Senior vote at zero?
Though I don't put much creedence into polls, I saw one today that had Ron Paul at 7-10% in all categories except with the over 65 voters. He was at zero percent with that group. That worries me. More than 30 million voters in the upcoming election will be seniors. That's a full 20% of total voters if half of America votes. We absolutely MUST get more seniors in the Ron Paul camp.
I have a feeling he's so low with seniors because they are afraid he'll take their social security benefits away. My guess is that MSM will be telling them the'll lose there SS if they vote for Ron Paul. We supporters know that RP will not pull the rug out from under them, or anyone else who is close to getting those beneifits they paid into all their lives. He simply wants to let young people opt out of this failing program so he can phase it out slowly.
So, how can we get that message out to this huge group of voters. Ron Paul needs to do it himself for sure, but we need to find a way to educate these worried seniors as well. I'm sure many of them want a better life for their kids and grandkids, but not at the expense of being broke and dependent of their kids the rest of their lives. Let's get this important reassurance to them and get Ron Paul the senior vote. it may just put him over the top and get him into the White House!
How did most of us learn about Dr. Paul?
The internet. Many people over the age of 65 have heard very little about Ron Paul because he has received so little TV coverage, TV being their biggest source for news. The majority of those in this age group are not web-savy.
How did most of us learn about Dr. Paul?
The internet. Many people over the age of 65 have heard very little about Ron Paul because he has received so little TV coverage, TV being their biggest source for news. The majority of those in this age group are not web-savy.
Door knocking not YouTubing...
This is because most supporters came to him through the internet (for the most part). I've supported Dr. Paul for many years, but the internet fueled my passion. Doesn't work for the older crowd.
My mom is 82 and lives in a retirement home. I've been telling her about Ron Paul (She, like most old folks, just HATES Hillary - so I keep reminding her that Ron Paul is the most unlike her than any other candidate). I left her several slim jims to give to her friends (and she has handed out a few). Lots of political talk around the cafe' there... and they are concerned about losing their SS benies... We do need to make sure that the campaign tells them that it's protected!!
Go to Seniors for Ron Paul
http://www.seniorsforronpaul.com/
and print out the pages to give to older relatives and ask them to read it and explain why. Do this even if they have a computer and internet connection. Some older Americans "do" email and that's about it.
Lisa C.
www.women4ronpaul.com
www.ronpaulinternational.com
Ron Paul "Sign Wave Across the USA" -- November 5th!
If Seniors Hear Paul's Message...
I think most of them would be "for" Ron Paul for President.
Once they get past the "social security" thing and find out he is not planning to do away with it, only to phase it out for the younger generation that want to do that.
I am 50+ and I hope to be able to get the social security money I have had taken from me for all my years of working, all the time, thinking that eventually in my "golden years" that I would get "my" money back. I hope that will still be the case, even though technically the government has already "stolen it from me" (and others).
Anyway, any one with any common sense at all - either young or old or in-between, should agree with most of what Dr. Paul has to say and what his plans are for our country...to return to the times of our Fore-Fathers and to go back to our Constitution. Surely they all want Liberty!
I've addressed this issue many times
Have called campaign headquarters 5 times expressing desire for Dr. Paul to address this issue in plain terms. So you can imagine how disappointed I was listening to the Glenn Beck interview only to hear Dr. Paul say that yes, social programs had to go. That's all he said. Also, in his last few interviews I have not heard him mention the money that would be saved by closing down foreign bases.
Every few days there is a caller on C-span telling voters not to vote for Ron Paul because they will lose their SS. (Don't listen to other programs so I can only imagine it happening elsewhere.)
We all know that Dr. Paul is a very intelligent man prone to speaking academically. But someone in his campaign should point out to him that he needs to speak in specific terms once in awhile.
If anyone can come up with a way to communicate to him the need to explain in plain English how we get from point A to point B that could be understood by someone at the 4th grade level there would be no stopping him!
