Before 2024, Donald Trump saw how most sitting presidents don’t do well in the midterm elections.
I hope he’s got serious plans for winning bigly in November, to keep and even grow his current MAGA majorities in the House and Senate.
Just in case he’s not focused on that, not yet – yes, I find it hard to believe, but with a war on, a Cabinet secretary to fire and a host of other distractions – I offer him, and all of his grassroots MAGA leaders and followers a few friendly suggestions.
But remember this. Politics is local. Elections are won at the precinct level, not at the national level. However, the national level, starting with the president, provides red-meat encouragement and motivation for the grass-roots activists.
Also remember that campaign funds are the “mother’s milk” of politics. Not decisively so – recall that Kamala Harris burned through at least $1.5 billion (in campaign disasters, this amount is always minimized). In 107 days, she proved unable to move the needle on her election efforts. She did worse on Election Day than the polls suggested on the day she was nominated.
Money is important, but so are door-to-door volunteers, and campaign rallies – hard-won strategies that got conservative, MAGA voters out on Election Day.
In no particular order:
ONE: Call together leaders of conservative congressional caucuses for high-level closed-door strategy meetings that get everyone on board with the idea that it’s everybody’s responsibility to win bigger margins in in 2026. For House members with secure seats, and for the two-thirds of the senators who are not up for re-election this year, success means helping the president and their colleagues stage rallies to generate excitement that will lead to increased voter turnout. Electoral victories like this will hold the Senate and House in Trump’s last two years, and set the stage for the presidential campaign in ’28, when J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio and other strong Trump-supporting party leaders, will be vying – civilly, we hope – to succeed Trump for the next eight years.
TWO: Do what worked so well in 2024. Stage rallies everywhere in the country where election campaigns are “too close to call.” Donald J. Trump and his remarkable cabinet, as well as his senior advisors and other MAGA leaders, will be the core of these efforts. Trump should also mobilize MAGA Hollywood and sports celebrities who’ve decided they must finally go public with their conservatism. To these, add conservative, non-political and spiritual leading lights, such as Erika Kirk. Not affiliated with parties or candidates, they support causes but bring their followers with them.
These rallies need to blanket the country, bringing out and motivating both Trump loyalists and MAGA conservatives. These rallies should be held from Nome to Key West, and from San Diego to Augusta. Rally everywhere there is a Republican House or Senate member who needs help, or where the Democrats hold a seat Trump wants back for his last two years.
Clearly, Trump will be the big player in these rallies. Nobody in my political lifetime has had the ability to turn out crowds the way that Trump has, especially – but not exclusively – in the 2024 campaign he won so decisively. People living in hotly contested districta, who otherwise aren’t that engaged, will change their tunes when President Trump shows up to light their fires.
Local, regional and statewide candidates or activists need to become involved in these rallies. If we as a group (vs. 535 individual politicians) want to win in 2026, 2028 and beyond, we need to turn out, build momentum, then keep it building.
THREE: Create a grassroots organization akin to the Tea Party as it developed after Obama showed conservatives just how bad his government could be. Then make sure grassroots organizations appear in as many contested districts and states as possible. This is a tough one. The Tea Party was organic – not top-down, but bottom-up. And it had time to organize. Obama screwed a lot of people. As they realized what their evil president had done, they wanted to take him down a peg, or two (or two thousand).
However, if tied in with Trump’s rally machine, people can connect with existing or new grassroots groups that will help to channel his success after Trump moves on.
Ironically, this model is based on what the very non-political Rev. Billy Graham did for decades during his ministry. He’d create urban rallies to preach, and hold alter calls that gained new adherents. But he intentionally had no local organization that could maintain momentum with these new believers after he left. So he used local churches. That was part of his genius. He invited local pastors to attend his rallies, the better to “welcome” those who embraced their new faith. Rather than compete with the local pastors, he gave them and their churches new members. All they had to do was show up and help.
Using Trump’s proven ability to draw crowds, along with the exceptional role model Billy Graham demonstrated in cities all over America, encourage existing local conservative groups in each rally community to welcome new adherents, new folks who’ve responded to Trump’s secular “alter call,” and keep them motivated up to the election, and – assuming they will be committed to J.D. Vance, or Marco Rubio or some other 2028 candidate – get new true believers onboard for success in 2028 and beyond.
FOUR: Immediately – and I mean “right now” – reach out to college conservative organizations, and recruit college students to “take the summer to elect …” the local MAGA candidates for the House, the Senate and … well, others. Even high school kids can help. While in high school, I persuaded my parents to let me host a neighborhood fund-raising event for our local Republican House member. We had a finished basement that shoehorned about 25 neighbors to hear our congressmen speak, to donate (collectively) a couple thousand dollars, and to sign up as poll-watcher or other campaign and election volunteers. In November, we won. Done properly, a remarkable number of summer volunteers will stick around through November to help make things happen in the campaign.
Finally, FIVE: Create a national network of activists, volunteers and others, and – with regular, secure internet-based linked-in strategy events, bring everyone together so the ones with workable ideas and tactics can offer their success stories to those who are eager to make things work, but who aren’t ready to actually come up with ideas. That local connection to a national movement was the genius behind both the Tea Party and Billy Graham, and it was clearly the genius behind Trump’s 2024 campaign. What worked in one community was shared with other communities. If you weren’t on the inside, you wouldn’t know, but the insiders did, and it made a difference.
For instance, if a “minivan cavalcade” in Des Moines or Deerfield worked in getting voters out on election day, share that success with everyone you meet who are after the same goal – a MAGA Congress starting in 2026. This was the kind of thing the Tea Party excelled at. I got lots of rides in other people’s minivans to polling places where they needed activist volunteers on short notice.
With this kind of activity, across the nation, starting with Trump but including the grassroots as well, we can give him a MAGA Congress to help make his last two years spectacular, while setting the stage for ’28 and beyond.
At 13, I became a conservative activist as a “mascot” for the local Young Republicans. We didn’t elect Goldwater, but he carried our county. I’ve been active in politics ever since. I was head of communications for the Tea Party Express, and involved in every other election where grass roots made a difference. The ideas here are based on my experience, as well as on what I’ve seen others do as well.
In addition to political activism, I, Ned Barnett, have written campaign bios for candidates, and developed grass-roots advertising for local Internet connections. Outside of politics, I’m a writer of 41 published books, as well as speeches, countless blogs and articles, and 19 ghostwritten books. If you need a book, it’s not too late to have it influence a campaign, or your local business or a cause you believe in – so let’s talk. nedbarnett51@gmail.com or 702-561-1167.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.