The first votes in the 2012 battle for the Republican nomination will be cast in just eight months!

Some candidates have officially launched their campaigns; others plan to do so in the coming weeks - and others have decided not to run at all.

In other words, the field is starting to take shape - and we want to know what conservative activists think about it.

(Click here and take the GOP Presidential Survey!)

We are surveying over 200,000 conservatives around the country to find out what THEY think., and we want your vote to be included.

Who is your first choice?  Your second?  Is there anyone that you wouldn't support?
 read more »

Fellow conservatives,

Members of Congress are currently debating whether or not to allow our country to legally go deeper in debt - and they need to hear from you.

Soon the federal government will reach its current legal debt limit of 14.3 trillion dollars, and the only way it can stay open is if Congress raises that limit. 

Currently, many conservative members of Congress, such as Senators Jim DeMint, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, are demanding that Congress approve a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution before any extension of the debt limit.

They need our support!

In order to pass a Constitutional Amendment, it must pass BOTH houses of Congress by a 2/3's vote before it is sent on to the states for ratification.

There is little doubt that the states would approve such an amendment - but it has to get past Congress first!  read more »

As we all know, there's a lot out there to complain about.  But if you plan to "do" something about it, rather than just complain, be sure to go about it in such a way as to have the greatest impact.

Here’s a handy list of the most basic tools you should have at your disposal if you’re going to try and build an organization at the precinct/local level that can truly have an impact on the things you care about.

A list of all registered voters in your precinct.

It’s hard to identify and organize if you don’t know who the registered voters are, (or aren’t). You can get this from your local election (or voter registration) board.

Blank voter registration forms.

For all those new people you’re going to register. Because if people aren’t registered, they can’t vote…and don’t count.

A map of the precinct.

Having a map makes it easier to get an idea of who is where and how to get to them. You should be able to get this from your local planning commission or voter registration office, (or they will know where). Try to get one with street lines and names overlaid on it.

A political events calendar.

Keep track of dates of party primaries, general elections, special elections, school board, local council and local political party meetings that you should keep people informed about.

Copies of church directories.

Having membership lists from conservative churches will allow you to cross-reference them with voter registration lists. That way, you know which registered voters go to conservative churches…and which members aren’t yet registered to vote, (so you can get them registered).  read more »

Fellow conservatives,

 Soon the federal government will reach its current legal debt limit of 14.3 trillion dollars, and the only way it can stay open is if Congress raises that limit. 

That means Obama needs Republican support – which means they have leverage. The question is, will they use it? 

Will they use it for a long term solution, or just some cosmetic cuts or reductions in the rate of growth? 

(Click here and demand that Congress pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution today!) 

Year after year Congress borrows more money and then spends all that it borrows; and year after year they vote to increase our national debt limit. It’s like being able to increase your credit limit after you’ve maxed out your credit cards.   read more »

(From the Grassroots 101 series)

I've mentioned previously, the best way to impact politics is to organize at the precinct level. And the best way to organize is to put someone in charge. In terms of precinct organizing, that means a "precinct captain".

So what is a precinct captain? Put simply, a precinct captain is someone who serves as a point of contact between the people in their local neighborhood and outside conservative political groups and activities.

By distributing petitions, getting political information to conservative neighbors, making get-out-the-vote phone calls on or before an Election Day, a precinct captain can mobilize a large bloc of people to influence political and legisla­tive activities.

It is also important to understand that many of the activities of a precinct captain are seasonal. Depending on what elections are approaching or what's happening in Congress, your state legislature or local council, your focus and activity levels will vary.

The primary goals of a precinct captain

1: Identify ten other conservative activists

In order to put the meat on the bones of any organization, you need people. Which means you should try to identify others who are willing to help. Try to identify at least ten. This is the primary job of a precinct aptain. These will be the people who are the most interested in what you are doing.

The goal is to be able to quickly line up volunteers when a major project comes up and help is needed. Keep in mind that different people enjoy doing different things. Make note of what they're willing to do and use hem accordingly. There will be many different things to do and plenty of work to go around.  read more »

It’s a truism in politics to say that “all politics is local”, but truisms are truisms because they’re usually true. In this case it’s right on the money. And the precinct is the most “local” organizational unit in American politics.

Put simply, a "precinct" is essentially your neighborhood. It’s a geographic area with specific boundaries, (usually defined by your state), that surrounds the place where you go to vote. The name of your precinct is listed on your voter registration card.

There are more than 203,000 precincts in the United States, each with an average of about 1,000 registered voters. Politically, they represent the building blocks that comprise all other political districts in America, (whether local council, state legislature or congress). And precincts are where the voters are – which means that’s where the power is in our political system.

