Sunday, May 6, 2012

In some states, the Republican Party allows virtually anyone (who might have to sign a pledge to support Republican candidates) to attend their presidential election year caucus meetings where delegates to the state convention are elected to attend the state convention. Those delegates, in turn, then elect the delegates to the national convention (not all of them, but most of them). What has been the outcome of some of these caucuses? Well, where one group of like-minded Republicans have taken the time to read the Republican Party rules and have then united and organized and recruited as many like-minded people as possible to attend these meetings (usually held on a Saturday), and where they have thereby created a majority voting bloc, they have succeeded in electing their candidates to the delegate positions.

So what happened yesterday in Maine and then early this morning in Nevada? Because this one group, in both states, had read the rules, organized, recruited enough like-minded Republicans, and united, they succeeded in electing the overwhelming majority of delegates to the national convention for their favored presidential candidate. In addition, in Nevada, they succeeded in electing a new national committeeman and national committeewoman.

Yes, it seems in these states that allow local caucuses of Republicans (as opposed to only the precinct committeemen, as in Arizona) to elect state convention delegates, Ron Paul supporters have succeeded in doing just what the rules allow: they showed up and, with their organized and united majorities, elected enough delegates to change the Republican Party from within.

Here are links to three articles that will provide more details:

Paul wins majority of delegates from Maine GOP

Ron Paul takes bulk of Nevada delegates

The Paul revolution comes to Nevada

I hope and pray more conservatives will get involved in their respective local Party committees, because I believe we greatly outnumber the Ron Paul supporters. As for now, though, it appears the Ron Paul supporters have succeeded in some states in outdoing conservatives in terms of uniting and organizing for participation in party politics inside the Republican Party — at least at the caucus meetings where the delegates to the state conventions are elected.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior

P.S. An excellent resource relating to the caucus and primary systems is http://www.thegreenpapers.com/.
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Cross-posted at UnifiedPatriots.com

April 20, 2012

I was blessed to be invited to attend as a guest today’s Republican National Committee meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a precinct committeeman and elected At Large member of the Maricopa County Republican Committee, I asked our Arizona GOP Chairman, Tom Morrissey, our national committeeman Bruce Ash, and our national committeeman Sharon Giese, for an invitation. They graciously invited me and I was lucky to have the time to attend.

Good things are happening at the RNC.

This week the RNC will be rolling out a “Victory” app on Facebook and the new-and-improved VoterVault. Both will help Republican volunteers and precinct committeemen to Get Out The Vote.

The RNC has also rolled out its “convention without walls” Facebook app for the August national convention. If you have a Facebook account, go there and search on those three words and you’ll find the app. It’s a step in the right direction.

Here are some videos from the event (sorry for the poor quality — I just got a new iPhone 4s and iPad 3 and don’t really yet know how best to shoot video with them, but I’m working on that).

Part of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’s introduction of Mitt Romney.

Part of Mitt Romney’s speech (delivered without notes and without a teleprompter — I was impressed).

More from Mitt.

A pan of the crowd before Mitt Romney’s speech.

If each one of us actually helps to Get Out The Vote, we will win.

(Oh, and our AZ State Chairman hand-delivered to Mitt Romney my GOTV strategy for his campaign; I hope he follows it — if he does, we’ll win.)

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Cross-posted at UnifiedPatriots.com

No matter whom the Republican presidential nominee turns out to be, we conservatives need to make sure he wins. How best to do that? How best to actually help get out the vote? And make sure fraudulent votes are not cast?

To help our Republican candidates win in the 2012 election cycle, I believe we conservatives need to do three things. The first two involve volunteering to help a candidate’s campaign Get Out The Vote and the third involves volunteering (or finding volunteers) to “True the Vote” on Election Day.

First, according to some accounts, approximately 4 million conservative Republicans refused to cast a vote in the presidential race in 2008 because our candidate was the “not conservative enough” John McCain. So, we’ve got to get as many of those 4 million to vote this time, even if our nominee is the “not conservative enough” Mitt Romney. Would be nice if our nominee eventually makes a great, conservative, plea to these voters. Don’t bet on that happening. So it’s up to each of us to try to convince these conservatives to not make the same mistake this time. We don’t win by losing. Contact the campaign manager of the candidates of your choice and volunteer to help Get Out The Vote.

Second, about 35% of registered Republicans failed to vote at all in 2008. Again, what will you do where you live, in your precinct (or elsewhere, assuming your neck of the woods is overwhelmingly Republican or Democrat), to help GOTV? Can you spend a few hours making targeted phone calls to those Republicans who need a nudge to get to the polls? Consider calling the campaigns of the candidates or your choice to help Get Out The Vote. Many campaigns now use web-based virtual calling centers that are efficient and easy to use.

Here’s an example of how an increase in voter turnout can be accomplished with a little bit of planning, organization and effort:

http://www.redstate.com/drrobertowens/2012/03/30/where-does-the-supreme-court-get-its-power/#comment-105

Third, do you have the time to volunteer to serve as a poll watcher or poll worker where you live? To help make sure that the vote is not stolen? Can you do that? (Many can’t take off time from work to serve on Election Day; poll working/watching is the kind of thing that is perfect for retirees.) If you can’t take the time to volunteer in this capacity, do you have any friends or relatives who might be able to serve? Can you suggest to them that that opportunity to serve exists? Where I live, for example, every election cycle our county elections department begs voters to volunteer to serve as poll workers on Election Day and, even thought they pay poll workers, still not enough people volunteer to fill all the positions.

So, to recap how to actually help Get Out The Vote and “True the Vote”:

1. Help convince the “I won’t vote for X because he’s not conservative enough” voters to vote for our nominee.

2. Help all those Republicans who did not vote in 2008 to vote in November.

3. Become a poll watcher or poll worker.

If we all do a little, we can accomplish much. Please see the links below for additional information.

