People, Parties, and Power: Live Webinar with Morton Blackwell

The first webinar of 2016 featured LI founder and president, Morton C. Blackwell.

Morton began the lecture by sharing his experiences and knowledge of the party system, before detailing various roles conservatives can play in political parties.

He called on conservatives to get involved.  Whether you are a high school student looking to start a Teenage Republicans club or an adult willing to serve as a precinct committee man or woman, connect with your local party and get involved.

Most campaigns and party committees have work left unfinished because they lack volunteers.  Morton advised conservatives who want to get involved to go to a campaign or a committee and say, "I am here to help you.  Tell me how I can help.”  This attitude is welcome and this volunteer will be busy.  Volunteers who are demanding or pushy can be relegated to a corner and are often forgotten.

When working within a party, success is won carefully.  In the discussion, Morton outlined ten points to keep in mind when working within a party.  These tips for success can be found in Morton's writings.

After explaining how individuals can influence political parties, Morton answered questions from the audience.  Each response encouraged conservatives to connect with each other and stand by their principles.

When asked about the differences within a party, Morton replied, “People seldom agree on everything.  The way you put together a winning coalition is to organize groups that are nonpartisan that are active in the public policy process and use those groups to identify very large numbers of people who share a conservative viewpoint.”

Together conservatives are stronger.  Morton encourages cooperation of conservatives so that they can use 

their influence to change a party, even if not everyone agrees on everything.   “We can’t insist that everybody take actions for the same motivations that activate us,” he told the audience.

For more on this topic be sure to watch the entire interview with Morton Blackwell online

Get involved, build coalitions, and influence the party.