http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/1/30/184746/574(BTW, talk2action is a great place to monitor the religious wrong)
Ralph Reed: How to Organize When You're Down (But a Long Way from Out)
By Jonathan Hutson Mon Jan 30, 2006 at 06:47:46 PM EST
Why does the Lieutenant Governor's race in Georgia matter? It matters to Republican primary candidate Ralph Reed because his supporters view his first race for political office as a crucial test of his ability to capture the Governor's mansion and then eye a run for the White House. And it matters to everyone concerned about preserving a constitutional democracy -- including freedom of speech, freedom of association, and separation of church and state -- not only because Reed's agenda is anti-democratic. It matters, too, because Reed is right now conducting a clinic in how to organize political campaigns. Would you like to learn how to organize and win? Study this candidate; pay attention to this race.
....
Maybe Reed is fighting so hard and building such a record-setting campaign because that's what he always does, regardless of what the polls indicate. He's smashed fundraising records for a Georgia Lieutenant Governor's race. He's also setting new records for the number of volunteers recruited statewide for a down-the-ballot race in Georgia. On January 26 -- the day after Strategic Vision published its poll showing Reed's first-ever net negative rating -- Reed's campaign fired back by issuing a press release detailing the size of its volunteer database. To date, Reed's campaign has recruited 5,614 volunteers, and it conducted 10 training sessions across the state last fall. These volunteers are being indoctrinated and mobilized using cell phones, web sites, e-mail, direct mail, and personal contact, including traditional door-knocking campaigns. If that does not sound like rocket science, it isn't. But what Reed knows is that the victory generally goes to the team that raises more money, and recruits, trains, and mobilizes more volunteers. Reed has been building his contacts in Georgia for 29 years; this is not the year he's going to lie down because of some negative headlines. He's planning to win, and building the grassroots network to make it so. That's a lesson that others can emulate.
If you build a grassroots network -- identifying voters who care about your issues, educating them about why their voice and their vote is critical, and activate them -- then you can achieve remarkable results. You can set records for fundraising and the number of volunteers recruited. That's what Reed did when he served as chairman of the Georgia Republican Party in 2002, as executive director of the Christian Coalition in the 1990's, and as chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign for the Southeast Region in 2004. And it's not all stealth politics -- a good deal of it is right out in the open. But who's paying attention? Who's learning the lessons and passing them on?
...But he's also desperate enough to do what it takes to win. Are you feeling the heat? Are you sensing that Reed is already looking ahead to the Governor's mansion, and then the White House? If you're not watching this particular race, or if you're heaving a sigh of relief because Reed is down in the polls, then brothers and sisters, that's just where Reed wants you to be.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