And now for the glimmer of hope. Tuesday, April 10, my Legislative District 17 Republican Committee had its caucus for electing delegates to the Arizona Republican Party state convention. AZ’s system is different from some of the “pure caucus” states for this purpose. While any registered voter can run for delegate to the state convention, only the precinct committeeman elected or appointed before Dec. 31 of the prior year have the right to vote for the delegates.

I volunteered to help the legislative district committee officers check everyone’s ID and voter registration before the caucus started.

LD 17, which consists of most of Tempe, AZ and part of south Scottsdale, AZ, has about 28,000 registered Republicans. Per the Rules of the Republican Party, that number of Republican registered voters translates into about 267 PC slots. That number fluctuates with voter registration. And that number of registered voters translates into our LD getting 28 delegates and 28 alternate delegates for the state convention.

In 2008, when I first got elected PC in August, we had about 65 PCs. Prior to that I had been an appointed PC in 2007, so in April of 2008 I tried to run for a delegate slot. Because McCain was in the race, almost all the PCs wanted to be delegates. I did not make the cut for delegate, but everyone who ran, but who didn’t make the delegate cut, like me, got to be alternates, because we had fewer candidates than slots.

The only Republicans who showed up to the 2008 caucus were the LD 17 PCs. Not a single “mere” registered Republican showed up to try to become a delegate.

What a difference the election and reign of BHO has made.

This time, we had about 25 “concerned registered Republicans” show up to put their names in nomination to be a delegate. We had an overflowing crowd of people who wanted to know how to become a delegate, how to become a PC, etc. Most had no idea what they were doing, but they knew they had to show up. So we taught them the basics as best we could.

All of the LD 17 PCs who ran to be delegates (30 of the approximately 130 PCs we have now) for the 56 slots got elected as either a delegate or alternate delegate.

We had 54 candidates for our 56 slots, so everyone who showed up to run for the delegate and alternate delegate slots will be allowed to attend and participate in the state convention.

Our chairman made a brief pitch to the new people about the importance of becoming a PC and we handed out the nomination forms, the “I live in the district” forms (the two pieces of paper one needs to turn into the Election Board to get on the ballot) and PC Handbooks to all who wanted them. Almost all of the people who ran for delegate who were not already PCs picked up all three documents.

I hope and pray this sort of resurgence among our citizenry in participation in party politics is happening in every Republican Party committee across the country.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

If you are a conservative in Missouri, tomorrow you have a chance to become a “voting member” of the Missouri Republican Party at your congressional district convention and state convention. Missourians will elect delegates to the congressional district and state conventions at the Missouri County Caucuses on March 17, 2012. Here’s a link to a site that provides all the information you will need to take part if you are so inclined. The guy who authored the site is even holding a tutorial by conference call this evening. His site includes links to the Missouri GOP site that provides further information about where to attend the caucus meeting. I’m informed and believe that in most locales there will be plenty of vacancies and many who show up to run for the delegate positions will run unopposed. Majority rules, and if conservatives show up in sufficient numbers, they can make sure conservatives become the elected delegates.

Project City Hall: Missouri County Caucus

I hope someone who attends will write a Diary about their participation — with video!

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger Only 234 days left to get involved in GOTV.
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Why? Because almost all of the new precinct committeemen are conservatives.

Here’s how to do it. Give the following message to grass roots conservatives groups where you live.

Walk the walk, and then you can talk the talk. Plus, it’s fun.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger Only 239 days to get involved with the Republican Party to help Get Out The Vote.

Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Indeed, if our nominee can stay “on message” on these issues, and corresponding numbers, and if we can make sure every good, decent American eligible to vote actually votes this time, I don’t see how our nominee can lose.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
———————
In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger Only 240 days left to organize and unite to help Get Out The Vote.
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Cross-posted at Unified Patriots.

I know many of you conservatives who have registered as Republican Party voters don’t believe I have any core conservative beliefs and believe I advocated for a federal individual mandate that all Americans buy health insurance or go to jail. I didn’t. And I don’t.

But here’s what I do know. And do advocate. Now.

First, we conservative Americans have to unite and organize to Get Out The Vote like never before if we are going to defeat President Obama in November.

Second, the best way for we conservatives to unite and organize to Get Out The Vote like never before to defeat President Obama and the other Democrat candidates in all of the partisan races in November is to unite and organize inside a political party. And that political party is, obviously, the Republican Party. And I don’t just mean registering to vote as a Republican. I mean more than that. I mean finding your local Republican Party committee — they usually meet monthly — and going to its meeting and finding out how you can volunteer to become a voting member of the Party. In most states, that’s called becoming a “precinct committeeman.” Regardless of the name, by becoming one — and it’s pretty easy — you get to not only vote for the local and county Party officers, but you might also be able to vote to endorse candidates in the all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout primary elections.

Anyone from the Party ever told you about this? Any other candidates in the presidential primary told you about this? Well, it’s about time somebody did, and I’m telling you now.

About half of these “voting slots” in the Party, nationwide, are vacant right now. And about one-third of the voting precincts in America have not even one Republican Party precinct committeeman slot filled. Not one. In about one third of the voting precincts in America, not one of these vital volunteer slots to help Get Out The Vote and to be a liaison between the Republican voters in their precinct and the Party is filled with a warm body. In other words, we conservative Americans are going into battle against the Democrat Party, in our local precincts, at about half strength and with fully one third of our precincts having not even one Republican Party “boots on the ground” volunteer going door-to-door or making Get Out The Vote phone calls for our candidates.

