Kucitizen Volunteer Newsletter

Kucitizen Volunteer NewsletterTuesday October 21, 2003Issue 7

Greetings
It is official. On a cross country tour, Dennis Kucinich officially announced his candidacy for president. In Minneapolis, after hearing Dennis speak, a previously undecided voter approached two of the local organizers to say that he had made up is mind; he would be supporting Dennis. It’s a common story. Once people hear the message of this campaign, they want to know what they can do to help. Since the announcement tour last week, almost 1000 new volunteers have registered with the campaign. These new Kucitizens will bring us new energy and new ideas. This issue of the Kucitizen Volunteer Newsletter is a little long - but it is dedicated to you.
Speaking of Dennis’s official announcement, you can see highlights at
http://www.kucinich.us/announce-updates.htm and share your best photos of the event at
tour-news@kucinich.us
Welcome aboard!
Claudia Slate
Virtual Outreach Coordinator
Rebekah Smith, Coordinator
Kucitizen Volunteer Newsletter
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In this Issue
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1. The ABC’s of Helping Dennis
2. News in Brief
3. Weekly Checklist
4. Toolbox (aka, a quick reference guide to hot spots on the website)
5. Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
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1. The ABC’s of Helping Dennis
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A – Adopt a precinct. Iowa holds their precinct caucuses on January 19, and New Hampshire will have its primary on January 27. Dennis must do well in these states. You can help the campaign in these states by making day or weekend trips to help with canvassing. You can also make phone calls and write personal letters to voters.
Contact Kathleen Lane at 319-294-1342 or klane@kucinich.us to help in Iowa.
To help in New Hampshire contact Amy Hochadel, 603-792-2004 or amy@kucinich.us.
B – Be seen. Order signs, bumper stickers, T-shirts and more at http://officialkucinichstore.us. These items may also be available at local meetings. Organize “Visibility Days”. The key to advertising is repetition. Declare a standing visibility day at a regular time and place where Kucinich supporters can show up with their signs.
C – Canvass. Canvass in your neighborhood--this is a grassroots campaign. This means we must go door to door to tell people about Dennis Kucinich.
D- Dial the Phone - Help spread the word about Dennis Kucinich in the early primary states and join a national phone banking team. Contact Donna Fox at NationalPhoneBanking@kucinich.us. Or call her at 216-889-2004 or 866-413-3664.
E – Educate yourself and others about the importance of attending precinct caucuses and voting in the primaries. For caucus and primary election dates see
http://www.c-span.org/classroom/govt/campaigns_dates.asp.
If you are in a caucus state, ask the Democratic Party or past delegates there to help you arrange training for people new to caucusing.
F – Find your state coordinator - http://www.kucinich.us/volunteeraction.htm
G – Go to Kucinich Meetups - Meetup is a free service that organizes local gatherings about anything, anywhere--including our favorite presidential candidate, Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich Meetups are usually held the first Thursday of the month.
Next Meetup: Thursday, November 6
Topic: Attracting third-party voters to our campaign.
See: http://www.kucinich.us/meetup.htm
Attend other Meetups like the AARP, GLBT, and Democratic Party Meetups, and make sure Dennis Kucinich is represented. For a full listing see www.meetup.com.
H – Host a Halloween Party – For help, check out the Kucinich House Party Page at http://www.kucinich.us/houseparty.htm. Also see this post for some ideas:
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=913 .
I – Introduce Dennis Kucinich to voters. This is step one of any grassroots campaign. Attend community events where you can have a table with Kucinich literature. Block parties, concerts, and festivals are all possibilities. Distribute flyers. Wherever people are gathering is an opportunity to reach people. Sporting events, book readings, concerts, and college campuses are all possibilities. Make it personal and go door to door. Make phone calls. Offer people tapes of your favorite speeches. Call radio talk shows. There are many ways to introduce our candidate to voters.
J – Join listservs. These group email discussions keep Kucitizens connected. Find more than 200 regional Kucinich listservs, also called “YahooGroups”, at http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=Kucinich .
Also, check out our listserv forum at
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=13.
K – Keep the focus on the issues. It is why you are supporting Dennis; it will eventually be the reason why others will support him too.
L – Learn about the issues. See http://www.kucinich.us/issues.htm.
Then contribute to the discussions at http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/index.php?c=7.
M – Make a pledge to the campaign. It’s easy with the new contribution form that allows recurring payments. See https://www.kucinich.us/contribute.php
N – Network. Consider your connections with community organizations. You can
** promote special events through listservs, bulletin boards, newsletters, etc.
** speak to the group about Dennis Kucinich or any of his key issues.
** invite a representative from the organization to address Kucinich volunteers.
** write articles for newsletters.
** find volunteer opportunities for Kucinich supporters within the organization.
** invite group members to join the Kucinich campaign.
** write position papers addressed to the group.
O – Organize a benefit. See what one musician is doing at
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=923 .
P – Print and post flyers to promote Meetups, special events, house parties, caucus trainings and more.
Q – Quit Smoking or some other "vice". Monica and Bill quite smoking so they would have money to give to the campaign. See http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=655.
Send an email to contacts@kucinich.us with your name and the amount you would like to pledge to the campaign for each day Monica and Bill are smoke free.
R – Register voters. Kucinich supporters are doing this all over the country. Registering voters is generally one of the local action topics for most MeetUps (See G - Go to Meetups). If your MeetUp group or local Kucinich organization is not discussing and acting on this issue, encourage them to do so. Let’s get out and canvass while the weather is still decent in November!
S – Submit your very best photos to Campaign Witness. Send them to campaignwitness@kucinich.us. Checkout the photos already submitted at http://www.kucinich.us/campaignwitness.htm
T – Trick-or-Treat for Dennis – Let the goblins come to you or go to them. This Halloween Kucitizens will be passing out literature and registering voters as they go trick-or-treating.
U – Utilize the Volunteer Discussion Forum at http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/index.php. Over 900 people are using this tool to share, teach and learn.
V – Volunteer in your community. Grassroots is about community building. Who needs help in your community? How can Kucinich volunteers contribute?
W – Write letters to the editor. Media watchers hold the media accountable with their letters and phone calls. Depending on interest in your group, you may want to start a Media Response subgroup where watchdogs get together to celebrate published letters, vote on the week’s worst and best article about the presidential elections, write letters, read what they have written and refine their craft. Join the national Media Response Team. For more information see “How to Take Action” near the bottom of http://www.kucinich.us/responses_media.htm. For tips on how to work the media, see http://www.davidswanson.org/reporting/media/tips.htm
Join in discussions of the media and find polls to vote in at
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=565
X – X out the doubt. With your help we’re going all the way.
Y – Yank the corporate politicians and give Dennis Kucinich a Congress that will support important measures such as health care for all, a Department of Peace, and a sustainable energy policy.
Z – ZZZzzz – Rest up! After all that work you’ll need to recharge your batteries. (Hey, you just try to think of a verb that starts with the letter Z!)

