Make it Flake: How Freedomworks Won

Rep. Jeff Flake wasn’t appointed to the Appropriations Committee, but Freedomworks came out on top in the organization’s bid to appoint him.

Brendan Steinhauser and Rob Jordan spoke this morning during a candidate training session about how Freedomworks was able to maximize results and identify support using online petitions during the campaign. Brendan’s Bottom Line: Online petitions, when combined with offline activism, have the potential to identify supporters, motivate leaders and spread a conservative message virally.

For any campaign one of two outcomes is ideal: Win your campaign or build your membership.

To me, building organizational membership early is crucial for grassroots activists who wish to run for office in the future. Petition signers, in the long run, become a candidate’s voters, donors and most treasured volunteers.

Kudos to Brendan and Rob for innovative thinking and an excellent presentation this morning. Up next is Patrick Ruffini’s take on how candidates can use all aspects of new media to advance a cause or message.

I look forward to continuing this discussion at the Leadership Institute’s Internet Activist Schools in March. Training of this magnitude is helping conservatives learn how to get ahead online and the movement is in debt to the speakers who volunteer their time to make this training possible.