By Terrie Martin
Our guest at the May 19 COIN meeting was Oliver Muggli of Moreland West, a political consulting company in Portland.
He gave us an overview of what we can do now that the primary races are decided:
- Find a race that you feel strongly about and adopt it.
- It doesn’t have to be local, but remember that small races are often won by a small number of votes. And, as a campaign volunteer, you have the ability to find those votes and make a big difference.
- Contact the campaign and figure out how you fit in. Let them know if you have professional or special skills, but also ask them what they need.
- The most powerful tool in any campaign is personal engagement.
- Candidates should spend 90 percent of their time talking directly to voters and raising money for the campaign.
- Volunteers can also personally engage with voters by being part of a layered communication campaign.
- People need to be contacted in every way possible: Door knocks, phone calls, texts, flyers, postcards, TV and radio ads. Of those, the most effective is door knocks.
- One other strong tool is “relational organizing,” a grassroots mobilization strategy that uses pre-existing personal networks rather than cold outreach. That’s us! In fact, Oliver says that Indivisible groups are one of the strongest tools in any campaign toolbox because, working together, we can change voter behavior.
- But if door knocking is not in your comfort zone, there are many other ways you can make a difference, from writing letters to the editor in small-town newspapers to providing childcare for the candidate or volunteers, to creating a circle of friends who amplify the campaign’s social media posts.
Terrie Martin is on the leadership teams of Oregon District 2 Indivisible and of COIN.
will the meeting with Oliver Muggli be posted for later viewing?
Unfortunately a recording for this meeting is not available.