By Nancy Thorner -
Donald Trump is the most powerful man in the world, so technically, the U.S. Presidency is the "Most Powerful Office in the World." But what if you were told of another public office that (ultimately) chooses who will be President and virtually every other elected official in the U. S.? If that were true, wouldn't that office (ultimately) be the "Most Powerful Office in the World”?
If you are tired of seeing things continue to go down the drain, it is essential that you understand how liberals dominate our government. Madigan's budget deal was the straw that broke camel's back for many conservatives.
What might be done to salvage Illinois after ten Republicans joined Madigan and 60 other Democrats in voting for a permanent, 32 percent income tax increase and 33 percent corporate tax hike, when Illinois residents already shoulder the heaviest local and state tax burden in the country?
Irresponsible is that a three-fifths majority of state lawmakers, including Republicans, sold out their constituencies to reward the special interest groups (public employee unions, trial lawyers and other political insiders) that have been paying to keep them in office for decades.
Understanding the seven laws of American government, set forth in an essay by Phyllis Schlafly in the early 90's — The Most Powerful Office in The World Is NOT The President of the United States! — is essential to change Illinois from a failed state to one that will live up to its potential, where people feel proud to live and work and where businesses can grow and prosper. The lack of good people at the grass roots is why we get so many bad apples that call themselves "Republicans".
E-mail Andy Schlafly to order copies of Phyllis Schlafly's article.
Phyllis Schlafly (August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was a founding member of the modern conservative movement. She was described by the New York Times as the “one of the most relentless and accomplished platform debaters of any gender to be found on any side of any issue.”
Following are excerpts from Phyllis' article, which is as powerful today as it was back in the early 90's:
1. To change things, you have to change the law.
Are there things about our country you want to change? Taxes? Deficits? Schools? Crime? Abortion? Gay rights? Government funding of anti-social projects? Government over-regulation of business?
Are you satisfied with the way the present Congress is raising our taxes, spending our money, and reducing our liberties?
Our Constitution makes Congress the most powerful branch of government. It can pass laws, impose taxes, and spend our money. State Legislatures are powerful, too, especially over public schools.
2. To change the laws, you have to change the people who make them.
Congress and the State Legislatures pass thousands of laws every year. No citizen or group can possibly read them all, research them to find out their effect in advance, or alert their friends to go into action with letter-writing and phone-calling. Congressmen and state legislators who have been elected by liberal and anti-family groups will not be receptive to your messages anyway.
If you want to change the laws or taxes, you must elect representatives you can reliably count on to vote conservative and pro-family all the time.
3. To be elected, your candidate must be on the ballot.
How often have you voted for "the lesser of two evils" when you didn't like either of the two candidates running for an important office? Have you ever wondered why, despite the rhetoric, both candidates seem to back the same anti-conservative, liberal and anti-family agenda? How many times is a good conservative, pro-family candidate not even on the ballot?
4. To get on the ballot in a general election, you have to be nominated for an office in a Party Primary Election or Convention.
The winners in the Party Primary or Convention will be the candidates who appear on the ballot in November. Except in very rare cases, all candidates must first win a Party Primary or Convention. Write-in campaigns are theoretically possible, but they rarely succeed. Third-party candidates are theoretically possible, but unless a candidate has as much money as Ross Perot, running as a third-party candidate probably won't be successful and the votes may not even be counted or reported
5. Candidates endorsed by the Party usually win the Primary Election.
Most voters don't investigate the Primary candidates, or even find out who they are. Sometimes, many candidates run in the Primary for nomination to the same office and the voters are confused. Only a small minority of Americans vote in Primary elections. One of the reasons for the small turnout in Primary elections (in addition to voter apathy) is that you usually must declare yourself a member of one Party or another in order to vote in the Primary. Primary Election rules vary from state to state, but in most states, in order to vote in a Primary you either have to pre-register as a Republican or a Democrat OR ask for a Republican or a Democratic Party ballot on Primary Election day.
6. Primary endorsements are often made by the Party's "County Committee" (or Township Committee, etc.), which is elected by the Precinct Committeemen of the Party.
