We Are Right, But It Doesn’t Matter

this is a great point, but if you're in marketing you know that nothing sticks quite like a jingle. My previous suggestion about adopting a song and hook like Freedom Train for the campaign might serve this purpose to reach the sheep. Sometimes songs can stick in the head, and folks will go, "Oh, yeah. He's that train candidate," or "Paul is that Conductor guy," something like that. I used to write jingles in Nashville, so perhaps this is worth a thought.

We already have the tag lines, just need to target them to the right audiences:

• "The Champion of the Constitution" - values voters, Constitution Party, true conservatives
• "The Taxpayers' Best Friend" - just about everybody except the socialist liberal elite
• "Hope for America" - just about everybody, but especially younger voters and the genuine religious right (not neocons)

The rebel in me likes the R"elov"ution signs, but I am concerned about how that message will be taken by older and more conservative folks and, more seriously, the "powers that be" that might perceive it as a real threat to their stranglehold on us.

From the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

One cannot simultaneously believe in those words and that there exists such a human being that is lesser to oneself. One cannot simultaneously believe in those words and there exists a human being that cannot pursue his own happiness.

The question then becomes: Do you believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence or do you believe in sheep?

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to start counting sheep. :)

In reading this thread one post really stuck out to me and it was from Wade.
" Likewise, if someone is anti-abortion, share Dr. Paul's point-of-view on that. No need to get into a conversation about the Fed."
"Both activists and sheep like a shephard they can trust."
Those two statements kind of say it all. The main campaign is geared to the general populace because quite frankly, that is who will elect the next president. I've heard some people gripe that they felt the main campaign seemed to only want us for donations because that's all they were asking us to help do. Guess what? It worked. RP now has the MSM taking him seriously why? Because of the money raised. Sure it's awful, but I now hear all kinds of people telling me they saw 'my guy' on TV and in the papers and NOW they want to know more.
We are not out to 'convert' anyone, we are only out to get their vote for Dr. Paul. The key is to listen. I have seen volunteers get a vote for RP, only to then lose it by overwhelming the person with a gazillion other issues they had no clue or interest in, or may have disagreed with. The general population are mostly folks who set their own priorities and the difference between them and activists are that they only have one or two things that qualify to them as important. We can call them names or we can listen and find out what those issues are, address them and get votes for Dr. Paul. Right now votes are the only thing that counts. (pun intended)
One of the biggest keys to getting elected is trust. People want someone who they feel they can trust. How did Bush get elected? Trust. Why is he so reviled now? You could name many issues but it boils down to the fact that he broke that trust. So a good point for any issue or generalization of why you support RP could be... "Because I trust him completely. His record speaks for itself." You win over people with that and I guarantee "Hope for America" will have some meaning to them.
Anyway, the main campaign is what it is. They are not out to control and dictate to the meetups etc. They have some people who are very good at what they do. The truth is that as good as the meetup and grassroots groups are, if we rely totally on drawing in activists and internet we will peak and we will lose. The grassroots movement should continue full speed. If you want to help the main campaign also, then volunteer and join it.
(sorry to ramble, it's late. lol )

