Your Most Important Votes
Your Most Important Votes
This election year is unlike any other we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Our great nation has been wracked and wrecked these past seven long and painful years in ways none of could have imagined when a young Senator named Barack Obama was elected to lead a destructive left-wing “fundamental transformation.”
This is the year “We the People” are struggling to assert a NEW American Revolution and win back the White House and Congress.
The signs are unmistakable: candidates who represent business-as-usual have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and are being soundly rejected and struggling. Candidates hated by “the establishment” are turning out huge crowds and winning votes and delegates nationwide.
I’d like to make the case that the most important that the most important 28 votes (25 for At-Large National Delegates and 3 for each Congressional District National Delegates) we will each cast this Saturday are for those who will help decide, in Cleveland, the fate of the Grand Old Party and thus America.
This may be our last chance this year to save our deeply divided country, culture, and party from the inevitable ruin of abandoning the God of our Fathers and the Constitution that has united us as states and as We the People.
Please consider, however, what we’re up against. We’re as deeply divided as a party as we are a nation. We need to return to the common ground of the principles that unite us and not stay rooted in the self-interest that divides us.
1) There are powerful factions within our Party who believe that money – in the form of buying advertising and signatures – should be all that is necessary to win elections and thus perpetuate the perks and power they enjoy by gaining and holding office. They seem to believe in their own goodness and greatness, and that our caucus system is a relic to be worked around. This faction is powerfully entrenched in the party in the State and Federal Government – let’s just call it “The Establishment” for convenience.
2) There is another group who are honestly devoted to the caucus system and love the same Constitutional principles of liberty and justice that made our Republic great, but have bought into a big lie – the delusion of “electability.” These people believe that someone devoted to the traditional principles of Constitutional conservatism is unelectable. They believe that our nominee needs to be half-devoted to those “extreme” principles, but halfway “reasonable” to appeal to “low-information voters.” This is the kind of moderate who so desperately wants to “win in November” that they adopt the kind of thinking that would have made them lukewarm about the Reagan Revolution until it was already successful.
3) Traditionally, in Utah, delegates to the National Convention have been those with recognizable names who hold state and local offices – including many from groups 1) and 2) – but also party regulars, hard-working volunteers, and even long-time civic servants who love the same-principles you and I do. You’ll find these folks on a variety of slates put together by the party regulars who have been at this a long time and know that the secret to winning the election and going to convention has always been to get on as many slates as possible, even if that means creating your own.
However, it has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. This is NOT the year to cast your precious votes for National Delegate based on the same old tired formula of cronyism as reflected in slates, and taking the easy way out of letting someone else decide your vote based on any given slate.
This is the year you can change everything. Identify candidates for National Delegate who will bring fresh thinking to the convention, who are passionate about principle but who have no political ambition to move up the ranks in the party, and who are revolutionaries in the best sense of the word.
Proposed slates can have value in helping you fill out the list of National Delegates / Ballot Numbers (e.g. #324) you will vote for, but voting for everyone on any straight slate can be a dangerous surrender of your duty to those who elected you to use your best judgment in casting your votes. Rarely should any one factor be the deciding factor for you for all 28 key votes. Vote your informed conscience – not a slate.
Do what your precinct elected you to do – vet the candidates and vote for those you find who best represent your values and principles. That matters most.
Please click on the link below to read my blog post: “Guide To Decide Who to Send to Cleveland.”
http://whos4us.com/national-delegate-voting-guide-utah-sta…/
4) The National Delegates you elect have voting power and personal discretion beginning with the second round. Be sure you vote only for those who have demonstrated good judgment in assessing candidates and share your belief about who will make the best candidate and who has the best chance of uniting the party and being elected in November.
Please click on the link below to ready my blog post: “The Case for Cruz.”
http://whos4us.com/the-case-for-cruz/
5) In addition to being a reliable vote for or against certain candidates and having the good judgment to vote on rules, platform, and other potentially contentious issues this year, try to identify and vote for those candidates who have special skills and abilities that will contribute to the success of our delegation.
In particular, I’d like to ask for your vote if you believe that your ideal delegate should have a strong background in the persuasive arts and in media relations – because those skills could very well make a difference in influence other delegates in key states who can influence their state delegations, and even make a difference in the national media in how votes and candidates are perceived.
I’ve been down this road before – as IBM’s first dedicated online PR Representative / Evangelist in the ‘90s. I’ve been a guest lecturer at Duke and BYU as the author of a visionary book titled “Cyberspace: The Human Dimension.” I have 30+ years of PR and online marketing experience. I’ve been an online communications pioneer since the early ‘90s.
I will use my skills and connections to communicate with you from the floor of the convention. I will leverage my skills and extensive experience and connections (see www.linkedin.com/in/davewhittle) to give you an amplified voice.
I’ll help like-minded souls unite in a NEW American Revolution to take back the national dialogue and narrative from the dishonest and biased in the media. I’ve done this before. I started what one national magazine called an “Ethical Revolution” within IBM – which eventually led to the resignation of IBM’s CEO. I also started a worldwide movement named Team OS/2 – see Wikipedia. I’ve been featured, mentioned, or quoted in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the L.A. Times, Deseret News, NPR, and many others.
Why am I running if I have no political ambitions? That’s an easy question to answer: Because I have 12 grandchildren I love, and because I try to love all of my brothers and sisters and even my enemies, and this is the right thing to do for them – if I can pull it off with your help. If delegates choose the same-old-same-old, I can at least hold my head up high that I gave it my best shot.
I would be grateful for your vote for David Whittle, Ballot #324, as one of your 3 votes for National Delegate Congressional District 3.
