Here at Democracy for Texas, we pride ourselves on training grassroots activists with the knowledge and tools to help change their community and country from the ground up. Below are some of our downloadable items and materials that we think will be useful to you.

All of the below materials are free, though consider supporting DFT with a small online donation to help us train more activists here in Texas in the upcoming year!

Training Manuals

• The 2008 Lone Star Training Manual (PDF, 41 pages)
• The 2005 DemocracyFest Campaign Training 101 (PDF, 84 pages)
• The 2005 DemocracyFest Campaign Training 201 (PDF, 50 pages)

In summer of 2005, Democracy for Texas hosted a national event called DemocracyFest, bringing over 1,000 progressive activists together in Austin. Below are some of the training materials.

Most of the following resources are in PDF format. Others are in Word or Excel. If you do not have a program to view the PDFs, we suggest Adobe Reader, which you can download here.

(And don’t forget to use the tools at TrueBlueAction.com!)

Campaign Training 101
Never been involved in working on a campaign? Start here.
Click here for PDF.

Campaign Training 201
You’ve been a dedicated volunteer or staffer for a campaign or two and want to learn more. Here you go!
Click here for PDF.

DFA Summit and Rootcamp Mentor Training
Pretty interesting, check it out.
Click here for PDF.

House Party Planning Handouts
Having a house party to raise funds and awareness is easy.
Click here for PDF.

More Good Stuff:

Campaign Budget Template
An easy to understand template for setting up an initial campaign budget.
Click here for Excel.

Sample Campaign Budget
Use this with the Campaign Budget Template and you’ll get it all figured out.
Click here for PDF.

Canvasser Tally Sheet
A sample for how to keep track of GOTV blockwalking efforts and productivity.
Click here for Word.

Direct Mail Do’s and Don’ts
A primer on direct mail.
Click here for Word.

EDay Care and Feeding
You don’t want your volunteers to go hungry, and you don’t want food to be chaotic. Here’s an example of how to keep track.
Click here for Word.

EDay Integrated Schedule
An example of how you might set up your election day schedule.
Click here for Word.

EDay Phone Scripts
Election day phone banker call scripts.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Canvassing Poster
GOTV blockwalking basic instructions.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Final Instructions
Last minute GOTV instructions.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Food Budget
Self-explanatory.
Click here for Excel.

GOTV Phone Bank Poster
More simple GOTV phonebank instructions.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Phone Key Poster
Easy to understand abbreviations for several outcomes of a call.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Training Handout
More basic GOTV instructions.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Volunteer Signup Forms
Keep track of your volunteers.
Click here for Word.

GOTV Welcome Poster
Welcome your volunteers and provide some info.
Click here for Word.

Logistics Checklist
Simple logistics checklist for a candidate event.
Click here for Word.

Maps–Red, Blue, and Purple
A more realistic peek at the makeup of America–it isn’t as simple as red and blue.
Click here for Word.

Organizer Checklist
At-a-glace way for blockwalking organizers to keep track of overall results.
Click here for Word.

Recruitment Math
How many volunteers should you recruit and how? Check this out.
Click here for Word.

Sample Press Release
Basic press release.
Click here for Word.

Spanish GOTV Scripts
Spanish phoning scripts to GOTV with.
Click here for Word.

Spanish Voting Frequently Asked Questions
This should help.
Click here for Word.

Talking to Swing Voters
Information about how to talk to swing voters.
Click here for Word.

Volunteer Retention
Some things to keep in mind regarding volunteers.
Click here for Word.

Voter Rights
Handy.
Click here for PDF.

Over 75 activists from across Texas were given instruction during the Lone Star Training sponsored by Democracy for Texas and Democracy for America during the 2008 Netroots Nation conference in Austin, TX. Below are some pictures from the event!

Matt Blizek, DFA, trains activists.

Rep. Mark Strama Speaks During Lunch

Glen Maxey Trains Activists

DFA Chair Jim Dean Prepares His Remarks

Training the Next Generation of Leaders

Thank for your interest in this year’s Texas-specific “Long Star Training”! It will be held Sunday, July 20th from 11:00am - 5:30pm at Austin City Hall located at 301 W. Second Street, Austin, TX 78701.

The Lone Star Training has reached capacity.

P.S. You can download the training flyer here to print out and distribute.

by Glen Maxey, DFT Political Director

As delegate lists from the County and Senate Conventions make their way to the Texas Democratic Party, people are getting ready to compete to be the warm bodies in those highly coveted seats in Denver.

