THEVOICESOFAMERICA.ORG NEIGHBORHOOD/PRECINCT ORGANIZING BEST PRACTICES

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1 THEVOICESOFAMERICA.ORG NEIGHBORHOOD/PRECINCT ORGANIZING BEST PRACTICES

2 All Content Available on Web Site TheVoicesOfAmerica.org Not an Organization Focus: Neighborhood Organizing Best Practices

3 THE ROAD TO SERFDOM 1. Spending & Debt 2. Dependency vs. Jobs 3. Tax & Redistribution 4. Equality / Social Justice 5. Rules / Regulations 6. Government/ Corporate Elite 7. Loss of Freedoms Free Book Copy: Google Search Hayek and Readers Digest, then go to IEA.org.uk site

4 WEIMAR REPUBLIC LEARNINGS Deficit spending leads to inflation No harm to Government Employees and Dependents Income and benefits indexed to inflation Provide Politician's Organized Feet-on-the-Ground & Voters Big Business benefits Pass on inflationary price increases Know how to game the financial system Fund Politician s Elections No Harm for strong Union Employees Strike to have income indexed to inflation Fund Politician s Elections & Provide Organized Feet-on-the-Ground Devastation for Small Businesses, Middle Class and those on Fixed Income!

5 GEORGE WASHINGTON cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government,. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Farewell Address September 17, 1796

6 WE NEED YOU TO ACT NOW!

7 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING PRESENTATION KEY POINTS Role in Politics Tea Party Leverage Volunteers Messaging How Focus Effort & Election Impact Neighborhood Organizing Components How Can You, Individually, Get Started

8 ROLE IN POLITICS

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10 MUST PLAY THE GAME TO WIN PEP RALLIES - EXCITE & MOTIVATE

11 IN POLITICS THE GAME IS NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING

12 Neighborhood Organizing Identify like-minded neighbors & make sure they vote in elections.

13 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING Components

14 WINNING ELECTIONS AT PRECINCT LEVEL Most effective methods based on statistical analysis Money and lobbying can t buy this capability!

15 CONTACTS PER VOTE RATIO Canvass Mail Phone Source: Composite values across multiple randomized control studies including Gerber & Green & Yale University.

16 HOW TO WIN ELECTIONS Remember at all times the votes are in the precincts. Club meetings are primarily to arouse and hold together your volunteers Rallies are for morale building primarily and secondarily for publicity. It isn't hard to get adherents to your cause. Already on your side and needs simply to be located, or Can be switched to your side (from a condition of "no opinion") just by stating your case and asking for support. Volunteer campaigns should not cost much Elections are not won with dollars.

17 PROVEN PROCESS USED BY DEMOCRATIC PARTY Source: Building the National Democratic Party: The State Partnership Project

18 Source: Williamson County, TX - Grassroots Action Democrats (GRAD) School Training

19 WHY GOP MOVED AWAY FROM BLOCKWALKING? Volunteer Access Lack ready access to volunteers Don t have access to ACORN, SEIU, Unions, etc. Prefer Centralized Message Mass Advertising Centralized Phone Banks Centralized Mail Campaigns

20 VOLUNTEER LEVERAGE OF TEA PARTY

21 STRATEGIC SWOT ANALYSES Strength informed, passionate, volunteers Weakness grassroots, lack funding Opportunity elections won locally with votes Threat need conservative candidates

22 MOTIVATED VOLUNTEER EFFECT "The morale is to the physical in war as three is to one." Napoleon In politics the ratio expressed by Napoleon is nearer ten to one. - Heinlein

23 SILENT MAJORITY CAN WIN ELECTIONS 76% Of Electorate Are Like-Minded 40% are Conservative 36% are Moderate 20% are Liberal Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States October 26, 2009 Gallup Poll

24 MESSAGING LEVERAGE OF TEA PARTY

25 TEA PARTY MESSAGE Limited Government Wealth Creation Standard of Living Free Markets Prices/ Profit / Wages Individual Liberties Socialist Nanny State Social Justice Need to be able to articulate common sense economic principles. See Economic Principles TAB under Talking Points TAB on our website.

26 ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES THE CHURCH AND THE MARKET, A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy - Thomas Woods, Jr.

