Building a grass roots effort--help here please!

[flamin lib]

The key is to delegate and build a very large network of very small groups and do at no/low cost. This is how I think is a way to begin. If any one has other ideas please pass them on.

There are a number of resources on the web, among them this one: http://www.fundrace.org/neighbors.php It appears to be defunct, but the data base is still there. If there are other resources like this please post them here. Your candidate may have access to party lists and the like.

If using Fundrace you can find people who have contributed to the Party and to individual candidates in other cities. Use an address you found in the yellow pages or local government and it will return contributors in that area. Next, mail or call those contributors and see if they will help build a grass roots effort for your guy in their locale. Will they host a meeting in thier home to get your candidate in front of potential supporters? If so, help them organize a potluck dinner or coffee meeting for as many potential voters as they can gather. Get your candidate there to press the flesh. There is no substitute for face/face contact. One seeing is worth one hundred tellings, and one meeting is worth 1000 seeings! Collect email and physical addresses so you can stay in touch.

Use these people as surrogates for your candidate. Give them the talking points so they can spread the word among their neighbors. Get them to promote the campaign platform that applies to them in their community. All people with web access have address books for friends. You send them the positions of your candidate; they forward them to people who forward them to people and so on.

Where this is successful, go back in and begin fund raising. Repeat the “town hall” or “kitchen table” meetings and ask for monetary support. Using this you should be able to build a larger email address book and mailing list for the campaign issues. With luck you can set a breakfast at 9:00 AM followed by a lunch at noon and then a potluck at 6:00 PM. Spend a whole day in small town Texas or wherever. With luck somebody there will foot the bill. Next month do another town.

Note about talking points; do not attack an opponent unless they really screw up--time for that later. Instead, present the issues. Example: In rural areas of Texas drought is a real issue. Talk about how fed/state debt relief for farmers/ranchers would help. Low interest loans, tax incentives for water conservation and such. Build an issue and when it begins to get traction talk about your candidate’s position.

Have your candidate write editorials and submit them to local newspapers. Ghost write for them or find someone with the skills—nobody actually writes their own speeches, they use professionals. Establish your candidate’s name in the media. Do this NOW. If you candidate can get one editorial a month published that’s only 24 exposures between now and ’08.

Get out early in a low key inexpensive way and build name recognition and platform support. Use low/no cost methods by building email address lists and networks, phone lists and free newspaper/radio contact with a constituency.

Any other ideas?

Another worthy idea is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=180&topic_id=39774&mesg_id=39774

[crispini]

1. All very good ideas.

I would like to make an addition, though. I don't believe that one contact with a volunteer is enough. We were working on training precinct chairs, and the other thing that we did was that we provided them with a network of support, so they could call each other and their "mentors" and so their "mentors" could call them. I think following up with someone is KEY to their doing well. Simply giving an inexperienced volunteer a job and expecting them to do it without any followup is unrealistic.

[flamin lib]

2. Absolutely! I agree entirely. I'm a precinct chair myself and all

the help I got was a printed set of suggestions. 1 use the party website to find democratic primary voters. 2 call the ones who voted in the last three primaries and ask them to help. 3 repeat as necessary.

At lease we have a party database now--didn't in years past. But still, the reception over the phone for solicitations is underwhelming.

My thought is to start slowly with low impact contact and build enthusiasm over the next two years.

If there are any other resources out to find potential contacts I'd appreciate knowing about them.

[montieg]

3. Excellent post of great ideas

that could be developed into a How-to Manual. This is basically what we did here in my county this cycle---but all on the county level. How do we get TDP to recruit lege and congres. candidates? Dems from Midland to here had no dem candidate for congress and no state house rep from here south to Bandera. That sux out loud--no Dem on either level!