Operation "Woodwork"
First, I apologize for the length of this message, but I trust you will find it very useful and productive. Below I outline a plan currently being pursued in Oklahoma and which I expect can be very useful in all 50 states, so please spread the word! The purpose of this plan is to help turn the tide within the GOP infrastructure of each state in favor of Ron Paul. The plan has one prerequisite and three phases:
The prerequisite is to identify at least one state official (state rep, senator, US rep, governor, etc.) who is willing to endorse Ron Paul. If you do not already know of such an official, task a person or team in your meetup to seek them out.
Phase 1: Schedule a Ron Paul rally at your state capitol or other important landmark about a month or more ahead of time, or whatever timeframe works for your state's event calendar. Reserving a venue at your capitol is usually relatively easy to do and should cost you little to nothing. Now instruct every Ron Paul supporter you possibly can to call or write their state representatives, senators, US reps and US senators and ask them to endorse Ron Paul for President. Give your members a calling deadline of about 7-10 days or so and give them frequent (perhaps daily) reminders. The reason for the deadline is so that you will be prepared for Phase 2 on time. (At some point encourage your members also to call other state officials if they have time.)
Phase 2: Once the grassroots supporters have 'primed' their representatives who will now realize that grassroots support for Ron Paul is real and considerable, we will call upon the official mentioned earlier who has already committed to endorse Ron Paul. This official will have been asked to write an official letter of endorsement and to send this letter to all members of the state legislature along with a request that his/her colleagues do likewise. Hopefully you will have been able to identify more than one such official and can have the benefit of several of them creating peer pressure on top of the pressure being applied by your meetup members from below.
Phase 3: Hopefully the combination of pressure from below and peer pressure from within will have emboldened a good number of officials to 'come out' in support of Ron Paul. Now that you have identified officials who are willing to publicly endorse Ron Paul, you need to get them in front of some cameras. This is where the rally comes in. Invite these officials to come and say a few words about why they endorse Ron Paul for President. Be sure you remember to invite the media well in advance too! It will help with the media coverage if you can find some sort of tie-in to this event which would add a level of pageantry to the occasion. For example, for our Oklahoma City rally, we are trying to get the Liberty Bell (an exact replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia) to be present which each of our representatives will be invited to ring as a symbolic gesture. Perhaps there is something going on in your state that you could "piggy-back" onto.
The above will hopefully send waves through your state GOP that will dramatically raise Ron Paul's profile as a top-tier candidate in your state. The combination of grassroots pressure and pressure from within should help produce some high-profile Ron Paul supporters who are willing to go public. Then the media bonanza you can generate at the rally with a big ceremonial endorsement will show everyone in your state that the Ron Paul Revolution is for real!
Below I have provided the letter I prepared for the meetups in my home state of Oklahoma. You are invited to use it for your own meetups as well, just remember to change any state-specific parts for your own state. The message follows:
We are entering into a serious time in the campaign season. It is time for us to begin a concerted effort to build support for Ron Paul in our state. The first phase of this effort will be very simple, but it will require the participation of each and every Ron Paul supporter in the state - both who are members of a meetup group, and those who are not. So if you know anyone who is not a member, please pass this information on to them. But most importantly, we only have until October 27th to complete the first phase of this plan.
The plan: In short, we will create pressure from above and pressure from below to encourage our elected officials and other state party members to support Ron Paul.
Phase One (Deadline - <insert deadline here>):
We need every Ron Paul supporter in the state, including husbands, wives, and even children of voting-age, to contact every sort of representative they have in the State. This includes State Representatives, State Senators, and even your US Senators and US Representatives. Please call them (first priority) or write them a letter (second priority) because calls have quicker feedback and time is of the essence! If they see that their actual constituents in their district support Ron Paul, they will feel much safer in 'coming out' in support of Ron Paul publicly. You can find the necessary contact information for your officials here:
http://www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/
Please e-mail us directly (<dedicated project e-mail address>) when you have contacted an official and list the officials you contacted so we can keep track of which officials have already been reached.
I have attached a sample script for phoning your rep/senator.
Remember, the deadline for this effort is <insert deadline here>. After that, we will begin phase two.
Phase Two:
Once we have 'primed' your reps for supporting Ron Paul, the handful of reps who have already declared their support will issue an official endorsement letter urging other officials to do likewise. This brings us to phase three.
Phase Three:
After these representatives and officials have agreed to endorse Ron Paul publicly, they will be invited to attend a rally which will be held at the Capitol where they will be asked to say a few words about why they support Ron Paul for President. The media will be invited to attend and we will (and MUST) show up to make our support and presence known.
I believe that this plan can and will have an impact on voters, as well as it will send a message through the State GOP that Ron Paul's support is real, tangible, widespread, and cannot be ignored.
Pleas join us in this effort right away as time is running short! We can do it together!