As I said, our Republican Party is at half-strength. It’s at its weakest where it needs to be strongest. At the neighborhood level. The precinct level. We conservative Republicans must change that. Will you please attend your next local Republican Party committee meeting? To learn how to volunteer to get involved as a precinct committeeman? It only takes a couple of hours a month. Will you attend your meeting and learn how to help Get Out The Vote? Did you know that about 35% of registered Republicans did not bother to vote in the 2008 election that John McCain lost to President Obama by just 53 to 47 per cent?

I want to win the presidency. For you. For America. To get our country back on track. And to keep it on the track of less government spending, less government regulation, and lower taxation, “we the conservative people” need to re-energize the Republican Party with conservatives inside it. Won’t you help me? And help your country?

Please go to PrecinctProject.us to learn more. Then find your local committee and attend its meetings. You won’t be disappointed.

Thank you. And God bless America.

Mitt Romney

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger Only 243 days left to do something real.
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

You know, I am a very patient person and I not only ran for office and got elected to office, but I have been encouraging conservative activists for a number of years to get involved in politics, at precincts and beyond.

But I do hope if I ever got as obnoxiously self aggrandizing as this whole farce of a diary reads, someone would take me behind a woodshed and reteach me some basic humility.

I’ve had enough of this bull. Improve your manners or take your schtick elsewhere. Talking down to the crowd makes them hate you, not want to join you.

— Erick

Do you want the Ron Paul followers to fill up all the vacancies inside the Party at the precinct level? Well, stopping that from happening means conservatives must figure out what’s necessary to fill those vacancies and then show up to fill them. According to this article, in Maine, Nevada and Iowa, sufficient numbers of Ron Paul fans have shown up when, and how, necessary to become voting members of the Party apparatus to change the inner make-up (and rule making) of the Party.

Maine:

The (alleged) bias against Paul may also be the product of an organic opposition to the libertarian Congressman and his army of ardent fans. Paul volunteers tend to be young and relatively new to party politics, and their presence has many state GOP stalwarts feeling territorial.

“People feel threatened — they don’t want to see a bunch of kids who may have voted for Barack Obama take over,” Wead said. “They feel a sense of ownership over the party — but there has to be an accommodation.”

But state party machinations are already starting to backfire. The Paul campaign believes it has won the majority of Maine’s delegates — and the perceived election fraud has galvanized Paul supporters to demand their votes be counted in the state’s straw poll ‘beauty contest.’

Caucus chaos has also proved to be fertile ground for Paul’s quiet takeover of the Republican Party. Since 2008, the campaign and Paul’s Campaign for Liberty PAC have made a concerted effort to get Paul sympathists involved in the political process. Now, tumult in state party organizations has allowed these supporters to rise up the ranks.

“We like strong party leadership when it comes from us,” Paul campaign chair Jesse Benton told Business Insider. “Our people work very hard to make sure that their voice is heard.”

In Maine, the caucus disaster has made the state GOP prime for a Ron Paul takeover. And that means that Paul’s hard-won delegates will be protected as the delegate selection process

“We are taking over the party,” Wead told BI. “That’s the important thing — and that is what we are doing in Maine.”

Iowa:

The fruits of this labor are evident in Iowa, where Paul’s former state campaign co-chair A.J. Spiker was just elected as the new chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. Spiker replaces Matt Strawn, who stepped down over this year’s Iowa caucus dustup.

Nevada:

In Nevada, the state chair has also resigned over caucus disaster, and several Ron Paul supporters are well-positioned to step up to fill the void. These new leaders not only expand Paul’s influence at the state level, but also help protect Paul and his hard-won delegates from state party machinations as the delegate-selection process moves to district and state conventions, and eventually the Republican National Convention this summer.

Read the rest here: Ron Paul Is Secretly Taking Over The GOP — And It’s Driving People Insane
.

In Pennsylvania, it’s more an issue of how “the Establishment” GOP officers employ rules to prevent local, county and state Party committees to give any support to non-incumbent Pennsylvania Republican candidates, including preventing them from even speaking at Party committee-hosted events.

The PA Republican party issued a memo Monday to county chairmen and women around the state, in which it laid out the protocol in races where state committee has endorsed.

“As our endorsed candidates travel on the campaign trail, they should receive concessions in regards to official party events,” the memo stated. “As members of the PA GOP and leaders of your county party, we request respect for the following longstanding traditions associated with our endorsed candidates.”

Namely, non-endorsed candidates are to have nothing to do with any official party functions. They are not permitted to speak at county functions (dinners, etc), and county party members should only circulate petitions and literature for endorsed candidates.

The full memo is below.

And those are on top of the standard benefits of a state committee endorsement: a significant fundraising boost, the support of PAGOP staff, direct mail paid for by the party, and more. Those are on top of the inherent advantage of establishment support in a party whose voters have historically been comfortable deferring to the establishment.

Since the news came out, conservatives activists have flocked to social media to criticize the party.

“This top-down enforcement of ‘traditions’ that stifle any meaningful debate among candidates is ruthless,” the Bucks County based Kitchen Table Patriots Tea Party wrote of the memo.

Read the rest here: PAGOP to County Chairs: Non-Endorsed Candidates Need Not Apply
.

Similar underhanded misdeeds are happening at the Ohio Republican state committee level (as reported here at Redstate by by bytor3bp):

Kevin DeWine is going to go down in history as the most corrupt chairman of the Ohio Republican Party ever. And he doesn’t seem to care. The more people that turn against him and call for him to resign, the more desperate and brazen he seems to become.

As a brief recap, remember that just a couple of weeks ago, in an attempt to save his chairmanship and disqualify people running to defeat him, he and his allies proposed an amendment to change the rules of who can be seated on the State Central Committee, even though candidates had already filed for the election weeks ago. On Friday, the committee met and voted on several issues, including the rule change.

