The conversation with my neighbor dealt with her frustration at how unaware many of her friends are in terms of various issues affecting both our health and our freedoms.\u00a0 This led me to write out some thoughts for her.<\/p>\n
The power of one is just that \u2013 one vote.\u00a0 We all have the power of one, but even if we use it, it’s still only one vote, and we feel impotent, basically because we are.\u00a0 When 10,000 votes are cast in a local election, the one is buried.<\/p>\n
I, however, am greedy.\u00a0 I want to vote more than once, because I happen to believe that my vote is more educated than most.\u00a0 (Forgive the arrogance, but everyone thinks that.)\u00a0 I want more influence in the way my country is going.\u00a0 I am frustrated that I can’t seem to do anything about the direction our country is going, and of course, I want to do it legally.\u00a0 I am not content to cancel the vote of one “Low Information Voter” (LIV), I want to vote twice, or better yet, TEN TIMES!<\/p>\n
So\u2026 the question is this:\u00a0 “If there were a way that you could personally see to the election of good, responsible, intelligent candidates, would you be interested?”<\/p>\n
We understand that Edmund Burke was right when he said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”\u00a0 Here is New’s Corollary:\u00a0 “All that is necessary for the triumph of sycophants is for good people to vote straight party ticket.”<\/p>\n
The GOP has an element of patriots in it that understand the problems, AND the solutions.\u00a0 Unfortunately, they are not only a minority, but they are a minority out of favor with the leadership of that party.\u00a0 Because the leadership is committed to one thing, and one thing only (WINNING!), we may accurately regard the GOP as the “Group of Prostitutes”.\u00a0 While the party has a great platform, it means nothing to the leadership.\u00a0 Those who push for platform committee assignments are given the platform as a bone to chew on while the leadership determines who will run and who will most likely win.<\/p>\n
So how do patriotic Christian voters overcome this minority position?\u00a0 The answer is startlingly simple.\u00a0 “YOU.”\u00a0 <\/p>\n
You face two problems:<\/p>\n
Good candidates show up in every election cycle, by the dozen, but they are amateurs, they have no organization\u00a0 or “machine”, they have no idea how to run a campaign, they are usually underfunded, their campaign manager (if they have one) is a first-timer, etc.\u00a0 And they lose, usually big time.\u00a0 And then they are burned out.\u00a0 They threw themselves in to that campaign.\u00a0 They are impossible to motivate, ever again, to get into another fight, after being whipped so publically, and so thoroughly at that.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Doesn’t it make sense that we first build the foundation before we build the house?\u00a0 Before we take a trip, we need a vehicle to get us there.\u00a0 So I’ll come back to candidates \u2013 let’s build a foundation.\u00a0 If this is going to be replicable, we’re going to have to do it in such a way that it doesn’t cost you a lot of money; it doesn’t cost you a lot of time; you can keep your day job; you can keep your family; you can even keep your vacation.\u00a0 (There’s a country-western song in there somewhere!)<\/p>\n
Solution #1 \u2013 The Foundation<\/strong><\/p>\n Solution #1 addresses Problem #2.\u00a0 <\/p>\n You are going to build a SMALL team of voters dedicated to finding and electing good candidates.\u00a0 This team of five to ten voters will expand your voting impact in direct proportion to your ability to motivate them.\u00a0 Your LIV neighbor is about to be out-voted, and he has no idea!\u00a0 (And you are NOT going to tell him!)\u00a0 The low voter turnout is going to work in your favor, because we don’t want the illiterati <\/em>to vote.\u00a0 We want to raise the percentage of Very Informed Voters to 100%, while only 20% of the community may be turning out.<\/p>\n So now you have ten votes, and that’s all you need to manage \u2013 you cannot effectively manage more than ten anyway.\u00a0 You’re feeling pretty good \u2013 “I have ten votes, and it’s all legal.”\u00a0 But why be greedy?<\/u>\u00a0 If you can vote ten times, why not show your friends how they can have the same influence?\u00a0 Are they to be denied the joy of voting ten times?\u00a0 How selfish of you!\u00a0 (c:<\/p>\n Let’s be conservative.\u00a0 Instead of ten, let’s start with five, and each of them gets five more.\u00a0 You require of your five voters that the only way you will go to this work to find the best candidates and pass that information on is if they will promise to get five more voters to act on this “inside tip”.\u00a0 This gives you five votes and them 25 votes, so you are now influencing 30 votes directly.\u00a0 Many an election is determined by fewer than 30 votes.\u00a0 <\/p>\n What do you require from your team?