As a passed state, we have proven that Convention of States is a political force in Wisconsin! We have fought hard to gain the respect of our current legislators and have been told, by them, that we have a great deal of political capital throughout the State. We cannot squander this privilege and so we are moving forward in the following ways:
Building Relationships: Build personal relationships with not only current legislators, but with those who are running for State seats. The building process does not start next January when legislators are sworn in, it starts now.
Meet the candidates in your district at events, offer to help them get their nominating papers signed, encourage them to return the COS survey so that we can tell people that they support COS,
Ask them to write an endorsement of COS, listen to their platform and encourage them especially when it comes to matters of self-governance. Even if these candidates lose or drop out, they are still leaders in their community and have a following so we need to grow and maintain relationships with them as well.
Growing The Grassroots: Continue to do all of the same kinds of things you did before. Yes, we want more petitions signed. PLEASE NOTE: Do not ask people to sign the “new passed states petition” if they are already petition signers. This causes extra burden on the SIAs and the follow-up team and is unnecessary.
Continue with tables at local events, gun and car shows, and fairs. Teaching those petition signers is even more important now, because we want them to be more knowledgeable when they tell others about COS. I
Informational meetings, monthly meet-ups, classes on the Constitution (Patriot Academy), etc. are a fantastic way to get more people involved and develop volunteers.
Following up with petition signers that have Volunteer Interest is key to growing our WI Volunteer Team, and District Captains are in the best position to do this.
Town halls are another way to use technology to educate and motivate the grassroots.
Personal Growth: Convention of States University has 21 classes available to those in leadership positions and there is a 90-day mandate for those classes to be completed. It is important for leaders to understand not only the culture of COS, but the process of getting to a Convention, the meaning of Article V, legal pitfalls and parameters and how we are to respond to opposition.
More than ever before, COS is considered to be a threat to our opposition and they are pulling out all the stops to discredit us, including outright lying. Having a good foundation such as COSU is imperative as we move into these dangerous waters.
In addition, leadership needs to understand the various volunteer positions so that they can speak to potential volunteers about all of the opportunities available to them to serve, whether it is for an hour or two a week or 15 hours a week.
It is also helpful if you have Volunteer Activists who want to take on more responsibilities, to know what their options are so that you can help them grow.
Skill Development: In addition to what COSU has to offer, there are other opportunities in Convention of States to learn new skills and hone old ones. For example, Anne Aycock from our National Tech Team has a Monday night class that teaches any volunteer with database access how to use the database. Each class is 1 hour long and it covers everything from changing your password to sending emails to announce your meetings. I highly recommend it.
Are you aware of a website called the Article V Information Center? You can find it at: https://articlevinfocenter.com/ It is a non-partisan resource that contains true and unbiased information. Their end goal is to alleviate any fears and anxiety about our government by giving out accurate information so as to motivate more citizens to get involved.
Did you know that COS has a Toastmaster’s Club? If you want to sharpen your presentation skills, you might want to join this group!
We also sponsor a leadership class called “Servant Leadership”. If you are interested in any of these skill development tools, please let me know and I will help you get started.
Beyond COS U, Patriot Academy & Other Skill Development Tools: If we are to apply what we have learned through COS, it would be to our advantage to spend time learning more about the Wisconsin Constitution and our Statutes. You can find both online.
Learn how to use the Wisconsin Legislature site and teach volunteers and petition signers about where to find it and how to use it: https://legis.wisconsin.gov/
Join your local Republican Party and learn how the Party works from the State level, to the Congressional Districts to the local County party.
Get involved, be part of the process, influence people you meet about self-governance. Learn how to sign up to be a poll worker, watcher, inspector, special deputy, etc. Learn how your vote is processed after it leaves the voting booth: how is it reported, who is responsible for certifying the vote, what happens in the case of a tie, what is electioneering, etc. Legal elections start with participants who have personal integrity and are concerned about election integrity.
Run for office, whether it be a town board, school board or county supervisor, your influence is needed to ensure our freedoms.
And finally, our US Constitution is more than just the familiar Article V. Often, you will hear the opposition misquote our Founding Fathers…would you recognize it when you hear it and can you intelligently rebut it? How familiar are you with the way our Constitution was written and what really happened at the Constitutional Convention? Could you take a Constitution test and pass it? The more you know about it, the more artillery you have against those who want to take it from us.
I hope that this gives you the information you were looking for about how we proceed as a Passed State. If you have any questions, please contact me.
As always, thank you for your contribution to the success of our WI COS Team.
Stay tuned for more options in the coming weeks!
Respectfully submitted by the Wisconsin State Director Team