Political influence goes to those who are the most organized at the precinct (or neighborhood) level. And good grassroots organization emphasizes the important role that precincts play and the idea that all politics is local by focusing on individuals who are willing to identify and organize others in their own neighborhoods.

That goes for campaigns, grassroots lobbying efforts and gaining influence in the Republican Party.

It's another case of "think globally, act locally".

Related entries:

• The four rules to winning an election
• A menu of effective grassroots activities
• Three venues for conservative grassroots organization

(You can find tips like this and much more in my “Grassroots 101: Grassroots Training Series”.)  read more »

The guys in the South Dakota legislature appear to be having a little fun at ObamaCare's expense.

Five of them have introduced a bill that would require every adult over the age of 21 to buy a gun.  Specifically, a gun that is "sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense".  After taking effect on January 1st of next year, it would give everyone six months to go out and buy the hogleg of their choice.

Of course it's not a serious bill in the sense that they want it to take effect, rather that they are trying to prove a point.

The measure is known as an act “to provide for an individual mandate to adult citizens to provide for the self defense of themselves and others.”

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, is sponsoring the bill and knows it will be killed. But he said he is introducing it to prove a point that the federal health care reform mandate passed last year is unconstitutional.

“Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not. But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance,” he said.

You have to admire the simplicity here. 

Point out the absurdity of the ObamaCare individual mandate by being absurd...and to use guns to do it with, just to antagonize the folks on the left a little more to boot.  read more »

When it comes to elections, organizing for success and winning isn't complicated and it's not a secret.  In fact, the rules haven't changed since this country starting holding elections.

The "rules" were spelled out best by someone who (at the time) was a little known congressman from Illinois who went on to get himself elected President.

The four rules:

1.    Obtain a complete list of voters

2.    Determine how they will vote

3.    Contact the favorable voters

4.    Get your voters to the polls

OK, being from the South and all, I'm no big fan of Lincoln, (one of his leading generals did burn my hometown...), but when it comes to summarizing the basics of a get-out-the-vote strategy, you can't do much better than this.

No matter how much modern technology may change "how" things are done, the fundamentals still apply.

And they don't just apply to campaigns, they also apply to successful political organization in general.  You start with those who are registered to vote, identify those who agree with you, provide them with the information they need, and get them to take action when it's necessary.

Successful grassroots organizations adopt and apply these rules in effectively mobiliz­ing thousands of conservatives at the local level.

***   read more »

Whether you're organizing for a campaign, a group or just an issue you care about, there are three areas that it pays for conservatives to focus their time. And each area has different benefits as well as challenges.

Organizing by precinct

Organizing by precinct is more geographically focused and as a result it can have a more direct and greater potential impact on a specific area. Plus, the American political system is built around the precinct. Meaning that elections are held in districts which are built on different combinations of precincts, and if you're organized in the precincts you can influence an election - or an elected official who wants to run for re-election.

Organizing in churches

Organizing in churches allows you to work with people you're probably more familiar with, and are likely to have more in common with. It also has the benefit of involving people across multiple neighborhoods (or precincts), which can "sow seeds" of activism in more than one area.

Online organization

Online organization can exist on its own or as a compliment to church and/or precinct organization, (ex. online "groups" via Yahoo, Google, Ning or Facebook; or online petitions and campaigns at AktNow - or a combination). And when you organize online, you make it easier to share informatoin with others and for others to find you.

Where to focus your time?

In order to determine where you should focus your time and efforts, ask yourself the following questions:  read more »

There is no great mystery about how to be effective politically. But there are some time tested basics to successfully impacting the system.

Generally speaking, there are three keys to grassroots political success:

1. Identify and organize your supporters
2. Inform them
3. Mobilize them

Without identified people that are willing to help, you have no organization.

Without information, people will not know how to proceed, let alone when, where or why.

And without mobilization towards a given objective, an organization lacks a reason to exist and will quickly fade away.

These three simple steps constitute the fundamentals of successful grassroots politics at every level and can help you build a successful local organization from the ground up. Embrace them and you’ll be on the path to achieving your goals.

So how do you get started?

Your first order of business is to identify a small core group of people who share your views and a vision for what you want to do.

Think of it as a sort of “steering committee”. When small groups come together and direct their energies in pursuit of a common goal, leverage and synergies are achieved. They begin to feed from one another and keep each other enthused.

Get together and discuss the different areas each of you would like to focus on and what you believe is important. Develop a consensus and then decide who will do what.

Then pool your resources.

***  read more »