What should we do in the mean time? and thru summer

Ron Paul's Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots Will Go Home on September 5. The Hard Corps Will Stay. Phase 2 Will Begin.
Gary North
Jan. 18, 2008

In December, 1776, Tom Paine wrote a booklet, the first installment of a series known as The Crisis. It opened with these words, which have become famous:

THESE are the times that try men's souls.
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Washington's troops were steadily going home. Their terms of service had run out. This continued all through 1777. He had copies of this booklet read to his troops, freezing in the snow of Valley Forge, the next winter. This persuaded the hard core of his troops to stay with the Continental Army.

Like Paine, I am writing this report early. Why? Because Ron Paul is now in a similar situation as Washington was in early 1777. The crisis has not hit yet. When the national Republican convention is over on September 5, his troops will be tempted to go home. It is then that the next phase of Ron Paul's campaign must get started.

VALLEY FORGE, 2008

The media blackout is on. How many Ron Paul supporters know that he got more votes in Michigan than Thompson or Giuliani? The media blackout, initiated by Fox News, has been successful. I said it would be the day after Fox made the announcement.

http://www.garynorth.com/public/2928.cfm
On January 16, PBS's "News Hour" ran a segment on the Republican campaign in South Carolina. It covered the big three: Romney, McCain, and Huckabee. Then the narrator introduced brief segments on "the other candidates." There was one on Giuliani and another on Thompson. Ron Paul was not mentioned.

This blackout is systematic and it is self conscious. It will continue. The days of easy recruiting are over.

This means that Phase 1 of the Ron Paul campaign has reached the hard slogging phase. It is time to face the facts. There will be no more multi-million dollar fund-raising. People will not send money to what they perceive as a lost cause. "Ron Paul for President in 2008" is a lost cause.

But it was always a lost cause. It was a hook. It hooked far more people and far more money than Dr. Paul could have imagined. This has made the Ron Paul presidential campaign a potentially transforming cause -- just not a presidential cause.

I have read that Ron Paul has 100,000 email addresses of supporters. I have previously written that his data base will be the the key to Phase 2. I compared this data base with the list of Goldwater's 1964 donors, which Richard Viguerie assembled in 1965. This led to Viguerie's emergence as the kingmaker in the New Right.

I think Viguerie must have read my analysis. He has now set up a website to get as many of these names as he can, even though he has not publicly supported Ron Paul's candidacy. To suggest that he supports Ron Paul is naive. He has said specifically that he does not support him or any candidate. This is about business. He knows a direct-mail gold mine when he sees one. He is going to get Ron Paul's supporters to sign up with his site. He will put those names to profitable use in his company.

My argument is that Dr. Paul will put those names to even better use.

The Republican national convention (Sept. 1-4) will be the visible end of Phase 1. Ron Paul's supporters now must then either move on to Phase 2 or else move on to the some new adventure, just as Don Quixote moved on.

The question is: What can Ron Paul do to keep the hard core where they belong after September 4, which is in the political trenches at the local level? They signed up to serve. But for how long? They signed up much as George Washington's troops signed up: for one brief term of service. Most of his troops went home after a year. A few stayed. Those troops became the Continental Army.

PHASE 2

I have previously described Phase 2. It must focus on the development of a national cadre of volunteers who are ready to commit for at least a decade of hard, boring work in the trenches of local politics. I described this campaign here:

http://www.garynorth.com/public/2936.cfm
Ron Paul will soon be at the point where the summer soldiers and sunshine patriots will drift home. I suspect most will. But a hard core will not, assuming that he presents them with a practical program of local political action. If he does not do this, then the 2008 campaign will be seen in retrospect as a fluke.

The question is now one of timing. The national campaign goes on. He can meet with supporters, gather more emails, and motivate his followers to get others to contact www.RonPaul2008.com. The campaign is recruiting precinct volunteers. https://voters.ronpaul2008.com/grassroots This is the correct strategy. His supporters need to become familiar with precinct politics -- not for just one campaign but permanently.

The crucial question is: What will he and they do after the Republican national convention?

This campaign can become a decisive turning point in the history of the politics of American Constitutionalism. But will it?

