A Message to Ron Paul Supporters from a Ron Paul Supporter following New Hampshire
A Message to Ron Paul Supporters from a Ron Paul Supporter following New Hampshire
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By Peter Martin
Folks,
The blame for our staggering loss in NH cannot be concentrated. It's easy to point the finger at fraud, the campaign, dumb voters, or the mainstream media.
But listen. The self-declared Ron Paul r3VOLution is comprised of those with a common mistrust of the establishment, desire for liberty, and anger at the mainstream media. It is an extraordinarily passionate movement. It has said, over and over, that this is about more than just Ron Paul: it's about itself, which is, a movement.
But in order to elect Ron Paul president, we needed a majority.
The fact is, the majority of the population is not mistrustful like we are, either of the establishment or the media. And more importantly, they are not angry. And even more importantly, they don't WANT to be a part of a "revolution."
We in the movement thought, if we are loud enough, if Ron Paul wins enough Straw Polls, enough internet polls, if we write enough letters to the editor, if we are on enough street corners, if we hand out enough slim jims, if we get a blimp, if there's a Ron Paul plane in the sky, if we protest the Fox News forum loudly enough ... then the voters will come. But what happened was, we just looked like a kooky movement.
For Ron Paul to win, we don't need a majority of the population to join the Ron Paul R3VOLution. That will never happen in the next few months. We just need ordinary people with more mainstream views to vote for Ron Paul on basic policy issues. He's the one making sense, the most informed, the most genuine seeming candidate, because he opposes the war, because he's the strongest pro-life candidate, and so on. It needed to be about Ron Paul.
In New Hampshire, though, the Ron Paul r3VOLution itself eclipsed Ron Paul the candidate.
We are passionate, we are angry. So the Union Leader posted a video of us on all four corners of Elm Street, shouting "Fox News Sucks!" (I was there.) But we need to accept responsibility that that anger and passion turned people off.
Our extraordinarily loud presence on Elm Street in Manchester that last week, I believe, was extremely harmful to the public perception. I had to reconvince an old mainstream Reagan conservative to vote for Ron Paul on primary day, because he didn't want to be associated with a fringe, "whacko" movement. My own wife stopped going to the Ron Paul websites after she watched a video in which Ron Paul supporters accosted Frank Luntz and told him to f*k off. I myself was appalled to see another video in which Sean Hannity was swarmed by a horde of angry supporters and told him the same.
The Ron Paul revolution eclipsed the campaign. In future primary states, we need to decide: is this about the revolution, or is it about a campaign for president? If you want a majority, we'll need to be much more mainstream than we were.
You need to choose your battles. This is not a war against the media. This is not a war against the prevailing paradigm. Ron Paul is electable without discussing the CFR, 9/11, and legalizing marijuana. If this is a war against people's prevailing ideas, it will take a lot longer than this election season. If it's about electing Ron Paul, we've got to play by the rules. So let's make some adjustments and try to make Ron Paul look legitimate by current, prevailing standards. And get out of the way. Clean up, folks. Put on some ties. Get out of the internet blogs. Start being nice to national pundits. Stop shouting. If you want to win the majority, you need to appeal to the majority. Period. We blew it.
For many of us, this is our first foray into politics. Last week I learned a big lesson about the politics of persuasion.
I appreciate your time.
Sincerely,
Peter Martin
Good Information
This is good information and something to consider. I have to agree on some points...but look at the civil rights movement in the sixties. It was far from peaceful. The squeeky wheel gets the grease. Here's the deal. People have forgotten the Constitution and it is going to take some time to remind everyone. Ron Paul is planting seeds. We have to hang in there. He recently said we may not win in one election or in two. I agree with that. We have to keep our groups together and start working on getting people with the Ron Paul philosophy elected on the local level and state level. Here's the really important thing...we keep going full force because we are changing hearts and minds. This is no easy task..change is difficult. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Keep the faith and start looking down the road on how we are going to keep our Ron Paul Dream afloat! March On Ron Paul Disciples! RON PAUL 2008 Jazzloversinc
RON PAUL 2008 Jazzloversinc
The reason is simple
The reason is simple.
Only $200k was spent on TV ad air in NH for Ron Paul vs. $1 million for McCain's camp. Around $2 mil for Romney. The only person who spent less was Huckabee.
The other reason is that since the 98 days from October onwards, Ron Paul only spent 19 days in New Hampshire campaigning.
Whoever decided that Ron Paul only need be there that little of time meeting people, is to blame.
Fire Kent Snyder and Lew Moore now!
