[ncgop-exec]
Date of questions: Saturday, May 30, 2009
Answers were accepted May 30 thru June 9, 2009.

Question #1:  Please comment on "Project Houdini," and how we, as a State Party, should respond to it.

The six candidates' answers follow. The four candidates for chairman are listed first (alphabetically), followed by the two candidates for vice-chairman. (Each candidate's name is a clickable link to his web site.)
 

Chad Adams (for Chairman) wrote:
    The Houdini operation had success and failure for the Obama team. The project is modeled on the way the local GOP used to work with runners and central county operations. Observers would get a list of who had voted at various times, cross those off a list of potential voters and get HQ to start calling to get the rest of the voters out. We should do that at the precinct level IF we can rebuild our county parties and get enthusiasm and volunteers back into our part.
    Short answer, Houdini was an amazing concept but riddled with logistical nightmares. I think our party needs to focus on strong county operations is we with to win statewide. We are best when we are a ground up party operationally!

Tom Fetzer (for Chairman) said (paraphrased):
    We need to invest resources, energy & intellect to regain our former technological supremacy.

Marcus Kindley (for Chairman) wrote:
    We should teach our county Chairs and Precinct Chairs how to use our tools to accomplish the same results . In 2004 in Guilford County, I did two things in this manner. First we divided each precinct into areas of 150 republicans living on contigious streets, we then assigned individuals to contact these people. This resulted in at 77% turnout of republicans in our Rural Precincts with a 71.7% GOP Turnout overall in county on election day ( We now need to be doing this through out early voting) That is why we used runners to collect the voter sheets at each precinct at 10,2,and 4, following up with calls to those who had not yet voted. We know how to do it we just need the leadership to carry it out.

Bill Randall (for Chairman) wrote:
    The "Project Houdini" effort by the Obama campaign was a good example of effective and innovative utilization of modern technology. If you notice in the article, it surpassed their expectations to the point of enabling them (in some cases) to finish in half the time. We, as Republicans, need to do a much better job at getting our constituency connected with techno-media tools. To that end, the 13 NCGOP districts should serve as technological training centers across the state. We need to:
a. Strive for 100% of our NCGOP Executive leadership to be "connected" with cell-phones and peripheral equipment that can utilize & exploit new media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
b. hold regular weekly seminars (manned by well-trained volunteers) accessible to registered Republicans,
c. provide reasonably-priced sources of computers and phone systems,
d. provide alternative recommendations to persons whose budgets are constrained to their not being able to afford the technology. We need to have a sensitivity to the fact that not everyone will be interested, motivated (or financially stable) enough to equip themselves with it.
e. develop a tactical document that addresses procedures, concepts and methodology for basic guidance.
f. create a new position within each county: Information Technology Liaison who will be the "go-to" person on matters relating to this increasingly important medium.
    But we should NOT forget that our re-explaining and re-articulating our conservative, Republican party platform in contrast to the fallacious, deceptive and dangerous policies of Democrats is paramount. If we don't do a better job at showing a clear distinction between the two parties, the Democrats will continue to dominate.

 
(Note: Tim & David are candidates for Vice-Chairman, not Chairman, but since Vice-Chairmen often eventually become Chairmen I asked that they answer the questions as if they expected to become chairman.)

Tim Johnson (for Vice-Chairman) wrote:
    There is absolutely no reason why the Republican Party can't improve upon Project Houdini in North Carolina. However, in order for us to be successful, we need to re-focus our efforts at the most basic level within our party structure, the precinct. What made Project Houdini so successful was the ability for volunteers at each polling station to relay information back to a centralize location and coordinate who had voted and who still needed to vote. We cannot afford to complain about the two weeks of early voting. It is a part of our election process and we need to not only copy Project Houdini but improve upon it.

David Sawyer (for Vice-Chairman) wrote:
Preface to Responses
    Prior to responding to these questions, I would like to reiterate that I am running for Vice Chair of the Party, and not Chair. I understand the premise of the submission, that is, that the Vice Chair can become the Chair and I appreciate that fact. But, to me, it is important that persons reviewing the questions and responses thereto recognize that the Vice Chair's role is, among other things, to work with the Chair and implement the decisions and directions of the Chair and the Central and Executive Committee. I am not suggesting that these are the only roles of the Vice Chair but, by responding to these questions, I do not want to imply, in any way, that I would disregard the authority of the existing Chair or the Committees, or fail to honor the terms of the Plan of Organization.
Response to Question 1
    Often times, the difficulty in responding to written inquires involves identifying the meaning of particular phrases such that everyone is "on the same page". Here, my research indicates that the phrase "Phrase Houdini" means different things to different people. For purposes of this question, I will assume that "Project Houdini" refers to a concentrated, aggressive effort on the part of campaign activists to identify persons who have not voted on election day and get them to the polls. This was done using both campaign personnel at voting sites and high tech methods of communication to relay information. In some ways, it has been described as a response to the Republican 72 Hour program, but more focused at the voting precincts and involving a greater use of new technologies. To the extent that the question refers to this effort, Republicans should, likewise, be organized and aggressively attempt to get our voters to the polls. This would involve a greater use of new technology to communicate with regional command posts which, in turn, could direct the use of campaign resources to the best use possible. To the extent, however, that the question presupposes that "Project Houdini" involved efforts by persons to circumvent existing election laws, or use government funds or employees for blatantly partisan activities, it must be investigated and, if illegal conduct is involved, prosecuted.

The other five questions can be found here:
http://www.mooregop.org/chairman_questionnaire.html

Dave Burton
Cary, NC
H: 1-919-481-0098
M: 1-919-244-3316