What exactly is Ron Paul doing?
What exactly is Ron Paul doing? This is what I think is going on...
1) Scaling back on staff. This makes ALOT of sense in so many ways. Of course, the Super Tuesday states are done. Conserving money is always a good idea. But also, I don't think I've ever read much good about the Ron Paul official staff. If anything, I've read that they get in the way. There was that Alaska fiasco. Many were calling for Ron Paul to dump his staff over performing poorly in certain states. The perception of the grassroots was that the Ron Paul staff were a hinderance. This may not be true, but simply the perception was enough to keep people from donating, to keep people from being fully supportive as they might otherwise be. Truly, this group of Ron Paul supporters LOVE to do stuff all on our own with minimal oversight. It operates like a free market. The official Ron Paul staff could be considered "big government", and Ron Paul reduced the size of his staff exactly when it was necessary to do so.
2) Retreating to his Congressional district ... here is what I think is going on with that. First, yes obviously it is good for Ron Paul to keep his congressional seat. And he "says" that there is virtually a zero percent chance of the convention being brokered.
The field was spread out, and as constructed (Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee), the conservative vote was split between 3 and the moderate/liberal/neocon vote went to McCain. When Mitt left (the choice of many conservatives) this put Ron Paul and Huckabee (yes I know huckabee is a big spender, but he appeals to Christian conservatives) on one side, and McCain on the other as a moderate/neocon. With conservatives split between 2, and McCain still getting moderate/liberal/neocon Republicans ... this still provided an environment whereby McCain received the majority of the votes.
Ron Paul, seemingly scaling back and putting the campaign into the hands of his supporters entirely, accomplished 2 things. First it energized our self-sufficient supporters to overtake the delegate process. Second, knowing he isn't going to take many beauty contests, it propped up Mike Huckabee as the seemingly only viable conservative for people to rally around.
Is it working? Huckabee took Kansas and Louisiana's beauty contests. He almost took Washington's (he might still have when they're done reporting). The more Huckabee wins, the better the chances at a brokered convention. Its been said that Huckabee is an egomaniac, and he has stated he's not leaving the race.
Meanwhile, we have the dedicated grassroots who are willing to go to convention, but under the name of Ron Paul, as well as being stealth delegates. Would spending a bunch of money help that process? No. Would a huge campaign staff help that process? No.
So lets recap everything ...
-Ron Paul supporters are grabbing real and shadow delegates.
-Huckabee gets propped up as the choice for conservatives to stop McCain (whereas Ron Paul cannot, and it would dilute the conservative vote allowing McCain to win), thus ensuring a brokered convention.
-Paul is saving money by not advertising. This money is going to be vital after he wins the Republican Nomination and is running against the dems.
I think its a brilliant plan and its the best strategy.
so ... BECOME A DELEGATE! We are going to win the convention!
Think About This - Press Coverage in Texas
Ron Paul is the front-runner in his congressional race. By switching his emphasis to it, he can campaign in Texas and those who have maxed out on his presidential race can support his congressional race.
The press can cover him as a front-runner, and as a sidebar, presidential contender, too. His constituents, certainly, want to know he's taking them seriously, and those who decide to vote for him for congress may also do so for president.
The days when Bush Sr. and Jr. come to campaign against him there are over: he trounced them. They can't do that now, without raising his profile. This is just resource allocation. The presidential campaign has months to go, but Texas is coming up for both races.
IMissLiberty
IMissLiberty
My thoughts exactly
It makes perfect sense to switch all resources to Texas. If he can win his home state then that's a major plus point and a rallying call to the troops. The media will play it off as a humorous side note, but to his supporters it will be a big deal.
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Live Free or Die - Amen to that
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Live Free or Die - Amen to that
I think you're reading too much into this
Dr. Paul's letter was very clear - no brokered convention, he is not going to win. Instead, he wants to accumulate delegates to wield influence.
