Many ‘campaigns’, candidates, political operatives and wonks will spew rhetoric regarding their ‘grassroots’ strategy. Many of these same folks do not understand the grassroots let alone how to put it into their ‘strategy’.
We have seen over and over again campaigns that greatly underestimate, overestimate, miscalculate and outright ignore the grassroots . . . subsequently leading to failure and loss.
The grassroots is an enigma to most politicians. Why? The grassroots can not be polled. The grassroots can not be ‘controlled’ by a central body. The grassroots is immune to punditry and it can not be organized via a top down strategy. Once a campaign attempts to categorize, control, incubate a grassroots movement the grassroots will turn on that campaign. Occasionally it will turn viciously other times it will simply stand by and watch the candidate lose. However; if the grassroots is dealt with respectfully, if the grassroots is handled with understanding within organizational efforts it can turn into one of if not the most loyal and powerful tool a candidate, campaign or cause can have.
Exploit the grassroots, try to utilize it for money or control it and you will suffer the consequences.
As a result of the possible devastation and severe misunderstanding of the grassroots many campaigns ignore it altogether. Why? Campaigns these days turn to the main stream media (especially the liberals, but conservatives do it as well). They (the campaigns) turn to the MSM for coverage, ads and polls because they can not do the same with the grassroots. Why? They do not understand it.
We saw in this very election the same thing happen. The McCain campaign tried to ‘play’ the media. However, once it was clear he was running against Obama the media no longer had any interest in McCain. The McCain campaign made the mistake of trying to survive on media exposure and a tireless campaign schedule. They often ignored the grassroots completely. (I know this for a fact, personally). When they did ‘engage’ the grassroots, they attempted to control it, exploit it, poll it and organize it. All of the no-no’s. The miniscule grassroots effort that was managed was hammered and beaten by the massive MSM machine. It is going to take Conservative Citizens interested in Solutions to find their own way. To come together with egos and financial wants aside . . . unite, mobilize and form a true massive grassroots army.
By definition alone, the grassroots is not to be controlled. The grassroots are not part of the brick and mortar, they are not the marble walkways, they are not the gold leaf chairs, and they are neither the 100 story offices nor the folks that occupy any of the aforementioned. The grassroots is the foundation by which all is built upon. In short the grassroots is you and I. Everyone ‘else’. The grassroots is made up of conservative citizens with traditional values. That is what founded our country that is what led it to be the greatest idea, experiment, place and country on Earth.
Now I am not saying that someone in office or someone that exists in the upper echelon so to speak can not operate and exist in both that realm and the grassroots effectively . . . they can. However; it is only when they stand alongside Conservative Citizens, regular Americans like you and I that they achieve success in doing so. If they do this respectfully and honorably they can wield great power, and so can we.
A Jewish friend of mine told me a long time ago that “Being Irish”, (which I am)”Being Irish is like being Jewish.” To which I of course replied, “Oh yeah how?” He said “You see it is not only an ethnicity or nationality but a psychosis!” Of course he was right.
Grassroots can be looked at in the same light. It is more than a herd of folks, it is more than being elected or climbing the political ladder, it is more than having authority in ones community . . . it is a psychosis. A mindset. It is a positive enthusiastic unification of citizens based on real beliefs, core values, and common goals. It is fostered and grows by participation regardless of the level.
Campaigns can not ignore the grassroots any longer. They can not afford to and we can not let them. We are the very basis of politics in our country. You and I discussing an issue over our kitchen table is the pure soul of our entire system. It is stepping out your backdoor into your backyard and taking a look around. If the grass is high, start cutting it down. It is you and I going to our town meetings, city councils and listening, honestly listening and speaking up when necessary. It is you and I speaking to our friends or folks at church. It is you and I blogging, writing letters to editors, making calls to radio stations or on behalf of issues or campaigns.
Unlike any other conservative political organization, Conservative Solutions is unique in providing opportunities for Education, Inspiration and Action in a coordinated effort to promote conservative principles. We have developed cutting edge, web based strategies to promote conservative principles and social/political networking. What we need to be successful are YOU!
Again you are KEY in all of this. It has been quite sometime since the true power of the grassroots in the
We at Conservative Solutions firmly believe that the majority of this country holds true to the core beliefs and values of conservatism. We believe without a doubt that we are still a right leaning country. That being said why then has it been so long for the grassroots to really become engaged and active? Fear. Fear and Manipulation. They lack inspiration and sensible leadership. If folks like you and I were truly inspired by a leader or group we would share that inspiration with our friends, family and neighbors . . . we would act.
It seems as though this 2008 election cycle has awakened some folks to the realization that the
As I stated before Conservative Solutions believes firmly that 80% of Americans in reality align themselves with conservative values especially in a moral and patriotic capacity. We believe this because it is a fact.
