Grassroots Glossary http://rootcamptraining.blogspot.com

27 - 9 - 3 – A short message statement about your candidate or issue that you can use with the press, phone banking, door walking, etc. Should be no more than 27 words long, takes 9 seconds to say out loud and makes 3 important points. This is a crucial component of conveying your message and staying on message, which are crucial to winning elections. See also Elevator Speech and Meme.

527 Group – A tax-exempt political organization resulting from a loophole in Sect. 527 of the Internal Revenue Code designed to bypass federal election laws, so they can raise unlimited soft money to influence federal elections. They are allowed to spend money on issue advocacy and voter mobilization but not on a particular candidate and they may not coordinate activities with any candidate's campaign.

ABR - Always Be Recruiting (ABR) means always be recruiting new volunteers.

Absentee Voting - A mail-in, paper ballot vote, for people who are unable to get to their polling place on Election Day.

ACLU - American Civil Liberties Union. Nonprofit, nonpartisan litigation and lobbying organization which, among other activities, defends "freedom of expression, privacy, due process, and equal protection on behalf of anyone, no matter how unpopular the issue.

Activist - A person who is active in supporting and advocating for a particular issue.

Agenda - The list of policy proposals a candidate hopes to accomplish if elected.

Allegory - A figurative representation where concrete objects (or characters) are used to help convey an abstract idea or moral principle.

Astroturfing - Deceptive political activity which is carefully designed to look like popular public (grassroots) sentiment while stifling or preventing opposition and corrective action.

Bait and switch - Republican technique of promising an attractive policy and then replacing it with a radical right wing ... designed to raise corporate profits and wealth usually at the expense of harming the environment and expanding poverty. (i.e. Clear skies Initiative, Tort Reform, Social Security Reform, No Child Left Behind Act, etc.)

Ballot - A list of candidate's to be voted on.

Base Voter - A predictable sympathetic voter, needs to be targeted for GOTV. See also "Swing Voter."

Bigotry – Intolerance of anyone's race, creed, belief, status or opinion.

Bipartisan - The ideal of Democrats and Republicans working together to ensure the successful implementation of an initiative.

Block Captain - In large precincts, a person who helps the precinct captain by covering a block or neighborhood. See precinct captain.

Blue State - States with strong support for the Democratic Party.

Campaign - A series of actions designed to affect the outcome of an election or policy decision. Usually includes Management, Fundraising, Media and Public Relations, Targeting and Data, Volunteer Management and "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) activities.

Campaign Finance Reform - Regulatory restrictions on fundraising sources and expenditures affecting candidates, political parties and advocacy groups.

Campaign Gear - Bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts, yard signs, rally signs and other paraphernalia used to create "Visibility" for a candidate.

Candidate - A person running for office in an election.

Canvassing – Canvassing specifically means to cover a neighborhood with volunteers for the purpose of voter ID, persuasion (door walking), literature drops, voter registration and GOTV (flushing). A canvass will have different priorities at different times in a campaign. Early in a campaign voter ID, persuasion and registration are more important. Late in a campaign literature drops and GOTV or flushing occurs to get people out to vote.

Caucus - A caucus is a community alternative to a primary where party activists gather to select candidates and craft platforms by voice vote instead of secret ballot.

Citizen - A native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection.

Clipboarding - A grass roots activity where a volunteer walks around and registers new voters and/or signs up new volunteers. Commonly done at grocery stores, book stores, county fairs, farmers markets, yoga parlors, cafes, a beach, park, concert, subway station, town squares or any populated area.

Closed Primary - A primary election where voters can only vote for candidates in the party they are registered with. Prevents members of other parties from "crossing over" to influence the nomination of an opposing party's candidate but also causes problems for independent voters.

Coalition - A temporary alliance of people working together for a common cause.

Congress (U.S. Congress) - The legislative branch of the U.S. Government which includes the Senate (100 members) and the House of Representatives (435 members).

Congressional District - A political subdivision, by population and geographic area represented by one elected member of the U. S. House of Representatives. Each district contains about 570,000 people and there are approximately 435 members of the House of Representatives.

Conservative - Favors traditional views and values and tends to oppose change.

