The Broken Window Strategy: Belief That Ron Paul Isn't Running Isn't Good!
Submitted by JoshArizona on Tue, 05/15/2012 - 11:18Many people today have tried to spin the false impression that Ron Paul is out of the race as a good thing, and a clever strategy for use as a Trojan Horse against Romney supporters.
Many are also assuming that the media announcing he had dropped out based off of the press release, is the result of some kind of smart political play by the campaign. It is not, it is an unintended consequence. If the campaign actually wanted people to think this, why would Jack Hunter, Doug Wead and now Jesse Benton himself be refuting this and trying so hard to undo the damage done by this falsehood?
While I understand where you guys are coming from, people not knowing that Ron is still running is not a positive thing.
Don't you all remember that just yesterday, we were complaining about the media ignoring Ron Paul and giving the impression that Romney was the only one left in the race?
If this is such a "good thing" shouldn't we be thanking the Mainstream Media for acting as if he isn't running?
If I wanted people to buy a product from me, would I want them to know I was open for business, or would I want to promote a rumor that said I was out of business?
If you don't see the obvious answer there, then please for the sake of future investors, do not start your own company.
This reminds me of the Broken Window Fallacy.
Those espousing this idea are forgetting the teachings of our good friend Frederic Bastiat and focusing on what is seen, and not what is unseen.
They see that it might make some Romney supporters let down their guard, but they aren't seeing all the Ron Paul supporters or possible future supporters that don't think he is running, and won't work as hard to get him elected if they weren't under that impression.
If this is such a good idea, then why did we even campaign in the first place.
Using this chain of assumptions, we shouldn't have campaigned at all.
This is a Logical Fallacy!
It is an absurdity!
Ignorance of Ron Paul's candidacy is detrimental, not beneficial!
This is a mistake and not some purposeful grand strategy, to spin it as such we are being dishonest with ourselves.
Yes, the campaign makes mistakes, it is not infallible, and those pointing out the mistakes are not evil doers.
The campaign is run by human beings and humans are not perfect, only the concept of Liberty is.
We need to make others aware of Dr. Paul's candidacy, not encourage ignorance of it.
Please comment and upvote, so that others may see this post, and get the message.
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sounds like you should be writing the campaign's letters
That would have been a much better tone. Maybe the purpose of the letter was that Ron Paul sees or thinks that there is no path to victory and he wants to start letting his supporters down easy.
Given the follow up email today
by Jesse Benton it appears you may be correct. And he also told Politico that Paul is afraid of causing a riot in Tampa or something. Maybe he heard of the physical altercations in Oklahoma and his doctor instincts kicked in.
And also, we don't know
what's going on behind the scenes. Maybe Jesse also had fears of sending that negative message but Dr. Paul insisted and actually wrote it himself and it reflects the mood he was in yesterday given the state of the race he was just briefed on.
Let's cut the BS
Here are some answers:
Q: "If this is such a "good thing" shouldn't we be thanking the Mainstream Media for acting as if he isn't running?"
A: MSM was against us from the beginning and treats the campaign as it is not existing and therefore we are so pissed off for this. Well now they simply can't be against us because we "declared" we are "out". So they are now the one that is confused and pissed (how to explain something that is already a "fact" and how to fight against unexisting enemy?).
Q: "If I wanted people to buy a product from me, would I want them to know I was open for business, or would I want to promote a rumor that said I was out of business?"
A: No one is selling anything, the movement is already settled up, tireless minority is on its winning march.
Q: "If this is such a good idea, then why did we even campaign in the first place."
A: We campaign for to be an important player (No.1 of course) in this elections cicle, and we did a hughe success not expected from establishment and completely not related to beauty contests results. Now we are going into the next phase, to beat the enemy with their weaponery.
"This is a Logical Fallacy!"
No, Your logic is the only fallacy here.
Don't answer, just think and act accordingly ...
"Don't answer, just think and act accordingly ..."
"Don't answer, just think and act accordingly ..."
Fine, I'll respect your wish to believe you can have your cake and eat it too, and not waste my time on someone who is rejecting logic.
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
Announcing a shift in campaign expenditures
is not dropping out. I don't under stand why people keep using that term. BTW, for the first time , our local media reported this CORRECTLY!
Time will tell but right now the only people who really need to
know he is running are the delegates. If this strategy causes a few Romney delegates to stay home from the conventions and be replaced by Ron Paul alternates the better for us. Once Dr. Paul is the nominee the country will wake up and get on board. The msm is spinning this exactly as planned and to our benefit.
hthomas
This is not an intentional strategy
It was not planned for our benefit.
