E-Mail from Stan Lockhart, Utah State Republican Party Chair

I’m catching up on several items and will take care of them in first in-first out fashion.

Last Friday evening I received the following e-mail from Stan Lockhart, Utah State Republican Party Chair:

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April 4, 2008

Fellow Republican:

Caucuses are now over and new delegates have been elected in neighborhoods throughout the state. I congratulate you on being elected.

I’ve been privileged to attend 10 of 12 Lincoln Day Dinners around the state and each has been memorable. In Box Elder County, the fire siren went off during my remarks. In Juab County, a snow storm knocked out the electrical power and we held the event by the light of cell phones and flashlights. At the Uinta County and Duschesne County events, we returned home in a driving snow storm. At each event, I’ve seen good people making a positive difference by being a part of the political process. I’ve included a link to some information I referenced at these events about America’s Founders http://usff.com/usff/sacredhonor.html

From now until your county and state conventions, you will have the opportunity to evaluate candidates and discuss the issues facing Utahns throughout our state. You are critical to making sure as Abraham Lincoln said, “that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The baseline requirement for a state delegate is to attend one convention per year for two years. However, there is much more that can be done. Here are some activities in your precinct that will help get Republicans elected in November:

Neighbor to Neighbor – This voter registration program is easy to do and extremely effective. Basically, the precinct chair or his/her designee calls precinct officers, delegates and caucus attendees and asks them to volunteer. Then the neighborhood gets divided up into small areas and each volunteer is responsible to contact those in their designated area, make sure they are registered and if not sign them up with forms available at your county clerk’s office and ask them for a contribution. Rural precincts may do more phone calls than going door to door, but the result should be the same, every residence contacted and given the opportunity to register and contribute.

Neighborhood meetings – You may think that you’ve just done this with your caucus, but once the conventions are over you may want to consider inviting neighbors to meet a candidate in your home or a neighbor’s home. You can talk about values, principles and issues. These meetings enable people to figure out the difference between Republicans and Democrats. And candidates get a chance to meet their present and/or future constituents.

Literature drops – Candidates are always looking for ways to get their message to voters. Precinct chairs will be asking for volunteers to pass out literature in the neighborhood. If in advance of a primary, you should ask both Republican candidates so you only have to go out once.

Sign placement – You will want to identify sign locations for Republican candidates. If every delegate could place 5 signs, it would be great.

Postcard campaign – As we get close to election time, write down a list of people you know in your precinct and in your legislative district and send them a postcard endorsing Republican candidates. It is an effective way to remind people to vote and to vote Republican.

Get out the vote (GOTV) – One or more people in the precinct become certified to be poll watchers for the day of the election. They get a copy of registered Republicans in the precinct from their County Party. They compare who is registered with who voted and late in the day begin to call those Republicans who haven’t voted. The goal is to increase Republican turnout at the polls.

Absentee Voting – An easy way to avoid waiting in line on election day is to request an absentee ballot and vote by mail. An absentee voting campaign means that you get absentee ballot request forms from your County Elections office or County Party and then ask Republican voters if they’d like an absentee ballot and give them the request form. These voters need to understand that when they request an absentee ballot and receive one, they are ineligible to appear in person to vote and must send in the absentee ballot. We find that those precincts that facilitate absentee voting for voters get a much higher Republican turnout.

Early Voting – You may also want to encourage early voting which can be done by going to one of the early voting locations within a couple of weeks of the election. Higher Republican turnout can occur using this method as well.

When I was Utah County Republican Party Chair, one of our Precinct Chairs raised over $2,500 during his neighbor-to-neighbor drive. He walked his entire precinct on a couple of Saturdays and when asking for a donation, if the response wasn’t positive he volunteered to give a dollar in that person’s name. Much of the time, the person would respond by making a contribution. Why was that important? When someone gives money to us, even just a little, they are more apt to vote Republican in November.

Speaking of conventions, the State Convention is Saturday May 10th at Utah Valley University’s McKay Events Center. We look forward to having a convention that energizes all who attend.

Republicans unite under the banner of a common set of values and principles articulated in our Party platform. As we work to get our Republican candidates elected in November, we need to remember as Benjamin Franklin said just before signing the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Best Regards,

Stan Lockhart – Republican Party Chair

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The Party used e-mail management software from Constant Contact to send out this message. This type of software gives organizations email templates, along with tools to build, manage and secure e-mail lists. It also allows organizations to track and generate reports about the success/failure of e-mail delivery efforts, the number of e-mails opened by the recipients, etc.

This approach preserves the privacy of the e-mail address lists. It also centralizes distribution of messages through the Party. While I laud the efforts at preserving privacy, I have concerns with the intermediacy of the Party in communication between candidates and delegates. I will likely communicate my concerns with the State Party Leadership. If you wish to, you can find relevant contact information for the Party Leadership by clicking here.