Ron Paul wins a straw poll IN UTAH!
On January 15 at the Dixie Republican Forum luncheon in St. George, 5 speakers representing the Paul, Romney, Huckabee, Thompson, and Keyes campaigns participated in a panel. The representatives discussed their candidates' views on foreign policy, taxes and spending, and social issues.
After the presentations, the Forum held a straw poll; here are the results:
Paul: 28
Romney: 18
Keyes: 7
Thompson: 5 (tie)
McCain: 5 (tie)
Hunter: 4
Huckabee: 2
Giuliani: 1 (tie)
Tancredo: 1 (tie)
On the second round faceoff against the top two candidates, Ron Paul got 36 votes, while Mitt Romney came in with 32.
I was shocked when they announced Ron Paul the winner. We had a few people from the local Meetup there, but we didn't "pack" the room by any means. I completely expected Romney to walk away with the vote because of the Mormon majority in the room.
After the meeting, I had several people come up to tell me they were going to vote for another candidate, but switched their vote to Ron Paul after hearing our presentation. There were at least five people who expressed interest in joining the Meetup and/or getting bumper stickers and yard signs.
There's hope out there, people. Even behind the "Mormon Curtain." [g]
Remarkable work people!!!!!
This is what it takes to win folks, exposure. Dr. Paul's message is like selling a house for 10 bucks, its easy because his message of less government and personal responsibility is superior when compared to any other candidates platform Democrat or Republican.
Warmest Regards
Stephen Dupont
New Bedford, Massachusetts
AWESOME! I am from St. George
That is awesome. My wife and I both graduated in St. George but now live in KY. I would suspect that as more Utahan's understand the importance of the Constitution and Fiscal Responsibility this year, more will vote for RP.
The fact is that Mitt has way over spent his budget and is running on "borrowed money" - his ~$30 million loans he gave to his campaign. We can NOT run the country on borrowed money any more! What does Mitt's campaign tell us about how he would run the Government. We need to spend LESS than we bring in and pay off our debts! Not spend more and get farther in debt.
RP is the only answer for this type of fiscal conservative government.
Mitt also thinks protection is more important than freedom. This should also steer Utahan's (and Mormon) toward RP. Liberty / Freedom is more important than LIFE. Just ask our founding fathers and other forefathers.
... 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 ...
thanks
Thanks for providing your speech. It's certainly the kind of thing other supporters can use, especially in a caucus state, to speak out for Dr. Paul.
Download the full text of the speech
Here's the full speech I prepared:
http://files.meetup.com/497390/Dixie%20Republican%20Forum%20...
(Someone just pointed out to me that the date in the printout says "2006". Oops.)
The day before the event, the Forum organizer changed the format from speeches to a panel, with the presenters given 2 minutes each to speak on foreign policy, taxes and spending, and social issues. I had to trim the full speech WAY down, but I managed to get most of the good points in.
BTW, of the votes for Keyes, 3 of them were from the Keyes representative and his two guests. They drove down from Provo to be there -- I guess they couldn't find any local Keyes supporters.
No one represented Giuliani. The McCain rep backed out at the last minute. And they "assigned" two Forum participants to represent Huckabee and Thompson. The guy who was asked to speak for Huckabee told me privately that he supports Ron Paul.
Good speech, but I would
Good speech, but I would have added some things to the immigration reform section. I would have mentioned the the mistake of the 1986 amnesty and how that caused increased incentive for illegal immigration. I also would have mentioned how some republican presidential candidates and all of the democrat presidential candidates talk about a "path to citizenship" for illegal aliens, but when you ask them, they say they do not support amnesty, as if their path to citizenship plan is somehow different enough to not be amnesty. But according to the former attorney general who presided over the 1986 amnesty, these new paths to citizenship are essentially the same thing as amnesty because in the 1986 amnesty, immigrants were required to pay a certain amount of money, learn to speak English, understand American civics, pass a medical exam and register for military selective service. Those with convictions for a felony or three misdemeanors were ineligible. This is similar to what all the democrat candidates and some of the republican candidates are saying is a "path to citizenship", which sounds more acceptable and reasonable to the uninformed voter than amnesty does, but they are tyring to pull the wool over your eyes fooling you into believing they don't support amnesty when that is really what they are advocating.
Here is a link to prove it
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/opinion/24meese.html
Something else I'd do is clarify birthright citizenship a bit. There are unfortunately many people who are confused by what exactly "ending birthright citizenship" means. On discussion boards on the internet, I've seen people say they worry that RP is talking about ending automatic citizenship for all new children born in the U.S., even when both parents are citizens, not just illegal aliens. We should be specific in explaining that if you were born to parents where at least one was a citizen, you'd have nothing to worry about and would be granted automatic citizenship. You should also mention that senator Jacob Howard who co-authored he citizenship clause of the 14th amendment never intended it to grant automatic citizenship to aliens(due to the line "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, which meant full and complete jurisdiction, and illegal aliens are subject to foreign governments, not under complete and full jurisdiction of the U.S.), but somewhere along the way, the courts have mis-interpreted the citizenship clause and we need to get it back to its original meaning and intent which is what RP wants to do.
With Keyes in 3rd place
it tells you how reliable straw polls are. But, it's great that so many Paul supporters take the effort to go them.
I'm more surprised at the 2nd round of voting.
I'd expect the Ron Paul votes from the first round to all stay the same. That's 27. Then, the Keyes votes could easily go over to Ron Paul. That's 35. Who's the 1 straggler who didn't stand up in a beautiful display of neocon warmongering unity?
My previous belief that Ron Paul needs >50% of the delegates to the GOP Convention or a plurality on the first round of voting may be flawed.
Defend Liberty!
I would bet good money that all
7 of Keyes votes went to RP and 1 of Hunters.
"It does not take a majority to prevail. But rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." ~Samuel Adams while plotting the Boston Tea Party.
http://disillusionedrants.blogspot.com/
Excellent...we can't rule anyone out! Freedom!!!
Mike
Who is Ron Paul? I am Ron Paul! We are Ron Paul!
"Fire Team for Freedom" on RonPaulRadio.com
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Mike
"Fire Team for Freedom"
visit www.mikeandjake.com
Mormon's and the Constitution
If we can just get the word out to the mormon folks they'll join us in droves.
I'm writing this from my office in Lindon, UT in the heart of mormon country. Typical watercooler conversations include unfamiliar words like "fireside", "hometeacher", "elders quoram", "relief society" and "fast sunday". About 1 in 10 cars here have Ron Paul stickers. I see 0 Mitt Romney stickers in this parking lot.
Mitt Romney is still pushed down our throats by the local media. The church owned tv station and NBC affiliate KSL covers nobody but Mitt Romney. (www.ksl.com)
There is alot of Ron Paul support here though. I still have doubts that RP will win UT, but I am certain that he will take second. This is one state where Huckabee will NOT place top three.
Impressive
Yes, I too would like to learn more about your persuasive presentation.
wow...
maybe you should post some videos of your presentation? Apparently it was very effective! props!
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A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges. - Ben Franklin
presentation?
I'd be quite interested in the content of your presentation, especially if it is available for re-use.