The GOP Has No Ground Game
One of the many problems associated with the GOP is their appalling lack of strategy. A while back I decided to volunteer for the conservative cause. First, I filled out the online volunteer form for the county-level Republican organization in my area. Then I filled out the online volunteer form for the state-level GOP. I received no phone calls nor emails in response from either of them, so I decided to make some calls.
First, I called the county-level organization and got no answer. I left a voicemail for which I never received a call back. Then I called the state-level GOP. A receptionist picked up. I greeted her and stated that I wanted to volunteer and wasn’t sure who I should contact. She sounded taken aback like it was odd that I wanted to volunteer for the party. She asked, “Who are you wanting to volunteer for?” To which I responded, puzzled, “The Republicans.” I thought to myself surely they have state-level organizations that aren’t associated with particular campaigns. Surely, they have pushes for voter registration. Surely, they need volunteers for policy initiatives. She asked me where I was calling from. I told her the name of the town and she asked me which county, not which district, which county I was in. I told her and she gave me the last name of a man I should contact and his phone number. I thanked her and hung up. I took a few lessons away from this experience.
You cannot contact the county-level Republicans using the online form they created.
You cannot contact the state-level Republicans using the online form they created.
You cannot contact the county-level Republicans by phone. They will not return your phone calls, even though your voicemail plainly stated you wanted to volunteer.
You cannot volunteer for the state-level Republicans, because they do not have any statewide initiatives.
The only organizations the Republicans have are at the county-level, not even the district level. The only district wide initiatives are the political campaigns run by individual candidates. Therefore, the success of the Party as a whole rides solely on the success of random candidates. The Party itself has no district level nor state-level ground game of its own.
No wonder the Republicans lose so much. No wonder my city remains solidly blue with no pushback. I can only assume the county-level Republican organization that oversees my area is lazy. They must treat their office as a club hang out, because I have only ever seen one event hosted by the organization. One. They never do anything else.
The only political action I’ve seen taken was put on by individual political campaigns. A tiny cluster of volunteers for a particular campaign might occasionally sign-wave on the side of the road. But their numbers are too few and their frequency too rare.
I have only had political volunteers door knock at my house once. It was a pair of young men who represented themselves well. They were not working for the Republican Party, but for an individual political campaign.
It seems to me the GOP could take a lesson from all-stars like Scott Presler. The man casts a wide net and focuses on turning entire states and districts red. He doesn’t stop at county lines and isn’t bothered by a blue history. He works with volunteers who want to get their hands dirty with voter registration ink and their knuckles sore from door knocking. The GOP can’t be bothered. They would rather throw money at campaigns they like and host an occasional fundraiser to siphon money out of rich dudes. They can’t be bothered with the organizational tactics of the left, like community organizing. No. They’d rather just get a few squishy republicans elected in easy, solidly red districts. Just leave the blue ones blue and congratulate themselves on a job well done.
The GOP needs to be fixed or we need a new party to represent conservative values. I haven’t decided which one is necessary yet. But conservatives need to be aware of the party they are dealing with and at the very least take measures to mitigate the Party’s disastrous decisions.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash