From Grant Noble:
The Most Powerful Office in the World is Not the Presidency of the United States!!
“I was a Precinct Committeeman for 16 years and I eagerly encourage others to do likewise.”
Phyllis Schlafly, the late President of Eagle Forum
“I hope this (essay) gets wide distribution,” the late U.S. Representative Phillip M. Crane said.
I admit it.
The title of this essay is a little misleading.
Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the world, so technically, the U.S. Presidency is the “Most Powerful Office in the World.”
But what if I told you there is another public office that (ultimately) chooses who will be President plus virtually every other elected official in the U. S.?
If that were true, wouldn’t that office (ultimately) be the “Most Powerful Office in the World”?
Conservatives take pride in their knowledge of the Constitution and the outward forms of American Government.
Many can quote the Found Fathers
- “The least governed are the best governed” (Jefferson),
- “Government is like fire, a useful servant but a deadly master” (George Washington), etc.
We work hard electing a few tokens (like Reagan). But the bottom line is, we know next to nothing about the real system of American government, which isn’t the fairy tale we’re taught in school.
That’s why, years after the “Reagan Revolution”, taxes (and tax funded abortions) are up, the real Federal debt (with Social Security and other Federal pension liabilities) continues to skyrocket, government regulations and mandates multiply like rabbits.
Public schools, the Second Amendment, “Gay Rights”—it’s hard to find one public policy issue that isn’t worse from a conservative perspective!
If you are tired of seeing things continue to go down the drain, you must understand how liberals dominate our government. You must understand the seven laws of American government:
1. If you want to change things, change the laws. Remember all the nonsense we learned in school about “Coequal Branches of Government”? Actually the Found Fathers made Congress far and away the most powerful branch because it was “closest to the people.” The President can’t spend a dime unless Congress authorizes it. Congress can reject treaties and Presidential appointments, mandate programs the President doesn’t want (by overriding vetoes) and even determine if the Supreme Court can rule on a case (Article III, section 2, “…the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction…with such exceptions and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.”)! Because our state constitutions are modeled after the Federal Constitution, it’s the same story at the local level. Governors and State Supreme Court Justices have some influence, but ultimate power lies in the same legislature that passes the laws and determines what happen in our society. Unfortunately, most legislatures are dominated by liberals.
2. To change the laws, change the lawmakers. No citizens or group can possibly keep up with the thousands of laws passed each year by U.S. legislatures. Sure, a big protest campaign can change a vote or two. But after all the shouting is over, sometime down the road liberal legislators quietly pass whatever they wanted in the first place. There’s really no substitute for legislators we can count on whether our eyes are on them or not.
3. Our people have to be on the ballot to get elected. When was the last time you were really enthusiastic about a candidate? How often do you vote for the “lesser of two evils”? Ever wonder why, despite the rhetoric, both major parties promote anti-conservative policies after they are elected?
4. To get on the ballot, our people have to win a major party primary. Except in very rare cases, everyone we elect in the fall won a major party primary. Because one party usually dominates a district, 90% of legislative seats are actually decided in the dominant party primary, not in the fall. Usually no more than 20% of the registered voters bother to vote in these all important primaries. In dominant party primaries with multiple candidates (very common after an incumbent retires), normally less than 7% of registered voters determine who goes to the legislature. “Campaigns and Elections” magazine says 108 major-party nominations for governor or U.S. Senate in the 1990’s went to candidates who won with less than 50% of the primary vote. Since only about half of the eligible population bothers to registers to vote, I estimate about 4% of the voters in each party are telling all the rest of us what to do!
Some naive conservatives fall for third party appeals of “conservative” leaders who are more interested in fundraising than results. But our “winner take all” system (like England and Canada) does not provide for proportional representation. 10% of the voters in a general election gets nothing. 10% of the voters in the primary of the party that dominates a district almost always wins a legislative seat.
5. Party endorsed candidates win the primary. Sometimes candidates endorsed by local party organizations lose primaries, but it’s rare. Endorsements mean you get party money plus party workers who will pass out sample ballots with your name prominently endorsed. Primary voters are no different than anyone else. They don’t have a lot of time to study the qualifications of primary candidates and their stands on the issues. Usually they see the party endorsements, assume “the Party knows best” and fill in the appropriate circles. There are state, ward and township party organizations, but the basic unit of U.S. government is the county. In most cases, the party endorsements the primary voter sees are made by a county executive committee. This executive committee is usually elected by the county’s precinct committeemen. These committeemen are elected in the party primary from every precinct (normally about 500 voters) in the county.
In some states the office of precinct committeeman goes under another name (in Michigan, they are called precinct delegates; in Ohio, it is precinct executive). Sometimes (as in Illinois’ Cook County), the county executive committee is elected by primary voters from an entire ward, township or county. But such widespread voting for a major party’s county executive committee is the exception, not the rule. Normally it is the locally elected precinct committeemen who ultimately control endorsements.
Each state has slightly different rules for getting on the primary ballot for committeeman. In Illinois (outside Cook County) you must file the signatures of any 10 registered voters of your party in your precinct 90 days before the primary. In Ohio, you must file 5 signatures 75 days before the primary from voters who either voted in your party’s primary or didn’t vote in any primary in the last two years. The rules (and the name of the office) may differ slightly from state to state, but it’s usually easy to get on the ballot to run as a committeeman
6. It’s not necessary to have a majority of the county committeemen to influence the endorsement process. Here’s how it works in my home county, Lake County, Illinois. Lake leans Republican. To advance their agenda, liberals get elected as Republican committeemen. There are about 400 precincts in Lake. Normally about half are “vacant”, i.e., nobody ran for Republican committeeman in the last primary. Of the 200 or so elected committeemen, about 15% are conservatives, 20% are liberals and the rest “regulars” mainly interested in patronage and power who usually could care less about issues like abortion, “gay rights”, gun control, etc.