\u00a0 Here’s what I require:<\/p>\n VOTE \/ FEEDBACK \/ RECRUIT \/ GOTV<\/strong><\/p>\n This is all Phase I stuff.\u00a0 A team of ten voters is something you can keep track of in a simple little spiral notebook.\u00a0 That will include their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.\u00a0 It will also include the voting precinct they live in, and how large is their team. <\/p>\n What startles a lot of people is the realization that if they get ten voters to repeat the process, then they are having a direct impact on 110 votes!\u00a0 This is Phase II.\u00a0 Taking your team only one level deep gives you a collective impact of 110 direct votes (and 250 or so in the ripple effect), and that means you have just become what is called “a swing bloc”.\u00a0 You have political clout.\u00a0 <\/p>\n A word of warning \u2013 do not breathe a word of this to the Powers that Be \u2013 especially<\/u> the leadership of any party!\u00a0 Not even to the candidates do you need to tell them any more than the fact that you have a few friends who will be supporting them.\u00a0 They hear that all the time.\u00a0 (More on this later.)<\/p>\n Should you be so motivated, if you take your team only TWO levels deep, then you will have a direct impact of over 1,100 votes in the next election!\u00a0 You will then have the “balance of power” because most elections are decided by fewer than that, especially in smaller elections, and that’s what we’re going after.<\/p>\n At this point you should be aware that there is no need for you to be an impotent “Lone Ranger Voter”.\u00a0 <\/p>\n Solution #2 \u2013 Finding the Right Candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n Solution #2 addresses Problem #1.<\/p>\n In the beginning, you and your five to ten voters will be beggars.\u00a0 You will take what is given to you in the way of candidates and you will cast the best votes you can.\u00a0 You will winnow through the field of ambitious men and find the best you can, but this is a temporary situation.\u00a0 You throw your five votes into the fray and hope for the best.\u00a0 Not much better than one vote, but it’s something.<\/p>\n You are going to form another, smaller group.\u00a0 The “Candidate Selection Committee” will consist of you and your first team, but anyone who wants on it is welcome.\u00a0 Together you will look at all you can find about a candidate, including his\/her reputation in the community, voting records, positions on issues, etc.\u00a0 You’ll endorse a few candidates \u2013 one to six is ideal.\u00a0 To endorse too many is to lose your effectiveness.\u00a0 For now.\u00a0 In Phase III you’ll endorse more.<\/p>\n This is where the feedback is so important.\u00a0 You ask every voter (through their team leaders) if they know any reason why we should, or should not support each candidate you are thinking about endorsing.\u00a0 Once you get feedback from your ten team captains, you ask them to turn around and repeat the process, making their ten phone calls to their voters and asking the same questions.\u00a0 We once almost endorsed a guy running for re-election as a judge who was very conservative, but found out that he had a cocaine problem, and was violent toward his former wives and girlfriends.\u00a0 Oops.\u00a0 (But the Straight Party Ticket voters elected him anyway.\u00a0 That’s the problem.)<\/p>\n In Phase I you will know everyone.\u00a0 By the time you are to Phase II, with 100 or more potential votes, you won’t, but you don’t need to.<\/p>\n Here is where it gets really fun.\u00a0 Politicians and their campaign managers stay awake at night trying to find an audience for their message.\u00a0 You are about to become a blessing to them, because you are going to call them up and say something like this \u2013 “I’ve got a few friends who are wondering who to vote for in this coming election.\u00a0 Would you be able to find the time to come and visit with us some evening in one of our homes?”\u00a0 (t can be in a meeting room of a restaurant, if you prefer.)<\/p>\n He’s going to come with a prepared speech or pitch, and you can listen if you like, but you’re going to get his attention when you make introductions.\u00a0 “Mr. Candidate, let me introduce you around \u2013 this is Mary Smith.\u00a0 Mary, how many voters are you representing tonight?”\u00a0 So Mary says, “Ten,” then you say, “This is Tom Jones.\u00a0 Tom, how many?”\u00a0 Tom says, “25, so far.”\u00a0 Etc.\u00a0 You have ten people there, but they make it clear that they are representing at least 100 or more voters, and this candidate is getting excited.<\/p>\n Then you tell him what you want.\u00a0 You let each person present just work him over, extracting from him any number of promises to work for “less government, less spending, lower taxes, fewer laws, less interference in our lives.”\u00a0 You ask him to commit to opposing grant programs, welfare (both personal and corporate), unconstitutional wars, treaties with the United Nations, etc.