McCain is running out of money...
and Huckabee didn't have any to start with but Dr. Paul has millions left and millions more to come. 32 delegates have been decided out of 1961. Its a marathon, not a sprint. Stay with us, people.
its 'cos I owe ya, my young friend...
Rockin' the FREE world in Tennessee since 1957!
True Revolutions
Name me one revolution that wasn't violent in some way. Revolutions happen because political systems get corrupted and rigged. It's the only recourse.
Plant
Obviously. Fraud must be fought by any means necessary, not covered up.
--
Remember: Debt is a form of slavery.
I've heard it too many times..
.."he's not going to win." or "he's not electable."
I tell those people that if you vote for who is the best candidate then yes he will.
Dr. Paul was at his best in the South Carolina debate when talking about electability. He is electable. We need to focus on this because this is a major roadblock. Reasons he is electable.
The MSM will say he's not and we need to tell them he is! I've seen interviews where the reporter states that he can't win and the person they are interviewing just sits there and doesn't reply. Tell me that and they will get an earful. That's an open invitation to correct the reporter.
Perhaps the Paul campaign needs a side slogan such as "No voters left behind" or something that will catch on and draw attention. How about a nation wide Ron Paul open house for his statewide offices or grass roots offices. We need to get the word out. We need more people "googling" Ron Paul. We need more people say "Dr. Ron Paul can and will win!"
The reason why people are
The reason why people are not voting for Ron Paul is simple. This revolution is new and there are few Ron Paul supporters. At the moment, the movement is Ron Paul and Ron Paul is the movement. You can not separate one from the other. You have to have a leader. Growing the base or the grassroots supporters is the key to winning this and future elections. Period.
What ever you do to be nice and what ever dress you put on, MSM will always find ways to discredit you. MSM is not the issue. National pundits is not the issue. Revolutions always have ups and downs. This is a democracy. The majority rules. Outnumbering them is the key.
How do you outnumber them? Take a short cut. There is no time. Don't concentrate on ordinary citizens. Target the elite, students, union leaders and influential citizens of the country. They in turn will convert the masses.
I was also there
I was also there volunteering as a member of the Free State Project. I almost never saw any bad behavior on the part of Ron Paul supporters. What I did see was put up on the news or Youtube, and that did hurt the campaign. The point of helping out is to help, and a lot of what happened in NH really hurt Paul. The media expected him to pull just 8%. If you count every lost ballot, he probably garnered 9-10% The reason we didn't grab many undecided voters, I think, was the appearance of the campaign, the disorganized volunteer effort, the lack of much effort outside of the Merrimack Valley region, and the general feelings felt by NH voters.
Join us in New Hampshire for the Free State Project. Over 500 movers!
www.pledgebank.com/Next1000
GaryJohnson2012.com On the outside chance that RP doesn't get the nomination.
I on the other hand,,, disagree...
Pandering to these folks wont get anywhere either. I believe its more of a loose/loose situation... try to educate and you get shot down, try and be nice and you get shot down...
The response I *GOT* from people is "you paulites sure are passionate about your candidate... I could jump on board but he's not electible"
People ARE getting the message, but its the same ole thing about breaking the political mold... Democrats main objection to Ron Paul I hear is "he's still a Republican and I am not voting for a Republican period!"
Arrrggghhh.... its the mindset working against Ron Paul, not any media footage of his supporters - At least people are smart enough to see that the supporters are only that - and not the candidate himself. In fact they enjoy a little tittilation (especially democrats) of Fox News getting busted- democrats HATE Fox news, any wonder why??
Then you have the republican side who are still siding with the Bush-Chency mentality... we CANT loose the war... we CANT loose face.. we cant abandon the war against terrorism etc. etc. etc.. FACE IT - WAR MONGERING is loved on the Republican side...
Sheesshhh... THE WHOLE POINT IS THAT DR. PAUL IS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE of two conflicting parties that wont deviate from the traditional voting patterns...
THIS IS THE REAL TRUTH... they are not turned off by the videos, in fact they are not enough Paulites to chase down videos and investigate them *or* reasearch articles saying Dr. Paul is a racist.
The main problem with Dr. Paul's campaign getting moving is the SHEEPLE... but I DO agree with one thing... WORD OF MOUTH is the only way to continue the REVOLUTION (yes we ARE in a revolution, a peaceful one but still a revolution going against the establishment) and its not going to be easy to persuade people to deviate from either side.
So PLEASE let us stop with this Paulites be NICE topic... I have seen it many times over and over and over again on this board and it is still a topic that sticks in my gall... MORE PROOF!!!! If what you are saying is TRUE then what about Dr. Paul himself... should he pander to the media during the debates.... NO, THE FIESTY DR. PAUL is the one who gets accolades and press attention... even though the media tried to spin it against him... If he sits there and is *nice* he is ignored... plain and simple... So we push HIM to be more vocal and combative but NOT his followers... this just doesnt make sense...