First, I apologize for the length of this message, but I trust you will find it very useful and productive. Below I outline a plan currently being pursued in Oklahoma and which I expect can be very useful in all 50 states, so please spread the word! The purpose of this plan is to help turn the tide within the GOP infrastructure of each state in favor of Ron Paul. The plan has one prerequisite and three phases:
The prerequisite is to identify at least one state official (state rep, senator, US rep, governor, etc.) who is willing to endorse Ron Paul. If you do not already know of such an official, task a person or team in your meetup to seek them out.
Phase 1: Schedule a Ron Paul rally at your state capitol or other important landmark about a month or more ahead of time, or whatever timeframe works for your state's event calendar. Reserving a venue at your capitol is usually relatively easy to do and should cost you little to nothing. Now instruct every Ron Paul supporter you possibly can to call or write their state representatives, senators, US reps and US senators and ask them to endorse Ron Paul for President. Give your members a calling deadline of about 7-10 days or so and give them frequent (perhaps daily) reminders. The reason for the deadline is so that you will be prepared for Phase 2 on time. (At some point encourage your members also to call other state officials if they have time.)
Phase 2: Once the grassroots supporters have 'primed' their representatives who will now realize that grassroots support for Ron Paul is real and considerable, we will call upon the official mentioned earlier who has already committed to endorse Ron Paul. This official will have been asked to write an official letter of endorsement and to send this letter to all members of the state legislature along with a request that his/her colleagues do likewise. Hopefully you will have been able to identify more than one such official and can have the benefit of several of them creating peer pressure on top of the pressure being applied by your meetup members from below.
Phase 3: Hopefully the combination of pressure from below and peer pressure from within will have emboldened a good number of officials to 'come out' in support of Ron Paul. Now that you have identified officials who are willing to publicly endorse Ron Paul, you need to get them in front of some cameras. This is where the rally comes in. Invite these officials to come and say a few words about why they endorse Ron Paul for President. Be sure you remember to invite the media well in advance too! It will help with the media coverage if you can find some sort of tie-in to this event which would add a level of pageantry to the occasion. For example, for our Oklahoma City rally, we are trying to get the Liberty Bell (an exact replica of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia) to be present which each of our representatives will be invited to ring as a symbolic gesture. Perhaps there is something going on in your state that you could "piggy-back" onto.
The above will hopefully send waves through your state GOP that will dramatically raise Ron Paul's profile as a top-tier candidate in your state. The combination of grassroots pressure and pressure from within should help produce some high-profile Ron Paul supporters who are willing to go public. Then the media bonanza you can generate at the rally with a big ceremonial endorsement will show everyone in your state that the Ron Paul Revolution is for real!
Below I have provided the letter I prepared for the meetups in my home state of Oklahoma. You are invited to use it for your own meetups as well, just remember to change any state-specific parts for your own state. The message follows:
We are entering into a serious time in the campaign season. It is time for us to begin a concerted effort to build support for Ron Paul in our state. The first phase of this effort will be very simple, but it will require the participation of each and every Ron Paul supporter in the state - both who are members of a meetup group, and those who are not. So if you know anyone who is not a member, please pass this information on to them. But most importantly, we only have until October 27th to complete the first phase of this plan.
The plan: In short, we will create pressure from above and pressure from below to encourage our elected officials and other state party members to support Ron Paul.
Phase One (Deadline - <insert deadline here>):
We need every Ron Paul supporter in the state, including husbands, wives, and even children of voting-age, to contact every sort of representative they have in the State. This includes State Representatives, State Senators, and even your US Senators and US Representatives. Please call them (first priority) or write them a letter (second priority) because calls have quicker feedback and time is of the essence! If they see that their actual constituents in their district support Ron Paul, they will feel much safer in 'coming out' in support of Ron Paul publicly. You can find the necessary contact information for your officials here:
http://www.capitolconnect.com/oklahoma/
Please e-mail us directly (<dedicated project e-mail address>) when you have contacted an official and list the officials you contacted so we can keep track of which officials have already been reached.
I have attached a sample script for phoning your rep/senator.
Remember, the deadline for this effort is <insert deadline here>. After that, we will begin phase two.
Phase Two:
Once we have 'primed' your reps for supporting Ron Paul, the handful of reps who have already declared their support will issue an official endorsement letter urging other officials to do likewise. This brings us to phase three.
Phase Three:
After these representatives and officials have agreed to endorse Ron Paul publicly, they will be invited to attend a rally which will be held at the Capitol where they will be asked to say a few words about why they support Ron Paul for President. The media will be invited to attend and we will (and MUST) show up to make our support and presence known.
I believe that this plan can and will have an impact on voters, as well as it will send a message through the State GOP that Ron Paul's support is real, tangible, widespread, and cannot be ignored.
Pleas join us in this effort right away as time is running short! We can do it together!
