Keeping on the theme of “Isaiah’s Job,” it is important to note that when God called Isaiah to encourage the remnant of believers in Israel, God did not tell him to sit at home and pray (although I am sure he was doing a lot of that too), God told Isaiah to go out and speak the truth. If we are to change California, and I believe we can, we have to get out of the house, get out into the neighborhoods, get involved in local political activity. Change our neighborhood, change our town, change our city, change our county, change our region, and we will change the state.
What does that mean?
First, for the elected Republican officials, especially those in the Legislature. You are being paid to be a political operative. Go out and operate. Now!!! We are a year from next years election. You should be out there already.
And not in your own district. You have already won that, at least once. Get to the districts near you, find candidates to run in those districts, and help them win.
When I was in the Legislature, I wrote up a plan, and I called it “Adopt A District.” I still have it, I will make it available to anyone who asks. It was based on my discussions with state legislators across the country, and how they moved from their position as a minority in their Legislature to a majority. They didn’t just worry about themselves, they got out of their district, and worked to elect other conservatives in their states. It worked in most cases. These legislators would start one year to eighteen months before the election, go talk to the local organizations (Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, all types of social groups) in those districts, offer themselves to local Republican activist organizations, help them grow, develop a Republican political “infrastructure” to elect Republicans to office. They would find the right candidate to fit the district, then help that candidate raise money and volunteers. They would pick these districts based on the registration and Republican turnout data, and then work the district. It worked in state after state. But it does require work by the Legislators that will not directly benefit their own re-election. But hey, what else do you have to do? Sit around in the Capitol and complain about being in the minority? Trust me, that doesn’t work. Try something new, like outworking the Democrats.
The reality is, while Republicans are in the minority in Sacramento, they will never be able to raise more money than the Democrats. They won’t be able to afford the latest “technological” gadgets that will give them the edge in the next election. They will never have the media on their side to expose the evil that the Democrats do. They will also never have the best political consultants out there to poll, develop, and press the political strategy that will win the next election. None of those political tricks will be available to Republicans.
The one thing the Rs can do is work harder than the Ds. Get outside their comfort zone, and push. Get the message to the voters the old fashioned way, face to face, voter to voter, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city, county by county, region by region. We have the right message. We know that because, when the message gets to the voters, we win. The media knows this, that is why they do all they can to squelch or warp the message. When we deliver that message clearly and directly to the voters, we win. That is why we must be present to win.
We must offer the alternative, using every available means to do so, and the truth is, that message will be delivered mostly through hard work. I can feel that Californians know, at some gut level, that we as a state are on the wrong path. Most people don’t know the alternatives that are out there. We have those alternatives. We just need to articulate them. We need to find the forums in which to articulate them, and we need to go wherever we must to put the message in front of as many people as we can.
That is how we encourage the remnant. This is not a “one election cycle” effort. It will take time. It will take work, but California is worth it.
Tomorrow, I will talk to activists, because Legislators, the Republican Party, and the activists must become partners in the action. Pursuing productive efforts to change the future, not complain about the past. Political action is a dynamic activity, the political opinions of the voters are not static. They change, if the case is made. It is time to make the case.