Who We Are
Front Porch Conversations is a true “grass roots” community-networking and issue-influencing organization that was birthed out of pure frustration…..the frustration of seeing good, common sense conservative candidates and conservative issues go down to defeat election after election. For as long as anyone can remember, politics in the Kansas City area has proved to be a largely one-sided affair. Even lately, with some outstanding candidates, the generally conservative citizens of the greater Kansas City area still vote for the person with the “D” in front of their name...out of habit if nothing else.
Even with the election results from November, national polls continue to tell us that the country as a whole is living more conservatively in the past decade. Yes, even with the Liberal outcome in the last election, more than two thirds of Americans still consider themselves “Conservative”. But the greater Kansas City metropolitan area has been caught in the stranglehold of liberal ideology since the days of Tom Pendergast back in the 1930’s. Despite the utter failure of many of the “compassionate” policies of the liberals, Kansas City, much like the rest of Missouri, is waiting for the “better ideas” put forth by conservatives to prove themselves worthy of support. And in many ways, the Democrat political machine that is so famous in Chicago still thrives right here in “the city of fountains”. But there is hope!
Today, elections are all too often decided by who has the greatest access to money. Television is the all-important outlet to let voters get to know their candidates, and the costs to get a message on the airwaves are steep. But how can anyone get to know a person through a 30-second Hollywood production? And how attached can a citizen feel to an elected official that they have never had any contact with? Does it have to be this way, and can it ever change? Money is definitely part of the equation, but the voters can’t be ignored in the pursuit of finance. In fact, if executed properly, an organized grassroots effort can supply all the needs of a campaign, money included.
Area voters need a local group to be affiliated with......one that will focus on local issues and local candidates. Our simple mission at Front Porch Conversations is to reach out to the individual citizens of the area with an effort to involve them in the political process. Over the years we have worked with hundreds of committed volunteers who are still “chomping at the bit” to do something to further the progress. Those people have not gone away, and to judge by the number of phone calls that we have received since November’s election, their excitement has not waned. So we decided to give them something to do...identify already-registered voters, register new conservative citizens to vote, and organize every neighborhood in the greater Kansas City area within seven to eight years!
Quite a formidable task, to be sure. But we have begun to put together quite a formidable network of grassroots activists...political warriors who deeply care about the direction that our communities and country are going, and they are willing to do the necessary work to see things change. With their help we are wedding the high technology of our sizable computer database with a cutting edge political and marketing organization needed in identifying individual city blocks and motivating the electorate. So starting basically from scratch over three years ago, we have built our database to over 16,000 conservative voters so far...and growing every day!
The Simple Focus of Our Efforts
“We’re not looking to change the world...just our own community…one block at a time.”
Any organization that attempts to accomplish too much is doomed to failure…or at least mediocrity. Those of us at Front Porch Conversations have a well-designed business model that plans to affect three major areas of public thought:
• Our Citizen Organization effort devotes all its energies to developing a true “Grass Roots” “Group By Group” “Block By Block” and “Individual By Individual” Approach to Voter Education, Voter Identification, Conservative Voter Registration, Voter Organization, and Election Day Voter Mobilization, all the while keeping our citizens involved and informed.
• The Electoral Organization work of our organization is committed to Conservative Candidate Recruitment, Candidate Campaigning and Fundraising Assistance, and then keeping Newly-Elected Officials and/or Judges Accountable to the people that elected them. A significant portion of our time will be spent on educating the public and campaigning for Conservative Issues on the current election ballot.
• Our Issues Organization side endeavors to Shape Public Opinion in a variety of ways. Our White Paper Committee will continue its up-to-the-moment research of current events and create an officially-endorsed Front Porch Conversations Issues Library designed to inform citizens and candidates alike. There will be an on-going campaign to influence the public opinion with Letters To The Editors of various local publications. And there will be a concerted, well-thought-out, well-financed, professionally-produced, and on-going Major Media campaign.
Organizing The Citizens
The most important phrase in campaign management is “He who has the best database.....WINS!” Our focus is clear.....there are only two things that we aim to achieve with the Citizen Organization at Front Porch Conversations: 1) database building; and 2) the door-to-door organizing of that data. With the carefully nurtured help of hundreds of volunteers from all over the city, we plan to witness the reshaping of political thought in our town. In the next few short years, it is our vision to build our communications network with the sole purpose of seeing great candidates elected to offices all over the metropolitan area and common sense conservative ideas passed on the election-day ballots. We have the workers, and we already have a great start on the electronic data.
Our first order of business has been to identify and organize every one of the Wards and Townships within the greater Kansas City area. We identify and encourage men and women to sign up for every Political Party Committee position. While campaigning for those spots, these candidates agree to try to call as many households as possible (we work through the registered voters list first, then the unregistered voters) to do voter identification and voter registration (if they are conservative in their ideology). By breaking down the area by committee positions, we can affect election outcomes in every race from the school board of Belton.....to the City Council of Liberty.....to the Mayor’s race in Kansas City.....to the Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives. This organization’s vision goes far beyond any one political race or candidate. We want to affect every political race (each election cycle) from the Presidency all the way down to the local candidate for Water Board…..though we will do so by focusing on our own individual neighborhoods and communities.
