by Dick Armey
Personal Meetings
By far the most effective way to articulate your views to your elected officials and to affect the outcome of legislation is to sit down and speak with your lawmakers (or if they are not available, key staff) either one-on-one or in a small group accompanied by the other key leaders within your group. While these personal visits are extremely productive, they also require the most amount of planning to ensure success.
During the Obamacare debate, FreedomWorks activists made district office visits a key part of our strategy. Never before had so many people shown up in these local offices around the country. The staff was forced to pay attention to the groups and put the Washington offices on alert that constituents were outraged about the various health care takeover bills being debated in Congress.
Here are six things to remember when planning a personal visit with the office of your elected officials:
SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT: Elected officials have extremely busy schedules. To ensure that you will have time allotted for you to speak directly with your legislator, call in advance to set up an appointment. If you call enough in advance, speaking to your elected official directly should not be a problem. However, if he or she is not available due to a scheduling conflict or a last-minute problem, it is still worth your time to meet with the staff person who handles the issue that you want to discuss. Be persistent and follow up with all requests so that you can lock in a specific time, date, and place for a meeting. Be on time.
PREPARE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME: Have specific questions in mind dealing with your legislator’s point of view or stance on an issue. Make sure you get an answer. If you asked your question clearly and directly, you should receive a clear and direct answer. If your legislator sidesteps the issue or does not answer your question, calmly repeat it.
EXPLAIN HOW THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION WILL DIRECTLY AFFECT YOU: Use specific examples to show your lawmaker how issues affect you and the freedom of our country. If the proposed measure cuts taxes, limits government, or otherwise benefits the consumer, specifically cite examples to support this position. If you are a business owner, mention the effects the bill will have on your business and your workers. If you are a teacher, cite your experience in education and explain how the proposed bill would affect what you do. Personal anecdotes are often the most remembered and most powerful forms of communication. Sometimes the legislator will even quote you on the House or Senate floor when giving a speech about the issue.
AGAIN, ALWAYS BE POLITE: Nothing is more detrimental to a visit with a lawmaker or his or her staff than rudeness, vulgarity, or threats. Even if you disagree with the position of your legislator, be courteous, keep calm, and do not become overagitated. Also, be sure to dress professionally to convey the seriousness of your visit.
LEAVE A LEGISLATOR “LEAVE-BEHIND” AND YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION WITH YOUR LAWMAKER OR STAFF: A legislator “leave-behind” can be a short summary of the issue with key points, or as simple as a letter or petition. This will ensure that your lawmakers remember the issues you discussed.
FOLLOW UP YOUR VISIT WITH A LETTER: Regardless of how your meeting goes, send a letter to your legislator or the staff person you met with thanking him or her for their time and reiterating the points you discussed. This gesture will help your case and pave the way for future meetings. Part of becoming an effective advocate for limited government is building good relationships with legislative staff members. If you have a history of good meetings, even though your legislator may not agree with you, you will likely have more access to your representatives or senators than the average person. This makes your voice, and that of your group, much louder and more influential.
Attend Town Hall Meetings
Elected officials often host town hall meetings in their districts to showcase their achievements and solicit feedback from their constituents. Such meetings are a prime opportunity for you to ask your lawmakers to state their position on an agenda of lower taxes, less government, and more freedom, on the record and in an open and public forum. Town hall meetings are held throughout the year, especially during congressional recesses. FreedomWorks has always encouraged our members to attend town hall meetings during the Presidents’ Day Recess, Easter Recess, Memorial Day Recess, Independence Day Recess, August Recess, and so on. The town hall forums became much more popular in August 2009 when thousands of Americans attended town halls and effectively slowed down the Obamacare bill by providing an overwhelming opposition to the proposals before Congress. One of the investigators of the town hall protests of 2009 was Connecticut activist Bob MacGuffie, who wrote a now infamous memo called “Rocking the Town Halls.” Bob’s memo was picked up by leftist media outlets and caused many leftists in politics and the media to go apoplectic, accusing regular Americans of being “thugs,” “un-American,” and “evil-mongers.” Bob’s memo, however, did not preach thuggery but rather a very good tactical guide for taxpayers to make their voices heard.
Here are some things to remember about town hall meetings:
GET ON THE INVITATION LIST TO ATTEND THE MEETINGS: Bring as many members of your group who can attend. Write your lawmakers and explain that you are a local activist leader. Ask to be put on the invitation list for their town meetings and ask to bring members of your chapter. If they do not have such a list, ask for information on the next meeting. When you receive word that a town hall meeting is scheduled, be sure to make plans to attend, and share this information with the members of your chapter through e-mail, Facebook, group meetings, or other forms of communication.