The committee consists of 66 members, and a majority of them, 34 or more, is required to make such a rule change. However, DeWine declared a victory for the rule change with a 29-28 vote, claiming a majority of members present. This is clearly a violation of the party bylaws, and is bound to be challenged in court.

We now have some new information about Friday’s events. Most votes of the committee, and even most of the votes on Friday, are conducted in the open. However, for the proposed rule change, they used a secret ballot. So, it appears that to protect their seats from a fair election, DeWine and his allies are willing to:

Change the rules after candidates have already filed, and early voting has already begun,
Violate the party bylaws in order to enact their rule change, and now…
Hide behind a secret ballot so voters can’t hold them responsible.

Unbelievable, despicable and very, very cowardly. I spoke with a SCC member on Sunday, who informed me that in his 8 years on the committee, it was only the 2nd time he could recall a secret ballot being used.

Read the rest here: Kevin DeWine and his Ohio Republican Party cowards hide behind secret ballot.

Those who show up, and create a majority, make the rules. I don’t want a Party run by Ron Paul supporters or Republicans In Name Only. I’d rather have conservatives in the majority. So I show up.

I hope you can, and will, too.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

LadyImpactOhio was fortunate to snag Herman Cain on his bus at CPAC 2012 for a just over six minute video interview on the following four topics, including one I particularly liked:

Advice he could offer the remaining candidates regarding what to expect from, and how to handle, the Obama Media.

Mr. Cain’s opinions as to which issues are the most critical we face as a nation because of the Obama Administration.

Mr. Cain’s strategy for making America more energy independent.

Will Mr. Cain’s new web site, www.cainconnections.com, encourage conservatives to become precinct committeemen to strengthen the Party?

Here’s the interview, which I hope you’ll watch:

It was refreshing to see Herman Cain again — he seemed relaxed and happy.

And ready for future battles. I hope and pray more conservatives will unite and organize inside our Party as — well, you know the rest.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Cross-posted at UnifiedPatriots.com

Many words have been typed lately about whether the “Republican Establishment” (“RE”) has been cramming a particular candidate down the throats of the “conservative base” of “the Republican Party.” Some have made the obvious, good point that the RE cannot cast the votes that result in, for example, Mitt Romney winning the Republican primaries and caucuses. Rather, obviously, the voters who bother to show up and vote cast those votes. (More later about how part of the RE can, and does, impact those contests.) Keep in mind that, so far, with the exception of South Carolina (if memory serves me, and I may be wrong about this), turnout in every primary or caucus has been lower than in 2008. What does that say about the (mythical?) “conservative base” of “the Republican Party” we all keep reading about?

Now, regarding “the Republican Party,” let’s define some terms. Because it relates to one part of the RE. Some have written that “the Republican Party” is composed of millions of different people. Not exactly. Yes, millions of people have registered with their county elections department that they would like to be identified as a Republican, but that does not make them a member of the Party itself.

Voters who self-identify as Republicans when registering to vote might think of themselves as “members” of the Republican Party, but without more they really aren’t. Some of them might send enough money to the Republican National Committee, for example, to get in return a nice plastic card embossed with their name telling them they are a “Sustaining Member” of the RNC, but that doesn’t make them a member of the Party. They may even do many good things on behalf of the Republican Party itself (for example, they might give money to the Party at the local, state, or national levels; they might volunteer at their county committee headquarters, they might volunteer to help with campaigns of Republican candidates in the general or primary elections, etc.).

All of those efforts are laudable, but none of them make those registered Republican voters part of “the Republican Party.”

To become part of the RE inside the Party itself, to be in a position to affect some of the things part of the RE, that part inside the Party at the Republican National Committee, does, one has to become a “voting member” of the Party.

So let’s examine some of the things one part of the RE, the Republican National Committee and its Chairman, and the state Republican Party chairmen and the state committees can, and have, done to affect the primary process.

The state Republican Party committees can affect whether their Republican primary is “closed” to only registered Republican voters or open. Who comprise these state Party committees? Every state has a different system, but, basically, those Republican voters who take the necessary steps to become “voting members” of the Party where they live (called precinct committeeman in most states) get to elect, directly or indirectly, the members of the state committees. (I’ve compiled what I’ve been able to find about “how it works” in each state at my little blog linked below.) The state committees can also affect when on the calendar their state’s primary falls, and this can affect, per the Rules of the Republican Party of the RNC, whether the state awards delegates on a winner-take-all or proportionate basis.

The RNC members write the Rules of the Republican Party, as already mentioned, and those Rules can affect which of the state primary and caucus contests come first. This order, some say, could favor the candidate the RE favors.

The RNC members also have determined the scheduling and formats of most of the primary “debates.” Have you been happy with the format? Have you been happy with the networks carrying them? Been happy with the “moderators?” Did you have a vote in determining who became the RNC members? Some of us did. Here in Arizona, in January of 2011, those of us who expended the effort to become precinct committeemen, and then were fortunate to be elected state committeeman, then elected our state chairman (the precinct committeemen in each legislative district, per the state committee bylaws, may elect one state committeeman for every three elected PCs in the distict). Because we had a majority of conservative PCs across the state, a majority of the state committeemen whom the PCs elected turned out to be conservatives and they, in turn, elected a conservative to the state chairman post. Our conservative state chairman is a member of the RNC. At our upcoming state convention the state committeemen will elect our two other RNC delegates. We conservative state committeemen hope to elect two conservatives.

