Grass Roots Organization, Messaging, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • August 5th, 2009

Those pesky constituents…

by Chris Lato

For U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, the heat is on. And Rep. Kagen, who’s been known to step in it from time to time, is lashing back at what he feels is a conspiracy organized by Big Insurance.

“I couldn’t have organized it better,” Kagen said. No kidding - and it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

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Fundraising, Grass Roots Organization, Views on News • November 25th, 2008

The Franken & Coleman show

by Chris Lato

I don’t see a scenario where this ends well – at least, not without a bloody legal battle. The margins are just too small. So unless someone suddenly, legitimately turns up a box of previously uncounted boxes stashed in a town hall basement (kidding!), this threatens to drag on for months and become 2008’s version of Florida – admittedly, with somewhat less at stake.

I have no horse in this race. As regular visitors to this blog know, I have little use for party-flippers, who typically act more in their own interests than anything else, so Sen. Norm Coleman has a black mark next to his name. As for Al Franken, well, he stopped being funny approximately 28 years ago. He has since then become little more than a shrill partisan hack’n’slasher.

It is amazing to consider that out of 2.9 million votes, a race could come down to fewer than 200 ballots. That’s what I call a divided state (and yes, I realize there was a third-party candidate in the mix).

The Dems are positioning this as the last great political battle of the Bush administration – Coleman’s harshest critics paint him as a Bush/Rove puppet.

However, both parties have the opportunity to use this contested result as a rallying point. Feelings tend to harden during such bitterly-contested elections, with both sides seeing fraud and deceit. If nothing else, it’s a great tool to rally the base and raise money.

As someone who has pitched in for a recount or two, I can tell you that tensions can run extraordinarily high in those rooms. No kidding - pushing, shoving and trash-talking happens. It’s akin to fans of opposing football teams getting together in the same stadium. The only thing that’s missing is beer, face paint and giant foam fingers.

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Grass Roots Organization, Leadership, Messaging • November 12th, 2008

Help!

by Chris Lato

Some Republicans are looking for advice on how to rebuild the party. The focus is on infrastructure, not platform or who should lead. And this site is definitely on the right track regarding one way the party needs to rebuild after their carpet-bombing at the polls this month at the hands of Democrats.

In an example of using the web to build up the social media components of the party, organizers of this site recognize that the GOP was outgunned on the ground, and suggest the Republicans should no longer give the technological edge to the Democrats. And they’re right.

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, Report from the Field, Signage, Views on News • October 13th, 2008

Here come the thugs

by Chris Lato

Right about this time we start seeing the stories about political vandalism – this story being one example.

In 2004, at the Republican Party of Wisconsin, I fielded numerous calls about stolen yard signs, damaged 4×8s, destruction at local GOP campaign offices, etc.

Sign theft or destruction, while childish and unacceptable, is nothing new. However, in recent years the targeted destruction has become increasingly alarming.

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Grass Roots Organization, Leadership, public relations • September 16th, 2008

The case of the phantom endorsements

by Chris Lato

Yikes. This is a mess that just keeps getting messier.

Regardless of who originally screwed up, it’s time for Daniel Knodl to give up on this whole endorsement thing. It is doing him no favors and has even tripped him up post-primary. It dings Knodl’s credibility and it’s a PR mess that didn’t have to happen. It makes him look like he can’t manage a campaign – not good when running for office.

Time to come out, admit mistakes were made, take full responsibility and whatever punishment may come from that, and get back to knocking on doors and talking about issues. This never should have happened in the first place, but it’s time now for Mr. Knodl to cut bait, already.

And let this be a lesson to all candidates – when seeking endorsements, do one simple thing:

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization • August 14th, 2008

Growing the grassroots

by Chris Lato

Slowly but surely, things are tightening up in Wisconsin.

The latest Strategic Vision poll has Obama with a 5-point lead on McCain in the Badger State. Obama has led in every credible poll since May, but the Real Clear Politics averages show the gap is closing.

Now, the campaigns are making a lot of noise about their ground-level organization in Wisconsin. In particular, I was struck by the difference in the way the campaigns are organizing. Loosely defined, the McCain camp is using a ‘top-down’ structure (getting marching orders from the campaign, using local folks to pass those orders on down the line) while Team Obama claims to be operating from the ‘bottom-up’ (give the grassroots some basic geographic parameters and let them go to town).

Assuming the Obama campaign is shooting straight, the ‘bottom-up’ style of grassroots campaigning is an interesting notion. The concern is whether all these enthusiastic volunteers have a full understanding of what needs to happen to actually move pro-Obama voters to the polls.

In recent elections, Republicans have run statewide campaigns with an iron fist – not a lot of room for improvising. While plenty of volunteers chafed under the oppressive aspects of such a structure, at least there is no question about what needs to be done and who needs to be doing it.

The Obama ‘bottom-up’ campaign comments are certainly in keeping with efforts to position Obama as the ‘man of the people’ candidate - the one whose campaign is a phenomenon, not a political machine.

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, Views on News • August 13th, 2008

Déjà vu all over again

by Chris Lato

Seriously, how many more of these stories are we going to see in the weeks ahead?

I know, I know – the argument is that the system is working because the bad apples are getting yanked out of the bunch. So how many more bad apples are out there that won’t be found before election day? 15 voter registration workers are ‘implicated’ so far. How many more are out there?

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, Leadership, Messaging • June 30th, 2008

The best use of resources…?

by Chris Lato

Good-government types are always bemoaning the fact that Wisconsin’s legislative incumbents often sail to re-election without even facing a legitimate challenger – which makes this piece from Wispolitics all the more interesting.

Take a poll of friends and neighbors of what they think of their representative, and the answer is often the same when you drill down to it: the Legislature is corrupt, but MY representative is A-OK. Why? Because if the incumbent has half a brain and wants to keep his or her job, a constant presence will be maintained in the community. Appearances at parades, mailers to constituents, open houses/townhall meetings, good constituent relations, etc. are all part of keeping up appearances with those who put you in office. A good level of contact typically keeps constituents satisfied and maintains the profile of the politico. more »

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Branding Politix, Grass Roots Organization, Views on News • June 26th, 2008

Shameless self-promotion…and another take on Twitter

by Chris Lato

After a couple days in sunny L.A. to work with one of my finest clients, I am back in Wisconsin with this commercial announcement: turn your radios to Wisconsin Public Radio this Friday, June 27 at 8 am to enjoy yours truly on the ‘Week in Review,’ with host Joy Cardin and fellow guest Matthew Rothschild of ‘The Progressive.’ I anticipate more shouting than your average episode of ‘Hannity and Colmes.’ As always - if you call in, be kind.

Since we’re in the middle of a promotion break, ever heard of ‘Twitter?’ A techie genius I work with tipped me off to this…and its possibilities as a promotional tool for political campaigns. more »

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2008 Primaries, Grass Roots Organization, Strategic Blueprints, Views on News • June 11th, 2008

In search of…Obama’s ground troops

by Chris Lato

Well, this is interesting. Turns out Barack Obama may not have a gargantuan campaign operation running full-steam ahead in Wisconsin after all. Please refer to my Tuesday column for more about this fracas, but it does make my point that campaigns routinely talk tough about organizational strength, but the hot air often can’t be backed up by facts.

I know what you’re thinking: this is a news release from the Republican Party. We all know it’s full of lies and scurrilous innuendoes. How can we trust it? more »

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