I was just looking into our local GOP organization, and was wondering if anyone has experience with what they do exactly. It seems that in my county GOP, they have one central meeting, and three of the townships have meetings on their own (my township does not). What typically goes on at these meetings? Are they open to the public? Is the reason for not having township meetings usually low turnout? Is there a dress code at the meeting (business casual ok or tie and jacket)? Is this a good place to get started in taking over the GOP?
YES, YES, YES.
I joined my local GOP last fall (southeastern Wisconsin), and was SHOCKED... SHOCKED, I tell you
to NOT find any of the people I thought would be there.
The CEO of the local Bank.... Nope (not only is he NOT a member, I have since found out that he doesn't even vote).
The owners of the local Road Construction company (Big Government Contracts... Donations to local and State GOP? Yes. Attend meetings? No.)
The people who WERE in attendance... pretty much normal everyday folks.
What do they DO? Well they meet once a month, have pizza and a few beers or mixed drinks or soda. Chit-chat about everyday life (and sometimes politics -- mostly local and state stuff, a lot of them are/were pretty clueless about national issues.) Sometimes (OK, every chance they get) the local elected GOP office holders (no matter the grade) give a short speech or talk about what is going on with them since the last meeting, etc.
So my county group is pretty much an informal affair 90% of the time, and chances are yours is too.
I just sent an e-mail to our chairman. I'm thinking that if alot of the country is inactive as I think they may be at a local level, we could easily take over. Sure, alot of folks usually vote Republican, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who's been at a meeting.
Our next central meeting is Feb 27th, if I don't get a response I may drop in. It's just in the next town over.
Also makes me wonder why we have a "chairman" for every township, yet only three townships have meetings. Whats the point of a chairman who doesn't have meetings?
Yes, most of the people who are "members" do NOT show up at the meetings. Some are completely inactive, and others are only occasionally interested.
Think of it like most other organizations -- churches and other groups -- there is probably 10% of the group that are "regulars" and willing to actually participate; and a smaller number within that who "run things" (but often only because no one else wants to.)
TWO stories:
One of the other meetup organizers here in Wisconsin finally was able to "locate" his very rural GOP county party and attend a meeting and join. This is what he found: The local county GOP only has 44 members. Only 10 of those members were in attendance (and he was told this was typical) at the January meeting -- which was important, because it is the meeting where they elect officers. He had already "joined" via phone/email prior to the meeting so they said he was eligible to be an officer, if he wanted (and would he PLEASE DO SO... PLEASE!) Seriously, he was offered the job of County Chairman if he wanted it -- but he demurred as he was not yet sure of the duties, and so instead he became Treasurer (and this still part of the "board").
The other is about our local Congressional District Party Chairman, who is a young man in his late-twenties. How did he get to be District Chairman? Well, when he was just 19 (NINETEEN!) he volunteered to "help" as an "assistant" and became vice-chairman of the local COUNTY party -- mainly because there was no one else willing. Within the following year, the local county party chairman retired and moved away -- by default he was promoted to County Chairman (and he THEN understood what had happened... he had been "trapped & trained" on purpose). When something similar happened two years later with the District Chairman, he was "promoted" to that spot -- again mainly because the OTHER county chairmen did not want to do the job (they were older, had already done that years ago, and did not want to again, etc). So basically by being there and volunteering (fool) with a few short years he is in charge of one of the major Congressional District party positions. If he persists, within a few years he may end up as state party chairman (a post which has already changed hands several times in the last few years). He WAS a pretty solid Bush supporter (young, foolish) but that is finally beginning to waver with the economy, now he is kind of uncertain what way to turn... and I have been reinforcing REPUBLIC-an principles to him in a quiet way.
So there you have it. Two stories of people who joined their local party and in very short order became an integral part of the "machine."
Now there are some (mostly elected officials) who will disparage the local party officeholder people as mere "nobodys" -- but some of that is "spite" as they CAN and DO have some influence. Granted, each local chairman -- ALONE -- does not have much, but collectively the several chairmen of the counties and districts DO have the ability to "vett" the people who want to run for office, determine in subtle ways the meeting agendas, speakers and topics chosen for meetings & "rallies," etc -- and can significantly influence through that and other methods who gets the "support" of the other local party members.
Keep in mind that the LOCAL parties have very little to do with what happens NATIONALLY -- there focus is the LOCAL and STATE politics. So it is there that you will find most people concerned with local zoning ordinances, etc -- the things that either impose and opress us, or conversely "liberate" us in our day-to-day lives, with our personal homes and properties, etc.
Also, the local party is the "training ground" where you learn "the ropes" of campaigning, the ways that people are "picked" or "helped" to get into state offices, etc.
The more active we become (as a group of like-liberty-minded people) within our local parties, the stronger our influence.
WHY this is so important, I have already written about HERE in a piece called THINKING LONG TERM and which I also posted on RPF and DP and sent to the meetups in our state (Wisconsin has it's own demons in a Democratic Governor and a Democratic State Senate -- and if the GOP does not rally, possibly a Democratic State Assembly as well this next fall...
shudder So the NATIONAL problems are only a PART of what we -- and many in other states -- have to be worried about).
The journey from the Magna Charta to the Declaration of Independance was NOT short.... and many more years passed before the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But vigilance to protect those freedoms waxed and waned, and likewise, our descent into the present corporatist-fascist-socialistic morass did NOT happen overnight, but rather step-by-step, it was imposed on us as part of a plan by a group of dedicated individuals.
If we are determined to retrieve our liberty, we must be willing to stay dedicated and ready to seize every opportunity to roll back and kill off the current system. It will NOT be achieved in a day, or a year, or probably even a decade. But it MAY happen in our lifetimes, and WE may be an even GREATER GENERATION!