LOL, I cant resist after reading all the posts. Red is red and Green is green, and yes sheeple are sheeple. The proof is in the pudding so to speak in that 30% of the population of good ole US of A still supports George Bush. If that doesnt prove there are sheeple, then what does.
I talk to numberous people about Ron Paul, being in Iraq, our invasion of it, and STILL, I get, Well they attacked us first on 9/11 (yeee gods, has Bush got these sheeple BUFFALOED... Yeah thats right Buffaloed Sheeple! A good typicle quote! "Yep, them camel jockeys done did us in fust! Them is heathen people, they done wurship false gods and prophets. Bush is God's wrath on them there sandys... we should nuke the hell out of the whole mid-east and just be dun wit them, or they will cum over hear and attack us summore! Bush dun says God talks to him and he listens. So Bush doin his werk!"
And if you think I am kidding, just remember Texas (except for Austin who voted 70% to 30% against Bush in both elections) is in the BIBLE-BELT.
Its disgusting but true that Baptist, Church of Christ, and all other types of evangelical Christian Churches have their preachers pound the pulpit weekly saying Bush is God's Hand and you should go out and vote Republican cause they are the only people who will protect our family values and save us from heathen sinners, cause the Bible says only Christians are going to heaven and all others to Hell. Its sick and disgusting and Preachers just cant keep their mouths from shooting off the their flocks of sheeple.
So these sheeple go out and vote how they are told to by their preacher!
And if you dont think this is true, then you need to go to a local hard-core Christian Church and hear the maniac pound the pulpit supporting Bush and praying for God to help eradicate the heathens of the Mid-east.
THERE ARE SHEEPLE... THEY ARE CALLED PEOPLE WHO CANNOT THINK FOR THEMSELVES. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS after imbesseling, molesting children, beating their wives, getting drunk, slandering people etc.... because as long as you pray for forgiveness, then you will be forgiven... LOL...
Dont forget there are Millions of these church goers that go to churches where only men can be elders (not women because the bible tells them so)
that believe gays will go to hell (while they diddle little girls, sometimes their own kids) or go play footsie in the men's stalls, or think women libbers are all dykes and lesbians, blacks are proven lower on the evolutionary scale, any people of another religeon are going to HELL... and on and on and one...
I love the passage in the bible that says "its easier to pass a camel through the head of a pin then for someone to get to heaven" which just goes to show if their is a heaven none of those fat-asses are ever going to make it.
Also dont forget these people get so brainwashed by their Churches, that they do drive by gay-shootings, bomb abortion clinics or shoot people that work there, arent suppose to smoke or drink but get plastered everynight etc...
SO IN SHORT, WHO NEEDS THE TENS OF TENS THAT MIGHT GET OFFENDED AT BEING CALLED SHEEPLE, they are never going to vote for that liberal, pinko, commie, fag, Ron Paul anyway.
They either dont have a brain cell in their heads that arent fried, or they are just too brainwashed by their preacher to ever vote beyond what he will tell them to do.
You say again this guy is crazy.... Well dont forget about all the cults that have killed themselves AND THEIR CHILDREN because their cult leader told them to do this. And you say their arent sheeple? What about the moonies, that extract people from society and undernurish them and brainwash them into being moonies?? I could go on and on, but the fact is, the AVERAGE IQ OF THE HUMAN RACE IS 100 which is a scientific fact which is why brain dead is *0* (god lets not get into the Shivo case where the family wanted to keep a brain dead piece of flesh alive and how the nation split 50/50 on that one which is again proof of sheeple) but 100 is pretty damn low...
All I am basically saying here is A. There are sheeple. B. They deserve to be sheeple. C. they will NOT support Ron Paul but are warmongers who will go for Ghouliani or McCame, (forget Romney as they will NEVER NEVER EVER VOTE FOR HIM AS THEY CONSIDER HIM A CULTIST) and D. Ron Paul will always be a sinner and a traitor in their eyes no matter what facts, evidence, etc. you present them with!
This campaign does not need sheeple and will never attract sheeple and thus I have no problem calling alot of Americans Sheeple.... I am ashamed we have such a high degree of Sheeple in the United States as you would think we are an enlightened country, but alas, you have to drive through all the backwards towns and such to meet these good ole boy corn raised and church raised to get a drift of what ignorance there is out there.
Sheeple, Sheeple, SHEEPLE there I said it... we dont need them, we wont get them to vote for Ron Paul and they wont contribute and they are the lazy ones who sit in front of TV and watch Fox news and say "yeah baby tell it like it is to people like Neal Bortz, Rush Limbaugh, etc. etc. etc. cause Fox news is FAIR AND BALANCED and will tell you like it is and who to vote for...

Raymond, I've read your article three times. It's a lot of information and obviously something you've been think about for some time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also think you are spot on the money.

And the term "sheeple" doesn't bother me because that's what they are.
It's not really derogatory, but rather a reflection of their very busy predisposed lives. It also illustrates the point that most of them don't vote for many reasons. No doubt many simply believe that it won't make any difference anyway so what's the point. Or, whatever.

Yes, we do have two campaigns going on. Ours at the local level and headquarters. Let's face it, Ron and the campaign staff are extremely busy. They deal with innumerable issues daily and have little time to provide specific direction for local Meetup groups. Or, perhaps they do not wish to limit creativity by constraining us. Whatever? The fact is we've had very little direction from HQ. The campaign team has been here to the Bay Area twice, and I've specifically asked them to "please tell us what to do" but they don't. Yes, they ask for help when needed like the Iowa Call Program, but apparently they aren't going to micromanage us. Not going to happen. So let's get over it.