27 TEA PARTY MESSAGE S BROAD REACH Mid-January, 2011 Gallup poll 7 in 10 national adults Important that leaders in Congress take the Tea Party movement s position and objectives into account as they address the nation s problems. Covers Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, Among Republicans this number is 88% Even though only 50% are self-identified as Tea Party supporters. February, 2011 Rasmussen Poll 68% of likely-voters believe big-government and big-business work together against the interests of consumers and investors. Shared across partisan, demographic, and ideological lines. Rasmussen states: As a result, the gap today between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18 th century. And that s true whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge.

28 NON-PARTISAN PRINCIPLE BASED MESSAGE VS. CANDIDATE / ISSUE ADVOCACY Strength broadest appeal & SUSTAINABLE Weakness relies on voters to chose candidates Opportunity mobilize 70-80% voters w/o PAC Threat need conservative candidates

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30 NON-PARISAN VS. PARTISAN MESSAGE = GOTV!!!! Analyses have shown that in Get-Out-The-Vote efforts, campaigns that were strictly non-partisan were neither more nor less effective than campaigns that organized around an issue or a candidate.

31 THOMAS JEFFERSON - JANUARY 8, 1789 'It is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well-informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."

32 VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO Stand for Tea Party Principles Limited Government Free Markets Individual Liberties Have consistent track record and/or action plan Candidate Nights Voter Guides

33 HOW FOCUS EFFORT & ELECTION IMPACT

34 WHY NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING WORKS 1000 Eligible Voters 80% Register 60% Vote in Mid-Term & General Elections 30% Vote in Primaries & Off-Year Elections Need Majority to Win

35 ELECTION IMPACT ~231 votes per precinct will win Congressional districts Win with 150,001 votes from ~650 precincts Typically only 300,000 registered voters out of ~600,000 per district vote. Assumes 50% turnout ~46 votes per precinct can reverse 60%/40% landslide victory Winner has 180,000 votes and the loser has 120,000 votes. Only requires switching half of the 60,000 votes, i.e. over 30,000 votes

36 ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA TARGETED STATES Source: Building the National Democratic Party: the State Partnership Project

37 ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA TARGETED STATES Source: Building the National Democratic Party: the State Partnership Project

38 ELECTION IMPACT With only 20% of the voters being liberal, Democrats gained control of the Presidency, the House, and the Senate in Used Organizing for America. 1 vote per precinct (~650) in 1976 Jimmy Carter won Presidency in Ohio 537 votes in Florida in 2000 Bush won presidential election

39 Voter Turnout FOCUSED NEIGHBORHOOD VOTER ENGAGEMENT Always Vote Democratic Party Affiliation Swing Voters Always Vote Republican Always Vote Sometimes Vote Never Vote

40 COUNTY VOTER RECORD Note: Data has been scrambled and altered to protect voter s privacy.

41 PRECINCT VOTER ELECTION STRATEGY Need 324 votes to win Assume 226 Republicans & Need 98/287 Independents Focus on convincing 98 Independents Can also focus on some of the 137 unregistered voters

42 PRECINCT VOTER PRIMARY STRATEGY Need 57 votes to win Republican Primary Need 35 votes to win Democratic Primary

43 MULTI-PRECINCT STRATEGIC FOCUS Conservative / Liberal PRE- ELECTION # of Times to Work Get-Out- The-Vote # of Times to Work Communication Methods Top Third - Conservative 1X 3x Door-to-door Canvassing, Volunteer Phone Calls, Robo-Calls Mid Third - evenly split 2X 2x Door-to-door Canvassing, Volunteer Phone Calls, Robo-Calls Lowest Third - Liberal 3x 1x Door-to-door Canvassing, Volunteer Phone Calls, Robo-Calls

44 PRECINCT CONSERVATIVE / LIBERAL RATIO Use Election Results, available from Secretary of State web site, to determine precinct voting patterns.

45 SUMMARY- PRIORITIZED VOTER ENGAGEMENT District Priority Order ~650 Precincts per Congressional District 1) Most Conservative 30% Precincts 2) Split Mid 30% Precincts 3) Most Liberal 30% Precincts Neighborhood Registered Voter Priority Order ~ Registered Voters per Precincts 1) Independent Voters & Always Vote 2) Republican Voters & Sometimes Vote 3) Independent Voters & Sometimes Vote

46 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING = BROAD IMPACT Will more easily impact state and local elections

47 IOWA STATE HOUSE PRIMARY RACES Complements of Tea Party Patriots -

48 IOWA STATE HOUSE PRIMARY RACES Complements of Tea Party Patriots -

49 WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS

50 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING Components

51 DOOR-TO-DOOR CANVASSING

52 OBJECTIVE Identify like-minded voters Obtain contact information Join organization, stay informed, & vote WIN = Your efforts surpass rival s

53 VOTER ENGAGEMENT Engage I am a concerned citizen Are you concerned about big government politicians bankrupting our country & indebting our children Educate Importance & relevance of Constitutional principles Limited government, free markets, individual freedoms Voting Dates & Polling Locations Voter Registration( Details on website ) Request Contact information , cell phone, etc. Join patriot organization and/or volunteer Will vote!

