, not just the future of the party’s power base?

I think the “how” will begin to emerge once the primaries start to shape up. But I think that things need to change within the party, and since you seem to be somewhat moderate i’m interested in hearing what you have to say about the following proposals:

1.) Pushing for amnesty – I wasn’t a huge G.W. Bush fan, but I loved that he tried to grant amnesty during his second term… if we legalized and taxed the 8-10 million illegal immigrants in our country our budget deficit might look like a surplus, and they’d be paying into the social services system they’re draining. Who cares how they got here? We contributed to their crimes by not securing the border. And you can’t blame them for wanting to come to America because lets face it, this country is the greatest in the world. They’re here, so lets tax them while we can. Oh and not to mention that’s a huge voting block to pick up, and one that generally leans conservative on values. So you get the hen and the egg… votes and money.

2.) Getting rid of the idea that you should elect a politician because they “seem like a normal person you can relate to.” I don’t want Sarah Palin running this country. I didn’t want to elect Bush because he’s a guy I could see myself having a beer with. Dick Cheney has been made into a villain, but the guy is scary smart and very deft at handling the corrupt politicians in congress. If Palin beats out someone like Romney in the primary I don’t think I’ll vote in the next election.

3.) Stop idolizing Reagan… the guy was an actor, and that’s the only quality that made him a great leader – he was an excellent public speaker and looked good on camera, but the guy was demented for his entire 2nd term (literally, he slept through cabinet meetings and had generally no idea what was happening around him)… Reagan didn’t beat the Soviets, G. H. W. Bush did while he was running the CIA. I’d like to see him idolized more seeing as how he not only defeated America’s greatest enemy and took no credit for it, but he started and won the cleanest war in American history, but he paid for it by… wait for it… raising taxes… so he got voted out because the economy was bad and people got mad that he did the responsible thing of raising taxes to pay for a war… He wasn’t popular, or a great speaker, but the guy was genius and i’d take a 1-term genius over a fameseeker like Palin.

4.) What do u think of Ron Paul? He’s a bit out there for me, but I like a lot of his ideas of slashing the size of the Fed Gov, especially the Department of Education, which is killing our public school system. Put Ron Paul’s ideas in Mitt Romney and that’s an 2-term winner right there and maybe the middle ground the party needs to find.

Sorry I rambled on… but thanks anyway for reading, and thanks for the astute post.

We’ve been railing about this since 2006.

We’re totally on board with taking back the GOP (vs a third party), preferring a contract with conservatives, (10-pts, 12-points, etc) in order to get our seal.

This also keeps the activists involved between Tea parties, 9/12 events, and other nationally recognized events…and elections. It will be quiet side of the takeover that will have the most staying power.

But there is also the what-to-do’s after we win in 2010, and what-to-do, if we don’t. The Lefties have something up their sleeve, unafraid this time of being tossed out…or are they secure that they can’t be tossed out? No matter, we have to plan for both exigencies…plan from the top, the middle and the precinct level.

(I get out of breath just thinking how fast we should be going on the planning phase, and how slow we seem to be going.)

If we win then we have to go about taking back our institutions ..especially schools…all levels…(that’s a 20 year project) and our culture …that’s a forty year plan. (Don’t blink, that’s how long the Lefties have been at it, even longer. We have certain undeniable advantages, but they have a proven track record, and what passes as a fire in their belly..across the board, we’ve failed to show we really handle a long fight, even if we know we will win. See the problem? And at 64 I won’t be there to see the other side of Jordan.)

In Sept/Oct I did a four-part series about Beyond Politics on TownHall, beginning Sept 5 thru Oct 3, at
http://vbushmills.blogtownhall.com/2009/09/05/beyond_politics_the_tea_party-912_rebellion_in_the_aftermath.thtml.

I encourage you to look in, to draw some idea and offer suggestions.

We’re working on a similar series about how to re-instill fear in elected officials at the grass roots….without breaking laws..at the ones on the books now. Can’t wait to see what will come around from one of the czars on freedom of speech and assembly down the road.

But i do have to wonder, considering the hundreds of millions people like Soros have pumped into various projects…some we know..others we don’t…why haven’t GOP donors formed planning groups for counter-projects? My old mentor, who knew Soros, told me our side could their side with about ten cents on the dollar they have to spend…again, because of those natural advantages we have.

Good post, Cold Warrior.
Thanks
Vassar

I caught, just by chance today, a segment of Rush Limbaugh’s radio program where he told his audience he’s asked all the time “what can a conservative do” to stop the madness in Washington, D.C.

His answer this time? He referred to an article at American Thinker I’m not familiar with, that he had mentioned once before, that argued one should become the “go to” guy on all issues of the day within one’s family and circle of friends so that you can carry the conservative argument to others. Of course, that’s good advice.

But . . . imagine if he had taken the opportunity to explain that real political power resides in the hands of the voting members of the Republican Party precinct committeemen?

That it’s easy to become one.

That half the slots nationwide are vacant, which means the Party is operating at the grass roots level at half strength.

That being one doesn’t take more than an hour or two of one’s time a month (if that).

That once you’re a precinct committeeman you can vote for the Party leadership, vote to endorse the BEST CONSERVATIVE candidates in the all-important primary elections, be in the BEST position to help get out the vote for those candidates in the usually-very-low-turn-out primary elections, thereby greatly increasing the chance that we conservatives will have CONSERVATIVE Republicans going to the general election ballots.

Imagine that.

Thank you.
ColdWarrior