Your argument just is not valid... let the media try and spin things against us... every time they push a video of Dr. Paul being combative on stage or the followers being combative, it is more media... perhaps a message will sink in through repetiveness.... DR. PAUL IS FOR CHANGE, DR. PAUL IS AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT, DR. PAUL IS NOT FOR THE SAME-OLE-SAME-OLE
I truly think this is what the people of USA want to hear... if not then the candidacy is DOOMED...
Your policy of non-confrontation with the media is DEFINATELY doomed as is the, lets be NICE policy ALSO doomed...
Good stuff, well said IMHO
*** God bless Ron Paul ***
* Ron Paul For President *
______________________
*** God bless Ron Paul ***
* Ron Paul For President *
I think you said it well. A
I think you said it well. A happy band of Ron Paulers is different from an angry mob. It has caused me to wonder what people think of me with my Ron Paul sign. I hope they think I like small government, not that I am a mean, crazy person.
Where is the outrage with Republicans? Going into the Ron Paul Revolution tirade with people I know only gets me angrier, and convinces few. I have the best conversations with Democrats. Republicans are loyal and they will support their president, even to their own demise. Sad.
Ron Paul could help himself and our cause by trying to be more presidential. I agreed 100% with his comment on the Iranain boats at the SC debate, but he hurts himself, and all of us, by engaging in hyperbole. He needed to agree that not attacking the small boats was the right thing to do. period. An overall message of not engaging into preemptive war is good, but going off on the Gulf of Tonkin was over the top. These Republicans need baby steps and they would listen more.
Also, saying we are broke is hyperbole. He needs to do a better job explaining the decline of the dollar without sounding so hysterical. I still love RP, and he'll forget more than I'll ever know. I want him to continue to tell the truth, but selling freedom to stupid america isn't going to be easy. They would rather be entertained and think they are voting for the winner.
You are like them.
Just like the public won't learn economics until they start to suffer. Just like the public won't believe in a humble foreign policy until more bodies and debt piles up. Just like the public won't value their privacy until they are personally violated. etc, etc.
I was saying this would happen in October, repeatedly and with a logical defense of my position backed by years of relevant professional experience. Others said it too. Not only did I warn of the kook label, I produced statistics on "seniors and soccer moms" and spent my time devising flyers and a tv ad that would speak to those groups.
Most people don't truly listen. They believe what they want to believe, in the sense of what they need to believe to reinforce their identity. Changing those beliefs requires pain. Peter just shared his. -JP
The first 5 million supporters of Dr. Paul are 'early adopters.' The next 10 million will require a modified approach.
I've said this a dozen times
in a dozen different posts... but never as well as you just did. Thank you.
One of my co-workers the other day (who suports RP's ideas) said; "If Ron Paul wants to get elected his supporters are going to have to shut the hell up."
Over simplification, but that idea is in there somewhere.
Be Blessed
wants are unlimited, means are scarce...
....where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY. 2 Corinthians 3:17(b)
***wants are unlimited, means are scarce...***
Very strong and valid points
Peter Martin is right.
His points are valid and could prove to be extremely valuable.
Like it, or not, they carry weight and we should all be mindful of them, and in my humble opinion heed them.
PASSION is a GREAT thing to exhibit for Ron Paul the man and his candidacy for President... however, crossing the (sometimes fine) line into being over zealous or worse yet angry and obnoxious - no matter the well intentioned/legitimate reason(s) - does NOT and will not win votes for Dr. Paul on a grand scale.
Read Peter's heartfelt letter again.
Think about it.
Think about it from outside of the "Revolution box".
Peter Martin is right.
Same as Dr. Ron Paul's message is right.
I commend both for speaking the truth outright and without apology.
I agree with you here somewhat.
How many news articles was he labled a "libertarian" instead of Republican.
How many news articles told outright lies (even now they are declaring Huckabee to be the only one against the IRS)
Tin foil hat crap at every turn.
Angry, crazy, spambots....
Yadda, yadda...
Old Media is still VERY powerful. Thats why we have to hit the streets, knock on doors, sit down and very politfully tell folks about Dr. Paul. The man.
