Forty Years Ago This Week: After one too many election cycles of losing to the better prepared, better organized Republican Party, Democratic Party leaders said they were beginning to hone in on improved campaign methodology, consisting in part of direct mail fundraising, campaign schools and candidate recruitment.

The newest program, said Ann Lewis, political director for the Democratic National Committee, was “Operation Talent Scout,” which would seek out new candidates from every congressional district in the country.

“Talent Scouts are being asked to recruit and suggest potential Democratic candidates for any seat that is now open or held by a Republican,” Lewis said. “The talent scouts then send us the names and those people get put on our computer and become plugged into our automatic mailing program, by which we send them regular issue alerts, help with resources and a monthly print-out which we share with potential supporters.” 

Lewis said that the DNC had decided to focus mailings on issue analyses that had been formulated by top national Democratic experts.

After attending the Western States Democratic Conference in Wyoming, Lewis had already acquired a list of a number of potential candidates. 

“Our new system will assure that every Democratic candidate,” Lewis said — “no matter what office they’re seeking — is connected to the national party and is a beneficiary of the issue research, policies and polling analysis done by the DNC.”

The computerized lists and direct mail system of the Republican Party had previously been hailed by former Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton as a system the DNC needed to implement. West Virginia Gov. Jay Rockefeller III told the DNC that to recoup their 1980 losses, they’d “have to pick up on Republican tried and trues.”

While DNC Chairman Charles Manatt expounded upon his plans for implementing Republican campaign devices, Lewis said that copying Republicans wasn’t her concern.

“I dreamt up the talent scout program myself,” Lewis said. “There were some technical nuts and bolts kinds of things that the Republicans have done for awhile that we are, in fact, catching up with. But I don’t know if any other party has tried this.”

In other news, Colorado Republican Party Chairman Bo Callaway volunteered his state operation to pilot the National Pilot Program on Volunteerism. After drastic cuts at all levels of federal government, community and social service programs were left floundering. 

The Volunteerism Program originated with Richard McBride, director of campaign planning and development for the Republican National Committee, and Betty Heitman, co-chairman of the RNC.

Heitman said that the volunteer project would result in an expansion of community and social service programs from the private sector, thus allowing the government to make deeper cuts in the future.

“If we are going to reduce the size of government and reduce spending, we are going to have to assume some responsibility for the needs of this country,” Heitman said. “We need to reverse the trend of government agencies taking over social programs that once were in the private sector.”

“In talking with my husband,” Heitman said, “a long-time Kiwanis, he said that as government programs took over more of what they were doing, they in turn withdrew more and more.”

Colorado’s Pilot Project on Volunteerism was to be coordinated by Mindy Meiklejohn, vice-chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. 

Project Director Barbara Dean told The Colorado Statesman that she was looking for program, projects and social services that would use volunteers instead of tax dollars.

“The initial focus has been in the areas of health, senior citizen and summer job programs,” Dean said.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.