54 MISCONCEPTIONS Not dreaded Cold Call Most people receptive 80-90% success rate Consistent with national polls & Ohio Project People are concerned about the economy, deficits, and jobs Know of Tea Party movement, but not aware: An organization exists in their neighborhood What they can do to have an effect.

55 VOLUNTEER PHONE BANKS & ROBO-CALLS

56 VOLUNTEER PHONE BANK Second most effective Neighborhood Organizing methodology Convey an authentic sense of enthusiasm and commitment. Use a brief opening script and then evolve into a relaxed conversation Pause for questions Invite respondents to obtain more information by visiting the organization s website.

57 PHONE BANK SUCCESS EXAMPLE 36 calls (4.4 minutes average per call) 15 calls connected (42% completion rate) 11 were interested to join organization (73% success rate) Many indicated would bring others Most were aware of the Tea Party movement, but had not taken the initiative to get involved. Ralph Kraus, leader of the Fireland Patriots organization in Sandusky, Ohio

58 START WITH ROBO-CALL CANVASSING Call all targeted voters in precinct Easy and fast method to reach many voters Able to update voter records by finding numbers that are no longer in service Leave call back messages Messages can be used for: Assuring people "they are not alone Invite them to join your organization Alerting people of important meetings Get-Out-The-Vote on election day Preferred supplier provides capability to us at 4 cents per 60 second call. Calling 1,100 people in a precinct costs only $44. Tom Zawistowski at Ext 104 or him at TomZ@TRZCom.com.

59 GET-OUT-THE-VOTE (GOTV)

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61 GET-OUT-THE-VOTE (GOTV) COMPONENTS Mail-in / Absentee Voting Encourage Voters to use Offer Mail-in Ballot Applications with stamped envelopes, addressed to the County Clerk Request daily tracking s Board of Election Site Early Voting Register & Vote Provide transportation for the elderly Encourage Voters to do Election Day Mobilize voters canvass & calls Provide Transportation Poll Checkers Flush the Lists of who s voted

62 HOW DO I GET STARTED

63 WE NEED EVERYONE TO ACT NOW!

64 TO STOP

65 SELF-APPOINTED NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZER Any person in a neighborhood precinct can start Neighborhood Organizing Use Step-by-Step Instructions from TheVoicesOfAmerica.org Does not matter that each political party may already have a Precinct Captain in your precinct

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67 STEP-BY-STEP ACTIONS FOR PRECINCT Walking List - create from Voter Record Simple Script - use own or someone else s Door Hanger use own or existing handouts Volunteers assign homes from Walking List and provide Script & Door Hangers

68 HOW RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS MUST personally ASK people! Volunteers do not have to live in your precinct Hold Neighborhood Information meeting, Social, Pot-luck dinner, etc. Start with personal contact list Like-minded neighbors, friends, relatives, and work colleagues Like minded members you know from church or clubs Reach out Attend social hours at local Tea Party, 9/12 Project, etc. meetings Ask people who are standing in line at local conservative events Get contact information and give yours, even if someone not interested at the time Use Precinct Voter Record to contact people you know Once Volunteer, ask them to invite their like-minded friends and acquaintances

69 WC-24 SUCCESS EXAMPLE Volunteer Recruitment Calling, ing, and asking for volunteers at local Tea Party meeting did not produce required results. Only when talked with targeted neighborhood families got six couples to volunteer. Volunteer Tasks Provided with targeted walking list for forty homes, short script, and door hangers Calls on Election Day to their list, after Flushing-the-List Precinct 2010 Election Result +32% conservative turnout vs mid-term (+114 voters)

70 WC-24 VOLUNTEER FEEDBACK Overall it was a positive experience, and it got to be relatively easy to do once I got through the first few houses. I saw 35 out of 39 homes assigned in the past 2 days. I was thanked by many homes for doing this and only 1 home said they were not interested in what I had to say. Good experience and I enjoyed doing it. Of the 17 that were home, I got 15 Yes's. Probably half the people I spoke with thanked me for going out and canvassing. I really appreciated the opportunity. If I can help with any future efforts, please call. I did get 28 of the 32 called yesterday, great experience, many thanks for calling, and many had already voted.