Constituency - The eligible voters of an elected official. All of the eligible voters in a particular district.

Constituent - An eligible voter represented by a particular official.

Corporate Personhood - The status which US corporations achieved in the late 1870's which gives them protection under the same laws as a "natural person" and now enables them to dominate our government.

Corporate Welfare - Government subsidies, unjustified tax breaks, or pork-barrel spending given to corporations as a quid pro quo reward for political favors and campaign funding.

Debate - Face-to-face discussion of candidates' views on issues.

Debt (US National) - The sum total that the US government owes to (1) various government trust funds, including Social Security, and (2) the public, including individuals, corporations, state, local and foreign governments, and the Federal Reserve, typically in the form of bonds or other types of securities. Not to be confused with the deficit, which is only the yearly total added to the debt. In other words, each year's deficit adds to the overall debt. (See also deficit.)

Deficit (US) - Annual government spending above that year's tax receipts, which is paid for by going into debt. Not to be confused with the national debt, which is the sum total of all yearly deficits.

Delegate - An individual who is appointed to represent others.

Democracy – A form of government that represents the interests of people through free and frequent elections. The word Democracy comes from the ancient Greek words demos “people” and kratos “power” Democracy means “People Power.”

Democratic Party – A political party that represents the interests of people and stands for equal opportunity for all and special privilege for none.

Dictator - one who assumes absolute control without the free consent of the people.

Direct Mail - A form of marketing by mail targeted to large groups of potential voters.

Disinformation - False information used to mislead people by discrediting conflicting information or proposing false conclusions in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

District – Refers to a Congressional district represented by one Congressman based on population. A district is made up of several precincts.

DNC - Democratic National Committee is the primary advocate for the Democratic Party.

Door Hanger - Similar to a leaflet or pamphlet but printed on card stock with a hole, designed to hang on a door knob.

Door Walking - Means going door-to-door to talk to people about your candidate or issue. This is part of canvassing but is different that voter ID or literature drop. See also Talking points and 27-9-3.

Doublespeak - Language deliberately constructed to confuse or distort the actual meaning.  May use euphemisms and ambiguous phrases.

Earned Media – Positive media coverage you don’t have to pay for directly (like a paid advertisement). By creating newsworthy events that attract news outlets you can generate effective media coverage that targets specific audiences with your message. May involve an investment in time, effort and sometimes out-of-pocket costs.

Editorial - Expressed opinions intended to persuade viewers and listeners by taking a side.

Elevator Speech - The shortest version of your core message that takes about 16 seconds. See also 27-9-3.

Electoral College - A body of electors chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and Vice President of the U.S. The number of electors in each state is equal to its number of representatives in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

Exit Poll - A poll taken of a small percentage of voters as they leave the polls, used to forecast the outcome of an election and/or determine the reasons for voting decisions.

Fair Market Economy - A balance of power where markets are open and consumers and workers are protected.

Fascism - Right-wing authoritarian government defined by Benito Mussolini as "The marriage of corporation and state" where corporations maintain greater power than the people.

FEC – The Federal Election Commission is responsible with administering and enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1975 (FECA), the statute that regulates the financing of federal elections in the United States.

Federal - Of or describing a union of states having a central government or pertaining to that government.

Filibuster - A tactic used by a group of minority Senators to block the passage of a bill favored by the majority. As there is no rule restricting how long Senators may speak, they may be able to talk long enough to break the majority's will and prevent a bill from coming to a vote.

Flushing – Means going through neighborhoods, making sure everyone has voted. On election day, “flushers” go door-to-door, reminding people to vote, giving them directions and offering rides to the polls.

Flyering - A grassroots activity where a volunteer hands out flyers with information about a candidate or a political activity or event. Can be done just about anywhere, commonly done at grocery stores, county fairs, farmers markets, yoga places, gyms, cafes, a beach, park, concert, subway station, town squares or any populated area.

