The Referendum 71 broadcast media campaign is on in Washington!  There is MUCH more to come, but I can’t tell you about it yet.  In the mean time, have a listen to this new radio ad.  Which voter cohort do you think is the target?

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Recently I listened in on a different radio broadcast – the weekly show put on by Family Policy Institute of Washington.  FPIW bills itself as a Focus on the Family/Family Research Council affiliate, and it has been a key player in the anti-domestic partnership campaign.  FPIW clearly understands the game.  It was curious to hear them agree almost to the word with Washington Families Standing Together about what will tip the win on Referendum 71.

Joseph Backholm:  In an off-year election [as opposed to the big presidential election last year] the turnout this year is going to be much, much lower, and we know that.  We’re probably be looking at maybe 50%, and that’s probably optimistic. And so the key here is not actually convincing everyone that you’re right, the key on this is having more of your people vote than their people vote.

There’s more below the fold.  We have a question to face: are we going to let them beat us at our own GOTV game?  NO!  Donate to the Approve 71 campaign so that we can continue to motivate our voter base!September 30, 2009 podcast the Family Policy Institute of Washington’s radio show, featuring Joseph Backholm and Russell Johnson.

Joseph Backholm:  In an off-year election [as opposed to the big presidential election last year] the turnout this year is going to be much, much lower, and we know that.  We’re probably be looking at maybe 50%, and that’s probably optimistic. And so the key here is not actually convincing everyone that you’re right, the key on this is having more of your people vote than their people vote.  And so, what do you think people who are listening today, and are concerned about Referendum 71, and would like to see it rejected, do you have any suggestions for what they might be able to do to help just in their community, help the overall statewide campaign get somethings done?

Russell Johnson:  I think one of the most important things that comes to mind is to educate those who agree with you.  I think a lot of times people who are pro-family, pro-marriage are afraid to talk about the issues because they don’t like to be in a situation where they have to argues, or where they have to be confrontational, or they feel there’s gonna be some big debate.  But the reality is that we lose on a lot of the family issues because our own people who agree with us don’t show up to vote.  

And so if we can motivate, like you’ve talked about before, the people who already agree with us, it’s always good to reach out, and there is a time and place for that, but for the Jane Doe voter sitting in the pews in  their church, the likelihood that they’re going to be a grassroots organizer and reach out to their community and convince their entire legislative district to vote one way on a particular issue is highly unlikely, but is likely is that they talk to the person sitting next to them at church, or their community group, or their community center or their school and educate them about the issue. People who are already on board and say this is why its important to turn out in an off-year election….  

Joseph Backholm: I think one of the important points to make is for the audience to understand that we can win this election without convincing a single soul that doesn’t already agree with us.  This has nothing to do, necessarily, with being persuasive, although we would like to be, and we would certainly like to, you know, like to bring people who are willing to look at both sides to our side, and that’s something that will obviously be part of the campaign.  But it’s totally unnecessary, in terms of the numbers and the strategy of what will actually make a successful campaign.  Because we know that a lot of people are not going to vote, and we also know that historically, more of their people are not gonna vote than more of our people.

But still, we have to drive home the message for everyone…that if they simply vote, if they hold their friends and their neighbors and the people they go to church with accountable for their vote, that alone, if done on a wide scale, can be enough to win this election.

Russell Johnson:  Yeah, and it’s really, um, almost a biblical responsibility for people to vote, especially on an issue of this importance.

Please help us motivate our voter base more than they motivate theirs!  Donate to Approve 71!  Thank you!