Say X and Y are running for Lake County’s executive committee. Each has half of the “regulars”. Where are they going to get the necessary voters to get a majority? From 40 liberals or 30 conservatives? And once elected, whom do you think the winning candidate is going to endorse in the next primary—a liberal Republican or a conservative? That’s why most of Lake County’s officials vote liberal, despite the county leaning Republican. That’s how 40 people in a county of 520,000 control the endorsement process. In my county, it’s not 4% telling all the rest us what to do, it’s less than one hundredth of 1%!!
Occasionally, some rich amateur will dump millions into a campaign and become a senator or governor overnight. (Trump is the only one that ever did this for President). But for the vast majority of politicians, it’s a long, slow grind to the top. Each step of the ladder, they need a party endorsement—endorsements which in both parties are dominated by liberals. Is it any wonder why we get the government we do?
In summary, to change things, we must change the laws. To change the laws, we must change the people making them. To get elected, our people must get on the ballot. To get on the ballot, they must win a major party primary. To win the primary, they should get endorsed by their party. To get party endorsements, we must find, train and elect precinct committeemen who will in turn elect the people who make party endorsements. Precinct committeeman is the most powerful office in the world because committeemen ultimately determine who goes to Washington D.C. and our state capitols.
7. The Powerful Office in the World is Easy to get!! Lake is typical among U.S. counties. 25-50% of the committeeman spots of the dominant party are normally “vacant”. In these precincts, if you get on the primary ballot with no primary opponent, the only way you can lose is an opponent with a very hard write-in campaign. In the other 50-75% of precincts, you will probably have to oust an incumbent committeeman (sometimes they withdraw rather than fight). But most incumbent committeemen are patronage hacks who do little besides drop off party literature and endorsements. [If that!] (When was the last time any committeeman came to your door?). $50 for literature, a few weekends visiting the hundred or so homes that might vote in your party’s primary and any dedicated conservative can win.
In my experience in Illinois, it’s very rare for a conservative who follows the formula above to lose to a “Regular” Republican committeeman—even a “regular” who has had the office for decades. I’ve even seen one issue zealots who insisted on converting everyone to their cause (pro-life, gun rights, etc.) eke out wins. Those who follow our advice, go the door of primary voters and say “I’d like to represent your views to the Republican Party. What do you think are the most important issues?” usually win 2 to 1.
Of course, being a conservative is harder in the Democratic party. But there are many “Reagan Democrat” areas where conservatives can win and the Democrat party is the only game in town. As the 1992 Presidential election proved, it’s a mistake to put all our conservative eggs in one party’s rickety basket. Believe me, liberals never make that mistake. They always join the dominant party of their area, no matter which one it is.
Voting for the Executive Committee and determining those critical primary endorsement is by far the most important power of precinct committeeman. But there are others:
Access to Neighbors. The media makes conservatives look like kooks. No wonder conservative politicians have problems. As the dominant party’s committeeman, you can reach people who would never come to your church, social club or home. Most voters are eager to know about their government and the people they elect. Even the most apathetic have some interest in an institution that is taking about half their income in taxes, mandates and fees.
Respect from Politicians—Committeemen represent 500 voters and those key party endorsements. Any call or letter from a committeeman will get a lot of attention from elected officials of their own party.
Launching point for other offices—running for committeeman is the best place to start learning how to build winning coalitions. One of the big problems among conservatives is the notion that running for office is like running a business. Levelheaded businessmen, who wouldn’t dream of being their own lawyer in court, somehow think they can win against experienced, entrenched liberals without any prior political experience.
Control of party leaders and platforms—-Committeemen influence or control most party matters. If the Republicans dump pro-life and other conservative positions from their party platform, it won’t be because of election results. It will be due to a handful of liberals who have patiently wormed their way to high party positions, starting as precinct committeeman.
Now you know how our Government actually works, just like the average liberal does. You can continue to picket, write letters to the editor and your Congressman or work in another losing, non endorsed primary campaign—all the things that have gotten conservatives nowhere the last 90 years. Or you can stop wasting time, run for precinct committeeman and start using the liberals’ secret weapon against them!
(Permission is granted to reprint or even sell this essay as long as nothing is altered without author’s permission. Grant D. Noble, P.O. Box 146, Lake Forest, Il. 60045 847-482-1062 gnoble@sbcglobal.net).
Most states have rules similar to Illinois—call or look up on the Internet web side of your County Clerk or county election board for your state’s specific rules and filing papers. Once you file, the “rules” for effective campaigning are the same everywhere.
For Illinois outside Cook County: call or go to the Internet site of your County Clerk for your party’s nominating papers and filing rules for precinct committeeman. Also get a list of your precinct’s voters. Filing deadline is about 90 days before the primary. Try to file the first minute possible to get the advantageous first ballot position. File at least 10 signatures to avoid challenges that knock your off the ballot. [I recommend getting 20 signatures.] You need a minimum of 7 primary electors of your party (primary electors of the party are people who voted in your party’s primary in previous elections.) After filing, print a campaign leaflet that you can leave if people are not home with your name, address, phone number, job description, family picture, anything you have done for your neighborhood and your party. Then concentrate on meeting in person the voters of your party that live in your precinct.
