The General Election Action Series: Step 2 – Organize the Grassroots
THE GRASSROOTS MUST BECOME THE CAMPAIGN MACHINE
One Precinct Committeeman can reach a voter. One volunteer can build a neighborhood relationship.
But individual contacts become far more powerful when the grassroots coordinates its message, organizes every precinct, divides the work into manageable responsibilities, and prepares long before Election Day.
Each of the Grassroots General Election Action Series installments addresses One Essential Grassroots Responsibility:
Step 1 explained how one palm card can become the beginning of a continuing voter relationship.
Step 2 explains how thousands of those relationships can become an organized grassroots campaign operation.
There are three working Step 2 Parts for a successful campaign and a winning ticket!
PART I – BUILD THE MESSAGE
Create concise, truthful, defensible information capable of reaching Republicans, Independents, unaffiliated voters, persuadable Democrats, low-information voters, and low-propensity voters — without insulting, ignoring, or taking ANY of them for granted.
PART II – ORGANIZE EVERY PRECINCT
Turn neighborhoods into manageable areas of responsibility where voters are known, contacted, informed, followed-up with, and never forgotten simply because a campaign database recorded the word “CONTACTED.”
PART III – PREPARE FOR THE ELECTION
Build a coordinated communications and election-readiness network that recruits volunteers, educates voters, distributes responsibilities, answers questions, provides accurate election information, and remains active Before, During, and Through Election Day.
Candidates can win nominations. Political parties can hold meetings, issue statements, and send fundraising emails. But none of that will save Arizona, or any other critical State, unless ordinary citizens decide that the responsibility for November BELONGS TO THEM.
- The political party may provide the structure.
- But the grassroots must provide the movement.
- Primary night produced winners.
- It did not produce a November victory.
What happens when the Political Party machine never arrives?
The Grassroots Must Become the Machine.
PART I – BUILD THE MESSAGE
The GOP, county parties, legislative districts, candidates, PCs, conservative media, and grassroots organizations must Stop Delivering Disconnected Messages.
Work together to create one weekly Arizona message package containing:
- One central issue and factual explanation.
- A 600–800-word article.
- A neighborhood-newsletter version.
- Three social-media posts.
- A 30-second and 60-second video script.
- Five doorstep talking points.
- A short “What does this mean for your family?” explanation.
- Links to documentation so every claim can be defended.
That is exactly what the Democrats and the DSA do weekly, sometimes DAILY!
But the message cannot speak only to loyal Republicans. It must be written for Republicans, Independents, unaffiliated voters, and persuadable Democrats without insulting any of them.
The approach should be:
Principles before party. Results before rhetoric. Arizona before Washington.
And Do Not Tell Independents what party they should join. Ask what they want from their government — and show them clearly which policies will protect their families, finances, schools, neighborhoods, water, elections, and individual freedoms.
PART II – ORGANIZE EVERY PRECINCT
Each PC, volunteer, candidate supporter, and grassroots organization should adopt a manageable number of households, rather than waiting for a statewide organization to rescue Arizona.
Their work would include:
- Helping eligible citizens verify or update their registration.
- Identifying voters who have moved or need official election information.
- Distributing factual candidate and issue comparisons.
- Holding small neighborhood meetings rather than relying only on rallies.
- Recruiting volunteers from churches, civic organizations, veterans’ groups, parent groups, and local businesses to help.
- Encouraging voters to develop a voting plan and use official sources to locate voting sites, request ballots, and track ballot status.
For the November 3, 2026 General Election, Arizona’s registration deadline is October 5, and early voting begins October 7. Those dates should appear on everything the grassroots distribute.
The Practical Rule should be:
NO Precinct Abandoned. NO Neighborhood Ignored.
NO Voter Taken for Granted.
PART III — PREPARE FOR THE ELECTION
All candidates, legislators, attorneys, election experts, and persuasive grassroots speakers should coordinate appearances rather than showing up randomly.
Create an updated calendar of:
- Podcasts.
- Radio and streaming interviews.
- Candidate forums.
- Church and community presentations.
- Neighborhood meetings.
- Short educational videos.
- Weekly articles and opinion pieces.
- Election-worker and lawful observer recruitment.
Arizona Counties rely on poll workers during early voting, Election Day, and sometimes afterward; the Secretary of State provides county-by-county information; while Maricopa County and other Counties actively recruits and trains election workers.
The election-readiness message should not be, “Assume something will go wrong.”
It should be:
- Learn the process.
- Join the process.
- Document accurately.
- Follow the law.
- Help Make the Process Work.
That will appeal more strongly to Independents than rhetoric that sounds as though the outcome is being rejected, before voting begins.
The Left’s advantage is not necessarily that it has better ideas. Its advantage is that its organizations repeat coordinated messages, recruit continuously, and work between elections.
We must match that discipline without copying their ideology.
These three parts are not separate assignments…
They are three interconnected parts of One Grassroots Operation.
And the coordinated messages give volunteers something truthful and persuasive to carry. Precinct organizations place those messages into the hands of neighbors who can deliver them personally. And election preparation makes certain those relationships continue until every eligible voter understands when, where, and how to vote.
- Remove any one of the three, and the operation weakens.
- A message without organization may never reach the voter.
- Organization without a clear message creates activity without direction.
But when all three work together, the grassroots become more than a collection of committees, meetings, palm cards, and campaign events.
It becomes the campaign machine…
The unifying message for Arizona – and all States – should be:
No Precinct Abandoned.
No Neighborhood Ignored.
No Voter Taken for Granted.
And this time, that includes Republicans, Independents, unaffiliated voters, and every eligible voting citizen who believes their State is moving in the wrong direction.
The Party May Provide a Structure — But the Grassroots Must Provide the Movement.
And it must include MORE than the Republican Base!
Independent and unaffiliated voters are not a small political side group to be contacted during the final two weeks of a campaign. They represent one of the largest voting blocks in Arizona. They are parents, veterans, business owners, retirees, young voters, taxpayers, and working families. Many are politically homeless because they no longer trust either party to listen.
We should not begin by asking them to become Republicans.
We should begin by asking:
What kind of Arizona do you want to leave your children?
Then we must be prepared to show – in facts, policies, records, and results — why this election will help determine whether “that Arizona” survives.
Arizona does not need another committee studying why voters are discouraged.
It needs neighbors talking to neighbors.
It needs Precinct Committeemen who know their precincts.
It needs concise and truthful messages repeated across articles, podcasts, neighborhood newsletters, social media, candidate forums, civic groups and front porches.
Here are three things the grassroots community can begin doing immediately:
- Build the message.
- Organize every precinct.
- Prepare for the election.
November 3rd is not far away.
The Political Party May Provide the Structure.
But The Grassroots Must Provide the Movement.
The question is no longer whether the Republican Party cares enough to do the work.
The Question Is Whether We Care.
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Coming Next in The Grassroots General-Election Action Series…
Step 3 — DEFINE THE CANDIDATES BEFORE THE OPPOSITION DOES
This gives the grassroots the responsibility to make certain the voter knows the candidates before the opposition defines them.
Step 4 – EVALUATE THE CANDIDATES
How voters and volunteers can look beyond labels, personalities, and recycled political comparisons — and instead examine each candidate’s record, experience, priorities, decisions, and plans.
by Linda Brickman
©2026 Linda Brickman All Rights Reserved.