We all constantly talk of the Main Stream Media, I even mentioned them earlier. They go to great lengths to get us to believe that our nation is not fundamentally conservative. They bombard us with progressive agenda, pundits, lectures, academia, pictures, sound bites, protests, videos . . . it never ends. They prop up this minority of fanatics and elitist know it all’s as if they are the common citizen! They spend great effort and obscene amounts of money telling you and me who we are!
It has become abundantly clear in 2008 that we can not educate, inform or force the Main Stream Media to be objective or convey our message. We Must Put Our Time, Effort, Energy, Resources and MONEY Elsewhere! Alternative media, groups, efforts similar to Let’s Get This Right and Conservative Solutions
Similar to Barack Obama these people do not pray to our God. Their God is the State. Plain and simple. They are driving hard for a one world government and a very twisted version of the ‘utopian’ society. These are ‘soldiers’ not citizens. They take their direction from the top of their indoctrinal system. They have a well thought out and systematically placed strategy that they are implementing quite well. These folks DO NOT represent you and me. These folks are NOT the grassroots of the
These liberal progressive forces have no desire to preserve neither our freedom nor the sovereignty of the
That is exactly why we must be more cautious now then ever before. As I stated previously there are many ‘groups’ popping up. Many seemingly principled leaders shouting their message louder than in previous years, many entities wishing to engage you. Now is not the time to be moderate. Now is not the time for bipartisanship. Now is not the time to overhaul the core beliefs and principles of the most honorable political traditions to ever exist on earth. Now is the time to hold true to those values and beliefs as tightly as we can. They are the lifeline for this nation and we are the guardians.
We must stay consistent with our values and beliefs. We must embody and follow the ideals of the founders of this nation and the documents they utilized to create it. We are all Americans. We are all citizens. We are all equal. We can not let power, egos and finances deter us from our primary goal. We are in a war and we must operate as such.
The liberals will live off bread and water years on end simply to further their agenda one day. We must have that same determination. We must disregard personal gain, power and recognition in order to fulfill our duty and obligation to our country.
We are in the process of establishing The Foundation for Conservative Solutions, as our parent organization to be a think tank dedicated to educating the public and government officials on the Constitution and the conservative economic, national security and social values that remain the unwavering foundation of our Republic.
Over the long term, the key to the success of reinvigorating the Conservative Movement is individual action on the local, state and national level. We have to continue to speak out and support the message of personal responsibility, individual rights, free market principles, strong national security and traditional social values.
Ultimately, Conservative Solutions is about you, your family, your community and your vision for this great nation. In short We Need You.
We need you to help Secure
We are simply a resource. We can not control the masses and quite frankly none of us have any desire to do so. We are in a position and have a deep heartfelt desire to do anything and everything we can to help you. We do not have our own well-laid plans for our personal gain guiding our motives. This is about the
We have great faith in this nation and her citizens. We have faith and trust in you to take the initiative. We trust you to help those around you find their stake in the issues. All of the talent, leadership, and expertise in everything from media and internet to policy lay amongst you the grassroots conservative citizens. Once again we are but a resource at your disposal. We will help provide tools and guidance, education and insight, organization and support. We will do all that we can to encourage you to take the initiative and mobilize the true
Below are principles for working with the grassroots, based on the typical behavior of those who join grassroots movements. These principles cannot be divorced from any serious attempt to reclaim
We wish to enlist you in our cause. We have seen time and time again the failure of top down movements. Only the citizenry has the fortitude and power to remove that from our political process. We are servants to no party or candidate, we are Americans. You and we are the embodiment of all that is good about this nation.
We can not sit around waiting for another Ronald Reagan to jump off his horse and lead the entire nation hoping others of near caliber will fall into place behind him on our behalf. It is our mission . . . Yours and Ours to inspire our fellow citizens by fully embracing our core principles, core beliefs and effectively communicating them through a message of proud conservatism. Faith, Family and Freedom. As Ronald Reagan once said, “Let us raise our bold colors high!”
We simply need to speak the truth. We need only convey our common sense honest message of patriotism, traditional values and ideas. Intelligent, simple appeals.
If we work together, if we honestly put aside personal ambition and regard for making a buck on everything we do and help one another when needed then we can give one another ‘meaningful’ things to do. We can give our neighbors their stake in the issues and in doing so truly inspire one another and the masses. Think of what folks will sacrifice to support that cause. Think of the effort and ends to which they will go to accomplish such a noble mission and uplift such a cause.
We are setting up a fantastic array of tools and resources that we intend to have at your disposal during this battle. We will offer guidance when we can, wave signs when we must, write letters, make phone calls, print literature, blog, call radio and TV, broadcast our own media . . . we will do whatever it takes.
If we subscribe ourselves to the basic ideas I have mentioned above, if we hold true to these principles and stand up in our own communities we will unleash a great and awesome power . . . the power of American’s!
This begins in your own backyard my friend. The school board, PTA, sheriff, city and town officials, selectmen, sate officials, congress, senate. We must incorporate our voice into all of these realms at the bottom level.
You are indispensable to the success of our cause.
Please join the folks at http://letsgetthisright.org
No comments:
Post a Comment