Each political party has national state, county, township, and (in the big cities) ward organizations (usually called committees or central committees). The county and township committees frequently endorse candidates in the Primary, and that endorsement is often the key to a Primary victory.
7. It's easy to be elected a Precinct Committeeman.
The way you get elected a Precinct Committeeman is usually very simple. In a typical state, you can call your county clerk and get the necessary forms, get ten of your friends to sign a Petition requesting that you be on the ballot in the primary.
As a typical county may have dozens of precincts without any Precinct Committeeman because no one has bothered to run, it is sometimes easy to be appointed to one of these positions by calling your Party Chairman. Many precincts have do-nothing Committeemen who can easily be defeated because they don't do their job.
To be remembered (Phyllis continues):
- To change things, we must change the laws.
- To change the laws, we must change the people who make them.
- To get elected, your candidate must be on the ballot.
- To get on the November ballot you must win the Primary.
- To win the Primary, you must get the support of people who make endorsements in the Primary, who reliably vote in the Primary, and who get out the vote of others in the Primary. Those people are the Precinct Committeemen.
Therefore, Precinct Committeeman is the most powerful office in the world because Precinct Committeemen determine who gets the chance to be elected to office at every level of government. Remember, if your candidate is not on the ballot, he will not be elected.
Duties of the Precinct Committeeman
The Precinct Committeeman is the person who is legally charged with getting out the vote on election day. If he does his job well, he will ring the doorbell of every household in the precinct and ask polite questions to find out the Party and other political views of every voter. (That's called canvassing.) Then, before each election, the Precinct Committeeman will personally deliver campaign literature (such as a marked sample ballot) to every voter who is expected to vote for your Party or candidate. Then the Precinct Committeeman makes sure that all his voters get to the polls on election day. This is the way elections are won.
Powers of the Precinct Committeeman
- Friendly access to neighbors. Most people are eager to know more about their government and the people who run it. When you introduce yourself as their "Republican Precinct Committeeman," they assume you have something to say. You can provide them with information on candidates and issues. Of course, you don't waste your time on those who would rather get their information from the Precinct Committeeman of the other Party.
- Respect from elected officials. Since a Precinct Committeeman represents, on average, 500 voters, and has the power to vote for other Party officials and to make endorsements of candidates, any call or letter from a Precinct Committeeman gets the attention of elected officials.
- Launching pad for other offices. You would be amazed at how many of our Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, and state and local officials started as Precinct Committeemen, and still serve as Precinct Committeemen even though they hold a higher elected office. That's because they know the power of a Precinct Committeeman.
- Direct influence over Party Platform, policies, and selection of candidates. At state, district, county, and township caucuses and conventions, the Precinct Committeeman is an active player. He can have a tremendous influence on the adoption of the Party Platform and policies, support of or opposition to issues, and selection of candidates.
End of Phyllis Schlafly excerpts
Lake County where Nancy Thorner lives, is typical among U.S. counties. 25-50% of the committeeman spots of the dominant party are normally "vacant". In these precincts, if you get on the primary ballot with no primary opponent, the only way you can lose is an opponent with a very hard write-in campaign. In the other 50-75% of precincts, you will probably have to oust an incumbent committeeman (sometimes they withdraw rather than fight). But most incumbent committeemen are patronage hacks who do little besides drop off party literature and endorsements. (When was the last time any committeeman came to your door?). $50 for literature, a few weekends visiting the hundred or so homes that might vote in your party's primary and any dedicated conservative can win.
For Illinois outside Cook County: call or go to the Internet site of your County Clerk for your party's nominating papers and filing rules for precinct committeeman. Also get a list of your precinct's voters. Filing deadline is 90 days before the primary. Try to file the first minute possible to get the advantageous first ballot position. File at least 15 signatures to avoid challenges that knock your off the ballot. You need a minimum of 10 primary electors of your party (primary electors of the party are people who voted in your party's primary in previous elections.) After filing, print a campaign leaflet that you can leave if people are not home with your name, address, phone number, job description, family picture, anything you have done for your neighborhood and your party. Then concentrate on meeting in person the voters of your party that live in your precinct.