MAX WEBER'S CALL TO ACTION

In 1919, the German sociologist Max Weber [Mawx Vayber] spoke to a group of students at the University of Munich. Germany had suffered a major military defeat. The monarchy was gone. Weber gave a lecture called "Politics as a Vocation." He ended his lecture with a description of what it takes to be a political leader. That person must strive for what appears to be the impossible.

Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth -- that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word.
That describes Ron Paul. But what of his followers? Weber continued:

And even those who are neither leaders nor heroes must arm themselves with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all hopes. This is necessary right now, or else men will not be able to attain even that which is possible today. Only he has the calling for politics who is sure that he shall not crumble when the world from his point of view is too stupid or too base for what he wants to offer. Only he who in the face of all this can say 'In spite of all!' has the calling for politics.
This is what it will take to return this country to Constitutional liberty.

Here is where the battle will be won or lost: in local politics. This is the slow boring of hard boards. This is Phase 2.

I served as Ron Paul's research assistant in his first term in Congress, 1976. I have spent the last three decades in direct mail. I know my business. Trust me: he has the money and the mailing lists to create long-term havoc for the anti-Constitutionalists in both parties. Phase 2's success will depend on the tenacity of his supporters and their capacity for grunt work.

How about you? If you're not sure, read ex-Communist Douglas Hyde's book, Dedication and Leadership. Then read Luke 9:62 and 14:28-30. Then decide.

© 2005-2008 GaryNorth.Com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Reply With Quote

Meetup groups and put together a lawsuit to the Secretary of State to decertify the voting machines. It worked (kind of) in California and now Georgia has one going.

I have no doubt that Ron Paul will win by a majority vote if supporters are doubled. But not if the vote count is done in a criminal matter.

Next steps for Ron Paul suporters: Keep up the Hope!
Ideas for Ron Paul supporters to implement in their own neighborhoods and precincts in order to keep the Ron Paul revolution going.by Patricia Mikkelson
(Libertarian)

What’s the next step? In the first part of Ron Paul's campaign, he achieved national name recognition among conservatives, democrats, independents, libertarians and people who have never been involved in political action in their lives. He raised over $28 million, assembled a huge postage-free internet data base. He also got network TV interviews all over YouTube, as well as the free-lance videos produced by creative supporters which are a permanent record for those who come on board later. Meetups all over world have self-organized in order to promote Ron Paul, and dozens of very effective websites feature Ron Paul.

A freedom movement the likes that history has never seen has been started, and hopefully will continue no matter what happens.However, some people might feel discouraged because of various things connected to Ron Paul’s campaign, including the low percentage of votes for Ron Paul in the Super Tuesday elections.

Therefore, I offer this proposal in order to encourage, and to give ideas as to how to proceed from here.

What I am about to describe is a strategy that involves neighborhood/precinct organizing that has no need for the mass media publicity. With the campaign’s move towards getting a precinct leader in each precinct, and providing tools that will support them in getting people out to vote, this is just the beginning of precinct/neighborhood organizing which could in the long run make a huge difference.

Every day that Ron Paul stays in this race is another day of gathering e-mail addresses, zip codes, and potential precinct leaders, team members, and community organizers.

I think that about 75% of his campaign spending should be devoted to running ads that yield e-mail addresses, zip codes, and donations for running more ads. If even 5% were used to hire someone to develop a training program to recruit and teach precinct leaders to organize their neighborhoods (see ideas below), then all of these addresses, emails, zip codes could be very, very useful. If each leader were provided with these names, then they already have a core group of people to call upon to attend a "Community Gathering" which is outlined at www.myspace.com/communitygathering

The beauty of the Community Gathering, which I developed over the past two years with an immense amount of research and practice, is that it serves a similar purpose to the very successful meetups that have self-organized around the Ron Paul freedom movement. The Community Gathering is a non-threatening, non-political way to bring neighbors together to work on solving local problems that everyone can agree on, such as safety, emergency preparedness, economic concerns, access to healthy food and clean water, and electing local, state, and national officials who are accountable to the people’s wishes.

By inspiring people to come together to act on issues that directly affect them, creating an environment that makes it easy for all ages and backgrounds to attend, and having Ron Paul supporters be the core group which facilitates the community gathering, people will get to know people who support Ron Paul. They will come to respect and appreciate these supporters and their commitment to bettering their neighborhood.

