Need Examples of Precinct "First Contact" Letters

[Misskittycat]

I'm preparing a "first-contact" type letter to precinct voters in an area that has had little or no precinct organization before now. I'd like to write a letter introducing myself and laying the groundwork to get these voters out in November.

If anyone has any suggestions or can refer me to online resources, I'd appreciate the help so I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

This is for the CA-50th, Francine Busby vs. Brian Bilbray. San Diego has had a very weak Democratic Party until recently so the precinct organizing has to be done concurrently with the get-out-the-vote effort.

Technically, I'm representing the Busby campaign, and due to the ridiculous election financing laws, I have to be careful to distinguish this from a more general, Democratic Party, support-all-Dem-candidates effort. Technically, the Democratic Party precinct organizing should be happening simultaneously, and there is some going on, but not really enough. While all the races are important, clearly the Busby race is the most important one in our area.

BTW, the initial targets are two groups: registered Dems who have voted sometimes, who voted in the April, 2006 election, and then did not bother to come out for the run-off special election in June, 2006. The second group is "decline to state" voters who voted in April, but not in June.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

[alfredo]

1. I did it face to face during our Voter ID drive.

A letter is OK, but face to face contact is best. Your LD leader or executive committee should have the walk lists.

I am not the official precinct captain, but I am doing the duties of the captain. It isn't hard at all, so I wonder why these people even took the job, they haven't done shit.

[Misskittycat]

2. The letter was the first contact; not the only one. I liked the one

I did. I'm not quite sure how to insert a copy here. I did it in Microsoft Word. Can anybody tell me how?

[Misskittycat]

3. This is it, but the formatting didn't copy. I used color and varied fonts.

Hello. I’m your West Hampton Cove volunteer for the Francine Busby for Congress Campaign.

I’m a long-time political junkie, having majored in political science in college in Washington, D.C. First thing in the morning, I check CNN for breaking news. I surf the web for political information and analysis – sometimes for a few hours before I get around to my actual, paying work. I continually annoy my friends and family with dire warnings about the disastrous, one-party Republican stranglehold on the U.S. government.

So it’s not surprising that I believe that the November 2006 election – just weeks away now – is one of the most important in our nation’s history.

TOP TEN REASONS WE NEED A
DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY IN CONGRESS

10. The Republican health care plan: “Don’t Get Sick.”

9. The Republicans won’t recognize that global warming exists until Pacific Ocean waves start lapping at Coast Highway 101.

8. George Bush and the GOP Congress think a little “waterboarding” isn’t really torture.

7. Republicans want to privatize Social Security so you can personally oversee losing all your retirement money in the stock market.

6. The Republican exit strategy from Iraq: oh, right -- they don’t have one. It’s the next President’s problem.

5. Republican “fiscal conservatives” turned the Clinton-era federal budget surplus into the largest budget deficit in U.S. history.

4. George W. Bush says the U.S. Constitution is “only a piece of paper.” He and his GOP pals in Congress and on the Supreme Court ignore whichever laws they don’t like.

3. The Republican economic plan: let most middle-class jobs be outsourced overseas so GOP multinational corporate cronies can enjoy the expanding global economy to the fullest.

2. The Republican foreign policy has been so successful that now almost everyone in the world hates us.

1. George Bush says he is “the decider.” The Republican do-nothing Congress lets him “decide” to continue driving the United States right off a cliff.

LET’S TAKE BACK THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES!

It’s critical that Democrats capture and become the majority party in the House of Representatives – better yet, in the Senate as well. That’s why in every possible Congressional race around the U.S, a Democrat must be elected.

The California 50th Congressional District – our District -- leans Republican, but there are enough registered Democrats here to win this important Congressional seat -- as long as enough Democrats actually vote on November 7th for Democrat Francine Busby.

In addition to the national significance of taking back Congress, Francine is a great candidate who deserves to be elected, who will care about our District’s needs and concerns, and whose positions on the issues are clearly better than Brian Bilbray’s for us and for the entire country.

WE NEED EVERY SINGLE VOTE!

My job is to encourage you to get out and vote for Francine on November 7th – or better yet, to cast an absentee vote for her well ahead of Election Day.

Francine’s website is at http://www.busbyforcongress.com.

I encourage you to send me an e-mail, call me or drop by at Unit 171 to let me know how you feel about this critical election, or ask any questions you may have. Thanks very much.

Linda

[CornField]

4. I was put in a different precinct this year

A precinct I live close to, but not the one I vote in... I walked/drove the entire thing and looked for friendly yard signs (union, anti-war, Democratic, etc.) and left this note on the door (personal info XXXed out for public posting):
----------
Hi, neighbor!

I dropped by your home today because I’ll be serving as captain for your precinct (XXX 1-3) in the upcoming election. With all the telephone calls, campaign ads and mailers, I’ll bet you are about as anxious as I am for this election to be over!

In order to ensure a Democratic victory in our precinct on election day, we all need to work together. We need:

* At least 4 people from our precinct to contact voters by phone and/or at the door -- on election day and the weekend prior.

* At least 6 people from our precinct to serve as poll watchers on election day.

REMEMBER
Many Hands Make Light Work!

No worries if you’ve never volunteered like this in the past.
There is a GOTV (Get Out The Vote) Training this Saturday, Oct. 28. The training will be held at the XXX in Cedar XXX. It begins at 11 a.m. Why not come out and hear what this GOTV stuff is all about?

Election Day is Tuesday, November 7
Precinct 1-3 Polling Place is
XXX, XXX Drive

Please phone and let me know when and where you’re able to help out (or come meet me face-to-face at the training on Saturday). Even if you can only help for one hour, it will be greatly appreciated.
XXXX (My Name)
XXX-XXXX (Home) • XXX-XXXX (Mobile)

XXX County Democratic Headquarters -- XXX-XXXX
(for any other questions you might have)

[Misskittycat]

5. That's good. I like yours. n/t