So, if you want to affect that part of the RE inside the Party itself, you have to become a voting member of the Party. There are plenty of vacancies (about half of the Republican Party PC slots are vacant in every state and about one-third of the precincts across the country have no Republican precinct committeemen at all), and the time for becoming a voting member of your state Party for the upcoming election cycle may not have yet expired. The deadline has expired already in a few states. Do you know the deadlines for your state? Do you know how to become a precinct committeeman in your state? Do you think becoming a voting member of the Party matters and is worth your time and effort? Take a look at what is happening right now in Ohio. None of this would be happening within the Ohio Republican Party state committee if more conservatives had become elected precinct committeemen in Ohio. In Ohio, one needs only FIVE signatures to get on the ballot to run for the office of Republican Party precinct committeeman. Five.

So, if you want to become a part of that part of the RE that is “the Republican Party,” one way is to become a precinct committeeman in your “political neighborhood” — your precinct.

Second, if you are planning on not voting for the Republican nominee if it turns out “your guy” does not win the nomination, are you willing to take the risk that a President Barack Hussein Obama, in his second term, will select more Supreme Court justices and federal district court judges and appeals court justices? Will you be okay with Supreme Court Justices Eric Holder and Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Cross-posted at UnifiedPatriots.com

Here in Arizona, it’s easy to become a “voting member” of the Republican Party — a precinct committeeman. If you don’t know that the office of precinct committeeman is the “most powerful political office in the world,” go here: www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com.

Saturday, January 28, 2012, I was at the Arizona Republican Party annual meeting of its state committeemen. I’m an elected precinct committeeman and an elected state committeeman (the elected precinct committeeman of each legislative district in Arizona get to elect one state committeemen for every three elected precinct committeeman in their respective district). As I was standing outside the meeting hall, our governor, Jan Brewer, drove up to enter the building. (I was standing outside handing out flyers for a “conservative slate” of officers to be elected that day — we conservatives won all but one of the positions.) As she approached me I said to her, “Way to go, Governor, way to go!” and shook her hand. My comment was an obvious reference to her “Rumble on the Tarmac” a day or two earlier when President Obamistake visited Arizona to try to take credit for Intel Corp.’s new semiconductor chip manufacturing facility in Chandler, Arizona.

Here are two video clips of Governor Jan Brewer addressing the State Committeemen after being introduced by Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey:

We had many good speakers, including my representative to the U.S. House, Rep. David Schweikert, who gave a great, focused, chilling speech:

Lastly, I shot video of the Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s remarks. A sobering speech. He’s on the front lines. He’s “been around.” He’s investigating Obamistake.

As mentioned, all of the conservative candidates running for the officer positions won. They all won because a majority of the state committeeman, now, are conservatives. Because a majority of the precinct committeeman who elected the state committeemen are conservatives. Because conservatives Republican precinct committeemen have been recruiting other conservatives to become precinct committeemen. To fill all the vacant precinct committeeman slots where they live.

In 2008, only about 31% of the precinct committeemen slots in the Arizona Republican Party were filled (by Arizona statute, each “ballot qualified” political party gets one precinct committeeman in every precinct and one more for each additional 125 registered voters of that party in the precinct (or majority portion thereof) — some precincts have as few as three precinct committeemen, some have as many as fifteen). Three and a half years later, we’ve bumped that up to just over 50%.

Our Republican Party will become “more conservative” only when greater numbers of conservatives get off their couches and get to their local Republican Party committee meetings and become precinct committeemen. It’s not hard to do. Our Republican Party is there for the taking by we conservatives if we just unite and organize inside the Republican Party. Locally.

Do you know where your local Republican Party meets?

Don’t you want to get involved?

Thank you.

Cold Warrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Are you a Republican Party member? No, I’m not asking if you are a registered Republican in your state. I’m asking if you are a voting member of the Republican Party.

That is, are you eligible to vote for your local Republican Party committee officers? Are you eligible to vote for your county Republican Party officers? Are you eligible to vote for the delegates or “state committeemen” who elect the officers of your state’s Republican Party?

Are you eligible to vote for your state’s Republican Party national committeeman and committeewoman? That is, the members of the Republican National Committee? Are you eligible to vote for your state’s Republican Party chairman?

Do you know how to become a Republican Party member who can do these things? Do you know how easy it is to become a voting member of our Republican Party? Do you know that the “powers that be” aren’t exactly advertising how easy it is to become a voting member of the Party? Have you figured out how important it is for conservatives to become voting members of the Republican Party, especially in light of the fact that about half of these voting member slots are vacant? Can you do basic math?

Our time and money are limited. How will you spend it?

Here’s what it looks like when you become a member in Arizona:

http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/2012/01/14/1783-of-698940-maricopa-county-az-republicans-passed-resolutions-changed-bylaws-and-elected-officers-today/cold-warrior

Here is some more information:

http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/surprising-results-maricopa-county-gop-straw-poll/

Will you become a voting member of the Republican Party?

It might help save our country.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

One Michigan conservative Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Peter Konetchy, has a strategy for both garnering real support for his campaign and for changing the MI Republican Party. And, he has made this strategy an open part of his campaign. Here’s an excerpt from his campaign web site (bolding added):

I travel the State on a regular basis and encounter much frustration regarding the GOP. For example, here in Michigan, tea party people dislike the fact that just about every elected official has endorsed a presidential candidate considered by many a RINO. The same goes for the US Senate. Rather than endorsing a candidate based on principle, the “establishment” GOP tends to endorse based on loyalty to the Party.

