Advice from the trenches
Washington County, Pennsylvania, is mainly sleepy and rural, with few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Peters Township, a fast-growing suburban community of about 20,000 residents, located 20 miles southwest of downtown Pittsburgh.
Peters Township is exceptional not just for its demographics, but also because it is the only township in its county to fill all 12 of its precincts with Republican Party committeemen and committeewomen. This accomplishment came to pass in 2010 as a result of the tireless efforts of a number of people, among them Ed “Buzz” Reich, who, along with Laura Zajdel, is co-chair of the Peters Township Republican Party.
In anticipation of November elections, Reich is now encouraging other townships in Washington County to replicate the success of Peters Township, and the first step is to establish a local Republican Committee. Doing so, according to Reich, is simple, “but the execution is tedious.”
A retired industrial engineer, Reich has the qualities to handle the tedious. He says having a “burning desire to establish a local Committee” is essential, too, in order to keep energized. As one would expect from someone detail-oriented, Reich suggests a number of concrete steps to establish a local Republican party:
Give your group a name, develop an identification, establish a website. Pretend you’re bigger than you are. Get a map showing your precincts. You can then start to attract other like-minded folks.
Get to know your fellow committee members. Develop a list, with names, emails, phone numbers and all the pertinent facts you need to stay in touch with each other. Become friends. There will be some you’ll come to love, many you will like, and a few you won’t. Befriend them all. You have much in common.
Meet regularly, at least once per month, rain or shine, two people or twenty. Wear a nametag so everyone will learn your name. (And you’ll learn theirs.)
Strategize how to attract other committee people or volunteers to help you out. Print and distribute home-made flyers to your neighbors and precinct residents. Don’t be afraid to do it on your own.
Use the County elections office to give you the lists you need to know who the Republicans are in your precinct and entire district. Use these lists to distribute your “call to action” or request for help.
Individually, each committee person should be the visible neighborhood contact for all things Republican. Multiple yard signs and an American Flag should hail your presence. Offer Voter Registration forms and Absentee Ballot applications to your friends and neighbors.
If you are a Committee person, look for “neighbor volunteers” to help out in your Precinct. Since each precinct may have 1,000 voters or more, you may expect to find there are many hundreds of houses in a dozen different neighborhoods. You absolutely will need help. Strive to find at least six helpers per precinct.
As a group, plan each election and the tasks you want to accomplish. Some elections will be relatively quiet with few objectives, and others will be “over the top” with tasks and goals. As a rule, make sure that you staff your election polls with a minimum number of “outside” workers to hand out literature. Other elections may require “inside” poll watchers, runners, phone bank people, and even drivers.
As a group, remain “independently-minded.” Be your own group, pick your own commitments. Your time and assets are valuable and limited.
Support the County Committee. Send a representative to their monthly meetings and have them report back to your committee. Attend their affairs, support their projects and make yourself known as a force to be respected within your community.
Get to know the other local Republican Committees around you. Visit them; invite them to your meetings. Plan coordinated events and swap information. Find out who can help you with problems.
Be proud of your group. Talk it up. Invite friends and neighbors to your meetings. When you elect your officers, pick ones with energy and interest. Look for workers, not slackers. Avoid selecting those that seem politically motivated by their position. Keep the terms of office short, and use the “up and comers” wisely so as not to burn them up, but yet benefit from their energy.
When your Committee reaches a certain size and stability, you may want to become a non-profit organization and establish bank accounts. That requires an investment on the part of your committee as well as the requirement to report your financial activity annually to the State. When you feel that coming on, find a friendly lawyer and negotiate fees. It may cost $500 or more, and will require opening up a checking account with duplicate signers required.
Reich notes that “success is not instantaneous; it grows like the layers of snow needed to build a snowman.” He notes that some people move, some get busy with other activities, and some burn out, so a group constantly needs to re-energize itself.
Today, however, there is no shortage of issues that can energize Republicans, according to Reich. Even so, he believes it will always be a challenge to physically get the voters to the polls. “There seems to be a disconnect between the level of anxiety we hear, and the actual voter-turnout by those same anxious voters,” says Reich.
That may be the case in general, but Peters Township is apparently one notable exception.
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