Reasons to Become A Republican Precinct Chair

This posting was also posted on Big Jolly Politics today - http://www.bigjolly.com/, I want to first thank David Jennings of Big Jolly Politics for allowing me to express my views about why to be a Precinct Chair.

As Brenda Page discussed in the first Op-Ed on Big Jolly Politics it will take people at every level of government to take back our country from liberalism or should I say socialism. As a result I want to share some thoughts about why you should take that next step, and become a Republican Precinct Chair, in which you can build a strong grassroots campaign that will indeed take back our country from socialism.

As a Republican Precinct Chair your #1 goal is to maximize the Republican vote in your precinct, as you are the elected Republican leader in your precinct. This goal can be achieved by building a solid team within your precinct to register voters, inform voters, and turn out voters. Building a team is not as hard as many people think, as the #1 reason people do not volunteer is because they are not asked to volunteer and in many cases are not informed about how to get involved. In my opinion, the job of informing voters of current political events, issues, upcoming elections, and candidate information is the most important job of the precinct chair. My theory is that if voters are informed then they will turn out to vote, thus by informing the voter you will achieve your #1 goal.

As a Republican Precinct Chair you will also sit on the County Executive Committee in which you will be able to get further involved at the county level, and have the opportunity to participate on other committees. Your membership on the Executive Committee will allow you to express your concerns from your precinct voters that will help drive the Harris County Republican Party.

You will also have responsibilities in the convention process at the precinct, senatorial, and state conventions. As a Republican Precinct Chair you will be encouraged to become delegates to the senatorial and state conventions and are encouraged to volunteer on one of the convention committees. Again, this is another opportunity to make a huge difference and let your views known.

The best thing about becoming a precinct chair is that you have the power to make a difference at the grassroots level. The grassroots level movement is the lowest level, if you think about it; you are the foundation of government. Without a strong foundation a home cannot stand, so why don't you take the challenge to build that strong foundation and build a strong home for Harris County, the State of Texas, and Our Nation. Without a strong home you cannot protect your family from the elements, therefore without a strong grassroots effort you cannot protect you or your family from the loss of Liberty. Come join me in the fight and make things happen by filing for Republican Precinct Chair on or before January 4, 2010.

Thanks

Eric A. Dumatrait
Candidate for Precinct Chair 682

Building a Voter Coalition

Building a voter coalition between the Republican Party and the voter can be a very simplistic process, however it seems that the party including precinct chairs have failed to turn out the vote for Republican candidates. So you might ask how do we turn out the vote in every precinct for our candidates. As of this writing I am remembering that I have lived in this area since 1989, and I have never heard from a precinct chair in any of the precincts I have lived. One of the main goals and responsibilities of the precinct chair is to get the word out about the party and candidates thru periodical reports. After reading a speech given by Edwin Meese III of the Heritage Foundation about "How to Rebuild the Reagan Coalition", I realized that this is the exact reason we do not have a voter turnout above 30% in non-presidential elections. One of the main pillars of rebuilding the coalition is Communication of a vision. Meese states " ...the ability to take a vision and then communicate that vision to the American people in terms that they understand so that people can see how it affects them and their families personally." He then goes on to say that "Too often conservatives think in terms of policies, and too often our liberal friends on the other side talk in terms of people." This is exactly how why I think that we are missing the voter and not connecting them to build a coalition with them. We lack communication with the voters.


How do we re-build this coalition with the voters?


1. We must upgrade our communication process and include a hybrid of technology, and old fashion communication such as phone calling, canvassing, etc. The technological communications today should include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Rebuild the Party, and many other blogs, wiki's, etc. One of the most effective communication tools that can be used in written form is the mailing of a Precinct Newsletter. Newsletters are a great way to express many different ideas and could be a forum to communicate the required periodic reports that a precinct chair must perform as one of the responsibilities.

