Foxborough RTC Hosts Michael Graham to Kickoff 2009!

Some news from Foxborough RTC Chair Angela Davis...

The Foxborough Republican Town Committee hit the New Year with a smashing fundraiser on Thursday January 8th 2009 at the Lafayette House in Foxborough. Headlining the event and guest of honor was conservative comic and WTKK 96.9 FM Talk Radio Host and Boston Herald Columnist Michael Graham.

Michael signs copies of his book...

There was a full house at the Lafayette Restaurant in Foxborough. Angela F. F. Davis, Chair of the Foxborough Republican Town Committee welcomed the room and the officials that attended from Beacon Hill. Among those in attendance included State Rep. Betty Poirier (R) and State Rep. George Ross (R), former State Rep. Kevin Poirier (R) and former State Rep. Ginny Coppola (R). Republican Town Committee Chairs and members from Walpole, Sharon, Attleboro and Mansfield all were in attendance as well.


Graham worked the room and went from table to table prior to his remarks. He kicked off the event with his signature radio high-pitch intro voice, and the crowd roared.

He joked about his early days in campaign management when he fell into spearheading a campaign in New Hampshire. He laughed as he spoke about knowing nothing about politics until he took the job and realized he could make a living off off of his full time involvement. Then he went on to speak about the tax and spend liberals on Beacon Hill and how the future of politics depends on how Republicans decide to run for office.

He finished off the evening with a book signing, and was very gracious with his time.

It was an amazing event and Graham knows his Foxborough fans are anxious for his next visit! He is a good friend to Foxborough!

Be sure to tune in to his show weekdays on 96.9FM, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.


(graham signing book for Foxborough Republican Town Committee member, January 8, 2009. photo courtesy of Michael Davis)

expanding our online presence

Our summer interns have been a big help, specifically with assisting our Republican committees to build an online presence. We used blogger to establish an online prsence for the following town committees and this is a great start, but it still only the beginning. The next step is to train these town committees on blogs to encourage them to enhance the GOP voice at the municipal level. Soon, the Chair of our PR committee, Shari Worthington, will help me lead a conference call with the GOP committees that we have created these new blogs for. Some Chairs wondered why a blog and not a website? Here are a few answers...

1. Blogger is VERY easy to update and edit (zero web experience is needed)
2. A blog can serve the same purpose of a website (contact info and the date/location of the next meeting etc..)
3. A blog is more than website in that it encourages activity - too often, websites are stagnant and blogs, by nature, encourage activity.

In short, if we are a website online, we will be a "website" offline. If we are a blog online, then we will be a "blog" offline. We have written a Simple Guide To Blogging and it's only a few pages but packs a powerful punch to get you started with blogger.

You will notice with the sites below, that they all have "blogspot.com" in the URL. So, instead of having AbingtonRTC.com it will be AbingtonRTC.blogspot.com. However, blogger has enabled the blog owners to purchase their own domain for only $10!!!

There are over 70 million blogs in the world, so how do you stand out? Your blog is the only blog in the world from X town with a GOP perspective on town, state, and national politics. Remember your niche and you will build a base of followers. Be part of the community, not just an organization that comes out once every two years to hold a campaign sign while sipping on the Dunk'n Donuts coffee.

Did you clean up a baseball field? Take pictures and write a post about it. You can interview the school principal, police chief, and business owners in the community to get their perspective of your town.

Your GOP committee can be the "go to" site to find out about what's happening in the community - but only if you build it. Conservatives, such as myself, stress the importance of local action solving local problems. Let your blog be that window of your Republican Town Committee - showning the members rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done (post pictures, names, and give credit to the doers of your GOP organization).

If you are a member of one of the GOP organizations below, you now have a window to show your community what you are all about. If you are a member of a GOP organization that does not have an online presence, please email us and we would be happy to help you, at no cost. You can email one of our fantastic interns at intern@masssgop.com. You are only limited to your creativity. Happy blogging!

Nantucket GOP - Social Event a Huge Success!

Congratulations to the Nantucket GOP for hosting a terrific event and bringing in new people to the GOP!

Good Job Collecting Information!

State Committeeman Ric Barros, Chairman Peter Torkildsen and former Nantucket Selectman Doug Bennett.

Check out these signs, now this is real grassroots! Doug Bennett held these signs at an intersection before the social event and Senator John Kerry rode by on his bike. We heard John Kerry stopped his bike and shook his head in disappointment (yes Senator, we have active Republicans on Nantucket!)

Chairman Torkildsen said that he met three people at the event who came because they saw these signs before the event.

Overall, they had about 35-40 people attend and they recruited many new Republican Committtee members.

How did they do it?

1) They used Voter Vault and went door knocking on active GOP voting homes.

2) They made personal phone calls to registered Republicans.

3) They sent an auto call reminder to all Republicans before the event.

4) They had a standout just before the event started.

Duxbury Summer Cookout

The Duxbury RTC had a great cookout this evening and the Duxbury committee was very quick to update their website with some great photos of the event.

Thanks to everyone that came out and supported the GOP!


The Duxbury Republican Town Committee and our elected officials.
(left to right: Rep. Vinny deMacedo, Rep. Dan Webster, DRTC Secretary Kim O'Sullivan, State Chairman Peter Torkildsen, DRTC Co-Chair Rita Strong, Sheriff Joe McDonald,
District Attorney Tim Cruz, State Committeeman John Cafferty,
DRTC Co-Chairman Mark Johnston, DRTC Vice-Chairman Adam Packard, and
Host and DRTC Member Ryan Boehm)

AMRC - Building Local GOP Committees

This morning, the Mass GOP sat down with Mike Hruby of the AMRC (Association of Massachusetts Republican Town & City Committees) to discuss ways that we can continue to build the Republican Town Committees across Massachusetts. Mike was very enthusiastic and is putting together a great plan with Richard Hersum, President of AMRC.

If you are part of an existing Republican Committee you can join AMRC here.

If you are not part of a GOP committee but want to start or join one, you can email us at kdobson@massgop.com Please let us know where you live in your email. Thanks!