71 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING NETWORK Political Impact & GOTV Precinct Core Team Identify Family & Friends Grow Volunteer Base Precinct Meeting Or Social

72 Neighborhood Organizing Identify like-minded neighbors & make sure they vote in elections.

73 TheVoicesOfAmerica.org Homepage NEWSLETTER Presentation Video PowerPoint Presentation Download

74 ORGANIZATION S ROLE Help with volunteer recruitment Coordinate precincts to affect political races locally, state-wide, and federally. Coordinate capabilities more suited for central deployment Volunteer Phone Banks Robo-calling Candidate Nights Voter Guides Voter Registration Leaflet creation, printing, and distribution

75 NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZING PRESENTATION KEY POINTS Role in Politics Tea Party Leverage Volunteers Messaging How Focus Effort & Election Impact Neighborhood Organizing Components How Can You, Individually, Get Started

76 YOU MUST GET INVOLVED!

77 ONLY NON-VIOLENT THING YOU CAN PURSUE Many have sacrificed much before us for the freedoms we enjoy! Neighborhood Organizing is miniscule in comparison!

78 WINSTON CHURCHILL If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

79 Questions?

80 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

81 GET PRECINCT VOTER REGISTRATION LIST Obtain your county s Voter Record from you local County Board of Election or from your Secretary of State s website If it is not already in Excel format, it will most likely be in a comma-delimited format, in which case it will need to be imported into an Excel program Within all of the county s data, find your precinct voter records and delete all other records. We are assessing a number of software programs which will provide user friendly access to Voter Records, regardless of the state you live in.

82 PRIORITIZE VOTERS IN YOUR PRECINCT

83 CREATE WALKING LISTS FROM VOTER RECORD First, save a copy of the Voter Record with the Priority Score column. What you do next depends on your objective. Follow the suggested "Priority Score Focus" in the chart on last slide based on the objectives in the left-most column. This will allow you to target your efforts and make them more manageable to accomplish with your volunteers. Once you sort your voter list, based on one of the scenarios above, you may want to delete all other voter rows that don t apply. Then save this smaller voter list under a new name. To create the precinct walking list, sort this Excel based neighborhood precinct list of targeted voters based on street and secondarily by street number. Simplify the Excel based walking list by deleting all Voter Record columns, except for last name, first name, street, and street number. You may also want to delete duplicate voter entry rows for the same street address. Add columns such as Home, Not Home, Likely Voter Address, Phone Number, Needs Voter Registration Form, Needs Absentee Ballot Application, Needs Transportation, Interested in Joining Organization, Interested in Volunteering, and any other columns to capture information when going door-to-door. Now create individual walking lists for each of your volunteers. Do this by creating logical groupings of streets, or sections thereof, of 40 households per volunteer. This will assure each volunteer is assigned a manageable number of households, since volunteers can cover about 20 households per hour, with about 50% being home per trip. Net, volunteers will need to make multiple trips to catch everyone home and talk to all of the targeted voters. To help with the logical groupings of streets, or sections thereof, use a precinct map. These are available from your County Board of Elections or the Secretary of State s website. Frequently you will be able to find an online version by using Google and your precinct name, state, precinct and map as search keywords.

84 ASSIGN NEIGHBORS TO VOLUNTEEERS To create the precinct walking list, sort this Excel based neighborhood precinct list of targeted voters based on street and secondarily by street number. Now create individual walking lists for each of your volunteers. Do this by creating logical groupings of streets, or sections thereof, of 40 households per volunteer. This will assure each volunteer is assigned a manageable number of households, since volunteers can cover about 20 households per hour, with about 50% being home per trip. To help with the logical groupings of streets, or sections thereof, use a precinct map. These are available from your County Board of Elections or the Secretary of State s website. Frequently you will be able to find an online version by using Google and your precinct name, state, precinct and map as search keywords.

85 CANVASSING TASKS The primary purpose of the walking script is to identify which of the Independent voters you contact are like-minded. This can be accomplished by simply asking if the contacted voter is also concerned about biggovernment politicians bankrupting our country and indebting us, our children, and grandchildren. Typically, you will find that 80-90% of the targeted, contacted voters will be like-minded and share your concern about our country s financial predicament. Once you determine that the contacted voter is like-minded, you simply encourage them to vote for candidates who believe in limited government, free markets, and individual liberties. Also encourage them to get other like-minded family, friends, and neighbors to vote. Additionally, you determine if they, or anyone in the household, need voter registration or absentee voter applications. If like-minded, also obtain and phone contact information in order to periodically send information regarding your organization, educational events, or information about upcoming elections. Additionally, if the like-minded contacted voter appears supportive, you may also want to ask if they are interested in volunteering to help with Get-Out-The-Vote efforts..

