Sponsored Content
« DOOM!: It's what all the cool kids crave. | Main | Frank Luntz' Focus Group: Cain Won »
May 06, 2011

Your Own Private Ryan
[Michael Smith]

Bumped Again by Ace, with a Short Intro: Last fall, I asked Michael to write an article about how to politically organize, and how to take over your local district. Or at least have a strong say in your local party's decisions, which are usually stupid and you know it, and badly in need of correction from outsiders.

The big problem with asking him to write that in, what, September?, was that it was too late to actually do anything about it.

But it's not too late to do something about it now. I encourage you to read his post on Hijacking Your Party Grassroots Organization (For Morons), and seriously think about doing it.

And I'm bumping this post, of course, because his point is critical: You can choose whatever candidate you like, in 85% of all districts, if you get 5% of the district's voters behind your candidate. Or -- yourself, if you decide the candidate you like best is you yourself.


While teaching me how to pull a stump, Daddy said the most important part was where you stick the crowbar.

That's true anytime you need to move something big. And right now, we have a lot of Congressmen (and state legislators) who don't want to move. They resist bold action, based on the increasingly strange idea that their re-election matters. They appear to be concerned about which of them will have the privilege of sleeping in the Titanic's radio room.

Maybe you are currently represented by one of these passenger Republicans in a "safe" seat. Maybe he nods to the Tea Party but does nothing in office that could actually change the course of government.

What he probably hasn't considered is that if he doesn't get radical on spending, he may get dumped anyway. Not in November 2012; with Congress in the hands of the nominally responsible Republicans, there's no good argument for going with the other party. Change, if it is to happen, will come in a primary.

That's easier than you think, or easier than your rep wants you to think.


As the filing deadline approaches, he'll brag about his war chest to scare off any serious challengers, figuring no one's heard of the Kasten Plan, where he who spends wisest -- not most -- wins.

Even smart primary challengers tend to play the incumbent’s game, wasting money on yard signs, radio spots, and billboards. Many consultants encourage this because they get a cut of the spend. Others know better, targeting the 1 in 10 registered voters who shows up for the primary with personal visits, mail, and calls -- the stuff that can actually defeat a well-financed incumbent.

The incumbent knows that once the primary's over, he's set: His district is so red, he cannot be defeated by any Democrat -- assuming one bothers to file.

I recently summarized the situation in a talk called "The Three Open Secrets of Electoral Politics."

Ace also let me preach here last summer. And right now is the time for primary challengers to start raising funds and planning their 2012 campaign. (E.g., Texas' primary filing closes at the end of December, 2011. Early voting begins less than 60 days later. Raising $2,000 a week starting today, that's only $88,000 for mail, phone banks, and other expenses. A serious primary candidate must start collecting checks right now.)

The short of it is, we are in a dire situation. The 2012 General Election won't save us without a rockin' 2012 primary to set the stage. The primary matters because:

  • 85 percent of districts cannot change parties. (They didn't in November 2010.) For those districts, the only way to get a better, bolder rep is in the primary.
  • Only 10 percent of voters participate in primaries. Half their votes = win.
  • The winner of the right primary wins the general.

In sum, just over five percent of voters choose 85 percent of the House of Representatives and the state legislatures.

That's an excellent place to stick a crowbar.

Would you like to have your own Paul Ryan, or Michele Bachmann, or Eric Cantor?

All one has to do is win the right primary. Five percent +1 of your district's registered voters can make it happen.

Your local Tea Party may already be working on this. If not, get them moving on it now.

digg this
posted by Open Blogger at 10:25 AM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch: "And further, this is why the left will continue in ..."

trev006: "Spend a few weeks in the wrong parts of Indiana, a ..."

G'rump928(c): "Taylor Lorenz survived the last Ice Age. You woul ..."

Christopher R Taylor [/i][/i][/s][/s][/b][/b][/u][/u]: "[i]I've always thought there was more than politic ..."

Jeb: "Buck fush! Please clap. ..."

sockamster, gator: ""Instead say "so-and-so did X, and I reacted by be ..."

Romeo13: "And that 10 -15% of Male Cons who have been told t ..."

... : "Posted by: Blago at March 22, 2023 02:02 PM (LLNVL ..."

18-1: "[i]Gimbrone's theory basically boils down to a lef ..."

TheJamesMadison, being witty and sophisticated with Ernst Lubitsch: "Sexton links his previous article about the hard-t ..."

Elric Blade: "Because we like actual girls and actual guys, not ..."

Helena Handbasket: ">>> 6 It could also be that being miserable wretch ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64