The simple structure of the community gathering encourages decentralization of power by providing an environment which makes it easy for people with similar interests and goals to find others to help them achieve those goals.

Here is a sample scenario.

Step 1. A Ron Paul supporter decides to organize his precinct. Let’s call this person "Jean", Precinct Organizer, or community organizer, or neighborhood organizer.. Jean goes to www.ronpaullive.com where there is (soon to be) a forum which teaches people how to start organizing their neighborhood by sponsoring a Community Gathering. Jean learns easy steps to organize the neighborhood. Jean finds other Ron Paul supporters through canvassing efforts which are focused on getting out the vote. Jean invites Ron Paul supporters to join in efforts to organize neighborhood even further after the primary in their state.

The key aspect of the Community Gathering is that people can find others who have similar interests, and they can get projects started with support from one or more people who are also interested. We saw that happening over and over again with Ron Paul meetups, as well as the networks that were created from all the interactions and encouragement.
If organizers want to buy this book THE LIVABLE NEIGHBORHOODS PROJECT http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/atn/index.html has step by step guides to helping people work together to better their neighborhood. But, even if this is not available, just the act of people gathering in conversation, encouraged by people coming together weekly, is powerful.

At a Community Gathering, a person wanting to start a Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness plan can stand up and announce briefly his or her desire to do this, and find other who are interested. They can then meet in a small group during the Community Gathering to formulate the plan and get focused. They can start an online group to discuss this idea on the Community Gathering group which can be formed at www.neighborhoodlink.com or they can form a yahoo group at www.yahoogroups.com Interest can be garnered at upcoming Community Gatherings, informal conversations in the neighborhood, bulletin board postings on kiosks set up in the neighborhood, and on line emails sent out to on-line participants. A neighborhood newsletter would also be very useful.

The social networking site set up at www.ronpaullive.com are a cross between myspace.com and meetup.com with a potential (plans in the future) for participants to make a livelihood as they promote community in their own back yard. Community organizers can use this resource to get support. Discernment needs to be used as to whether or not the web site can be used in the neighborhood. Having the name "Ron Paul" as part of the name might turn some people off—supporters of other candidates. This will be a valuable place for people to network and support each other as they do in promoting Ron Paul.

As the Community Gathering starts showing productivity in meeting weekly, trust is built, confidence is garnered, and more and more people participate. Ron Paul supporters can choose to have a sub-group where they focus mainly on electing Ron Paul if they like—others might choose to have a group focusing on electing other candidates.Because this is a decentralized, free space to meet, whatever people want to promote is allowed as long as the Bill of Rights is honored.

The Bill of Rights can be the guide line for the Community Gatherings in order to prevent them from degenerating into gatherings that take away people’s rights, as a way of providing guiding principles for the participants, and as a way to promote Ron Paul’s values that we all share in an objective manner. By using the Bill of Rights, we also promote, celebrate, and educate about freedom.

My vision is that Ron Paul supporters, guided by the teachings at the Ron Paul Academy, will have the following positive impact on their own neighborhood:

1. Be examples of what Ron Paul stands for, and thus inspire people to vote for him and get more involved in the election.

2. Encourage people to learn about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and thus be more educated about whom to elect for local officials. Ron Paul could use some of his funds developing and then selling (to make more money for the campaign) teaching materials for all ages, including home schoolers.

3. Encourage people in the neighborhood to run for local office, starting at precinct worker. Make it easy for them to do so. Find people to run who are in alignment with the constitution, and who will be accountable to the people.

4. Neighborhoods will become thriving, self-reliant places because of the encouragement, leadership, and resources provided by Ron Paul supporters. Community gardens, rain water catchments, less dependence on the grid for energy can be high priorities, even within cities. www.selfsufficientish.com

5. If there is a need for emergency preparedness, such as martial law, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or a need for a national strike, the people will be prepared, rather than give up their freedom for security. They will have their own security in the form of such things as growing food in their front yards and parks, having an emergency plan, finding all kinds of ways to be self sufficient, even in urban areas. www.selfsufficientish.com and http://www.3steps.org

6. Encourage involvement in local parties in order to build bridges of understanding and to inspire people to think about candidates who really have our best interests at heart. Ron Paul supporters can make friends with Republicans in order to inspire them to both get involved in their own neighborhood precincts, as well as to inspire them to support Ron Paul. http://ronpaulmeetups.wordpress.com/cooperating-with-the-rep...