The ordinary, hard working, conservative, patriots in Michigan feel the GOP has forsaken them. It’s not true. We have forsaken the GOP. If we complain that our Party is no better than the Democrats, or complain about our leadership supporting “RINO” candidates, it’s our fault. Anyone can complain, but to effect change, we must take meaningful action. We must Take Effective Action… (TEA 2.0)

Get involved in Party Politics by becoming a Precinct Delegate. The leadership of our Party consists of individuals elected at the County and State Conventions. If we don’t like the leadership of the Party it’s up to us to elect people more to our liking. The only individuals able to elect our Party’s leadership are the Precinct Delegates. (known as Precinct Committeeman in other states)

Imagine if the National Republican Chairmanship was held by an individual such as Rand Paul. The GOP and associated support would drastically shift towards constitutionalists. We can do the same thing at the County and State level if constitutional conservatives simply made the effort to become Precinct Delegates. It’s not hard, there are many vacancies, and most delegates run unopposed. Just complete an “affidavit ID” from the Michigan Sec of State website, and file it with your local township clerk. It doesn’t even cost any money.

Many Precinct Delegate slots in Michigan are filled with “moderates”, which explain why our County and State GOP leadership is “moderate” at best. To change the situation, we need to fill the vacant slots with true constitutional conservatives; educate ourselves about the potential candidate’s positions; and then elect true constitutionalists to all positions within the State Party – from top down.

The County and State Parties would be transformed from an “establishment” to a “tea party” mentality. The recruitment and support of candidates to fill local, state, and federal positions would decidedly shift conservative. The tea party would no longer feel antagonistic towards the GOP, and vice-versa, but would work together towards constitutional values.

Imagine if the full support of the GOP fell behind true constitutionally conservative candidates. We’d transform the State and have a very positive effect on the nation. The vote is a tremendously powerful, yet peaceful means for change; but only Precinct Delegates have this power to shape the Party. Become a Precinct Delegate and make a difference. Get started now by clicking on this URL http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Aff-ID_Precnt_139901_7.pdf

You may read the rest here: http://www.peterkonetchy.com/?page_id=744

“Take Effective Action (TEA 2.0).” I like that.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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In 2012, will YOU become a “voting member” of the Republican Party in your precinct?

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Over the last few days many here at Redstate have written much about the Rick Perry campaign’s failure to achieve the necessary number of nomination form signatures to gain a spot on the Virginia Republican Party primary ballot.

I wonder how many of the Redstate contributors who reside in Virginia either signed a nominating petition on behalf of Rick Perry or gathered signatures for him in their precinct or elsewhere? Based on this web site

http://www.sbe.state.va.us/cms/Statistics_Polling_Places/Registration_Statistics/2004/Senate_Districts/Number_of_Precincts_Registered_Voters_by_County_City_within_Senate_Districts_-_April_1,_2004.html

I totaled the number of precincts in the state.

I didn’t, and won’t, double-check my math (as the hour was late while writing this and I was tired), but I came up with Virginia having a total of 2,318 precincts. So, assuming that each precinct has just one Republican Party precinct committeeman (bad assumption, but assumed for this hypothetical), and that all of the precinct committeeman slots are filled (another bad assumption), if only about one-third (800) of the precinct committeemen went out to get signatures for Perry in their precincts to obtain a total of 15,000 signatures, each of them would have had to obtain only 19 signatures. Nineteen.

But, some precincts have more than one precinct committeeman. And, if Virginia is like the national average, probably about half of the precinct committeeman slots are vacant. And about one-third of the precincts have not even one Republican precinct committeeman.

Any Redstaters who are precinct committeemen in Virginia want to weigh in here with what things are like inside the Party where you reside?

Regardless, my original question stands:

I wonder how many of the Redstate Perry supporters who reside in Virginia either signed a nominating petition on behalf of Rick Perry or gathered signatures for him in their precinct? I wonder how many Virginia Redstaters picked up the phone and called the Rick Perry campaign to ask, “How can I help?” Or at least visited the Perry campaign web site to fill out an online volunteer form?

As I have mentioned before, a friend of mine here in AZ whom I admire for his principles and hard political work, David Fitzgerald (he’s run for our state legislature and is an elected Republican Party Legislative District Committee Chairman), says, “You cannot call yourself a ‘political activist’ unless you have actually, physically gathered signatures for someone or something that will appear on an election ballot.” That’s his opinion. Not everyone can do it, of course. Some perhaps are home-bound due to disability. But for those of us who are able, if we all do a little, we can achieve much.

Again, I wonder how many Virginia Redstaters who are complaining about Perry’s failure to achieve the necessary number of valid signatures to get on the Virginia Republican Party primary election ballot actually either signed a Perry ballot petition or gathered signatures in their precinct for Rick Perry?

Party politics is played in what Ron Robinson calls the “meat space.” I wonder if anything that was written at Redstate about Rick Perry can be proven to have actually helped get him the signatures he needed to get his name on the Virginia Republican Party primary election ballot. By contrast, if he had had just 800 committed Virginia precinct committeemen going door-to-door in their precincts, in the “meat space,” and each gathering just 19 signatures from qualified voters (using Voter Vault 3 walking sheets), he would have had 15,200 valid signatures.

Lady Penguin wrote a very good Diary here a while back about how easy it is, in Virginia, to become a precinct committeeman:

http://www.redstate.com/penguin2/2010/04/16/saturday-morning-breakfasts-evening-meetings-joining-your-local-gop/

Again, for the umpteenth time, the only way to change the Republican Party “establishment” is to get “inside” the Party by becoming a “voting member” of it. And the best way to get involved in things like mundane signature-gathering for nominating petitions, which can actually get constitutional conservatives onto ballots, is by becoming a Republican Party precinct committeeman. Period.

With over half of these slots still going begging in our Republican Party, can you find a way to become one? Please see the links in my signature below for more information.

Richard Winger at Ballot Access News reported something that sheds some light on why, perhaps, the Republican Party of Virginia more closely checked the nomination form signatures:

But what has not been reported is that in the only other presidential primaries in which Virginia required 10,000 signatures (2000, 2004, and 2008) the signatures were not checked. Any candidate who submitted at least 10,000 raw signatures was put on the ballot. In 2000, five Republicans qualified: George Bush, John McCain, Alan Keyes, Gary Bauer, and Steve Forbes. In 2004 there was no Republican primary in Virginia. In 2008, seven Republicans qualified: John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, and Alan Keyes.