I to was once a proclaimer that this is about the message of liberty, but now, however, to win on Super Tues, we have to start selling the man.
www.votejasonthompson.us
www.votejasonthompson.us
Respectfully disagree with portions of your article
You bet we're angry and I sincerely believe we are completely justified to express that anger in a non-violent way of course. I don't know many ordinary people who are not angry with the current administration or the economy or the status quo in federal, state, and local government . We are not being represented as a people! This is a war against the media don't you see that? Do you seriously believe we can appease a medium that has such control over what the American people get to see by playing nice? Can you separate the Mainstream Media from this PARADIGM? I am sorry, It is well beyond that. They have shown their teeth and now we are supposed to back down? I dare say not. These neocon scum are dead serious folks and will not relinquish total control of our electoral process! We have to wrestle it from them. Plain and simple we need not only a majority vote but also superior numbers of delegates. It is embarrassingly easy to become a delegate especially seeing as how most people are disenfranchised with the political process and have been for many years.
We need boots on the ground now! The way to gain a majority is exposure. We need precinct Captains who will take responsibility for presenting Dr. Paul's superior message for a small area of people, and in turn recruit other people to be responsible for their neighborhood and so on. Thats grassroots effort. I saw Michael Dukakis on PBS last week and he stated that the reason he lost was because he did not emphasize a precinct by precinct canvassing in order to get his message out. The average person voting knows very little about the candidate they support because they could care less about the entire process or are trying to avoid voting altogether to keep from being inundated with jury duty warrants. We have to empower these disenfranchised brothers and sisters out there by supplying them with some honest information to help them get motivated to actually vote. Let's face it, did a fancy add bring you to this REVOLUTION? I think not, if your like me i stumbled across Ron Paul's message and I couldn't believe there was someone in Politics that spoke the truth the way he does. This led me to become more educated about everything concerning our government, the political process our history everything.
As far as looking kooky and eclipsing the candidate, I'm not sure I agree with you there. Enthusiasm for a candidate is now seen as kooky? Sacrificing precious time with your loved ones to stand on a freezing street corner In complete solidarity with people you don't even know is kooky? That's an interesting viewpoint and I welcome your explanation so that I may understand your point better because at this time I just can't wrap my mind around your logic, no disrespect intended LIBERTYINMO.
Warmest regards,
Stephen Dupont
Warmest Regards
Stephen Dupont
New Bedford, Massachusetts
It is entirely about Character
Our character as much as Ron Paul's character. His life and his voting record in Congress are untouchable by the media - they can find no fault with either. Us on the other hand... most of us they can easily find fault with and exploit it. I believe that the campaign tanking these past two weeks is 100% due to us giving the media fuel for the fire. We need to remember that what we do totally reflects on the integrity of the Man we support. If there is any tarnish on his reputation - it is because we tarnished it. Everything we do we must think "will this help or hurt the campaign". The bullshit about chasing reporters (whether they are neo-con crap or not) has to stop. Yelling and screaming at people or chanting 911 has to stop.
You do make good points that we all need to be precinct leaders and out there promoting Ron Paul and his message of Liberty... and also about each of us becoming delegates. But think of it this way... you just get done talking to someone that actually likes what you've told them about Ron Paul and then they turn on the TV to see MSM showing RP supporters throwing snowballs at a reporter yelling f-you. Yeah, there goes another vote out the window. Be real. It is entirely about US - because the man is clean as snow. We need to clean up to. After the election - raise hell... now, play smart and win the battles that need to be won.
Joe
lets not tar and feather everyone
There are a lot of RP supporters who *are* doing the right things, who *are* actiing in a responsible, respectable manner. But the sad thing is it only takes 1% of them to act like jerks - however valid their complaints may be - to put us all, including RP, in a bad light.
I'll also differ in another point. While one can make a split between 'elect RP' and 'further the "revolution"', the tactics for both must be more or less the same. Radicals are just that - radical. They are a small minoriity to start and rarely, if ever, become larger. So if you want to elect RP, you must make your case in a manner which draws in the larger audience - mainstream voters. If you want the ideas of RP to be held more universally, you need to present them in a way that does not make people run away from you or fear being associated with you and your ideas.
rant.st views on finance, politics and science
gedankenexperiment.dk views on finance, politics and science
Most People don't vote on Policy issues
They have a general sense of policy, basically Republican (low taxes, tough on defense) or Democrat (Social programs, moderate defense policies) .
Beyond that, they vote on Personalities. McCain is gaining In large part because of his so-called war hero status ( if you talk to anyone who IS a real war hero, they know there is alot of ambiguity here, but the mob doesn't get this.) Obama is doing so well because of his ability to give motivational speeches. Just ask the general p[ublic why they vote for someone and they will scare the hell out of you with there answer.
To tell you the truth, after this campaign I am convinced that the real problem with the country is the Old media. Despite all our bluster, it is still very powerful in shaping public opinion, much more so than even I thought.
IF we want more reasonable politicians, we have to fight the media first, and change it.