7. Make friends with policemen by working with them on such projects as neighborhood watch. Educate them about the importance of their vow to only uphold constitutional laws www.jackmclamb.com

8. Encourage support of local businesses and alternative forms of currency,barter, and credit systems including Time Banking so that the local economies can thrive. www.timebanks.org

9. Support life-long learners and homeschoolers by creating a Learning Center, where education about involvement in our political system and learning about the constitution is made available, as well as other skills which help us to take responsibility for our lives, including gardening, holistic health, self-reliant living, and healthy relationships.

10. Find creative ways to increase numbers in the group, by using newspaper ads, free publicity, letters to the editor, call in on talk shows, do service projects that get positive media attention.

11. Develop a governing structure which encourages direct participation by everyone in the neighborhood, so that decentralization of government can be experienced up front and personal in day to day living, rather than in theory. www.sociocracy.info

12. Develop relationships with neighboring precincts, and find ways to cooperate. Create an alliance of all the precincts in a city, county, region, state, etc. Have conferences based on such self organizing principles as Open Space Technology which encourages people to learn how to be ever more effective in the reaching of their goal of liberty. www.openspaceworld.org

13. Focus on common political concerns that EVERYONE can agree on, such as having an honest vote www.blackboxvoting.com

14. Encourage an atmosphere of non-violence and harmony by practicing such time-tested methods of dialogue such as Non-violent communication www.cnvc.org

15. Find ways to cooperate with churches, non-profits organizations, businesses and even government agencies within your neighborhood.

16. Provide leadership training so that all participants, young and old, can be effective, principled centered, servant leaders. http://www.bizsum.com/2page/b_Principle-CenteredLeadership.php

17. Continue adding to this list every way to help every person young and old get actively involved in both bettering the neighborhood, and elect officials that will be accountable and uphold the constitution

18. Implement all of Gary North’s suggestions by using the Community Gathering as a decentralized, grass roots organizing structure http://www.garynorth.com/public/2928.cfm

19. Ron Paul supporters need to do everything they can to exemplify the qualities that a free citizen would exhibit, and be the change they want to see happen.

20. Learn about strategic non-violence to inspire people to think differently about revolution. Use the immense amount of research and experience which has now been compiled about strategic non-violence to be effective. www.aeinstein.org

21. Learn about the steps to fascism, and how we are so vulnerable because of our laws. Be prepared to defend anyone in our neighborhood who is a victim of injustice. google America: From Freedom to Fascism

22. Learn from neighborhoods which have been successful. Know that amazing things have been done to transform neighborhoods into thriving, self-reliant communities already and we don’t have to recreate the wheel. However, many of these neighborhoods do emphasize relying on the government for help, or do not emphasize the importance of upholding the bill of rights and constitution. If Ron Paul supporters who are truly in alignment with Ron Paul’s values spearhead a nationwide neighborhood/precinct organizing effort simultaneously, it is possible that we truly could have a non-violent revolution which could make profound and lasting change.

If I could have anything I wanted, I would want Ron Paul to take notice of this idea and to promote it and support it. He is a leader that people trust. If he was willing to get behind the ideas I have proposed, this would be very powerful indeed.

You can read more about what inspired me to write this proposal at

http://www.garynorth.com/public/2928.cfm

Conclusion

In the two years before I started getting involved with the Ron Paul freedom movement, I spent thousands of hours researching and networking with others who are passionate about a neighborhood-based grassroots change. I was convinced that getting involved in politics was a waste of time. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ron Paul was inspiring people to get involved in bettering their lives and their world. How to motivate people to get involved in neighborhood betterment was the biggest question I had.