False
Many of my 65+ y/o relatives and their friends strongly support Ron Paul. We email things back and forth weekly about RP. And they are Mormons living in Utah! :)
... in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity ...
Seniors
Work on the seniors in your life. I told my 90 year old dad about Ron Paul
about 8 weeks ago. He had no idea who he was. He told me he had doubts about the war in Iraq being justified. He is concerned about the devaluation of the dollar. He will be voting for Ron Paul
I think the inflation tax issue will really hit with alot of seniors that have limited income. Social Security payments really dont amount to much. Maybe 1200 per month was ok in 1970 but in 2007 it is almost imposible to live on and getting worse every month.
Social Security and Seniors
I think that the lying sacks of you know what in the media are going to do just that, tell the seniors that they will lose their social security if Ron Paul gets elected. The best strategy is to make several videos showing Ron Paul's oppostion to the raiding of Social Security by other politicians. We must show them that Dr. Paul is the ONLY candidate that has tried to protect Social Security.
Ron Paul wants to make Social Security optional for young taxpayers entering the job market, because he does not want large somes of money available to be plunderd by unscrupulous politicians. Ron Paul is on record promising that people who have paid into the SS system will receive their benefits. Also, he wants to stop waging wars around the world and keep the money here so that people who are dependent on Social Security will be taken care of.
Videos won't work
Not for the seniors. Many are not willing to sit down at a computer, if they even have one, and play a video. They are addicted to tv and that is where we need to go after them. There is no getting around this. Boots on the ground will definitely be a big help, but we must have tv ads for them, and we must have them now! They need to check the age population for each state and go after the ones that have the highest concentrations. Florida, Arizona, perhaps Kentucky and Texas as well. Nevada may be another. All states need them, but these would need the heaviest concentration of them.
Bob W., Naples, FL
Seniors are toughest to convince
We need an all-out assault on getting seniors on the RP bandwagon. They are the ones not going on the internet and brainwashed by 50 years of tv. The campaign has known this fact for a while, but has not addressed it as well as it could. Of course, they didn't have the funding before.
We are getting help from families of seniors convincing them to vote, but we have a long way to go and a short time to get there. There is no way that he is polling 0%, but I would imagine the numbers are not where we need them to be. I've been begging for this for months: We absolutely have to bombard Florida, where the senior capital is, with an extreme blitz of ads....both from the campaign and grassroots. Jeremiah said he has some in mind, so when you're donating to the blimp and our foot soldiers, please give a few dollars to him as well. Aside from delegates, getting the seniors to both talk about and vote for Ron is the most important thing we can do now.
Bob W., Naples, FL
Great idea, I'm on my way to
Great idea, I'm on my way to donate there now. Jeremiah Black could do a great TV ad on this topic! "Seniors: Ron Paul does not want to take your social security away, he wants to preserve it, and give you more spending power."
Anyone in contact with Jeremiah, please get this thread to him.
Even better...
Ron Paul has pointed out in extended interviews that his brand of fiscal restraint is the only way to preserve benefits for seniors. Besides the simple matter of not wasting the money needed for these benefits on fruitless wars and bloated government, he can also hammer on the fact that he has the only plan for fighting inflation and thus preserving the spending power of dependent seniors.
Word of mouth...most people I know don't listen.
Out of the 3 dozen people I have spoken to... Only a few have listened(seriously).
The rest tune you out.
They vote Party Only. Doesn't matter who's running to them... the vote party lines only(not all, but a good portion do).
Maybe some Phone "ads".... can anyone get a list of voters age 65 and over, in Iowa/NH.... possible voters, and have a 60 second RP message for them about "Saving Social Security", and cutting taxes, etc... so they will have more money for their retirement, not less, like the others want!
They may not agree...but at least you tried.
