The reason the Founders stand out in world history is because they stood up. How many countries — still existing or gone from the map — suffered because the wrong people rose to power? I dare say there isn’t a country that has existed that hasn’t had its ups and downs. Some downs, of course, are hell — and those episodes typically get the most coverage in the history books.
One successful businessman I spoke with last month had a simple way to sum it up. When I argued that our country’s problem isn’t the Democrats or liberals but the Republicans and conservatives, he readily agreed by comparing left-wing Dems to a dog urinating on the carpet. Like the dog, left-wing Democrats are doing what they do — it’s up to us to do something about it.
We know from recent history that gaining the White House, Governor’s mansion, or majority status in the state legislature or Congress isn’t enough either. The good guys need to keep up the pressure politically. To drop the fight is to lose the fight.
Our Founding Fathers set a good example for us — they put it all on the line and did what it took to fight, win, not only on the actual battlefield with Great Britain, but also in the arena of ideas and on the political playing field.
So the political dog is peeing on the political carpet — now what? Throw up our hands? Whine about the media being against us? Complain about incompetent or corrupt politicos clogging up the party or corridors of power making it impossible for us little people to do anything about it?
Hardly. I disagree with those who say the next generation is lost. I disagree with those who say that we can’t win over enough people to our side of the political aisle. President Obama is nothing if not a good ambassador for the rightness of the Republican Party’s National Platform. Almost everything he does is counter to it — and we’re suffering the consequence of left-wing governance.
So the path ahead would appear to be clear. We have to muster more people into direct political action. That’s already underway through the tea party movement. The ultimate goal of that political action has to be to reach more of our fellow Americans with the truth — and with a counter-proposal to that which the political left is advancing.
Keep the following three basics in mind:
1) How many people are we really reaching and how persuasive is the information we’re delivering?
2) We don’t need to create a grassroots bureaucracy. We need locally run Republican and independent groups doing the work of democracy — which means connecting with as many fellow citizens as possible with accurate and effective information on a sustained basis.
3) Our Republican elected officials need to stop pretending it’s the 1950s and do their jobs according the world we live in during this new century. Instead of seeing that the moving of public opinion is job one, they prefer to mostly hide out until a few weeks before election day. That needs to stop.
So you’re a Republican Precinct Committeeman, or in some other manner involved with the GOP. Or you’re involved in a local tea party or 9/12 group. What’s the ultimate goal? Reaching our fellow citizens and winning them over. How are you doing that?
There are many, many ways. Direct conversation. Door to door. Direct mail. Via the phone, or through advertising, email, a website, radio, TV, hosting local forums. The list goes on and on. Nothing earth-shattering — but its simplicity shouldn’t cloud its importance. It’s all about public opinion — and it takes a lot of people to reach a lot of people.
My friends and I are currently mapping out how we’re going to reach out to the residents of the township I live in. Would I rather spend all of my free time doing something other than politics — you can bet your life I would. But it has to be done.
And that’s the case in every neighborhood, community, town, city, and county — not just in Illinois but coast to coast. A small group of people can handle only a certain number of precincts — but my friends and I are committed to doing what we can.
Up next: Part 3.