The only reason the Virginia Republican Party checked the signatures for validity for the current primary is that in October 2011, an independent candidate for the legislature, Michael Osborne, sued the Virginia Republican Party because it did not check petitions for its own members, when they submitted primary petitions. Osborne had no trouble getting the needed 125 valid signatures for his own independent candidacy, but he charged that his Republican opponent’s primary petition had never been checked, and that if it had been, that opponent would not have qualified. The lawsuit, Osborne v Boyles, cl 11-520-00, was filed in Bristol County Circuit Court. It was filed too late to be heard before the election, but is still pending. The effect of the lawsuit was to persuade the Republican Party to start checking petitions. If the Republican Party had not changed that policy, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry would be on the 2012 ballot.

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
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Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Well, Redstaters, with all the talk of the possibility of a brokered Republican Party presidential nomination convention, which of you plan to become a delegate to the national convention?

I really want to know. Are you going to try to become a delegate? If so, please comment about it.

Or plan to help elect conservatives to those delegate slots? Again, I really want to know. If you are planning to become a “delegate voter,” please share in the comments HOW that happens for you in your state.

More re that below.

But, first, here’s a glimpse into what grass roots, precinct-level Republican Party politics looks like in Tempe, Arizona, “Goldwater Country,” and the home of Arizona State University. Yes, these are the political “shock troops” trying to make sure that our elected public servants are conservative and not liberal. I know most of these precinct committeemen. Some of them are over eighty years old. Most are over fifty.

And I love every one of them.

Watch the videos below and ask yourself if you’ve been to your local Republican Party committee meeting.

Ever.

It was a potluck. A “Christmas celebration” more than a formal meeting. We invited a neighboring Legislative District committee so we could “cross-pollinate.” The first video clip is just a pan of the group to give you an idea of the kind of people who become precinct committeemen — at least two attendees tonight were brand new appointed precinct committeemen. One was a young lawyer, the other was a woman in her seventies.

The second video shows an award being given to a husband and wife PC team, David and Alica Hawker (both retired — and should be enjoying their retirement but there are not enough younger people in the Party) — who gathered the most signatures, over 500, for ballot access for the two candidates flanking them — Dick Forman for Tempe City Council and Michael Monti for Tempe Mayor. Both candidates are “faux Conservatives” but far better than what we’ve got in those positions now. And Don and Alicia, the precinct committeemen and signature gatherers, are 100% conservatives.

Look at the folks in the videos and try to gauge the average age of the attendees. This is one of the reasons why we are losing. We have very little “young blood” in our Party.

Most of the “young blood” conservatives blog instead of actually getting involved in their local Party committee.

Or they try to get a radio gig.

Or they create “clever” YouTube videos.

None of which, alone, actually counters the left’s Get Out The Vote efforts.

If radio gigs and clever videos, alone, changed the outcome of elections, then with Rush/Hannity/Beck/Levin/etc. why aren’t we winning?

To get a taste of what we are up against, go to www.rVotes.com and do a little research on VoteBuilder.

So, on to the second question. Will YOU be voting for your Republican Party national convention delegates? You know, the people who will elect our nominee if a “brokered convention” ensues?

I’m in Arizona, and to become eligible to elect the delegates to the state convention, one has to have become a precinct committeeman (elected or appointed) by the last day of the December preceding the meeting at which these elections take place.

Our system is relatively simple.

And, did you know, that in most states, to be an elected delegate to the nominating convention, one does not even have to be a registered Republican? Have you ever read your state rules regarding this? Do you even know where to go to look them up? Or who to call to ask, “How does this all work?” (P.S. If you are a New Yorker, if you can obtain a PDF copy of the New York State Republican Party rules/bylaws, I will give you an “atta boy!”)

Some resources you may want to check out if your are interested in becoming a ball player in party politics rather than remaining a spectator are linked below in my signature. (The ball players know what I mean; the non-ball players, the spectators, may post nasty remarks about my “tone” and “method.”)

If you have not figured it out already, and you probably have not, the outcome of the 2012 election is not going to be decided by people who only blog.

It is not going to be decided by people who only create clever YouTube videos.

It is not going to be decided by talking heads on CNN.

It’s going to be decided by the people who actually vote.

And if you want to change the outcome of the 2012 elections, you have to get more people go to the polls and vote for your candidates than for your adversaries.

And that gets accomplished, best, at the precinct level where you live. In YOUR precinct.

It involves getting involved as a Republican Party precinct committeeman where you live. Or a PC “helper.” It involves making a a few phone calls. Maybe knocking on a few doors.

And, the best part, it’s fun.

Here are some additional sites you ought to get to know intimately:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com

http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/resources/files/Be%20a%20National%20Delegate.pdf

http://gopconvention2012.com/

The real question is this: What, from now until Election Day in 2012, are you going to do to increase the number of people who go to the polls to vote AGAINST Osocialist and his minions? And, HOW will you document that you actually moved more people to do just that?

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Oh my goodness! The “conservative” Republican House and Senate leaders don’t seem to want to live up to their promises to cut spending and cut taxes and undo regulations!!!! Oh goodness, what, oh what, should we in the “center-right” of America do?

If you are Hugh Hewitt, you tell your radio audience to “call your representative and senators.” How’s that been working out for us?

Consider the possibility that our “conservative” Republican congresscritters really don’t care about the phone calls and faxes and e-mails. Consider the possibility they only care about one thing and one thing only: whether they’ll win their next primary election. And if that’s the case, ought we not get into the best position to make sure they don’t survive their next primary election?

