The Mathematics of Winning in November

Vanity ^ | Feb 14, 2004 | Owen

[Owen]

I pretty much never do vantities, but this may be worth it. In the final moments, tactics trump policy. I believe CFR prohibits PAC money from being used for GOTV.

We here on FR *must* get creative and get organized in arranging 1) to GOTV in November and 2) depress the opposition's vote. Personally, I am focused on rental vans.

Rental car companies have only so many. With the GOP warchest we should be able to rent them *all* election day. There is a procedure for rental car companies who are "over rented" of getting vans shipped in from out of an area. This is used for conventions and things of that sort. We need to rent them *all*.

Estimate: 5 vans per agency for 3 days around election. Perhaps 40 agencies around urban areas. $55/day. 200 urban areas. Don't give the agency advance notice of this. Rent 1 day before and just phone in that we're returning it late, the night of election day. This will prevent the agency from having time to ship more in from out of the area. The math says 5 X 3 X 40 X 55 X 200 = $6.6 million nationwide. This is petty cash to the campaign.

Come election day, we drive the vans around and pick up our voters. But mostly we deny the vans to the opposition, who seem to fill them with homeless people whom they then bribe with donuts and cigs.

[Owen]

I welcome better estimates.

[MegaSilver]

BUMP

[ClintonBeGone]

With all the unions having access to the upper echelons of GM, Ford and Chrysler, how would you account for the vans they could and would procure from their employers?

[Bluntpoint]

Dude! You are wasting your time. The dems pick most of their voters up in these:

[Triple Word Score]

Umm....

It feels ethically slippery but then I realize that it's a sneaky way to block the opposition from being ethically slippery.

However, I bet they already have their vans reserved anyway.....

[Owen]

Their employer can't sell cars with 500 miles already on them. That won't fly. No, this has merit. They will come up with a solution during the day, maybe SUVs (which they'll hate), but it will eat hours from them when it happens.

[Owen]

>
However, I bet they already have their vans reserved anyway.....
>

Of course they do. The procedure is to rent a day before that, and turn it back in late.

[Dan from Michigan]

If you have a bunch of spare cars and stunt drivers, a few staged intentional (on both sides - so no one gets hurt) 'car wrecks' on main streets all over Detroit, Southfield, Ann Arbor, and Flint.

[WOSG]

Get-out-the-vote, GOTV, is not about stopping the other side, it is about getting OUR SIDE to vote, and overwhelming the other side with better turnout. Frankly, the idea of renting vans to stop the other side sounds quite silly. People have private cars that they will use in a pinch and I've never heard of vans being the constraint on getting folks to the polls. Money wasted on that effort could be better spent simply with reminder calls to our voters.

GOTV starts with IDENTIFYING your voters. Then REGISTERING them. Then getting them to VOTE:

1. Identify Conservatives, pro-Bush people in your area.
2. If they are not registered, GET THEM REGISTERED TO VOTE.
3. In October and November, GET THEM TO THE POLLS.

What can you do now? Start a local club or join a local club of activists. Join a local republican club. Help a republican campaign. WALK YOUR PRECINCT with mail drops etc.
You can do MOST by simply going around the neighborhood and talking up the positives of Republicans from Bush on down, noting who supports, and getting that into a databse that can be used later to get voters reminded to win.
You can and should be able to get voter lists. In Texas, they show who voted in what primary, so you can tell who are the 'base' voters and who are the 'swing' voters.

You want to get your base and swing voters identified as "pro-Bush" and "pro-Republican" and then you want to make sure they are motivated to vote and actually go out and vote.

Personal contact is the best way. Next best is by phone. Next best is by mail, or if you can an email database. Lastly, the use of ads.

Finally the best way to supress the other side's turnout is to engage in NEGATIVE campaigning against the other side, making them care less about getting their guy elected. Apathy will do the rest for you. To see how this is done, just look at what the Democrats are doing against our great President this past 9 months.

[TheSpottedOwl]

What a creative idea!

[TheSpottedOwl]

Hahaha!

[sonsofliberty2000]

Sad but true!

---

Patriot Paradox

[Axenolith]

It would probably be cheaper to pass out liquor to the homeless. They would a) go to sleep earlier b) be all obnoxiously drunk at the polling places which will tend to be heavily 'Rat and thus depress turnout and lower 'Rat throughput...

Of course, the good guys don't do this type of stuff ;)...

[tort_feasor]

It is my understanding that the Black churches have there insurance paid on their church vans by democratic groups for the entire year to insure that they are available on election day. I read an article about this .

[Theodore R.]

It's amazing that the Democrats do not win every election, as they are so organized on "getting out the vote." All they have to do is tell the "sheeple" that they are "on your side" and the other guys are for the "filthy rich and greedy." So, the sheeple continue to vote Democrat, mindlessly believing that the party, which includes in its ranks some of the wealthiest people in the country, is their eyes and ears. No, I don't think they will ever learn the truth.

[Owen]

No question they have other ways of shipping people to the polls. But putting them into effect eats hours from their day. And the vans we would rent will be intended to carry our own people, so it's not outright obstruction. Outright obstruction is probably over the line. This is no different than buying up prime time TV for ads. They can advertise some other time. And they can cart people to the polls some other way.

Individual cars carry fewer people. They have to make more trips. The number deficit will add up.

We will get our own people to the polls. There is no reason why they should get their own people there more conveniently with big vehicles. No reason why we shouldn't have those vehicles by paying more for them (renting for the day prior). That's free enterprise and economy of scale. Perfectly legit.

Nothing we can do about black church vans. That's the way it is. Obstruction would be over the ethical line.

[Milligan]

I live in a heavily Democratic area in Waukegan, Illinois. I was driving around during the 2000 election. They hired people to stand so many feet from the polling area handing out Vote Democrat flyers! They looked pretty scruffy and stoned. If I was handing out "Vote for Bush" flyers, I would be stoned to death.

[Triple Word Score]

Here's the BEST news about the mathematics of winning in November:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7950330.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001857851_cdig14.html

[raloxk]

actually this is pretty good. Rent vans, say youre going to return them intime for election day and jsut return them one day late. hmm