Hey, how's about giving Karen another call and asking her to get Rove, Hastert or some other big shot to campaign for Diana Irey? Thanks!!
Making some campaign suggestions is not the same thing as influence. Whoever I was speaking to had the good sense to be a good listener. I told them up front that I was not a big shot, and I wasn't some rich donor either, just a grassroots campaign worker that had some suggestions. Somebody decided to listen.
I'll give you just one more example: I had noticed (then Gov.) Bush had been campaigning in mostly the larger cities (just like Gore.) I told them our votes are not in the major cities, by and large, but out in the country. So I gave them an example of Oklahoma back in the 1970's where the Republicans would have the lead in the Governors race until around midnight, then the farmers votes would start rolling in from the counties. By morning, the Democrat would have the votes to win. The farmers and other rural folk must have gotten a big kick out of that.
In a move that was picked up by the press (small story but its out there if you want to pick it up) he started campaigning mid or late summer in smaller towns. Some counties have a bunch of votes, but its just scattered out, over dozens of towns, like, say, Calhoun county in Alabama, which has a lot of votes, but no single huge city.
What you do, is you go to the county seat and make a speech. You don't have to visit every little town in the county. If you have been to the 'county seat' folks can't say you didn't come and ask for their vote. And thats another thing I told them. Dole never really closed out the deal in his speeches. I told them as example: a good Baptist minister has his three points, and then has his alter call, and overhearing people talking (while supporting Dole campaign '96) "They never came down here and asked for our vote, so why should I bother?" I told them Bush needed to add in an 'altar call' to his speeches where he asked for their vote.
(thats actually more than one thing, like I said before, I could write a book (in a manner of speaking) on that phone call. Theres still more, but even though I enjoy talking about it, theres no use making such a big deal. I know what I did and I saw the results, thats all that matters. I probably shouldn't have brought it up.