\u00a0 (Obviously, you focus your discussions on the areas over which his position can affect.\u00a0 Don’t ask the candidate for school board to take a position on the U.N., etc.\u00a0 Ask him to reduce the bureaucracy of educrats and reduce property taxes in the process.\u00a0 Etc.)<\/p>\n You may well have a questionnaire to send to selected candidates.\u00a0 You can put another copy in his\/her hands that night and work through them.\u00a0 Ask for commitments that, if kept, will mean you’ll support him\/her next time as well.<\/p>\n One of the most important issues will be their attitude toward the Constitution, since they’ll be taking an oath to support it.\u00a0 Have they read it?\u00a0 Recently?\u00a0 Do they take it literally?\u00a0 Will they promise to not vote for anything that can not be found to be constitutional?\u00a0 (This is a litmus test.)<\/p>\n You’re not going to invite candidates whom you don’t intend to endorse.\u00a0 When others ask, and they will, hand them a questionnaire, tell them to submit it, and you’ll abide by the decision of the group.\u00a0 Then ignore them. \u00a0Like they have ignored you as a voter, all these years.<\/p>\n Think about this.\u00a0 Instead of trying to create a real political party, registering with the state and the federal authorities, filling out reports, holding conventions as required by state law, then going through the impossible hoops to achieve ballot access, advertising, etc., you are just going to get a few friends over for coffee and cake and discuss who you’re going to vote for.\u00a0 So far, anyway, there is no law against that.\u00a0 <\/p>\n You are NOT going to be a political party.\u00a0 You don’t need money to advertise.\u00a0 In fact, you don’t need money except for refreshments or meals.\u00a0 You report to nobody!\u00a0 You are free Citizens, and you don’t purport to be anything else.\u00a0 This is crucial.<\/p>\n Remember that you are not a political party, not a PAC, not anything but a group of friends exercising your rights of free speech, freedom to assemble, free press, etc.\u00a0 You are never going to register or purport to be anything more than “me and my ten friends.”\u00a0 Because that’s all you are.\u00a0 Let’s keep it that way.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n So how long will it take you to recruit ten friends?\u00a0 I reckon a week is plenty of time, if you’re serious about this.\u00a0 <\/p>\n And it should take your team about a week for them to form their teams.\u00a0 If you take them to a second level, you’ll need about three weeks to come up with a thousand votes!!!\u00a0 (Politicians would drool over this, if they only knew, but they are not going to really know how strong your group is.\u00a0 They are only going to know that you supported them, and they won.)<\/p>\n Record keeping is going to become important, if you are to go to Phase III.\u00a0 This is for two reasons.\u00a0 First, you want to avoid repetition.\u00a0 If Tom and Sally are counting the same person on their team, that’s going to seriously impact your net numbers.\u00a0 Second, you need to know where your strength is, by voting precinct.\u00a0 You shouldn’t need to ever contact the whole team directly, but when you have the strength to capture a precinct by electing a precinct chairman, you want to know that.\u00a0 Then, you may want to print up a little newsletter with a calendar of events, such as voting dates, meetings, etc.\u00a0 You want to give enough to each member on your team that they can pass it on to each in their down-line.<\/p>\n When you pick a slate of candidates, it’s important that you strive to not pick them in only one party.\u00a0 I know, it may be impossible to find a Democrat you can support, but you might be surprised.\u00a0 There actually are a few good ones out there!\u00a0 More likely, you’ll find yourself endorsing an Independent, or a Libertarian or a member of the Constitution Party.\u00a0 That’s where you’ll find out if your team is really following through \u2013 endorse a third-party candidate in some race where both the major party candidates are socialists, and you’ll be measuring your impact on that election.\u00a0 <\/p>\n There is a lot more, but this is enough for an introduction. <\/p>\n I encourage you to go to my website for Independent Conservative Voters <\/em>(www.ICVUSA.com<\/a>) and read, read, read.<\/p>\n If you don’t have a copy of the Constitution, it is required reading to be in this program.\u00a0 And if you haven’t read The Law<\/em> by Frederic Bastiat, ask for a copy.\u00a0 It’s fundamental reading.\u00a0 We’ll recommend more reading in time, but we’re trying to keep it simple.<\/p>\n Now \u2013 let’s go forth and reclaim our country, for the sake of our children and theirs.<\/p>\n Daniel New “Me and my ten friends –\u00a0 <\/em>\n
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\n changing the way politics is done.”<\/em><\/p>\n