A Blog Article Posted by ACLA President & Church Lobbyist Darrin Mitchell:

"Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.” Titus 3:1-2 (NLT)

"If you really want to exercise your first Amendment rights, don’t waste your time by jawing about politics with your friends or family members. Instead, if you live in Iowa, Nevada, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, U.S. Virgin Islands and Missouri. it’s time for you to step out between January 3rd and March 17th and share your political witness with your neighbors by participating in your states neighborhood caucus meetings."

Why? Because voting and contacting your states elected officials in the U.S. Congress are only two of the three responsibilities you have to exercise as an American Citizen. As you already know, we are blessed to live in a representative republic where we elect representatives to be our voice in government. As a result, the third responsibility you have as an American citizen who votes is either to participate in your neighborhood Caucus meeting (also called a precinct) or vote in one of the 38 states and the District of Columbia that will conduct primary elections between Saturday, January 10th and June 26th (I will review these in an upcoming blog article on January 9th).

However, this blog article is for those who line in a state that provides caucuses. The purpose of a caucus meeting is to allow you and your neighbors the opportunity to discuss the issues and elect delegates who will represent your community at political party conventions to support the majorities chosen candidates and give you your neighborhood a voice in your political parties platform.

If you desire to take your political involvement to the next level, I heartily encourage you to run for election as a delegate at your neighborhood precinct caucus meeting. If you win you will learn that delegates are important to the candidates as each delegate represents up to 300 neighbors. Candidates listen and take notice when a delegate weighs in on issues, so becoming a delegate is a good way to make sure that your voice and the voice of your neighbors is heard.

The real benefit to the delegate system is that elected delegates can become very informed about the individual candidates and issues. They also have the opportunity to personally meet with the candidates and discuss issues and really figure out which candidate would best represent their neighborhood. This makes it possible for candidates who aren’t well funded to have equal access to the voters because they do not have there funds to reach the general public with their message and to communicate where they really stand on the issues. Also, the delegate system can save the taxpayer thousands of dollars if the delegates can agree on a candidate for their party helping to bypass the cost of spending taxpayer money on running a primary election.

In 2012, delegates will be charged to represent candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and to choose a candidate to support for the office of President and Vice President of the United States.

Here is the list of 2012 Caucuses that will lead to the 40th Republican National Convention on Monday, August 27th and the 46th Democratic National Convention starting on Monday, September 3rd. The end result will lead to each parties platform and for their parties candidates who will participate in the next U.S. Presidential Election on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012 • Iowa Caucus

Saturday, February 4, 2012 • Nevada Caucus

Saturday, February 4-Saturday February 11, 2012 • Maine Caucus

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 • Colorado Caucus

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 • Minnesota Caucus

Saturday, March 3, 2012 • Washington Caucus

Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012 • Alaska Caucus

Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012 • Idaho Caucus

Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012 • North Dakota Caucus

Tuesday, March 6-Saturday, March 10, 2012 • Wyoming Caucus

Saturday, March 10, 2012 • Kansas Caucus

Saturday, March 10, 2012 • U.S. Virgin Islands Caucus

Saturday, March 17, 2012 • Missouri GOP Caucus

I encourage you to make the to exercise your rights as an American citizen by participating in your states neighborhood caucus meetings and use your political witness to stand up for your Christian faith and beliefs. After you attend, please send me an E-mail at darrin.mitchell@americancla.org and share a positive testimony about your experience. I may post it online on our ACLA Testimonial page for others to read. Thank you.