Often, especially after August 2009, some cowardly congresspeople and senators will not make their town hall meetings public or will not do town halls at all. This is an opportunity for your group to wage a brief public relations campaign to convince the legislator to hold open forums for his or her constituents. We encourage groups to write letters to the editors of local newspapers and call local talk-radio stations, asking why the legislator refuses to either hold town halls or refuses to make the details public. One thing FreedomWorks activists have done in the past is to organize a town hall meeting of their own and then invite the legislator to come. If he or she refuses or ignores the invitation, the group should have a table, empty chair, microphone, and name plate for the legislator. Then invite the press to attend the town hall meeting and fill the room with a hundred constituents. Let the press report the headline, CONGRESSMAN X A NO-SHOW FOR TOWN HALL MEETING, CONSTITUENTS OUTRAGED. Then you can turn up the heat and follow up the news stories with more letters to the editor from other constituents who are disappointed that the legislator is not even listening to what the people have to say.
PREPARE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME: If your legislator does hold town hall meetings, be sure to prepare ahead of time. Have specific questions in mind. Ask for your legislator’s position on a specific bill or issue that you care about. Make sure to get an answer from him or her. And use your phone or video camera to record the answer so that you can post it on YouTube, Facebook, and your blog. There is no better way to hold politicians accountable for statements they make than to record them and post them online.
GET AN ANSWER: Make sure you are the first one to the microphone and that your group members are close behind. Often the first few questions in the town hall will define the entire event. Ask your question clearly and directly and expect a direct answer. If your legislator sidesteps or doesn’t answer your question, calmly repeat it. For example, “Do you support fundamental tax reform or maintaining the status quo?” Be prepared for spin but always have some other folks ready to ask the same question a different way, in order to get a real answer on an issue. Your group should also applaud if the congressman gives an answer that they like, or shake their heads and say no if the congressman says something that they disagree with. Be polite but firm. Be respectful, but don’t be afraid to be animated and passionate.
FOLLOW UP WITH A LETTER: Whether you had the opportunity to ask your question or not, follow up w
ith a letter to your legislator. Let him or her know you attended their last town hall meeting. Ask your question in your letter if you didn’t have an opportunity to do so at the meeting. This letter will ensure your lawmakers take you and your views seriously, and will allow for you to obtain a written response addressing your concerns.
One final note about town hall meetings: FreedomWorks always encourages a multipronged effort when it comes to these now more high-profile events. Have one team of activists stand outside the town hall meeting and hold up signs with questions or statements that make your points. This will help to set the tone of the town hall meeting inside and will give the media something to report on that includes your messages. It will make a powerful narrative if the people attending the town hall and the media both see protesters outside and concerned citizens inside the meeting with similar messages.
Limited government activists did this well during many of the town hall meetings across the country, and this model should be replicated even more as we continue to battle against big government in America.
7. RECRUITING
HOWEVER YOU DECIDE TO spend most of your recruiting efforts, the key is to just do it. The important thing is that you steadily increase your membership numbers until you reach critical mass and even beyond that. If your community has a thousand people in it, and a certain percentage seem to lean toward fiscal conservatism, set an ambitious, multiyear goal to sign up whatever percentage that is. There are lots of opportunities to recruit new members to your cause, some of them mundane and others fun. It is hard work, but it will pay dividends when all of your efforts are that much bigger and better because you have a true enemy of limited government activists with you on local, state, and national battles.
ACTIVIST SPOTLIGHT: DIANA REIHMER
When the housing market crashed, so did the value of the Diana Reihmer’s Philadelphia home. Unable to sell and unwilling to risk retirement on their quickly devaluing assets, the Reihmer’s dreams of taking it easy were put on hold. “That’s the way it is,” Diana said. “You make your plans and life happens. We cut our budget and I went back to work. That was my bailout plan.”
Meanwhile, politicians in Washington were bailing out companies and rewarding people who had made bad investments in homes and mortgage-backed securities. The contrast between her experience and the soft landings for Citigroup, GM, and AIG were galling.
Diana decided she needed to get involved. “My main motivation was to educate my fellow citizens on our constitutional roots. If a society wants to remain free, they need to hold their elected officials accountable and we as a nation were not doing a good job of that.”
Diana started a Facebook page and connected with other concerned Philadelphians. She soon applied for a permit and planned a Tea Party. “More than five hundred people stood in the wind and the rain, just down the road from the birthplace of the constitution,” Diana recalled. The Philadelphia tea party was off and running.
“I’m often asked what I mean when I say we need to take our country back,” Diana said. “My answer is no to a time, but to a commitment to constitutional principles. Take it back to an ethos of entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and community.”
As Diana reflects back on the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington, she speaks with emotion. “We met the most amazing people. Heading to Washington, I connected with new friends from across the country. As we arrived in Washington, someone thanked me for helping her find her voice—that this movement has allowed her to get out and express herself. It was overwhelming.”