If you think that might be a possible strategy that maybe, just maybe, might work, go to the links below.

And get Erick Erickson’s book, Red State Uprising. And check out the last chapter, Take Back America, and the section, Take Back The Party. The strategy of filling up all the vacant “voting member” slots of the Party at the precinct level works. I know it does first-hand. It’s just common sense. But it requires that we conservatives unite and organize where we live. Inside our Party. Especially in light of the fact that, on average, in every local Republican Party committee, about half of the “voting member” slots — called “precinct committeeman” in most states (every state has its own system an terminology) — are vacant.

Consider this: http://www.redstate.com/coldwarrior/2011/03/22/want-to-change-john-boehner-it%E2%80%99s-up-to-the-conservatives-in-his-district/

Or, fellow conservative Republican Redstaters, let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing.

By the way, becoming a “card carrying” member of the Republican Party is fun. And, hint, the Party is not exactly advertising that about half of the precinct-level “voting member” slots of the Party are not filled. And they are not exactly advertising how easy it is to become a voting member of the Party. Because it’s not in their self-interest to do so. The status quo means they all get reelected.

So I hope you will consider becoming a voting member of the Party. Check out the links below if you are so inclined.

Thank you.

For Liberty,

ColdWarrior
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Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Here’s the C-SPAN viewing link:

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302440-1

In case you’ll be near The Woodlands, Texas (about 30 miles north of Houston) and want to attend — hey, there’s a cash bar! — go here:

http://thewoodlandsteapartypac.com/the-cain-gingrich-debate-2011/

You can listen over the net here:

http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/newstalk-wsb-carry-cain-gingrich-debate/nFS4x/

Here is some information about the sponsor, the Texas Tea Party Patriots PAC, deserving of kudos for putting this real debate together:

http://thewoodlandsteapartypac.com/texas-tea-party-patriots-pac-core-values-and-mission-statement/

The Obama Media seems to be doing its best to ignore this debate.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
——————–
Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

Undoubtedly, the “political activists” here at Redstate have the following information at their fingertips. The Republican National Committee does not. Let’s provide it, no? So, to that end, please respond here with the answers to the following questions. Obviously, each of you have this information readily at your fingertips, as you are all effective “political activists” where it really counts — in your “political neighborhood” in your precinct inside your political party. Please post links to the information here in comments to this Diary, identifying your state, county, and however else your information ought to be listed/linked. Thank you:

My state’s Election Code.

The Rules of the Republican Party? (Hint: go to www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com and look around.)

My state’s GOP bylaws/constitution/rules? (Terminology varies by state.)

My county’s bylaws/constitution/rules?

My local Republican Party committee rules?

Where and when my local Republican Party committee meets?

The name of my local, county and state Republican Party committee chairman?

Together, if we compile this information for our Republican Party, we will have accomplished much.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
——————–

Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.

I will not belabor the point.

Much “political” discussion is had here at Redstate, mostly about legislative issues and candidates. Take a look at the subject matter of the Diaries and Front Page articles. They almost always focus on some political issue. But, rarely, do the writings conclude with a prescription or formula for what we are to DO to fix the outlined problem. Sometimes, it’s implied that somebody, somewhere, is supposed to so something about the problem. But that’s about it.

Simply put, our conservative issues will not be translated into legislative fixes — laws — including the repeal of laws, such as the repeal of the liberty-killing Obamacare — unless, and until, we conservatives focus on the how and why of electing more Constitutional conservatives. And that happens where we live.

That involves grunt work. Phone calls to voters. Fingers pressing door bell buttons.

How many phone calls have you made on behalf of conservative Republican candidates in the last year?

How many Republican voters have you talked to in your precinct in the last year? Not on the net. But, face-to-face, or by phone, or by literature drop, or by e-mail, to your “political neighbors” — your fellow Republican voters in your precinct?

Do you even know the physical boundaries of your precinct? I’d wager you don’t. Have you walked, or even driven, the streets in your precinct? I’d wager you have not. Why is that a good wager? Because I know that over half of the precinct committeeman slots in the Republican Party are vacant and over one third of the precincts in the country have not even a single precinct committeeman.

Know how to find out, in less than a minute, on the net, how many registered Republicans live in your precinct or legislative or congressional district? I’d wager you don’t. (I don’t want to talk down to anyone here, but I hope you all realize that over half of the local “voting member” slots in the Party — the precinct-level slots — are vacant nationwide. I’ve asked in the past for the “leaders” here at Redstate to tell us about their history inside the Party so we can learn from their experiences, but virtually nothing has been forthcoming — perhaps because they don’t pay too much attention to the Member Diaries (and certainly not to little ol’ CW) or they are engaged in much more important endeavors that help make sure Constitutional conservatives win those all-important, traditionally-very-low-turnout-primary elections. Each of us must set our individual priorities.)

How many Republican Party committee meetings have you attended where you live in the last year? I’d wager the answer is zero.

Do you even know when and where yours meets? I’d wager you don’t.

How many times in the last two years have you called your state representatives and senator? I’d wager the average for all Redstaters is zero.

Each of us can only do so much. But ought not all of us do at least something in the public square?

Ought we not unite? Ought we not organize for political action? Ought not we, conservatives, unite and organize INSIDE the Republican Party locally where we live? At our local committee meetings? Ever been to one? Don’t answer that — I really can’t stomach the answer.

If we don’t organize and unite, locally, inside our respective Republican Party committees, what will continue to happen in our state and federal legislatures?

Thank you.

ColdWarrior
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Will YOU help make 2011 “The Year of the Precinct Committeeman?”

Where it all started. Twitter @kaltkrieger
Learn how to GOTV at The Concord Project and at Procinct and Unified Patriots.