Fourth Estate - The public press

Framing – A form of persuasion where you set a context for an argument so that as you state your case, the points you make, fall in place and all other interpretations are ruled out. When someone accepts a frame, facts will bounce off the accepted frame and it is very difficult to break that frame. Examples: "tax relief" implies that taxes are an affliction.  "Progressive" implies conservatives are re-gressive or backward.  "Pro-Choice" implies its opponents are anti-choice while "Pro-Life" implies its opponents are "anti-life" or "pro-death." See also Reframing.

Free Market Economy - A "lawless market" where people and governments have no regulatory power. All power is consolidated by the wealthiest corporations. Not to be confused with Fair Market Economy.

Free Trade - The absence of government regulation and tariffs (taxes) which result in massive profit through unrestricted corruption and slave wages. Characteristics: price gouging, price fixing, predatory dumping, monopolies, deceptive advertising, extortion, kickbacks, environmental destruction, unsafe products, dangerous working conditions, human exploitation and terrorism.

Fundraiser - A social event (such as a cocktail party) held for the purpose of raising funds for a candidate.

Fundraising - Persuading people to give money to fund the organizing and marketing of a campaign.

General Elections - A regularly scheduled local, state, or national election in which voters elect officeholders. The winners of primary elections compete in a general election to determine the final winner of an elected office.

Gerrymandering - The redrawing of voting districts by the party in power to gain more permanent voting advantage and power.

GLBT – Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender people who advocate their common goal of equal rights.

GOP - Grand Old Party. Another name for the Republican party.

GOTV – Get Out The Vote is a program to identify, motivate and turn out voters on election day. It involves phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, handing out leaflets (leafletting), direct mailing, emailing and driving people to the polls.

Grassroots - People working together at the community level to exercise political influence and provide an alternative to influence from private wealth. May involve door to door canvassing, phone banking, house parties, meetings, clipboarding, tabling, visibility and GOTV.

Greenwash - Deceptive marketing used by polluters to falsely project a public image of concern for the environment.

Hard Money - Political donations given by individuals and political action committees and subject to federal contribution limits of $1,000 to a federal candidate, and $20,000 a year to a political party. (see also Soft Money)

House Party - A grassroots activity where neighborhood people are invited to attend a party that may include but is not limited to fundraising, persuasion and volunteer recruiting.

Incumbent - Someone who currently holds an elected office. Incumbents have the advantage of name recognition and experience when they seek reelection.

Independent - A voter or candidate who does not belong to a political party.

Initiative - An effort by voters to propose a statute, constitutional amendment, or ordinance, and compel a popular vote on its adoption such as a balot initiative.

In-Kind contribution - A contribution of goods, services or property to a political candidate that must be recorded at market value and counts toward personal contribution limits.

Inside/Outside Strategy - The strategy among grassroots activists working within the big political parties to bring them back in line with the interests of the people, and activists working outside the parties to push them in the proper direction.

Interest group - A group of like-minded single-issue activists who lobby to convince elected officials to support their views or interests.

Internet campaigning - The use of the Internet to reach potential voters, organize there volunteers and raise money.

Issue - An unresolved point of discussion, debate, or dispute that is important to the public good.

Leafleting - distribution (canvassing) of printed campaign material (flyer, brochure, pamphlet, door hanger), usually tri-folded with pictures and main points of the campaign, web site address, phone number, date of voting etc.

Letter to Editor - A response letter to a previously published article on an issue of importance.

Liberal - Generous, favoring proposals for reform, open to new ideas for progress, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; broad-minded. Synonyms: Tolerant, Open-minded, Generous, Freethinking Antonyms: Narrow-minded, Bigoted, Prejudiced.

Lit Drop - A grass roots canvassing activity where a volunteer goes house-to- house in neighborhoods to drop off flyers, pamphlets or door-hangers with information about a candidate. It is a federal crime to leave this material in a mailbox so you must leave on or near the front door.

Lobbying - The process of trying to influence policymakers in favor of a specific cause.

Mailing Party - A gathering of volunteers preparing (collating, folding, stapling, sealing)  items for mailing to a given set of voters.

Matching Funds - Money the federal government will give to a presidential campaign to "match" money raised by their own efforts based on certain fundraising limits and rules.

Medicaid - A government program financed by federal, state, and local funds for hospitalization and medical insurance for persons of all ages within certain income limits.

