09 June 08 - 00:36What we are up against politically
I have worked on several politcal campaigns in my lifetime. Mostly volunteer work for offices as diverse as a local council seat all the way up to Presidental Politics.There are many aspects to a political campaign from Fund Raising to Town Halls to Purchasing air time to simple press the flesh opportunities.
One aspect that is used in political campaigns is "GOTV" or Get Out The Vote.
Get Out the Vote (or GOTV) is a campaign aimed at increasing the voters to turn out for your candidate or party. It can be a very useful tool for a campaign to increase its chances.
When I first started in poltics was for a woman running for Congress in a congressional district that had not elected a Republican in 32 years. In fact the office had been held by father and son (The Molohans of West Virgina. This was in 1992 and Alan Molohan is still in office to this day)
In researching for my candidate's campaign I discovered that Molohan usually got about 73,000 votes to win election. So my plan was to get my candidate at least 75,000 votes.
In many circles the idea had come that voters were locked in stone. Those that went to the polls almost always did and that those who dont go to the polls almost always didnt. That there was no real way to change those numbers.
I reasoned out that the problem in defeating Molohan was that it was unlikely I could shift 20 to 30 thousand of his voters to vote for my candidate over someone who they always voted for. To be successful I needed to acheive 2 things. One I had to increase the number of voters to back my candidate and two I had to decrease the number that would vote for Molohan.
So I came up with a GOTV plan and a idea on how to keep Molohan's numbers down. I conceeded I probably wouldnt be able to convince pro Molohan supporters to switch from him to my candidate. What I needed to do was disillusion Mollohan's voters from going to polls as one part of the plan. I had ample ammo but again everything was really hinged on part two
Part two was GOTV. I needed to add another 30 to 40 thousand voters WHO DONT USUALLY VOTE to my plan to give my candidate a chance. That is when I came up with a GOTV Plan and tried to put it into action.
TO cut this all short and get back to the main thrust of this article I failed because of two things. One was my candidate could never raise enough money to make the plan work. She only raised 5,000 dollars for her campaign and that just killed us. The other part was I tried to peddle my idea to the RNC at that time to get their backing for the plan. The RNC considered my plan foolish and not every effective and dismissed and any possibilty of help. For almost 20 years I have gone back to the RNC over and over again only to get shot down.
The problem is that the RNC is utterly convinced that massive media buys and volunteer campaign workers is the ONLY way to campaign. My plan dismissed both of those ideas and I felt like was trying to sell a caveman the idea of a flying machine. They simply had no concept of what I was pushing.
As a point of reference here is an example of what I was talking about. This is a conservative grassroots site that backs GOP Candidates. Read their "Fact Sheet" to see what they emphasize.
Political fund raising fact sheet
Television Advertising Costs
Costs of a 30-second spot on top television shows:
American Idol $705,000.00
Desperate Housewives $560,000.00
CSI $465.000.00
Grey's Anatomy $440,000.00
ER $400,000.00
Extreme Makeover Home Edition $355,000.00
Survivor $350,000.00
The Apprentice $350,000.00
Two And A Half Men $293,000.00
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As can be seen the main ephasis is on massive media buys in expensive markets. They raised alot of money but then turned around and spent it all on Media buys.
I studied some Communication in college (But I'm no expert) but I saw a problem with that. Every political season millions of campaign aids hit the airwaves and when you have such a saturation of any market it causes the law of diminishing returns. People over the years have learned to tune out poltical aid on TV or on the Phone or Radio. It has become counter productive to even try to campaign that way anymore.
However I have never been able to convince any GOP Politician or RNC member to the dangers of massive media buys. Their gurus and backers all still consider those to be the most effective way to campaign. Millions are still spent every year by the GOP on these media buys.
The saddest thing of all for me is I have come to realize not only is my ideas not catching on with the GOP. But that the Democrats HAVE discovered what I was talking about and they are starting to use the very strategy that I advocated back in 1992.
That strategy was a modernization of the idea of machine politics. In the old political ward days of the early 1900s Political bosses would send their workers out into the population (This was before radio and TV) and get people to go to the polls to vote. It was utilizing PEOPLE as medium to get a message out rather than a media source.
That is what GOTV does. However for the GOP they believe GOTV only takes place in the latter part of a campaign. What I advocated and what the dems are doing is a constant GOTV program. Below are some examples some antidotal.
When I moved to Ohio in 2005 I went to the local Job service to apply for work. While I was there I saw that the NAACP had set up a booth to register voters at the Job service center. The NAACP was financing and organizing to enroll more voters to increase the chances of getting people to go out and vote. And they are still doing that
NAACP Voter Registration
New Voter Empowerment Chief Sets Aggressive Tone for NAACP's Voter Registration & Education Efforts
Greg Moore
The NAACP's voter empowerment efforts are under new direction. With a background heavy in political advocacy, Greg Moore has been selected to head the NAACP’s comprehensive 2007-08 voter empowerment program across the U.S.
Moore will lead a multi-million dollar effort aimed at boosting voter registration, election protection, education and awareness around the critical voter participation issues that will surely confront African Americans.
“Voter registration and empowerment is a mainstay of the NAACP’s civic engagement activities,” said NAACP Interim President & CEO Dennis Courtland Hayes. “Greg brings a wealth of expertise to this important role and we look forward to the results his efforts will undoubtedly have on African American voters to successfully participating in the political process.”
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Another example was soon after I got a job in a local factory. While I was working there I had AFLCIO Voter registers come into the factory (also in the union meetings) to register voters to vote democratic.
So that is two seperate instances of Pro Democratic party groups that I know of personally going from face to face meetings to get people to go out and vote for the democrats.
But lately it has greatly accelerated. In the past year I have come accross other examples of massive GOTV efforts being funded and utilized by the democrats.
One was about 4 months ago, I discovered a "Job offer" to work for the Obama campaign (with pay) in a GOTV program here locally in Ohio. In effect you show up and Obama's people pay you to work for them. As far as I know they have registered hundreds of people locally by doing this.
And then there is this from Denver
Finally one final example. There is THIS job offer in my local paper (and I also found online)
Activist Job
GENERAL - Activists
Earn $300+ per day gathering signatures. Fun Job!
Call 937-xxx-xxxx or
954-xxx-xxxx
First Published in Cox Ohio Publishing Newspapers on Jun 8 2008
Yes thats right get up to $300 dollars a day being an "Activist". In fact I meet someone who answered this on the street she came up to me and asked me if I was a registered voter. And if I would sign a petition to increase the amount of leave time for workers in the state. It isnt just an advocate position role because once you sign your name gets on the DNC rolls and you get contacted back in many GOTV programs.
So I came to the realization that the very plan I pushed for almost 20 years ago is now in full operation by the democratic party and they are using GOTV to litterly run circles around the RNC and defeat the GOP.
And no matter what I try I cant convince the RNC of the danger. No comments No trackbacks
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