State Republican GOP Chair Paul Dame appeared on the “Morning Drive” radio show Friday to discuss how to regain footing after the party lost seats statewide in 2022 despite an expectation for a ‘red wave.’

During this segment, Dame discussed what kind of campaigning techniques work — namely that getting face-to-face with voters is now more important than ever.

GET ENGAGED:  The Vermont GOP chair says candidates that engage voters door-to-door are the ones that typically get elected into office.

The state GOP recently did a presentation called “Running for Office Part 1,” were Dame talked about how to take back the Vermont Legislature.

“Especially getting involved in your community and making sure that you are aware of some of the things that are helpful — and the number one thing that we’ve talked about since before Kurt [former GOP state legislator Kurt Wright] and I did it is canvassing, knocking on doors,” Dame said.

“… There is nothing that is more effective than talking to somebody who lives in your community, letting them know where you stand, and having a real conversation in this age of soundbites and character-limited tweets. Going door-to-door and making that personal connection has an incredible value.”

Dame noted that in 2020 the Vermont GOP picked up seats, and he said the door-to-door activity that candidates were engaged in made the difference.

Regarding other current younger leadership, he said, “We have had some young Republicans in office and some more people who are thinking about it. We certainly had a few people who ran and weren’t successful their first time out, but the first time I ran I lost, so it was really an encouragement to stay engaged.”

The 2024 presidential race

Dame was asked his thoughts about Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis entering the race for president in 2024. He suggested it’s good for the party, but the field could end up too crowded.

“This is a great opportunity that Republicans have a number of really good candidates, there’s a lot of people that Republicans can look at and feel good about. The problem we have is that there’s too many,” he said.

He highlighted another GOP candidate for president, Tim Scott, who is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. senator from South Carolina.

“He talked about being a happy warrior,” Dame said of Scott.

“As state chair, I get all the complaints. My phone is ringing with all the things that we are not doing that we should be doing, and the things that we are doing that people don’t want us to be doing. There are a lot of complaints there, and we don’t have enough happy warriors.”

Later in the program, the hosts and Dame noted that Sen. Scott has resisted engaging in criticisms of opponents and instead offered positive messaging.

Dame noted that one of the core messages he likes to put forward is that anyone can step up.

“Wherever you come from, you’ve got an opportunity to succeed beyond your station in life and be the first person in your family to do whatever success looks like for you,” he said.

Trump voters ready to move on?

While Dame suggested that some Trump voters might be “ready to move on” after the 2020 election, the numbers continue to show that Trump has a strong 3-1 advantage over DeSantis in the most recent political polls.

While Trump holds that advantage over DeSantis, both candidates poll favorably when polling directly against President Biden, with Trump polling 44% to 38% over Biden and DeSantis with a similar advantage over Biden at 42% to 37%.

Some of the show’s listeners didn’t seem to be on the same page with the conversation in the studio. One caller asked, “Do you guys give Trump any credit for having to deal with the FBI, the CIA, the media, everybody attacking him left and right?”

Dame suggested all the attacks on Trump may actually be elevating his popularity.

“I think that’s a lot of the reason that you see Trump doing well in these early polls,” he said. “You just see voters who are angry and frustrated, who think that Trump did not get a fair shake, and I think some people want to vote for Trump — at least in these early polls — as a way to say he was not treated fairly.”

Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.