For a couple of good books that will help you understand recruiting people and marketing your group and its events, check out Dedication and Leadership by Douglas Hyde and The Conservative Revolution: How to Win the Battle for College Campuses by Brendan Steinhauser. When recruiting new members, be sure to get their name, e-mail address, cell phone number, and home address. The more information you have, the easier it will be to keep in touch with them and figure out how best to mobilize them in your community. Build a database to store all of your group contact information, and invest in a service that allows you to send mass e-mails. Also, make sure that FreedomWorks has their information so that we can stay directly in touch with them on all of our local, state, and national campaigns.
Events
Events are a great way to tell people about your group and recruit them. Holding small and simple events or participating in another organization’s event are excellent opportunities to recruit additional members. There are a lot of great event ideas out there, but here are just a few: movie night, book clubs, book signings, teach-ins, cocktail parties, general meetings, special issue meetings, candlelight vigils, protests, guest speakers, conferences, conventions, grassroots leadership training seminars, virtual events, and so on.
Fund-raisers such as bake sales or potluck dinners are excellent recruitment events that will not only help you raise money for your chapter but will also attract new people who will want to get involved in your group. Also, spreading the word about your chapter’s rallies, precinct walks, and lobbying trips are great ways to keep your chapter active and attract new volunteers. An organization must be active to keep the interest of its members and to show its value in belonging. Some organizations remain stagnant after elections, and this is a big mistake. Your group should be active every week of the year, with a different focus as you go along. You don’t want to keep doing the exact same things, so change it up, be open to new ideas, and add some fun and creativity to the mix.
Participating in another organization’s event can take on many forms. It may involve being on a panel, attending a meeting or conference, or providing information at a booth. Always remember to take recruitment materials with you wherever you go. In addition to information about your group and your issues, you also should have sign-up sheets, and be sure someone is there to answer questions. Conferences are a great opportunity to network with other activists from across the country, share ideas, see your favorite speakers, and get political training from experts. You should encourage your group to attend when it can, and if there isn’t a state convention of some kind already, consider starting one. FreedomWorks is working with its coalition allies in the movement to organize conventions of like-minded groups in various states. These conventions are open to members of the political parties, but the focus is on policy and ideas, not parties. If there isn’t already a convention of this kind in your state, get in touch with us and we will help advise you on putting one together.
Group Meetings
While the main reason for holding group meetings is to keep the group informed and engaged, they also have value as a recruitment device. As group meetings become regular community “happenings” that are open to the public, more people will begin attending. Try to run short, efficient meetings, and stick to your agenda. Offer food and beverages, hand out literature for educational purposes, and focus on welcoming new attendees. Consider having guest speakers from time to time, and be sure to introduce your group members to all the resources the liberty movement has to offer.
Local Issue Battles
Local issue battles can often act as the building blocks of recruitment. Many FreedomWorks activists got their start with us by fighting a local tax hike or fighting for spending controls at the local level. Our North Carolina chapter has done amazing work fighting for property rights. In spring 2009, Roy Loflin and Kathy Hartkopf launched the Orange Candy Tax Revolt with only a few yard signs and a small meeting. Within weeks more than 1,000 people were showing up to learn how to challenge tax hikes, and the revolt quickly swept to other counties around the state. These local issue battles are often the most important, have a better chance of success, and motivate the most people to join your group and take action. Local battles can do wonders for recruitment purposes, in addition to winning policy battles. Utilize grassroots petitions, both online and hardcopy, to sign up as many people as possible who share your values and sentiments. Then, you will have a big, l
ocal army ready to mobilize at the next city council meeting or county commissioners meeting.
We started relying heavily on sending out e-mail alerts to our contacts about legislation and local politics. For anyone doing this, I recommend keeping the e-mails as professional, fact-filled, and concise as possible. Also, be sure to send them out as sparingly as you can afford so that contacts will not be turned off and consider you a spammer. We had two special elections during the spring and early summer of 2009. Through e-mail we informed our contacts of ways to meet candidates and get involved in the political process. We sent out candidate questionnaires and shared the answers with our contacts and posted them on our Web site.
—CHRISTIE CARDEN, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
The Internet
Similar to the FreedomWorks Web site, your chapter’s Web site can be an excellent recruitment tool. Be sure to keep the content on your site fresh and current. Also, make sure the contact information for your chapter (such as e-mail address, street address, and phone number) is prominently displayed and accurate. The more interesting and informative your Web site is, the more traffic you will get. This will help you develop an online interest in your chapter and find new volunteers. Be sure to take advantage of the boom in online social media and start a local Facebook group or Ning network. You can also organize on a state level by using teaparty.freedomworks.org. Twitter allows you to post information that is seen by everyone following you. If you build a big following on twitter.com, you will be able to share information with a huge number of people. Many people use a smartphone nowadays and have Twitter and Facebook applications. This is the wave of the future, and all liberty-loving activists should employ these new tools to organize, market their events, and spread the message of liberty.