Here’s the handy guide to everything you need to know.

First, you must apply after April 21, 2008 to declare your candidacy by downloading the application form from the Texas Democratic Party site, filling it out, getting it notarized and delivering it to the TDP between April 21st and May 21st at 5:00 pm. Do not send it BEFORE the start or you’ll have to do it all over again. They won’t be returning them for re-submission, so do it right the first time. Coming in early could get yours disqualified just as coming in late would.

A point about the form:

There are three types of Delegates for which a person can run. Everyone should check the first and third category because everyone qualifies for them.

The first category is “Pledged Senatorial District” for election by your fellow Clinton or Obama folks in your Senate District. These are the 126 delegates allocated by the primary. More about this below.

The second category is for 25 Pledged Party/Elected Officials. The division of Obama/Clinton in this group will be allocated by the sign-in at the State Convention.

The Nominations Committee considers elected officials who have applied in this order: 1) Democratic mayors (even if elected non-partisan) in cities over 250,000, 2) State legislators, and 3) other state and local Democratic officials (these must be elected in a partisan election).

So who is a party official? Any SDEC member, County Chair and Precinct Chair is eligible to apply. You must CURRENTLY hold those positions.

Keep in mind, that these slots are filled in a descending priority. Even though you qualify as a Precinct Chair, the seats are gone way up the list.

The third category is for consideration as one of the 42 At-Large seats. The division of Obama/Clinton in this group will be allocated by the sign-in at the State Convention.

The At-Large delegates are used to balance the gender, ethnicity, and affirmative action goals for the delegation. These goals apply to the entire delegation of 228.

We need to end with:
72 Hispanic
54 African American
39 Youth (under 35)
21-27 Disabled
14-18 LGBT
9 Asian American
1 Native American

How many races can I compete in?

Every district has a different number of seats and those seats were allocated to Clinton and Obama based on the March 4th vote. On top of that, every district must balance gender to the best of their ability. Those assignments are in this chart:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pYaTYsIKgs2GQFH2uM4QnWw

Depending on where you live and your Presidential preference, you may have a better chance than someone living where your candidate didn’t fare well or there aren’t many slots.

And if you support Obama and you live in SD 3 or SD 31, you might lose just by the Clinton delegation electing someone of your gender, since the Obama delegate must be opposite gender of Clinton’s and the Clinton folks elect first.

So how do I get elected?

You get elected by campaigning. Your voters are the Obama or Clinton delegates in your Senate District who were elected at the County/SD conventions. Realize that if you are in a County or SD in an urban area that includes other counties or a multi-county district in rural Texas, your voters are everyone in the SD, not just your county. Use every method you can: phoning, mailers, door-to-door.

How are the elections conducted and when?

In each Senate District, there will be a Senate District caucus beginning at 3:00 pm Friday. The first order of business is electing Committee members (one person for each committee). They are elected in this order:

1) Credentials Committee
2) Platform Committee
3) Resolutions Committee
4) Rules Committee 

5) Nominations Committee for SDEC officers and SDEC members, Democratic National Committee members, and Presidential Electors
6) Recommendation for State Committeeman
7) Recommendation for State Committeewoman
8) Nominations Committee for At-Large Delegates
9) Recommendation for Presidential Elector (2 Electors if you’re in SD 13, SD 14, or SD 23)

The caucus must recess at 5:00 p.m. After the Friday night general session, the caucus reconvenes. So expect to be up very, very late for these elections.

For a more detailed list of these offices and what they do, download this (.doc).

When all the above elections are done, we get to the election for National Delegates. FINALLY, you get to run!

At this point the Obama and Clinton folks part ways into their respective groups.
First, where necessary, there is a coin toss to decide if you have the male or female election first or second. Then you rotate genders until all seats are filled. Alternate elections are last. The candidate who won the district gets to go first where the gender is to be decided in uneven districts. For example, in SD 14 the Clinton caucus cannot elect their third Delegate until the Obama caucus elects their fifth, since Clinton is opposite gender of the Obama fifth.

Alternates were assigned gender by a drawing which has already occurred.

Anyone of the appropriate gender can self nominate themselves for each election. (You can run in every election in your SD where your gender is eligible until you finally win one or all are filled.)

There is a run-off between the two highest voter getters in each election for each delegate slot.

Where do I get a list of delegates?