2. News in Brief
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Thank You for the Birthday Wishes
Dennis thanks everyone for the birthday messages and the donations that accompanied many of them. See http://kucinich.us/VolunteerAction/bdmessage1.php to read some of the messages received.
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Walk for Dennis
On Friday, October 17, 2003, Jonathan Meier, age 20, departed Portland, Maine, on a coast-to-coast walk to raise awareness for Dennis Kucinich's presidential campaign. He and a group of local supporters headed down Route 1 towards New Hampshire. Volunteers from 41 states have already committed to joining in portions of the walk when it reaches their regions. Read more at
http://kucinich.us/walkfordennis/walkfordennis.php
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Michael Moore
Michael Moore is on a book tour promoting “Dude, Where’s My Country?” See his schedule at http://www.michaelmoore.com/calendar/index.php.
Michael has decided to spend the money from his tax cut on getting the Republicans out of office, and he wants your help determining where to send his contributions. Advise him to support Dennis Kucinich, and let him know about progressive candidates in your local elections as well. Send your advice to Mike at
www.SpendMikesTaxCut.com
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Arizona Debate
Kucitizens had the best signs and were well represented as they gave Dennis a rousing reception at the Orpheum where the debate was held. The party that followed was highly energized thanks to a great band, enthusiastic supporters, and a vegan birthday cake to boot! Even the Dean and Kerry crowd made their way over to join the fun. See, there are many ways to swing voters to our side! Read more at http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=938
3. Weekly Checklist
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1) Choose three things from “The ABC’s of Helping Dennis” and make a plan to take action.
2) What else can volunteers do to help? Post ideas on the National Volunteer Discussion Board at http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/index.php.
4. Toolbox
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The toolbox is a quick reference guide to resources on the website.
National Volunteer Action
http://www.kucinich.us/volunteeraction.htm
Post your ideas at
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=28
Culture Corner
http://www.kucinich.us/culturecorner.htm
Donate to the Campaign
https://www.kucinich.us/contribute.php
KNET
http://www.favors.org/KNET/
House Party Page
http://www.kucinich.us/houseparty.htm
Media Response
http://www.kucinich.us/responses_media.htm
Discuss: http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=565
Report media actions: talkback@kucinich.us
Monica and Bill's Journal
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=655.
Make a Pledge. Send an email to contacts@kucinich.us with your name and the amount you would like to pledge for each day Monica and Bill are smoke free.
Pass It On Tickets
http://www.kucinich.us/passiton.htm
Video Exchange
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=40
Volunteer Discussion Forum
http://us.denniskucinich.us/phpBB2/index.php
5. Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Kucinich For President
www.kucinich.us

DENNIS J. KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004! BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!!!

:dem: :kick:

T – Trick-or-Treat for Dennis – Let the goblins come to you or go to them. This Halloween Kucitizens will be passing out literature and registering voters as they go trick-or-treating.


This is a fantastic idea!

Thanks for posting this most excellent list!