If the campaign wanted everyone to believe that we were actually dropping out, why would Jack Hunter and Doug Wead be in damage control mode, trying to dispel the rumor that we are out of the race?
This is clearly an unintended consequence, they didn't have some meeting and say "Hey, lets make everyone think we dropped out, that will help us win the nomination!".
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
So the title of you post should be.....
The Broken Window Unintentional Stategy?
hthomas
ok?
The advocates of this "strategy" believe it is proper and that it is/should be intentional, so I refer to it as The Broken Window Strategy.
The name is just a critique of this poorly thought out idea.
It is not the actual strategy of the campaign, but a delusion cooked up by a few misguided people on this site.
What does it matter what I call it?
It could be called "Blue Applesauce" and the critique would still stand.
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
Jesse Benton has been a plant all along and should be fired!
The press release yesterday is the final proof! This guy has been working AGAINST the revolution all along.
"Lord I have no plans of my own save those you shall reveal to me." Dean Fagerstrom - The Mission Of Anglion
Options
Plant? No.
Self-interested? More likely.
Incompetent? Just as likely.
A combination of the latter two options? Probably the answer.
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
Benton is not a plant
I am not qualified to make an assessment of Benton's performance, but it merits mention that Benton has married into the Paul family, and it is reasonable to assume that the nature of this personal, familial relationship may have played a role in RP deciding to tap his talents. Perhaps more competent men were passed over, on account of the Doctor lacking the same intimate familiarity with them.
Already Proof
There is already proof that this announcement is having a detrimental effect on the campaign. I have read comments within threads of articles here that RP supporters who had planned to run for delegate spots in upcoming conventions decide that they will no longer attend.
Further, I have read from ALREADY ELECTED DELEGATES that they will no longer travel to the national convention because, "why pay all that money for a trip to Tampa if Ron Paul doesn't want to be President."
I think this is a very valid position to take. Ron Paul still refuses to state clearly and emphatically that he is in this race to be the nominee in 2012. Even Doug Wead and others refuse to state this literally. The say, "We are Up!!" or "The Fight has just begun". No one is saying the actual words, "Ron Paul is very much a candidate for president in 2012 and we expect to win."
Spin it all you want as some kind of clever strategy. I don't agree. He's letting all this corruption and fraud pass without as much as a whimper. He's now acting ashamed of his supporters. It's weak. People rally around strength, determination, conviction and perseverance.
http://brazilforlife.com
SHOULDA FIRED BENTON!! I
SHOULDA FIRED BENTON!!
I won't be supporting Rand if Rand uses him in 2016.
Articulated much better than I could
Thanks, and this is my sentiment exactly!
For Freedom!
The World is my country, all mankind is my brethren, to do good is my religion.
The concerns are viable but the sunshine patriots will join us
again when we get the nomination.
We are losing no one who was motivated to go to convention a week ago.
All people who go to conventions are informed and know that he is not dropping out.
We are losing only soft supporters who might show up only to a primary popular vote that we cant win anyway. Our hardcore base is big enough to dominate the conventions.
We cant inform the mass of people about the fact that Ron Paul is the frontrunner cause the media prevents this and our efforts to do this are wasted energy.
The people will wake up when we win the nomination in Tampa through our delegate strategy.
When its Ron Paul vs. Obama then they have no other chance then to report this and Obama wont have any chance to run a negative ad campaign against Ron Paul.
The masses will see what RP really stands for.
Ron Paul would win in a landslide against Obama.
So your post is under the impression that RP supporters will stop what they are doing and I tell you .. THEY WONT! ;)
Daily Paul made this very clear and I can tell you that all Ron Paul supporters who are truly engaged visited the RP campaign website or the DP to get reassured that he is not dropping out.
This one wraps it all up:
http://www.dailypaul.com/233525/my-beloved-r3vol-you-guys-ki...
With this strategy he won't beat obama
He might win the nomination but he won't beat Obama. People aren't going to be converted so quickly. People will be shocked that this "nut job" somehow won by gaming the system and it will probably create an opening for someone to step up and save the day by running as an independent.
Tim Maitski
Atlanta real estate agent
Atlanta real estate website
no
he is in the polls always on par with obama and his speeches planted many seeds all over the country.
After this weekend's conventions....
