The Election is Over, Let’s Go Back to Sleep.

Obviously, no one ever says that, but that’s precisely what millions of Americans do.  Which is precisely why this country is in such a mess. 

The fact is, now that the election is over, you and I have work to do.  Your elected public servants were not elected just to do what they want to do, nor did you send them there to do what some invisible agency tells them they ought to do.¹ 

There is only one thing that can get a public servant’s attention, and that is the threat, real or perceived, that you can unelect them, or get them fired, as the case may be.  You don’t get that kind of attention unless you earn it.  And how does one do that?  It’s a simple as fundamental multiplication.

When you walk into the office of an elected official, by yourself, you are treated as one voter – something a little less common than carbon dioxide, but not much.  When ten people walk into his/her office, you get attention, and not just because they don’t have enough chairs to accommodate you.  (That’s for a reason, by the way.)  If 100 of you tried to walk in the door, they just might call security! 

There’s a simple way to get ten friends to join your team – your Independent Party of Ten.  You ask them.  Knowing that they are already fundamentally in agreement with your view that the Constitution is, or is supposed to be, the Law of the Land, you ask them to join your “squad” or “platoon” to enforce the Law of the Land.  Many people are eager to have someone help them find the best candidates in a given race.

Not only that, you ask your ten friends to repeat the process – so that THEY can also vote ten times, legally.  It’s not only effective, it’s perfectly legal!  Friends helping friends get involved, and in a meaningful way.

Now, instead of trying to visit your politician’s office with ten or a hundred friends, try this.  Call his/her office, find out when you can invite them to a free meal to visit with some voters who want to meet him/her.  It’s not exactly a hard sell.  Free food?  Voters?  Are you kidding me?  We’re talking politicians here.

Find a restaurant with a meeting room and set it up.  Ask your ten friends to come, along with their ten friends, and spouses.  (Set up an RSVP system because this really can get out of hand.) 

Hold your meeting.  Be prepared to ask some tough questions, and to express some strong views.  But, at the same time, give them a chance to tell you about their hopes and views.  Keep it amicable.  You don’t have to be hostile – your very existence as an organizer of ten to one hundred voters (or more, if necessary), you do have his/her attention.

A monthly dinner meeting, designed to get acquainted with your elected employees will get their attention like nothing else, because they know it will not do to antagonize you and your ten friends. 

Now remember this – it’s November, 2014, as I write this.  The campaign for many, many elected offices in 2016 began on November 5, the day after the 2014 election.  You may not think so, but every elected official knows that for a fact.

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”