Ted Cruz for President Meetup groups are popping up all over San Diego County. I host one in Carlsbad and encourage people to come and visit their neighbors, to find Ted Cruz supporters. Here is what I discuss:
I run through the scenario that Donald Trump is unlikely to win the required 1237 delegates prior to the RNC convention Cleveland. What that means is that, for Trump to win the nomination before the convention, he will have to win 35 of the 53 CA congressional districts. We aim to stop him from doing that.
We think it is more likely for Ted Cruz to win at a contested RNC convention than Donald Trump. No, the GOP "Establishment" can't "steal" the nomination and throw Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, or Jeb Bush's name into nomination--this isn't a West Wing episode. The RNC has four important rules:
1- A candidate must earn a majority of the delegates (1237) to win the nomination.
2- A candidate must have one 8 state nomination contests to be nominated.
3- Only candidates, nominated for the opening ballot, can continue on to subsequent ballots.
4- Any rules changes must be approved by a majority (1237) of the delegates.
Can the RNC Rules Committee 'change the rules"? Sure but look at #4; those changes must be approved by a majority of the delegates. With Trump and Cruz controlling 80% of the delegates, it is unfathomable to imagine why either campaign would want to change the existing rules--this thing it going to be a Cruz v. Trump convention...IF....
We win at least 25 Congressional Districts for Ted Cruz in California. Is that possible? Absolutely. Is that probably? You betcha but it's going to require a much better volunteer effort and that is why we are here--to win our neighborhoods for Ted Cruz.
How can each one of us win our neighborhood for Ted Cruz? That's simple--make sure the Cruz supporters actually make it to the polls on June 7th. We don't need to "sell" or "persuade" our Republican neighbors but rather identify who the Cruz supporters are in our neighborhood and get them to the polls. Here is how the San Diego County #CruzCrew is going to do that:
1- Claim and register your neighborhood at OneManCan.org The Cruz campaign will probably show up with data but, for now, we will use this free voter database. You may have to enter a credit card but the site founder assured me that San Diego County residents are free. Instruct volunteers to claim their neighborhood here.
2- Once the volunteer has secured his neighborhood, he/she should go to the "Intelligence" section, and choose "Precinct Voters" on the drop down menu.
3- Run a report with the filter for "Republican" voters and..VOILA! There are all of the registered Republicans in the volunteer's neighborhood.
4- The volunteer should personally introduce himself to each neighbor and stick to this script:
"Hi, my name is Brian and I am a local Republican volunteer. I wanted to say hello and see if you have any questions about the June primary. As I get information on the ballot initiatives coming up, I'll pass it along to you. Do you have any questions I can answer right now?"
This is a very non-confrontational approach. We identify ourselves as Republican because we are speaking with fellow Republicans. After we've had a generic conversation about the primary election, try to find out whom they support by asking,
"Oh, by the way, have you formed an opinion about any of the Presidential candidates?"
Then shut up and let your neighbor talk. If they are a strong Trump supporter, be polite and make note of it--you dont have to visit them later. If they are undecided or a Kasich supporter, make note of that. If they are a strong Cruz supporter, ask them if they wouldn't mind helping you by speaking only to the neighbors on their street. This could allow you to leverage your time and effort in your neighborhood.
More importantly, find out if they are a mail or poll voter. If they are a "mail voter", you should visit them on or around May 15th (the ballots go out on May 11. If they are a "poll voter ", you need to visit them Memorial Day weekend and make sure they get to the poll on June 7th to vote for Cruz.
If they say "I hate all the candidates", be polite, get out of there, and visit them as the election gets closer.
That's it. No selling or persuading. Just gathering intelligence on your neighborhood. If we know who Cruz voters are, and get them to the polls by election day, we win. Let me repeat that:
If we know who Cruz voters are, and get them to the polls by election day, we win.
It's that simple. That's what we talk about at the volunteer meetings.