We will remind them that Ron Paul is still running and we will see them in Tampa.
Rand Paul 2016 for Peace
This deserves another bump.
We should not be fabricating truth to confirm the MSM.
Ron Paul is smart
1. Ron Paul is smart;
2. Ron Paul's leadership to date has exceeded expectations so doubting him now is illogical;
3. Ron Paul knows the MSM is predictable;
4. Ron Paul knows Romney people will stay home because they swallow MSM for breakfast;
5. Ron Paul has figured that given the amount of time left till Tampa more converts into the campaign are no longer as urgent versus keeping Romney people at home for the remaining delegate contests;
6. Ron Paul's latest strategic moves are brilliant!
President Paul here we come!
=D
http://www.dailypaul.com/233529/ron-paul-is-smart
A few points here.
A. No one here is doubting Ron Paul, This post is addressing a fallacy being put forth by other people on this site, not the campaign itself.
B. Ron Paul is only human, and certainly not infallible. When we treat him as such we are being irrational, and he himself would not want us to treat him as perfect and superhuman.
C. We don't know if this press release or the tone of it was his idea at all, for all we know it was Jesse Benton or another staffers idea. We all know Ron doesn't personally write his press releases.
D. Many of you are assuming that the media announcing he had dropped out based off the press release, is the result of some kind of smart political play by the campaign. It is not, it is an unintended consequence. If the campaign actually wanted people to think that, why would Jack Hunter and Doug Wead be trying so hard to undo the damage done by the media?
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
OP you are actually the one
OP you are actually the one who is only seeing part of the picture. Your ignorance of strategy is clear... You consider only generalized variables. This is a very specific group of people we are talking about (Ron Paul supporters). Generalized logic does not apply.
Not every voter is a Ron Paul supporter.
When people are unaware Ron Paul is still a candidate, they aren't going to vote for him, campaign for him, or most people won't even bother looking into him.
Using the business analogy again, You want more customers, not just the ones you already have.
If I wanted to attract new customers to my business, would I advertise it, or would I put up a sign saying I'm out of business?
If you don't see the obvious answer there, then please do not start your own business.
When you focus on the perceived benefit of tricking Romney supporters into thinking were out of the race, you are ignoring the damage done by everyone else(including other Paul supporters or possible future supporters) not knowing that Ron Paul is still in the race.
We don't want less or the same amount of Ron Paul supporters, we want more!
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
he's going to "attract new
he's going to "attract new customers" once he racks up 5 more state conventions and then some and the word starts to spread... once people realize he is a threat to romney heading into tampa, that's when he'll attract more voters.
why does he have to lay everything out on the table for all to see?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFxvy9XyUtg
What 's the problem here?
I don't understand why this is getting so many downvotes.
What is so disagreeable about logic?
I'm talking about Bastiat's observation of what is seen and what is unseen, this is 100 percent libertarian.
Are the downvoters saying that people not knowing about Ron Paul will help us promote Ron Paul?
This is absolute lunacy!
If I wanted people to buy a product from me, would I want them to know I was in business, or would I want to promote a rumor that said I was out of business?
The answer is incredibly obvious!
Ignorance of Ron Paul's candidacy doesn't not help us, it hinders us.
Check out the Laissez-Faire Journal at LFJournal.com
"The State is a gang of thieves writ large." - Murray Rothbard
I am told votes in the
I am told votes in the Primaries are irrelevant, it's the delegates that matter. The movement knows the strategy is delegates and has always known and has demonstrated the ability to handle it. Thus far we have been cleaning those up, do we really need the publicity to continue this strategy? Does the publicity help us defeat the opposition? Would lack of publicity aid this strategy more by lending the opposition a false sense of security?
Admittedly I don't know the best option. For all I know you may be right. What I do know is we should drive on and never quit and I am betting this perseverance is being counted upon.
You would be correct if..
you were not talking about the most well informed, most well connected group of individuals in the world.
I trust Ron Paul and he trusts us not to give up.
www.youtube.com/truefictions
I try to change people every day. Do You?
Wise Move Strategically But Public Relations Disaster
I agree with you. This new change of tactics by the Ron Paul campaign is a wise move strategically because it will use scarce resources where they will be most effective. But by announcing the change, it is a public relations and motivational disaster. They should have just quietly changed tactics and not have announced it with an admission that they didn't have enough funds to continue campaigning in the primary states. You can't show your opposition this sign of weakness and expect them not to use it against you and exploit it. Sad to see.