Perhaps even more important than the elections of our legislative officials are those contests involving the judges who preside over our court system. Front Porch Conversations educates voters on candidates for judicial seats, since we have found that very few citizens know the first thing about who is running for judgeships. As we’ve seen so many times over the years, one judge can bend his or her authority to, in some cases, overturn entire election results, or interpret the state or national laws to fit their own political ideology. Yet so few citizens know who to vote for based on that particular judge’s past history of rulings.
Then, our database would be used to network citizens together to disseminate information about particular ballot issues and candidates. The information network would run through the County Committee people, who would get the information out to each of their Precinct Coordinators, who in turn would notify all of their Block Captains. The network also runs through our developed liaisons in the area high schools and colleges, civic groups, neighborhood associations, churches, business organizations, and other conservative groups. It can be, and will be, a cost-effective, efficient, well-organized communications network.
It is our vision, through the work of all involved, to increase our existing database from 16,000 Conservatives to 55,000 by the year 2012! And by no later than the year 2016, we plan to have every one of the over 340,000 (of those willing) registered voters called and identified! At that time we should have over 110,000 Conservatives in a network that is so well organized that no amount of money can “buy an election” for the opposition. We’re so sure that this can, and will, be done that we are personally guaranteeing a city-wide Conservative victory within seven to eight years!
Getting Results On Election Day
All of the work that we’re doing in organizing our neighborhoods will be of no use if there aren’t any outstanding candidates to vote for and if we can’t get these citizens to the polls on Election Day.
Throughout the process of piecing together the “network” of Conservatives throughout the communities of the Kansas City area, we have come across some outstanding citizens who have harbored intentions of running for public office but have felt inhibited due to lack of funding or political campaign experience.
There are a number of currently-elected officials already a part of Front Porch Conversations who will gladly offer their expertise to the campaign efforts of those who chose to place their name on the ballot. It will be one of our priorities to recruit, train, fund, and campaign for those Conservatives who wish to lead their communities with Conservative philosophies.
And we believe that our Election Day and Get Out The Vote efforts will make history! Through this same vast Communications Network of Conservatives, we already have begun to “staff” various Precincts on every election day. From paid Election Table Workers to Poll Judges to Poll Watchers to the Poll Workers who greet voters as they arrive at the precinct, Front Porch Conversations Volunteers have already been covering many of the 178 targeted precincts in the metropolitan area.
Shaping The Message For The Future
It would only be of temporary value…working so hard to get good candidates elected and networking the voters…if we do nothing to try and transform the political climate through a well-organized and professionally-done advertising and marketing campaign through the local major media. With well-thought-out and precisely-placed advertisements on television and radio, in the local newspapers and magazines, and by way of direct mail and the internet, Front Porch Conversations can literally transform the “water cooler discussions” and “front porch conversations” throughout the area communities.
With national award-winning media writers, producers, and even a few national personalities already committed to adding their talents to our media campaign, Front Porch Conversations’ creative excellence will, no doubt, be able to influence the political and philosophical landscape in the Midwest media markets.
Come and Join Us!
The fruits of our labor are already being shown. At present, close to two hundred people from around the area have volunteered to give of their time to do voter identification, voter registration, and to organize the communities in which they live. This enthusiasm is crossing every racial group, denominational assemblage, and even political party boundary to put government back into the hands of the citizens. There are Independents, Libertarians, Republicans and Democrats that are involved with us, working with us, and excited about our city’s future! With this inclusive atmosphere the size of our database grows bigger and stronger every day.
We will continue to grow and build an organization that will espouse the conservative views of the majority of the citizens of our area. We at Front Porch Conversations can only hope that you might get a feel for the enthusiasm that we have to see people’s live changed for the better and to see great candidates elected to office. Whether it is meeting with corporate executives in finely decorated downtown offices or a backyard bar-b-que in the urban core of the city, the need for a local conservative organization is echoed again and again. This mission is truly something that has consumed us, and we are trying to spread the fire to others.
There are those who stand back and hope that a conservative might be elected in Kansas City. And there are those who have totally “washed their hands” of even the thought of a conservative victory throughout the counties of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. We know that it can be done! Won’t you help us put public service back into the hearts and minds of our public servants? Won’t you help us elect public officials who truly believe in conservative ideals? Won’t you help us affect future legislative issues with the giving of your time and/or your finances?
We are not so naive as to believe that we can accomplish this task alone, nor do we want to. But together, with a well-organized and aggressive effort, we can...we will...soon see the day when conservative thought is endorsed at Kansas City’s political table.