86 SAMPLE SCRIPT Hi, I am and this is. We are neighbors of yours in West Chester Station and volunteers with the West Chester Tea Party. We are concerned that big-government politicians are bankrupting our country and indebting us and our children. Is this a concern of yours? YES In that case, please make sure you vote this election and encourage all like-minded family, friends, and neighbors to also vote. The country depends on it! NOT SURE / NOT THOUGHT ABOUT THIS/ ETC. Here is a door-hanger with some helpful information about our government spending and debt which explains why our country will go bankrupt if we don t change. I hope you will go vote this election and encourage other like-minded family, friends, and neighbors to do the same. NOT INTERESTED / ETC. Sorry to have bothered you. Thank you for your time. Note: On back of script place Do s & Don'ts of door-to-door canvassing and optimum times NO ONE HOME - please leave a door hanger on door. Do not put into mail-boxes!

87 DOOR HANGER If no one is home or if the contacted voter needs more information, leave a door hanger with the contacted voter or on the door. Typically, about 50% of contacted households won t be home on any one pass. If possible, try to return at some other time to personally talk with each of the targeted voters on your list. Non-partisan door hangers cannot be for or against a specific party or candidate. They can include principles which are to be used as a basis for voting, such as limited government, free markets, or individual liberties. They can also state what trends you are against, such as failed stimulus spending, job-killing cap & trade laws, and government-run health care. Furthermore, they can provide data based information, such as a specific candidate s or party s voting record, government spending data, or polling data. Importantly, make sure the door hanger includes dates, times, and locations for Early Voting and Election Day Voting. State who paid for the door hanger and include your organization s name, contact information, and meeting dates/ times/ location.

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89 VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT The most effective and efficient way to recruit volunteers is by personally asking others to help with Neighborhood Organizing. Get a list of Tea Party, 9/12 Project, etc. members who live in your Neighborhood precinct and personally go to their homes to invite them to help. Similarly, ask neighbors and friends who live in your Neighborhood precinct and who you believe to be likeminded. Less effective ways to recruit volunteers are announcements at meetings, newsletters, appeals, or phone calls. Robo-calling (see below for information) registered Republicans, who always vote, can also generate volunteers. Once you have a core volunteer base in your Neighborhood precinct, have these volunteers similarly recruit even more volunteers. You can get by with about five volunteers, but ideally you should target to have volunteers for Neighborhood Organizing your precinct. Each volunteer should receive a walking list of targeted voters, created per the above instructions in the Walking List section. Volunteers can typically cover 20 households per hour, with about 50% of them being home per pass. Net, each volunteer will be asked to devote about 2-4 hours of time to the Neighborhood Organizing effort. You may want to create a volunteer data base with names, address, phone, and contact information. This will be your core group as you start growing your Neighborhood Organization for subsequent election Get- Out-The-Vote efforts.

90 NEIGHBORHOOD CANVASS PLAN Plan at least 45 days ahead Assign neighborhood streets to volunteers 3-4 contacts of targeted voters prior to Election Day. 1-2 contacts should be door-to-door contacts Volunteers will contact 8-10 households per hour Knock on 20 doors per hour x 50% contact rate per pass Take your child or adopt a child more doors will open Plan a time and place to meet after the blockwalk to collect updated voter records and to debrief Plan to have food and bottled water for volunteers

91 VOLUNTEER PHONE BANK KEY FINDINGS Competent callers can complete 16 calls/ hour Make calls Weekday evenings from 5-9 p.m. Weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 50% completion rate Very high success rate when inviting voters to join patriot organizations Do-not call lists do not apply to live political campaigns. Some states restrict Robo-calls even for political campaigns.

92 ROBO-CALL SCRIPT Hello, my name is.i am a concerned citizen from your neighborhood who is troubled by how politicians of both parties are bankrupting our country and are jeopardizing our children s and grandchildren s future. If you are concerned about what is going on in Washington, I would welcome your involvement with our community group focused on electing candidates who believe in Constitutional Principles of limited government, free markets, and individual freedoms. Together we can make a difference! Please call me at or me at.

93 You are now ready to Get-Out-The-Vote