Candidate Resources

Recently I was fondly remembering how conservatives all over the country got rid of Tom Daschle. He was a Senator from South Dakota who was the Democrats’ majority leader from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, he lost a close race to Jim Thune. It caused me to wonder if we could get rid of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank the same way.

Unfortunately, both of these liberal pestilences serve in districts where you probably couldn’t pry them out with a crowbar.  In fact, Pelosi does not even bother to campaign for re-election. This enables her to campaign for Democrats in districts that are less certain. But that gave me an idea.

How hard would it be to create committees oppoosing her all over the country, and to spend money in her district, exposing her record and villifying her? If she had an opponent, it could help. At the very least, she might have to stay home and defend herself. This could have positive consequences in districts where her presence could have helped a Democrat who was in trouble. And next year, for all the harm they are doing, they should ALL be in trouble.

Please use the comments to suggest other targets.

Months ago I sent an email out to a group of people at my church. They had signed up for it, and I had hopes of forming a group that cared enough about local issues to do something. There was one meting, and then no one ever showed up again. So, be warned that getting people to take hold of their government at the most doable level is like asking people to donate a kidney. That said, I still think that the answer is in NOT GIVING UP! Here’s part of the email I sent out to them shortly before the first meeting:

…we all need to be aware that we are conduits of information to the uninvolved world. After running for office, I have been repeatedly asked, during every election cycle, “Who should I vote for?” This used to annoy me. But now I realize that these people will be with us always, and that I might as well direct them where I think their vote can do the most good. Therefore,

• Let people know that you are part of a fellowship of political activists. Some people will automatically start taking their cues from you. This will be useful if you don’t abuse it.
• Start creating a database of people who will help you in some small way during a campaign. The day will come when you will find a candidate that you desperately want to help, and you will turn to your daytimer, and call the 60 or 70 people you have collected. When local candidates know you can do this, they will start asking what YOU want.
• Find a candidate to help now, just for the experience. You will not only pick up a few new skills. You will pick up names for the aforementioned daytimer.
• Pick a local issue, and make it your pet. Learn all you can about concurrency, the comprehensive plan, local economic development, consolidating local fire/rescue departments, whatever. Read the papers, call department heads, use the Freedom of Information Act on lazy bureaucrats. Look at things from both sides so you know you are learning enough.
• Blog. I don’t care if you use my site (alachuavoterguide.com) or your own blog. Just write it down and become a source. When you vote, you will take people with you. You will also make it harder for politicians to gloss over the facts.

Right now I am getting ready to approach all the past local candidates who were in any way conservative. We need to pool our resources so that new candidates are not having to reinvent the wheel each time someone runs. Conservatives tend to be isolated and work only with their closest friends. Unfortunately, each of these candidate cells generally are unaware of each other and end up getting in each others’ way. Stay tuned to this space as I let you know how this turns out. Comments are appreciated.

Back in 2002, when I decided to run for a county commission seat, I learned the hard way that you are expected to bring your own resources to a political campaign. I erroneously thought that simply being a member of the Republican Executive Committee and being my party’s standard bearer would bring help out of the woodwork. HA! Nothing could be further from the truth, and in every election I see newbie candidates who have the same lunatic idea I did.

Although I was pretty bitter about this at the time, I have since discovered that there is a lot of groundwork that needs to be laid before you even file the papers to run. This is especially true if there are no committees of continuing existence in your area that help conservative candidates. Here in my neck of the woods liberals can count on the local Sierra Club, the NAACP, the various unions, and Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender organizations that all provide money and manpower for getting people elected. And that does not even include the local Democratic Party.

The most natural allies of conservative candidates are the local churches. Unfortunately, most of them are afraid of losing their tax exempt status to get involved in the campaign of a local candidate. And others are misguided enough to think it’s immoral to help a candidate for office. You might find this hard to believe, but it’s true. A lot of conservative churches have just enough noisy liberals to create a fuss, even when no tax laws are being broken. Helping a candidate get his petitions signed to get on the ballot (if that method is available in your locale) is not an endorsement, and is well within the rights of a local congregation. But while I was helping a candidate get petitions signed outside of the church, I had someone squawking about separation of church and state and intimidating other members of the congregation. Never mind that this church, and many others in our town, is an actual voting precinct.

Fortunately, my pastor had a spine, and we were able to exercise our civil rights there. One of the first things you should do is find the pastors in your town who know the law, and are willing to encourage their congregants to participate in the democratic process. When you find them, ask them who in their congregation is most politically active, and get this person’s contact information. Try to keep pastors insulated from actual political activity.

Previous candidates are also a good resource. Many of these people, even if they have lost, still have their networks intact. Encourage them to help other conservatives build upon their effort. They may be interested in running again. You may be willing to help them avoid making their past mistakes again. Get their contact information.

Public records are another help. The Supervisor of Elections website probably has all the financial reports of all past conservative candidates, and the reports of local political action committees. All of these people have to make out reports of who gave and how much they gave. The names, addresses and amounts they gave are a public record, and you have a right to it.

Each of these groups should have a letter drafted to them. All donors to conservative candidates should get one letter. Pastors should get another. Their politically involved congregants should get another. Former candidates should get another.You get the idea.

Right now I am just trying to help you get conservatives working together. This is an intensely difficult thing to do.  Most people are suspicious of other people in the political process. It may take you a year or more to get these people to cooperate with you. During this time, it will be an exercise in record keeping and bridge building. But you may be the only one doing it in your town.

This is long term thinking. So far, conservatives in my town have shown little of it. How are things going in yours?

After watching conservatives blow yet another golden opportunity in Gainesville, I have decided that we need to discuss this and learn something from it. I was a losing conservative candidate myself several years ago, and since then I have started paying attention to how it is that liberal leftists get elected here. I am not convinced that there are more of them. As long as we keep having voter turnouts in our city elections from 9-27% I cannot say that anyone has a mandate. But it does appear that they know how to work this system better than we do.

Although this comes from Gainesville, I think that conservatives all across the US should consider participating if you are feeling sold out, rejected, depressed, or some other form of despair for our national demise. I don’t believe that the answer is in giving up. I don’t believe the answer is to keep tuning in to talk radio. I don’t believe that the answer is in waitng for another rich guy to stand up and win our battles. I do believe the we have become too passive, and that we, the people, need to re-evaluate our own commitment to self government.

Do we want to govern? Or do we just want to complain about the liberals who govern? If we want to govern, we need to act like it. And that means we need to stay engaged with the political process year round, just like the liberals do. We are amateurs who come out of our holes the week before a local election and despair of our choices. They are seriously committed to governing. They have their candidates in place, have the money they need, and plenty of volunteers. All their friends know who is who and can make their case. Meanwhile, we are scrambling the week before the election, looking to see who is running.

If you have a conservative majority in your town and you say, “WE are not like that,” good for you. Or maybe your town is just not competitive, and liberals have not yet taken root there. But be warned: make sure you govern well. If your town is just an internecine battle between warring conservative factions and there is an undercurrent of discontent, they will come. And they will bring lawyers and they will start running for office and creating coalitions of all the discontent groups. And twenty years from now, y0u will say, “I cannot believe what has happened to our town!”

Don Marsh

Gainesville, FL