Meme - A contagious idea, behavior or item of information that is easily transmitted and imitated and hard to forget. A "memory virus." Examples include catch-phrases, pop-melodies, superstitions, icons, corporate logos and fashion statements. 'Memetics,' is a field of study which states that the meme is the basic unit of cultural evolution.

Misdirection - A technique used to divert attention away from their real agenda.

Monopoly - Control of a market of goods or services that makes it difficult for new companies to compete in that market.

Motor Voter - A nickname for the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, so named because it required motor vehicle divisions to provide voter registration services.

Neo-Conservative (Neocon) - Radical right wing conservatives who believe in US supremacy and domination of world markets.

Nominee - The person chosen by a political party to serve as its representative in a general election.

Non-partisan - An idea or person that does not support a specific party, cause, or candidate.

Open Primary - A primary election that differs from a closed primary in that all voters, regardless of party affiliation, may vote for a party's nominee

PAC - Political action committees are private lobbying groups that represent a special interest. PACs are limited on contributions but not on advertising in support of their issues. A organization that represents a special interest group.

Partisan - A supporter of a person, group, party, or cause.

Party - A group of people with common political goals, organized for gaining political influence and governmental control, and for directing government policy.

Persuasion - To convince people to think, act, or feel a certain way by appealing to reason, emotion, and/or a sense of ethics.

Phone Banking - A grass roots activity where volunteers call people to identify sympathetic voters, make sure they are registered to vote, know where and when to vote and make sure they have a way to get to their polling location on Election Day. Also helps them with absentee voting if necessary.

Pivot Point - A way of changing the subject from a losing argument to a winning argument by using pre-defined transitional statements. Also known as "Flips" or "Political Judo" or "Stealing the ball."

Platform - A declaration of principles and policies adopted by a political party or a candidate.

Plurality - A voting system where the greatest number of votes wins, even if a majority is not reached.

Plutocracy - The rule of the wealthy.

Politics - The process of influencing decisions for groups of people. Derived from the Greek word "Polis" which means community.

Political Action Committee (PAC) - A committee of 50 or more people representing a special-interest group that is created to raises and spends campaign contributions on behalf of one or more candidates or causes and is registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). A PAC may donate up to $5,000 per candidate per election.

Political spectrum - The range of political thought placed on an imaginary line from right to left. Conservative Republicans lie somewhere on the right side of the spectrum, liberal Democrats on the left, and moderates somewhere in the middle.

Political Suicide - A statement or vote that is so unpopular that it kills a candidate's chance to be elected.

Poll - The place you go to vote. Also, a survey of people's opinions used by candidates to gauge public sentiment.

Pollster - A person who conducts and analyzes public-opinion polls.

Popular Vote - The votes of the people different from the Electoral College.

Porkbarrel spending - Language and provisions added to the end of a bill to acquire funding and projects for a Congressman's local district. The "pork" added to the end of a bill usually has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill itself.

Positive Intention - A persuasion method to handle objections, where you restate a common core element of agreement and then reframe the discussion with your viewpoint. Example: "Like you, I also want to live in a sustainable world with a clean environment... ). See also "Reframing."

Precinct – Each precinct has at least one voting or polling location. Several precincts make up one Congressional District. The smallest political unit in U.S. politics each containing 200 to 5,000 voters and at least one polling place.

Precinct Captain - Builds relationships with neighborhood voters, helps with voter registration and makes sure everyone in their district knows how to vote, where to vote and how they will get to their polling place on election day.

Primary - The method by which a party chooses its candidate for a general election, in which voters cast ballots for their favorite party candidate.

Private sector - The world of business, outside of the public realm.

Privatize - Conversion of government responsibility to corporate ownership.

Public sector - The world of politics and public service.

Pundit - Media personalities who write, talk, and think about politics.

Push polling – A negative campaign tactic where voters are called and pushed away from a candidate with false or deceptive information. The people conducting the poll pose as legitimate independent pollsters. They might ask a question like "How would you vote if you knew Candidate "A" was a child molester? Creating the impression that Candidate "A" is a child molester. Members of the media and of the opposing party are deliberately not called making these tactics all but invisible and unprovable. See also Voter Supression.