Mr. Bill,
I agree that many of our seniors are set in their ways and many may tune out. Knowing the way my father is for example, I'm expecting him to be dismissive when I bring up the topic. What I meant was that I believe I can do a better job of reaching out to him than a call from a campaign worker. I know for a fact that he hates getting those and tunes them out right from the word go.
Hopefully I will be able to persuade him and some of my friends who have lived long enough to be lied to by countless politicians that they should at least consider Dr. Paul as their President instead of falling victim to the MSM scare tactics.
I'm sure there are many good ways to reach out to the seniors and get the message across to them. I don't expect all of the seniors I talk to to agree with me, but I do trust that my close friends and family will at least allow me to speak with them about Dr. Paul. I feel that I owe it to them to at least ask if they have heard of him and see where the conversation goes from there. It's a start.
I mentioned this before...last month, in fact, when I joined DP
I know a lady who is 75. She never heard of Ron Paul. I spoke to her about him, but she has no computer/cell phone, etc..
She gets her news from the Networks(not even cable), or radio.
Same for many people.
This is why I said "pamphlets" work wonders. Mail them out when possible. More Network t.v. ads...and so on.
You can send out DVD's, but some people still have VCR's(only).
See what I mean?
I know Dozens of over 65 and up who have no computer, etc, like my 75 year old friend(well, she was a school teacher, and she taught me, and my siblings).
No Clue about RP.
And, as you mentioned, if they do hear about him, it is most like from the MSM, and them saying"he'll take your Social Security away" nonsense.
What can you do, besides talk to people(locally). Nationally? Ads of radio and Network t.v./Pamphlets/DVD's?
Yes, ads may be the best
Yes, ads may be the best strategy. Lots of people are producing ads for RP independently, we need to get these creative folks on this message asap! Bump this thread along!
Word of mouth may work best
Both of my parents and many close friends of mine are Seniors and I plan to speak with them directly regarding Dr. Paul's message and what it means for America. Hopefully, once they learn about what he stands for and against, they will help spread the word with their Senior friends in ways that I could not.
Many Seniors addicted to Socialism
Thanks for the chance to expand on this potential problem. I hope Headquarters is doing research, and preparing briefs on this topic. As you say it can be very damning to the campaign, and be assured MSM will play it to the hilt.
ANY attempt to change the current system will be opposed by at least 70% of seniors(65+ yr. old). As with all the other social programs that D.C. parses out to the serf working class, Seniors think it is a birthright for them.
We have to somehow make them realize that they spent their whole lives GIVING their hard-earned money to fedgov, only now to have what is left of it dribbled out to them. Does anybody have family or friend living the highlife on what Social Security gives them? No!! Most that I know are barely getting by, unless they invested on the side.
THAT is what Dr. Paul wants to get us back to. Self- dependence, otherwise known as Independence. Not the current policy. It reminds me of a drug pusher that tempts the niaive with a little taste of his poison, hooking the fool for life.
Agreed, none of them are
Agreed, none of them are living high on the hog off SS, but many of them have it as their ONLY income source. Their worst fear is to lose that, then what? RP has to get the message out to them that he will not take it away. We supporters need to find a way to make that happen too.
Where was that?
Can you share the link please. This deserves a look. Which poll's internals said that? I doubt it could be valid in Iowa and NH but the seniors I've spoken to Ron (in Mass.) about had never heard of him (they also use a computer sparingly or not at all).
-JP
The first 5 million supporters of Dr. Paul are 'early adopters.' The next 10 million will require a modified approach.
Click on the interactive
Click on the interactive poll at this link...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119810092342540425.html?mod=...
Then click the age tab and you'll see RP at zero.
Yep You got it. And Paul
Yep You got it.
And Paul could come out to seniors anytime he talks about SS and tell them he wont be shafting them and tell them why.But he hasn't.
This is the 1 thing about paul that I just don't get.
Address the seniors on this matter 4 Fks sake
WHY indeed?
Reassuring oldfolks, and spelling out his plan for all ofus, in detail, would be a very smart move.
h-daddy