Getting involved, Part II
If you've already started on the projects outlined in part one of this series and are eager to do more, this entry is for you.
The suggestions in part one can be done by an individual volunteer if necessary; the suggestions in part two are really best tackled by a group of Kucinich supporters in your county.
These are written by Linda S. Foley, who has also been involved in the Democratic Party. They were posted to the Kucinich4President email group.
Please follow the extended entry link to read Foley's suggestions.
Our goal is to get as many votes as we can for Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary election of our respective states, then to have as many delegates as possible for Kucinich participating in the precinct election in order to have voting strength at the state and national Democratic convention that will have an impact on party platform and the political agenda. Dennis either wins it outright or has enough delegates to mold the agenda.
My first real active involvement in a political campaign was in 1984. I was given the assignment, as a volunteer not too familiar with my county, to contact every Democratic precinct chair and find out which Democratic candidate they were supporting.
This was an extremely important assignment for a relative novice. I learned who the politically active people in the party were. I put faces and names together. I learned who the union people were (at that time a very powerful force in party politics).
The second assignment I had was to call every Hart delegate in the county and surrounding counties and be sure they attended the county precinct. We had a large turnout and elected many people to the state convention, where I was almost elected as a national delegate.
This is what I suggest that the various Kucinich groups do in each of their counties:
First, contact the local Democratic party headquarters - visit it in person. Tell them you are supporting Kucinich. Make sure they have your name on file as a contact for Kucinich if inquiries come to the office. Meet the staff and volunteers. Volunteer to help with projects. Here in Texas, with the GOP trying to push for redistriciting, making phone calls to Democrats in order to get them to write letters, send faxes, make phone calls, attend rallies, etc. - is an important task needed right now across the state. You will be welcome.
Second - ask for a list of all the Democratic precinct chairs. Most offices should be able to supply it to you electronically so that you have the data in your computer. Call those precinct chairs and tell them you are supporting Dennis and ask them if they will do the same and begin to work with you to organize the county.
Third- ask for a list of all the state delegates and alternatives that were elected to attend the 2002 state Democratic convention. Again, this should be available electronically from your Dem party office so you won't have to re-create a large database. CALL those people and find out who wants to help you work for Kucinich. Arrange a planning meeting with them soon, along with the precinct chairs. Make sure the party HQ has the meeting information. If they have an email listserve or website, be sure that information is included with notices and announcements.
Fourth - Obtain a list of all the voters who voted in the Democratic primary of 2002 in your county. This is available from the party office, maybe for a slight fee, on disk or diskette.They may or may not have phone numbers on this list. You and your other DK people can do an internet search on WhitePages.com and locate phone numbers ( I do it by address, since phone numbers are usually listed under the husband's name in a household, and if only the wife voted in the primary, you won't find her phone number if you look for it under her name).
Fifth - you and your DK supporters will call these people and find out who supports DK and will help get out the vote for Dennis in the spring for the primary election.
Sixth - Join the local Democratic Club or Democratic Women's Club in your county. Find out who the other clubs are and when and where they meet. Attend their meetings. Again, you will get to know who the active Democrats are in your county. Since you will be working with precinct chairs scattered about the county, you will get to know the Democrats who live in those parts of the county and attend Democratic Club meetings in thier area of the county. If the clubs have newsletters, be sure they include information about your Kucinich planning meetings in their announcements.
Seventh - ask your Dem HQ about working as a clerk in upcoming elections in order to gain the experience of knowing how elections are run in your county and state. Here in Texas, that means working on the special Sept. 13 Constitutional Amendment election. The county elections office will provide training in procedure, rules, using equipment, etc. It will be a valuable learning experience. Plus, you'll earn about $60-75 that you can put to use printing literature about Kucinich. Pick up brochures at your county elections office that explain various facets of elections: early voting, absentee voting, etc.
Eighth - become a deputy registrar. The training is simple. The ability to run voter registration programs is simpler when there is a deputy voter registrar involved.
Ninth - learn about the precinct conventions for the Democratic primary elections. The rules are available from the state party office or county office. Learn how to work the process in order to gain maximum effect for your Kucinich supporters/delegates.
Tenth - don't be intimidated by apathy, disinterest or supporters of other candidates. 99% of the Democrats supporting another candidate will support whoever the nominee is, and if it is Dennis, and they see how hard you worked in the county, they will feel good about supporting him......
Eleventh -write letters to the editor of your local paper on whatever issue is in the news and always put a Dennis Kucinich slant on it: local school budgets, deaths of soldiers in Iraq, state budgets, GOP power plays, energy supplies, renewable energy, death penalty, jobs, NAFTA, unions, pensions, etc. Be sure that the people you have identified as supporters are scheduled to write one letter per month to the newspapers. Most papers limit you to one letter every month or every 30 days. The more letters they get, the more will be printed.
You don't have to have "permission" from anyone in the local party to do this. The party structure should not be supporting one candidate over another, that is why we have primaries - so the VOTERS get to select their preference. Your role is to find those voters and get them out to vote in the primary. Your willingness to do the legwork and basic grassroots organizing will gain you the respect of the party activists. Like Dennis, you will demonstrate that you are your own "man/woman."
Good luck-! Linda Foley, Fort Worth Texas
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