To Conservatives: Usurp the Green Candidate Position With Technology

July 15, 2009 by Doug Mitchell
Filed under: Campaign Technology

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Admit it…it’s frustrating as heck to hear “non-conservatives” touting their “Green Candidacy” when truth is, unless you’re Ed Begley Jr, we’re all probably taking the sedan to our meetings across town vs. riding our bikes and showing up less than dry. We at Operation Red State live a very Green Lifestyle. By leveraging technology, we’ve virtually elminated the use of paper in our business. We do gather in our studio regularly…but often times we meet in remote locations close to each other’s homes. Or we work from equally equipped (and very cool) home offices. So if you’re a conservative candidate running for local or state office…are you ready to claim the “Green” label? You should be ready NOW. So do it. Here’s how to ensure you’re ready.

Let’s create your Green Candidate Scorecard: Start from 0 and add up your score. Scoring weights are arbitrarily decide by the author.

Be transparent with your paper usage. Publish tangible numbers and include the paper product purchases for your campaign. Easy to track. Does your competitor have this data? No. Therefore you are the Green Candidate +2
Log your walking miles. Green candidates door knock and log the mileage of their own hoofing plus their campaign staff/volunteers. Your competitor doesn’t have this data. You win. +2
Log your driving miles. Log your campaign mileage and that of your staff. Even if you’re Chris Rants and have logged 15k+ miles recently assessing the pulse of voters…you are the Green Candidate. Why? Even if the other candidate has fewer miles and claims the Green label, he/she isn’t as invested in gathering voter positions on issues. Besides, today’s vehicles barely puff out a gnat’s breath worth of emissions. You win. +1
Use Collaboration software like Central Desktop to coordinate with team members, staff, and volunteers. (Obama used Central Desktop to organize at the precinct level in CA and TX and this on-demand software starts at $25/mo). By using online documents and housing communication here..you reduce paper usage by an order of magnitude. Set this as a standard within your campaign and hire people who support using tech to be efficient and be Green. +2
Use live streaming at events to allow 100X the viewership and attendance without the travel expense and “carbon output”. Maybe you can use ustream.TV to hold an event where 50 people attend in person and 50 attend online. You’ve reduced your carbon footprint by 50% by leveraging technology. You’re green. You win. +3

What’s your score? I’m going to go out on the limb of a respsonsibly replanted tree and say that even if you only earned 1 point on this quiz that YOU are the Green Candidate. Do not let this opportunity slide by. I find most conservatives to be far more in tune with the reality of a clean environment, energy, water, air, etc. Lay it on the line and go for it!

Want to join the ORS revolution? Just look to the right —-> Over there and sign up. If we haven’t earned your business yet…start with the free stuff. Thanks a metric ton.