I decided to focus all my attention on specifically working to get Ron Paul elected. I shifted from talking to everyone about my Community Gathering idea, to supporting Ron Paul. What I found was that most people whom I talk to and attempt to inspire to support Ron Paul are so wrapped up in their personal concerns that they don’t even take the time to watch the dvd or do the google search. It also caused division, for people have such different opinions about politics.
I love the interactions with Ron Paul supporters every week in our meetup, and that kept me inspired and motivated. I needed to drop out of going to weekly meetings, because I moved back to the country where I dream of setting up a village based on many of Ron Paul's values. But at the same time, I see that the majority of people still need something more than an inspiring leader like Ron Paul to wake them up. They need to have connection with people in their own neighborhoods.

They need to see that their immediate needs are being addressed. They need to have a level of trust built up with Ron Paul supporters so they can be more receptive to the freedom ideas presented by Ron Paul. Some people need to be spoon fed, in a sense. The terrifying idea that we are no longer living in a free society can be overwhelming to some people who already have enough personal problems to deal with. As people get their basic needs for a sense of belonging, purpose, even physical needs such as healthy food—they will be ready to learn and act upon the seemingly insurmountable problems that we face.

The primary goal is for neighborhoods to become self-sufficient as much as possible, so they are not dependent on government. If it gets to a point that there is a break down in the economy, or the Federal Government tries to impose martial law, or we decide that we will strike in order to get our troops out of Iraq, the Community Organizers can be influential locally to block all attempts of the Feds to impose controls over the local economy

The biggest issue is creating credibility through building trust. People will then trust the federal government less as trusted friends and neighbors share the truth of what is going on. It is possible only through steady work, but work with a specific goal: to place principled people in positions of local authority-both as community organizers and in local office, so that we can enjoy freedom and prosperity now! To help neighborhoods become thriving, self-reliant communities will empower people in so many ways, including knowing that they no longer need the government for entitlements and inefficient support.

Some group will exercise such local authority if an emergency arises. It would be wise for Ron Paul supporters and others who see wisdom to have built trust with people so that they can supply wise leadership in times of emergency.

I look forward to hearing your comments and getting ideas, resources, and find out if you would like to participate in the on line training program that is almost complete.

Did you like this article?
If you did, Thumb It!
3 thumbs so far

2008 Patricia Mikkelson, all rights reserved.
Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Patricia Mikkelson only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Patricia Mikkelson is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

Campaign for constitutional congressional delegates that make the November ballot.

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/34712

Go President Paul!

’In accordance with the principles of double-think it does not matter if the war is not real. For when it is, victory is not possible. The war is not meant to be won, but it is meant to be continuous.’ (George Orwell, 1984)

Might I humbly, yet, strongly suggest viewing this post: Synergy Explosion. There is a discussion there regarding specific strategies to lend our experience and availability to the states yet to caucus/vote in primaries.

Let's double the Ron Paul Revolution power in the remaining states, and throw those folks for a loop! They are asking for our help -- let's give it!!!

I think you should read this: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/34586. Hope it helps

I heard some people are planning the Freedom Concert. I forgot where... but I think 4th of July.
Anyone can help?

PLUS we can start making videos for Constitution Money Bomb:
http://www.constitutionmoneybomb.com/

....and fight for paper ballots!

Support Ron Paul Republicans in your state!

Well there are a couple of new books out, like the new book by Dr. Paul, also Jesse Ventura has a new book called "Don't Start the Revolution Without Me".. So I think we should read these books, as well as any other books. In fact lets all READ and turn the TV off for a while shall we?

Also we can continue to spread the word of Dr. Paul and keep donating to keep this campaign going. I look forward to a great year with all my fellow (and diverse) Ron Paul Supporters...

Regards,
David F
www.myspace.com/asymptote

I and several people on this site have been asking the same question.
can we have a dedicated bit of space on here with this very subject only.

'I always think of all you canvassors and precinct leaders at the front line.
Good luck out there &Thank you. It's appreciated'.-fip

Demand your money be exchanged for sound currency. Bring Thousands of people who demand their money be exchanged for silver as guaranteed by the constitution.

Canvassing probably won't be effective once the primaries for your state are over as far as the actual election, but that doesn't mean that you have to slow down your message for freedom. The actual election is now in the hands of the delegates, but the message is still ours to distribute. Keep spreading the word to everyone.