FROM THE DAILY DOSE: The National Delegates Will Decide — And We Can Take the Delegates

The National Delegates Will Decide — And We Can Take the Delegates
February 21st, 2008 by Dan McCarthy
Can Ron Paul win? Is the battle for the Republican nomination over? Field Coordinator Adam de Angeli provides the answers in this important message, which he asked me to pass along:

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

-Peter F. Drucker

Hello Precinct Leaders,

On Tuesday we taped a video featuring campaign manager Lew Moore and national field director Debbie Hopper. The video is available on YouTube. In the video, Lew answers questions submitted by supporters, and Debbie discusses the importance of the Precinct Leader program. Debbie also announces the “Ring for Ron” program, which will be released in the next few days. This improved system will replace our “call a voter in a state with an upcoming election” program within the Precinct Leader system. It will have specific messages targeted for each state, and a far better phone list of identified Ron Paul supporters that we must ensure will vote on their election/caucus date. You will not need to be a registered Precinct Leader to take part in this program, and supporters will be given a particular state to call (as opposed to the program now, where each call goes to a random state within a specified range).

The points that Lew and Debbie emphasize in the video are precisely those we need to focus on right now: turning out at the conventions to win delegates, identifying as many Ron Paul supporters as we can, and keeping our movement together in the face of discouraging results. The Precinct Leader program is our armory: this is our database of volunteers, of supporters, of coordinators, and of results.

Regardless of the mainstream media’s interpretation of recent events, Ron Paul is determined to stay in the presidential race. Dr. Paul must defeat his Congressional opponent in the March 4 primary and must campaign in his district for the time being, but in the meantime there is still much we can do to win Dr. Paul delegates to the Republican National Convention. Although we are well into the primary season, no primary and no caucus, not even in sum, determines the nominee. The nominee is decided at the National Convention, by the delegates chosen from state conventions, from those chosen from district and county conventions. It is tempting to assume the race a “lost cause” and abandon it for simpler pursuits, but there are two very important reasons not to: because the assumption is false, and because the assumption debilitates our movement.

Given poll results, media coverage, and the like, it may be hard to believe that Dr. Paul can still win the nomination. But you must understand that the nomination process is not a fixed procedure governed by the Law of the Primary; the Republican Party is a private organization, free to change its rules at any time. It may not be customary, but it certainly cane be done.

If we turn out for the county conventions as we turned out in the streets, we will decide who goes to the state convention. Likewise, a strong turnout at a state convention gives us the ability not only to elect national delegates but to change the state party rules—to unbind the national delegates, for example. It might be a long shot, but this is no different from two months ago.

A great number of disgusted patriots in the Republican Party will not suffer a nominee who refuses to defend the right to bear arms and to acknowledge the need for a strong border. And deep down, they know that every empire is a setting sun. If we don’t show up at the conventions, we’ll be forgotten. But if we turn out, if we prove where the future of the party lies, other Republicans will first accept and soon believe in us.

The only obstacle, then, is our own determination and confidence. This is why the “we cannot win” attitude is so debilitating.

In Washtenaw county, Michigan, every Ron Paul supporter who showed up to the county convention–including people who had not even been registered members of the Republican Party—was elected as a delegate to the state convention. At a county convention in Alaska, Ron Paul supporters comprised the majority of delegates in attendance, and they not only elected themselves to the state convention, they dramatically altered the local party’s statement of principles and other rules.

If enough of us believe in our movement and stay with it, we will triumph. Now is the time to act. Call your state party, get the deadline for filing to be a national delegate, get the date of the county conventions, learn the rules, and rally your troops. This is our Valley Forge, where the citizen patriots who stay in the fight will emerge well-trained political soldiers.

Any substantial number of Ron Paul delegates to the national convention will advance our cause of restoring the Republican Party, and thus the Republic itself. This restoration is not only desirable, but desperately needed. Scattering ourselves over an assortment of alternative parties, interest groups, and grassroots organizations will not work. We derive strength from unity. And to put it bluntly, we have well-financed enemies who aren’t above posing as friends. Beware the dividers.

So stay with us, keep fighting, and remember, the future is unwritten!