If I’m elected, I’ll be in touch about how we can work together to make a difference. Out of small things come great things.
Cheers!
Dave Whittle, 801-489-0605, www.linkedin.com/in/davewhittle
National Delegate Voting Guide for Utah State Delegates
GUIDE TO DECIDE WHO TO SEND TO CLEVELAND
I attended the 2012 State Convention in which we elected National Delegates, and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t prepare in advance and ended up making last-minute decisions for National Delegates based on name recognition, the Romney slate, and friends. Fortunately, it didn’t matter much since almost everyone in the state was for Romney. This year, however, is dramatically different, so I’d like to share what I’ve learned and offer up this Guide.
STEP 1) UNDERSTAND THE ROLES and the VOTING
There are multiple categories of Delegates and Alternates, and candidates for the slots choose which of the categories they’d like to run for. Both delegates and alternates go to the convention, but delegates have final voting decision power. Alternates are there for the experience almost as advisors, to help the delegates with additional eyes and ears.
Utah has 40 voting slots. 3 are dedicated to party officers (Party Chair, National Committeeman, and National Comitteewoman). Each of the 4 Congressional Districts elect 3 Delegates, leaving 25 At-Large slots. All 40 Alternate slots are elected.
The categories to be elected and the number of votes for category are (Note that you will only vote in your own Congressional District):
– National Delegate At-Large ( 25)
– National Delegate At-Large (Alternate) (28)
– National Delegate Congressional District 1 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 1 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 2 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 2 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 3 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 3 – Alternate (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 4 (3)
– National Delegate Congressional District 4 – Alternate (3)
There is only one round of voting and the top vote-getters in each category are elected. Ties are decided by a coin-toss.
STEP 2) IDENTIFY YOUR KNOWN FAVORITES – KEEP A LIST OF NAMES & BALLOT #s
Your list will actually be 4 lists – ND, ND-Alt, CD, and CD-Alt. You’ll probably already know certain candidates from the list that you’d like to vote for.
In fact, I would suggest reviewing the list of candidates and look for people you know and trust (it’s in a spreadsheet at GOP.gov – the latest version is always at: https://docs.google.com/…/1r3axOLXqtzHfOP6KqWM9ODaall…/edit… )
The first column of the list is the candidate’s Ballot # – for example, my ballot # is 324. When you find people you know you’d like to vote for, just keep a list of their ballot number and name to take to the Convention with you – by category so you don’t go over the # of votes you’ll have allotted for each category.
For various reasons, you’ll want to add the names of someone you don’t know. For example, I’m voting for Chris Herrod #976 because I had a great conversation with him the other day and was impressed. He’s also the Vice Chair for Cruz in Utah. I’m also voting for Casey Voeks #987 because I was impressed with him when he was Utah County Chair and he’s agreed to help me with my plan to blog and get media attention for the truth about the convention from the floor, based on my 25 years of national PR and social media experience. I also called Brian Halladay #326 the other day to compare notes – and I found that we think almost exactly alike about Cruz, Trump, and voting scenarios. So he’s on my list too.
I hope you’ll also add me (David Whittle #324) to your list for National Delegate Congressional District #3 – because I have absolutely no political ambitions but love civic service, love the Constitution, and will use my talents and expertise in the art of influence and social media (I was IBM’s first online PR rep and a published author on the human and social aspects of the Internet) to help get positive publicity for “Constitutional principles” and “Utah values.”
The point is to identify as many candidates as you can based on whatever criteria you’ve identified as being important to you, and keep a list of the candidates by ballot #. I personally keep my list in order of preference – because you might keep changing your list right up to the minutes before you vote.
Slates can be very helpful in your decision-making – but I’d strongly recommend that you avoid turning over your entire decision to the makers of any given slate. Not even the Cruz slate. By their very nature, slates are rooted in cronyism. For example, I didn’t even find out about most slates until it was too late. That’s because I’m not a player in Utah politics, and have no desire to be. The slates are generally comprised of friends of friends helping each other – that can be a good thing, but I definitely wouldn’t turn over my responsibility to vet the candidates and find those I’m comfortable with to the maker of any single slate. Use the slates to add names you recognize and for additional ideas after you’ve added the names you’ve vetted yourself.
Above all, don’t buy into their propaganda that you have to vote for everyone on the slate or you’ll split the vote in favor of the big names. That will only happen if you vote for the big names only because they’re big names. For example, I personally plan to vote for Mike Lee – not because he’s a big name or on the Cruz slate, but because I love what he stands for and how he’s represented me in DC. There are a LOT of other big names I won’t be voting for, because THIS is the year we need to send a grass-roots delegation to Cleveland. Men and women who will vote their conscience and do everything within their power to promote “Utah values” in their voting.
STEP 3) TAKE YOUR EVER-CHANGING LIST TO THE STATE CONVENTION
Your list will make it easy to vote. But don’t “finish” it too soon. In other words, just because you’ve filled in 25 NDs and 28 Alt-NDs and 3 CDs and 3 Alt-CDs, don’t close your mind to finding someone you’ll like better at the convention! At the convention, you’ll get a lot of “slates” you’ll want to review. You’ll probably be able to meet people like me handing out their reasons why they think they would make the best delegates. Keep your list handy and fluid, and bring a pencil so you make changes on the fly.
Then, when it’s time to vote, listen to your heart as you vote for your list – starting at the top in each category.
STEP 4) AFTER VOTING, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BIG SMILE ON YOUR FACE BECAUSE YOU’VE DONE A GREAT JOB OF REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED YOU TO MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION OF THE VARIOUS CHOICES
Enjoy the convention!
David Whittle, Candidate for National Delegate Congressional District 3
Ballot #324
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