Referendum - The legal process of having the people vote on a policy proposal by direct vote. Referendums are used mostly on the local level, but some states also offer them.

Republic - A form of democracy based on the rule of law derived from a constitution of laws, designed, interpreted and enforced by citizen representatives, elected by the people. Different from direct democracy, where laws are made by a direct vote of the people. The United States of America is a republic. From the Latin res publica: public matter, or the affairs of the people.

Reframing - Involves breaking an existing frame while advancing a new frame. May involve using new metaphors to describe the situation and tapping into other pre-existing frames. If the existing frame is highly deceptive, you still need to use a compelling truthful frame to break the existing frame.

Republican Party – Disciplined, organized and well funded political party that represents the interests of corporations and private wealth.

Rhetoric - The art of using language to persuade people. One of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other are dialectic and grammar)

Rule of law - the principle that laws, rather than the arbitrary judgment of rulers, should govern the affairs and disputes of a society.

Social Security - A tax paid by employers and employees that provides poverty insurance for those who need it. It is a safety net to protect the country from a sudden rise in poverty which would drain our economy and slow down recovery from an economic downturn.

Socratic Method - Teaching by asking questions that lead someone to a conclusion without telling them the answer.

Soft Money - Funds raised by political parties directed toward party building and not federal candidates. (see also Hard Money).

Soundbite - A soundbite is a very short piece of audio or video (good or bad) that is looped over and over again in the media.  The goal in politics is to get a lot of good soundbites in the news media and avoid bad soundbites.

Special Election - An election held to fill a public office before the regularly scheduled election for that office due to death, illness or other special circumstance.

Spin - The presentation of information biased to favor a candidate.

Spin Control - heavily biased portrayal of an event or situation that supports one position.  May include euphemisms and selective evidence (cherry picking).

Straw Poll - A nonofficial, nonscientific study of voter preferences in a presidential election.

Stump - Stumping is campaigning in person at the grass-roots level.

Stump Speech - A political campaign speech, especially one made on a campaign tour.

Swing vote - The crucial portion of the electorate that hasn't made its mind up yet. Swing voters typically decide elections by "swinging" their support to one candidate or the other.

Swing Voter - An unpredictable or hard to identify voter, needs to be targeted for persuasion. See also "Base Voter."

Tabling - A grass roots activity where volunteers set up a table in a populated area and register new voters and/or signs up new volunteers, passes out information about candidates and talks to people about their candidate. Commonly done at grocery stores, book stores, county fairs, farmers markets, yoga parlors, cafes, a beach, park, concert, subway station, town squares or any populated area.

Talking Points – Short message statements (in plain language) you want to push in every story, interview and printed material. These must be easy for all volunteers to deliver and for all voters to understand.

Targeting - Process of determining which demographic groups are more likely to support a favored candidate or party.

Tort Law - Civil suits for damages. Tort law protects people from greedy and negligent corporations that endanger our children with unsafe products, toxic waste and poorly tested medicine.

Troll - People who pose as a supporter but try to repel supporters usually by provoking a negative argument which turns people off. Synonym: Provocateur

Turf cutting – The process of dividing a district into neighborhood maps, which are used by volunteers to canvass all targeted voters, without overlapping efforts.

Visibility - A grass roots activity where volunteers distribute bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts, yard signs, rally signs and other paraphernalia to create maximum visibility for a candidate.

Volunteer - A person who performs work without payment; often for a cause they believe in.

Voter - A citizen who has a legal right to vote.

Voter Suppression – The opposite of GOTV. A common negative campaign tactic which targets liberal, progressive and independent voters by means of direct mail and telephone "push polls," with the intent of lowering voter turnout by “going negative.” This tactic favors conservative candidates and issues by having less affect on conservative base voters.

Voter ID - Identify and compile contact information of sympathetic voters through phone banking knocking on doors, direct mail, email, etc. Lists will be used to find volunteers and supporters but primarily for GOTV efforts.

Wedge Issue - A ploy to "split" an opposing political party's support base.

“How many a dispute could have been deflated into a single paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms.” – Aristotle

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