Mehlman's memo to the faithful (this is serious)

[TomInTib]

A friend of mine managed to get himself installed as a GOP precinct leader (or whatever) in the Houston area a long time ago. I suppose one could call him a 'mole'.

This is a memo Mehlman sent on Oct 20.

Just in case any here might be interested.

To: Republican Activists and Interested Parties
From: Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman
Date: October 20, 2006
Re: Republican Motivation

New Ad: The Stakes


Watch the RNC's new ad , which underscores the high stakes America faces in the global War on Terror by using the words of the terrorists themselves as they describe their intention towards the United States.

In recent days and weeks, the mainstream media have repeatedly claimed that the Republican base is suffering from "low voter enthusiasm." It is easy to believe a story that is repeated so frequently, but in fact there is ample evidence to the contrary. By many measures, there are strong indications of a right-of-center base that is engaged and committed.

First, numerous polls clearly indicate near parity in intensity between Democrats and Republicans. Three recent national surveys--Gallup, Cook/RT Strategies, and our most recent RNC survey conducted by Voter/Consumer Research--all show partisan interest is approximately equal. The details of those polls are below:

Voter/Consumer Research (Oct. 8-10)

The RNC's internal research shows election interest at 7.7 on a 10-point scale among Republicans and 7.6 among Democrats, unchanged from late September and in line with this year's overall trend.

Gallup (Oct. 6-8)

To quote from Gallup's voter turnout projection, "Gallup's latest analysis suggests Republicans and Democrats are now roughly even in terms of anticipated turnout in the midterm congressional elections. The voting intentions of the large pool of registered voters is now similar to the voting intentions of the smaller pool of likely voters, showing no disproportionate impact of turnout in either direction"

Gallup asked, "How motivated do you feel to get out and vote this year -- extremely motivated, very motivated, somewhat motivated, not too motivated or not at all motivated?(% "extremely" or "very" motivated)" The following table shows that the GOP in fact now holds a slight lead, up from just a few months ago:


GOP
DEM
NET

Sept 15-17, 2006
70%
67%
+3

Jun 23-25, 2006
74%
77%
-3

Oct 3-6, 2002
65%
55%
+10

Oct 29-Nov 1, 1998
59%
57%
+2

Oct 23-25, 1998
67%
56%
+11

Oct 9-12, 1998
59%
53%
+6

Sep 23-24, 1998
73%
62%
+11


Cook/RT Strategies (Oct. 5-8)

On a scale of one to 10, Republicans and Democrats have almost equally high mean election interest scores (8.2 for Republicans, 8.1 for Democrats), but Democrats hold a slight edge in the percentage of their voters who are "highly interested"--47 to 51 percent.

However, keeping in mind the local nature of midterm elections, it is more important to consider intensity by state or congressional district. RT Strategies/Constituent Dynamics (conducted Oct. 8-10) released district-by-district polling showing Republicans have a slight edge in partisan intensity. GOP "voter motivation" is higher than Democratic motivation in 19 of 32 competitive House races, in some cases by as much as a full point on a 1 to 9 scale. Democratic intensity is higher in the remaining 13, and in none of those races is the difference higher than 2/3 of a point.

Additional Data

A recent Pew study (9/21-10/4) found that while roughly similar numbers of Republicans (41%) and Democrats (39%) are "regular" voters, more Republicans (25%) than Democrats (20%) vote intermittently--meaning there are more of our voters for us to turn out in a midterm election. Furthermore, Democrats (20%) are substantially more likely than Republicans (14%) to not be registered to vote at all.

Other Measures of Intensity

There are ways besides polls to measure the intensity of the Republican base, and those also indicate that GOP voters are strongly engaged. Fundraising, for example, is often called the 'first ballot' for the simple reason that supporters only donate when they are involved and enthusiastic. That is why we are excited that the RNC received support from 362,000 new donors this cycle. We've averaged 8,256 contributions for each deposit day so far this year. We just announced that September has been our best financial month of the entire cycle. Our supporters know how important this election is, and their financial support shows it.

Volunteer enthusiasm is another key measure of intensity. Again, every indication here is that our base is working hard for victory in the 2006 election. Republican volunteers have contacted more than 14 million voters this year, and more than 7 million since Labor Day alone. We have made 1 million voter contacts every week for the past five weeks, and for six weeks we have surpassed the number of contacts we made at comparable times in 2004, a presidential election year.

The Bottom Line

Despite the media hype, an examination of all the facts makes it clear: the Republican base is active and engaged. No matter how you measure it--whether by record-breaking fundraising, unprecedented volunteerism, or scientific polling--the numbers show that Republicans understand the importance of the choice we all face on November 7.

[skipos]

1. I dont see a letter. nt

[Fridays Child]

2. Your link seems to go to an email forwarding web form.

[mike_c]

3. the link just goes to an email form-- not to the memo, Tom....

eom

[Fridays Child]

4. Is this the email?

http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6665

[TomInTib]

7. That's it. Another 20 years and maybe I will learn how to use this thing.

[rzemanfl]

5. Huh? No letter. n/t

[hlthe2b]

6. how about cutting/pasting from the memo...

It doesn't appear the link will work..

[Maat]

8. This is the dorkiest part of the whole thing ..

check this poll out ...

****Quote****
If the Democrats took control of Congress, what part of their agenda would concern you the most?

Cutting and running in the War on Terror

Raising your family's taxes

Impeachment and investigations

All of the above

http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6665

****Endquote****


(And, I HATE the 'War on Terror.' I have a Master's in Psychology, and the only place in which you can 'war' on a FEELING/EMOTION is in your therapist's office. Moreover, you can't war on 'terrorism;' it's a TECHNIQUE. God, have I told you how much I HATE these people? FEAR, FEAR, FEAR ... that's all they push.)

[philb]

9. Are conservative Christians aware Hastert involved in sexual emails also

Hastert directly implicated in knowledge that Foley was a pedophile and in sexually explicit messages himself:

Foley wasn’t the only Repub. Congressman involved in sexually explicit and suggestive emails:

Congressman Mark Foley and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert interacted in the past exchanging sexually explicit and suggestive emails that are on record and the Repub. Leadership were aware of: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/6/25857/3685

Washington Post Oct 9, 2006
Representative Tom Reynolds, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has been incriminated in the Mark Foley scandal.
Statements from GOP legislators and staffers suggest Hastert’s office was informed of the Foley problem years earlier.

Representative Jim Kolbe, an Arizona Republican who is openly gay, confronted Foley in 2000 after a former page complained to Kolbe that Foley had sent him sexually explicit Internet messages. Some within the House Republican caucus were griping that the party had been done in by GOP gays on Capitol Hill who had supposedly covered for Foley for years. But responding to the effort to scapegoat them, gay Hill GOPers told reporters they had years ago warned Hastert's office about Foley.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

10. K&R, you better believe BIG Cooperations/ Pharmaceuticals are kicking cash

we need to get out and volunteer and VOTE!