My experience is similar, but Minnesota is slightly different.
In 2016, I showed up at the caucus and nominated myself as a delegate from my precinct to the county organization. There were only a few people from my precinct there, and they were happy to let me have it. (There are multiple slots per precinct - we all could have had it if we had wanted to.)
Next thing I know, I'm giving a brief speech at the county convention. At the time, I was the only person openly supporting Trump (they are all rabidly pro-Trump now). After that I know, I'm a delegate from the county to the state convention. I'm reasonably sure that I could have managed to win a seat in the national convention if I'd tried.
I go to one or two meetings every month (my local county organization, and my congressional district), and a few conventions per year, where I have voting rights. I get to vote on changes to party rules and bylaws, statewide party director and other officer roles, who we endorse for every seat from state representative up to President.
I'm also on a first name basis with my state rep and my state senator. Normally I wouldn't give a fuck about that, but they are both pretty based guys. I also got to talk to my congressional candidates before they were famous and give them a very pro-MAGA assessment of what the voters expected from them.
The moral of the story is: show up. It isn't hard.
My experience is similar, but Minnesota is slightly different.
In 2016, I showed up at the caucus and nominated myself as a delegate from my precinct to the county organization. There were only a few people from my precinct there, and they were happy to let me have it. (There are multiple slots per precinct - we all could have had it if we had wanted to.)
Next thing I know, I'm giving a brief speech at the county convention. At the time, I was the only person openly supporting Trump (they are all rabidly pro-Trump now). After that I know, I'm a delegate from the county to the state convention. I'm reasonably sure that I could have managed to win a seat in the national convention if I'd tried.
I go to one or two meetings every month (my local county organization, and my congressional district), and a few conventions per year, where I have voting rights. I get to vote on changes to party rules and bylaws, statewide party director and other officer roles, who we endorse for every seat from state representative up to President.
I'm also on a first name basis with my state rep and my state senator. Normally I wouldn't give a fuck about that, but they are both pretty based guys. I also got to talk to my congressional candidates before they were famous and give them a very pro-MAGA assessment of what the voters expected from them.
The moral of the story is: show up. It isn't hard.