The Republican Presidential Candidates Ask For Your Help

Providence GOP Chairman and Rhode Island Republican Update editor Dave Talan passes along lots of good information for Rhode Islanders looking to get involved at the grass-roots level with a Presidential Campaign.

1. There are still two possible primary schedules in play. Early next week, Governor Carcieri will decide whether or not to sign the bill that moves Rhode Island's Presidential primary from March 5 to February 4. Dave provides two possible schedules of important dates based on his readings of the legislation controlling the primaries…

IF THE GOVERNOR SIGNS THE BILL FOR A FEBRUARY 5 PRIMARY...

• Monday November 26 to Wednesday November 28 - Presidential candidates file to run in R.I.
• Tuesday November 27 to Friday December 14 - Presidential candidates gather 1,000 valid signatures of registered voters; and turn them in to the local Board of Canvassers of the City or Town where the signer lives.
• Monday December 3 to Wednesday December 5 - Candidates for Delegate to the GOP National Convention file to run in R.I.
• December 4 to Friday December 14 - Delegate candidates gather 150 valid signatures of registered voters in their Congressional District; and turn them in to the local Board of Canvassers of the City or Town where the signer lives.
• Friday January 4 - last day for Delegate candidates to receive permission from the Presidential candidate of their choice, to appear on the ballot under him on the R.I. Primary ballot.

IF THE GOVERNOR VETOES THE BILL AND THE PRIMARY IS HELD ON MARCH 4…

• Wednesday December 5 to Friday December 7 - Presidential candidates file to run in R.I.
• Tuesday December 6 to Wednesday December 26 - Presidential candidates gather 1,000 valid signatures of registered voters; and turn them in to the local Board of Canvassers of the City or Town where the signer lives.
• Monday January 7 to Wednesday January 9 - Candidates for Delegate to the GOP National Convention file to run in R.I.
• Tuesday January 8 to Friday January 18 - Delegate candidates gather 150 valid signatures of registered voters in their Congressional District; and turn them in to the local Board of Canvassers of the City or Town where the signer lives.
• Thursday January 31 - last day for Delegate candidates to receive permission from the Presidential candidate of their choice, to appear on the ballot under him on the R.I. Primary ballot.

2. If the Governor signs the February 4 primary bill, then anyone who wants to be a delegate must be a registered Republican by today…

There is one other major change in the legislation. It appears that only REGISTERED REPUBLICANS CAN RUN FOR DELEGATE. If you are an Unaffiliated voter, and want to run for Delegate, you must change your Party affiliation to Republican 30 days before you file. That would be TOMORROW (Friday November 2). If you do not plan to run for Delegate, you can ignore this, as Unaffiliated voters can still vote in the Primary.

3. Dave makes this call-to-action for volunteers willing to help all of the Republican candidates get on the Rhode Island ballot…

Rhode Island is the 2nd most difficult state in the entire nation for candidates to get on the ballot. (Only New York state is worse). Presidential candidates need to get 1,000 valid signatures in a very short period of time, just before Christmas. None of them can do this without a lot of help and teamwork.

So here is what we are doing to help all the candidates who request our assistance.

In R.I., one person can sign separate papers for ALL of the candidates. So WE NEED VOLUNTEERS WHO WILL GET AT LEAST 10 SIGNATURES FOR ALL THE CANDIDATES WHO REQUEST OUR HELP. If just 200 out of the 5,520 people who receive this E-Mailing agree to help, we will be all set.

If you volunteer to help, we will get the papers to you as quickly as they are available. We will include written instructions on what to do with them. We will also provide a list of registered Republicans in your own local voting place. (Anyone is allowed to sign the papers - even Democrats - but obviously a registered Republican is more likely to sign all the papers without giving you a hard time)….

IF YOU ARE WILLING TO HELP WITH THIS, REPLY HERE RIGHT AWAY.

We are only looking for people who will get signatures on ALL the papers that we give them. Because of the extreme time pressure that we are under, we are not looking for people who will only get signatures for the Presidential candidate of their choice. We are also not looking for people who will sign papers if someone comes to their house, but will not do anything else. For those people, we will organize dates and gathering spots in your own community, where you can go to sign the papers. (We will notify you, via E-mail, where and when these will be).

4. Here is a list local e-mail contacts for each Republican candidate who has provided one to Dave Talan and the state party....

RUDY GIULIANI
Malcolm McGuire (East Greenwich)
Joe White (North Kingstown)

MIKE HUCKABEE
Bob Tingle (Westerly)
Ron Iacobbo (Providence)
Dana Peloso (Roger Wms. Univ. College GOP)

JOHN McCAIN
Caswell Cooke (Westerly)

RON PAUL
Mike Rollins (North Providence)
Peter Catsimpiris (Brown Univ. College GOP)

MITT ROMNEY
Ryan Bilodeau (Woonsocket and URI College GOP)

TOM TANCREDO
Terry Gorman (Lincoln)
(This one is very unofficial, and Terry is just referring volunteers on to the New Hampshire office.)

FRED THOMPSON
Lester Olson (Pawtucket)