God bless them in their wisdom. But one thing they have mentioned is for all of us to behave ourselves and represent our Hero with dignity and class. And I am very proud of 99.9% of us for doing just that.

Great article. Thanks Raymond for sharing your thoughts.

I've heard it said many times that 20% of the people do 80% of the work, 20% give 80% of the donations, etc. That fits the idea behind the activist-sheep example.

The label 'sheep' shouldn't be considered a criticism as much as a fact of life. None of us have enough time to do all the 'important' things. We have to pick one or two, and then we are often 'sheepish' with the rest. There's a need to rely on others for some things in our lives.

What's more annoying than someone in your face about something they're 'on fire' about (just ask some of my friends!). Don't you remember a previous election when someone wouldn't get out of your face about how great their candidate was? Did you vote for that candidate? We need both passion AND wisdom.

Someone made a great suggestion to not knock someone else's candidate or beliefs, but maybe say that's how you felt at one time as well, until you discovered 'this.' And then see if the conversation goes anywhere.

Finally, I think there are two parts to the 'reworking' being discussed here on how to promote Ron Paul.

There's Dr. Paul himself. Others may not get as excited as us, others may not see all the details the activists do - but HE and the message he shares is why we are excited. Allow the so-called sheep to see that as well, rough edges and all. Many of us were sheep until recently, and we weren't won over by a new hair style or a perfectly delivered message (and this coming from someone who works in the media!)

He may not be as polished, he may not be the best at talking in 30 second sound bites (most of us can't - try it sometime) - that is going to keep getting better as he continues to share what he believes. He's never been on this big of a platform before - this is all new to him as well. But he isn't having to read from a script - he doesn't get flustered when the heat is turned up - because what he says is not based on his 'feelings' or 'conventional wisdom' - it's his conviction about the rule of law that won many of us over. Both activists and sheep like a shephard they can trust.

All this unsolicited advice would overwhelm a person of less conviction - my hope is he'll continue to listen to those who know him best and can make suggestions like they always have. There's wisdom in knowing 'how to live in the world, but not be a part of the world.'

Then there's us. We are the ones that need the most fine-tuning, because we're the followers, not the leader. We should not be setting the agenda, but rather continue to take our cues from the candidate. Keep clear of personal pet projects and keep the focus on the message of the messenger.

Not only does the message need to be simple and to-the-point, but also about what's most important to the people we're talking to. If your wife loves thai, you wouldn't take her out for steak and potatoes for her birthday. Likewise, if someone is anti-abortion, share Dr. Paul's point-of-view on that. No need to get into a conversation about the Fed.

And we need to remember this - if/when he gets elected, let go of any expectations that he'll deal with your pet project first (can someone say 'special interests?'). There's a lot that needs to be changed, and it won't all happen in a 4 or 8 year period. Back to the idea of selecting the one or two most important items and working on them first.

As has been said before, those supporting Dr. Paul can either help or hinder his campaign. If we take our cues from 'headquarters,' and if we have an understanding about what Dr. Paul's positions are on the issues, we can continue to be very helpful. But just as it takes nine positive comments to undo one negative, we can take this down a road we don't want it to go down fast.

It doesn't matter if we're right if others don't get it.

"Hope for America" is a fine brand, because it's an optimistic sentiment, while voters are statistically pessimistic about conditions.

Your weak attempt at dividing the American population between "sheep" and "activists" tells more about your sense of self-righteousness and constant struggle with paranoia than it does about any kind of solution.

Imagine how you'd feel if a Hillary Clinton supporter called you a "sheep." I imagine you'd be a little defensive. But here's the problem, you're not referring to any specific segment of the population -you're referring to the entirety of your fellow American citizens as "sheep," on a public forum no less! As if you have some kind of absolute truth that nobody else has.

Shame on you!

It's magical how you've managed to make the Ron Paul campaign a cliquish entity rather than a political movement for change. I can accept that the majority of Americans haven't heard the Ron Paul message, but it's completely inappropriate for you to refer them in such disparaging remarks.

"I am not a marketing major...”

No kidding!

Why don't you read a book before you do additional damage to the Paul campaign.