Once the Texas Democratic Party has entered all the delegates into a database, the list will be available. You also might be able to get a list earlier from a local Party source if your district was wholly in one county.

The Presidential Campaigns will also be able to assist in obtaining the list.

GOOD LUCK!

During the weeks leading up to our March 4 presidential primary and in the days following, Burnt Orange Report became a vital source of information for people all over the country who were looking for up-to-date results on our primary and caucuses. Now, our friends at BOR are partnering with the Obama and Clinton campaigns, as well as local party leaders and grassroots activists, to track the delegate counts from Saturday’s county and senatorial district conventions.

This is grassroots action at its best! Here’s how you can help.

Once the final delegate counts from your convention are known, you may report the results to BOR by one of three methods:

1. Use the Online Submission Form
2. E-mail your results to results@burntorangereport.com

If you do choose to email the results, please include your name, telephone number, county or senate district, and your role at the convention (County Chair, Secretary, Obama/Clinton supporter, etc.).

In each case, you will be reporting the total number of delegates for each candidate.

Thanks for your participation, and remember - if you’re not sure what to do to win at your convention, you can find everything you need here.

Two weeks ago, many of you shared stories about your experiences at your precinct caucuses. And most of you told us you’re moving on to the next level as a delegate or alternate to your county or senatorial district convention on Saturday, March 29th.

What do you do when you get there - and equally important - beforehand? Everything you need to know to be effective at your convention is here!

Our three top tips:

▪ Meet with your delegation in advance.

▪ Expect the unexpected.

▪ Most importantly, know the rules.

If, after reading this material, you still have questions, drop us a note at info@democracyfortexas.org and we’ll get back to you with an answer - guaranteed. Where can you get that kind of service these days?

Good luck on March 29, and thank you for being a part of taking our country back!

Thousands of us turned out last night at our precinct caucuses. How many people attended yours? Who won? Did you get elected as a delegate to your county convention?

If you were a precinct chair, exactly how many forms did you have to fill out? A prize goes to the person who fit the most number of people into the smallest amount of space.

Share your stories with us in the comments to this post.

Then stay tuned – we’ll have details about how to win your March 29 county convention soon!

By now, we’re pretty sure you know that Texas has a 2-step process for selecting delegates on Election Day Tuesday, March 4, right? While primary voting allocates 2/3 of the delegates to the national convention, another 1/3 of the delegates are selected at precinct caucuses that occur at your polling place at 7:15 p.m. March 4. To have the maximum impact, you need to do both.

Download our handy guide, “How to Win Your Precinct Caucus” (pdf). It tells you step-by-step what you need to do. Print it out and take it with you to your caucus!

We also encourage you to attend a training sponsored by the Obama campaign. They are being held around the state - click here to find one in your area and take your friends! If you don’t find a location near you, keep checking back, as trainings are being added frequently.

Turnout on March 4 is expected to set records. We strongly encourage you to vote early February 19-29. You may attend your precinct caucus even if you vote early.

We asked, you answered. Loud and clear. The winner of our presidential poll is Senator Barack Obama, with 73.2% of the 2,760 votes cast.

As much as the margin of victory, we were impressed by the passion of Obama voters and their excitement about the future. In a world where cynicism about politics has become the norm, it is refreshing to see optimism, hope, and the belief that each of us can make a difference. Or, to paraphrase Senator Obama’s comments last week: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

It’s a particular joy to watch the young people who are engaged in this campaign, many of whom cut their political teeth in Howard Dean’s campaign. They’re not just talking, they’re assuming a leadership role. We couldn’t be prouder.

But it’s not just young people. One slightly older Obama supporter told us:

“I’m a 73-year-old Yellow Dog Democrat and this is the first time I have been truly excited with a candidate for president since 1960.”

We understand. We’re “fired up and ready to go” ourselves, and looking forward to working with everyone - regardless of your preference in the poll - to elect a Democrat in November.

In December, we ran our first presidential poll. At that time, there were a lot of choices, but the field has narrowed. Who is your candidate now — Clinton or Obama?

Few of us would have guessed back when the Lege was arguing over the primary date that leaving it on March 4 would actually allow Texans to have a voice in who our nominee will be, but we do. So tell us who you’ll be working for over the next 26 days!

If there is a clear preference among our supporters, DFT will endorse the winner. But it’s all up to you. Who should be our next president?

Voting ends at midnight Wednesday, February 13.

P.S. Please make a $5-10 online contribution to offset the cost of this poll!