While I'm fascinated that we can win more delegates than the beauty contest says, almost all of the primaries require the delegates to vote for the winner of the state or congressional district on the first, second, and even third ballots at the convention. Even if we get Paul supporters elected as delegates, they may be bound to vote against him. So unless McCain is denied a majority of bound delegates, a very unlikely scenario, the "shadow" Paul delegates will be useful mainly for platform and other business.
Actually he said little chance for a brokered convention howeve
Actually he said little chance for a brokered convention however, it looks like Huckabee might win a whole lot of states and I don't think McCain has got a chance now. Look for it to be a brokered convention.
So everyone should
make sure they become a delegate, just in case.
Here's how to become a delegate in your state:
http://www3.webng.com/ronpaul/delegatestates.html
I was thinking the same about the Huckster!
HA!
We NEED him to stop McCain!!!
We still need to focus on the upcoming states though - especially getting people to realize that Paul IS still running.
Vermont should be great for us - NO Evangelicals and VERY Anti-War!
They actually have arrest warrants out for Bush and Cheney if they ever come to Vermont, and they are suing the Federal Government to send their National Guard troops back home.
There is NO reason McCain should win Vermont. None at all. He is Bush Cubed!
Also, Huckster got 5% in Maine - Vermont is very similar to Maine; with Romney out there is only ONE choice for Vermonters.
But, we need a MAJOR grassroots push there. Vermont has been totally ignored :(
Paul MUST open an office there - he should send Ken Lindell from Maine over there - he did a great job in Maine - he is areal Libertarian-Republican, former legislator from Maine - he is NOT one of these bogus campaign hires.
I may be a vegetarian, but I'll defend to the death my right to eat pork!
I may be a vegetarian, but I'll defend to the death my right to eat meat!
Interesting take
Push for delegates.
Ron Paul is a genius!!
Now I begin to understand how he could win his congressional seat over and over and over again!
It make sense, all of it!!!!
:O
No need to save for General Elections
If he gets the nomination through our plan then there will be a FLOOD of money from all sides. All RP supporters PLUS other republicans who will only have heard about him after the nom. He will strike it big. So don't save for that time. Run ads in key states up to the convention.
We are no longer "media vote count centric"
We are now "delegate count centric."
It will be state GOP conventions that will set up the Minneapolis drama.
Play possum......the doc is leading the way....so....play possum....it is fun and takes very little effort. Be a delegate/possum....just sit over in the corner and snooze.
"What's he doing over there?"
"Don't know....jess looks likes a possum....looks likes heez a sleepin....I wouldn' pay him no mind....until about the third ballot.
Unify
lol
lol
I agree with most of what you said
except for the fact that I think Ron Paul can raise more money for the general election. I think the 5 million or so he has left should be directed to political advertising in states like Texas and Ohio or somewhere else. Winning a state or two or three still matters a great deal to me. The more ammo going into the convention the better. Sure, Huck can neutralize Insane, but I think Paul's viability in the eyes of those wayward delegates will increase once he wins a state.
But I could be wrong. Who knows.
Paul won Louisiana, he won
Paul won Louisiana, he won Washington. If he is going to win, they stop counting, they change the rules, etc. The media will never under any circumstances (barring 60%+ of popular vote) say Ron Paul won a state.
I think Paul is brilliant, he's been involved with politics for over 30 years. He is a historian and he knows how Lincoln and Garfield won their conventions.
Honestly I don't know what he could most effectively do with his money, perhaps advertise in Texas, but then again if anyone already knows about Ron Paul its people in Texas. I was reading someone who worked for him in the 70s say that 80% of Paul's money should be spent in ways designed to get email addresses to communicate with our base over the long haul. I'd rather see him do that then put the cash into the MSM's hands for ad purchases. Whatever he's doing with the money, I'm sure its well thought out and I trust his ability to make those decisions.
True
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"Other" comes in 2nd in La?
I think it was Louisiana where I saw a vote count that had 30% for "other". It strikes me as suspicious.