2. We must recruit a strong precinct team to effectively canvass the precinct with proper communications about the candidates, including local and school board elections. According to the Harris County Republican Party Precinct Chairman's Handbook "the #1 reason people don't volunteer is because no one ever asked them." The handbook also refers to the fact that "you will be surprised at the number of people who want to help, but they just don't know how to get started." The reason they do not know how to get involved is because the current precinct chairs are not communicating with their voters. As I have stated in previous blog postings people will volunteer to work the precinct, but they need to be informed and aware of the opportunities in which they can be involved.

As you can see the two above objectives will provide adequate communication to the voter and provide a personal touch in which will give the voter information as to how issues within the party and precinct will affect them in their life just the same as Meese suggests. If we achieve the two above objectives as it relates to communication a new coalition between the voter and party will emerge and we will see a new crop of Republican candidates emerge to public service.

Please join me in this effort and support me for Precinct Chair 682 in the upcoming March 2, 2010 election. With the voters help we will make Precinct 682 the best in Harris County.

Thanks

Eric A. Dumatrait

La Porte City Council At-Large Position A

As I have stated in my previous posting, we need to start electing true conservatives and people who care about the voter, and keep the voter informed of issues within our city, county, state, and nation.

As a result I am supporting David Janda, Jr. for City Council At-Large Position A, as David shares some of the same concerns that I do when it comes to better communication to voters, and more involvement among our voters at the city level. David also shares ideas about generating opportunities for small businesses in LaPorte.

Please visit David's website at http://www.davidjandajr.com/ to find out more about David's vision for LaPorte. Please join me in electing David to this very important city position, as he will make a difference for the residence of LaPorte.

Thanks

Eric Dumatrait

Dumatrait Enters Republican Precinct Chair 682 Race

Today I have announced that I am officially running for the Republican Precinct Chair 0682 Race. After, thoughtful consideration and research I feel it is best for our precinct that we elect people with true conservative values. One of the best ways to do this is to create a strong grassroots effort that will make a difference in the county, Texas and across the nation. My main goals and objectives for the Precinct are as follows:

1. Turn out the vote for true conservative candidates, including local elections such as city and school board elections.

2. Re-connect the voter to the Republican Party.

3. Recruit a volunteer base that will be strong and solid for years to come that drives the grassroots effort.

How to achieve the above objectives?:

In order to turn out the vote for true conservatives and re-connect voters with the party we need to provide adequate communications to all voters in the precinct.

A. The technological communication methods that should be used are the common social networking sites today such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Rebuild the Party to name a few.

B. Create a Precinct Newsletter that will give voters guidance of who are the true conservatives.

C. The newsletter can also be the forum for the periodic status reports required to be communicated to the electorate as one of the functions of precinct chairman set out in the document Precinct Chair Mission and Responsibilities of Precinct Chairman.

In order to recruit a volunteer base that will be strong and solid for years to come, we will need to begin a campaign to inform the voters.

A. People in the precinct are willing to volunteer but they need to understand how they can get involved.

B. Create a volunteer communication that will allow the voters to understand how they can get involved.

C. Canvass the precinct to communicate to voters the need to get involved. We need to put a personal touch on how important it is that they be involved.

D. I am not opposed to the old fashion phone calling.

E. Use the social networking sites, blogs, wiki’s, etc. to provide guidance to the voters as to the importance of the grassroots involvement.

We currently have 4,217 voters in the precinct as of the 2008 elections, this is a decrease from 2006. Voter turnout in non-presidential election years stays between 29 to 30 percent, which means only 1,220 of the 4,217 voters are voting in the precinct. We need to increase voter turnout for every election including the Constitutional Amendments. So you might ask, how can we get the voters to turnout. In my opinion the voter only votes if they are informed about the issues and how it impacts them personally. Thus, as precinct chair one of my main goals is to upgrade our communication process to ensure that the voters of the precinct will be informed and can vote with confidence as knowledge is power. I want to take this power of the voter and turn it into the strongest precinct in Harris County, and with the support of the voters I can make that happen. I will build a strong team within the precinct that will provide a strong grassroots effort to protect our county, state, and nation from the threat of a soft tyranny takeover.

Please join me in this effort by electing me Precinct Chair 0682, together we will be the true conservative voice we need.

Thank you and have a blessed day.

Eric Dumatrait