Volunteer for Political Campaigns

Robert West | December 7, 2021

Volunteer for a Political Campaign? Who has the time, we’re all busy? Believe me I get it.  In the last week we have sold a property, agreed to buy a business and started scouting land for a new place to live.

This is on top of working 40-hours on airplanes and Criss crossing Texas to meet with candidates to endorse. I thought my old life was short on time.

Since time is something, we'll never have enough of there are several areas, I’m going to cover when volunteering for a campaign.  These include donations, beyond branch offices, incumbents and multi-tasking.

Helping Through Donations

We all need to help good people get elected.

You may not have much in the way of funds but will $50 make you miss a house payment? Will sending $5 see you skipping a weekly coffee?

This is not me asking for a specific candidate. This is me asking you, today, to send $5 or $50 to a candidate you believe will do what is right.

• This candidate does not have to be the “sure winner”
• This candidate does not have to be one that I’ve endorse.

This article is about getting you to put some skin in the game over and above whatever else you are doing. This is me asking you to take one step up.

“I can only donate $5” I hear that a lot.

I have been so broke at times, that even $5 would have been impossible. If that, is you, then wouldn’t your "time" be a valuable contribution?

Your time could make a crucial difference in the primary outcome.

There is an old adage that; “For want of a nail the horse was not shod, for the want of a horse the charge faltered and for want of that charge the war was lost”

Don’t be the missing nail that caused this country to fall apart.

From your precinct chair, which is the closest elected office, all the way to the halls of DC, you can make a difference.

Beyond Branch Office Volunteering

You don’t have to volunteer at a branch office making phone calls and munching donuts.

You don’t have to knock doors if that’s not your thing but there are ways to be active on your schedule.

A candidate may never see the good you offer and you may never know the difference those efforts made. 

You can work really hard only to see your candidate/s lose but even in defeat you still make a positive difference.

Don’t believe me? When Drew Springer ran against Shelley Luther, he had one of the worst voting records in Austin, used BLM volunteers to campaign and sucked up a million or three from Greg Abbott’s donations. 

Check out how he’s been voting since then, it has been much better.

If you worked on that campaign and thought you lost, just imagine every incumbent in Austin facing these challenges.

• Greg Abbott does not have enough campaign cash to drag 100 or more RINO carcasses across the finish line, not even close.
• Any money that goes to one bad candidate; leaves less for the others.
• A near miss can be all it takes to get the worst politician to straighten up and fly right for a time.
• Any politician that sees these near misses might learn to fear a primary challenger.

You and the candidate can only learn from these efforts and get better as time goes on. 

As long as you don’t quit you never really lose.

Incumbents and Challengers

Incumbents never stop campaigning. Challengers have very little time to campaign and this year they have even less. These challengers really need your help.

Everyone is excited about the top ticket and the general election but that is not where your efforts have the most bang for the buck.

The primary election is where you have a choice and this primary is possibly the most important election of our lifetime.

• When Cruz ran against Beto a total of 8,371,655 votes were cast. If you wanted to make a .01% difference you would have had to convince over 830 to vote a certain way.
• When Cornyn ran in the 2016 primary, less than 2 million people showed up so you could have had the same statistical impact with less than 200 people.

The 2022 primary and the runoff allow us to vote for the very best person. Once the general election arrives, we are often faced with voting for the lesser of two evils.

Please get involved now, volunteer for a candidate and vote in these primaries.

After you Contact a Candidate, Multi -Task

Once you have contacted a candidate and been given a script to make calls, do it. 

Set aside a weekend, or an hour each evening and don’t forget to multi-task. 

You may have a person you want to see as governor, Lt. Governor, Congressman, State Representative, etc.

There is nothing that says you cannot hand out campaign materials for all of these candidates when knocking doors or alternate between these people while making calls.

You may find a person that strongly supports another governor candidate. Could they be influenced about a State Representative race?

Why waste that call, get some additional mileage. I always try to mention at least two or three races when I talk to voters.

So, here we are, have you decided to get off the couch and actually make a difference?

Research who you want in office, contact them via their website and volunteer, like right now. While you are on that website send that $5 or $50.

This step forward could make all the difference, here in Texas and our nation. If that candidate wins by just a few votes you would have helped with that effort and nailed it.

That is how wars are won and nations survive.

Robert West