Talk about exponential growth!

Meetup counts you only once towards the total "members", regardless of how many "ronpaul" meetups you are a part of -- whether it is none or 100, each MeetUp user-name counts as just one member for the total -- I suspected the same thing and checked on that ages ago, and MeetUp.com verified that people are NOT double counted within a "xxx.meetup.com" set of groups.

As to the numbers being "inflated" by inactive people -- well in nearly ALL volunteer organizations, only a small percentage of people who sign up ever actually SHOW UP when it comes time to do things -- the rest are SLACKERS (just ask a local pastor -- probably has 1000 "members" of his church, but is lucky to get 200 at any given service or event, and maybe a dozen will show on a "work day") -- so while RP's 60,000 does NOT mean that all of those 60,000 people are out there every day holding signs or handing out lit, the SAME % applies to Obama and every other candidate (which means their active support is likely VERY limited -- see here: http://www.infiniteronpaul.com/meetupmaps/ ). Since RP seems to inspire people to action, our % of active people is probably higher.

Plus, not every ACTIVE supporter is online or even a member of a meetup -- I have 3 people in my area 2 that do not have computers, and another one who somehow can't seem to "click" correctly to join our local meetup -- but they are all actively distributing literature, DVD's and even yard signs (I know, I am resupplying them) -- most of them MORE actively than any of my actual "members" -- and I know the same is true of other local groups.

Also, the 1000+ number of GROUPS is actually pretty accurate. (BTW, if you were not aware, your local "Organizer" has to pay actual, real $$ to "rent" the existence of that meetup -- the Ron Paul campaign does NOT pay for these, so they are all REAL grassroots groups.)

But, within local groups, the numbers are probably somewhat "inflated" in that a group may have a purported "60" members, but most are In-Name-Only -- in part I blame MeetUp.com for this (and I have complained) because they have only the ONE member "status" or "type" -- and this causes odd problems and somewhat distorts the number of members of some local meetups.

What I mean by that is that (for example) in our area we have several meetups in adjacent counties, and most of the organizers are "members" of each other's groups so that we can cross-post files, check neighboring calendars, etc. But that also means that like 5 of my "members" are NOT actually members of my group. I *wish* that I could somehow classify them as "associates" or something else, but the best that MeetUp allows is for me to give them a "title" -- so I call them "liaison Members".

As to members from "far away" that is really up to the particular meetup organizer -- I personally do NOT allow just anyone to join, they must either live, work, campaign, or otherwise actively visit within my county AND be active in campaigning in some way (or be "liaisons" as described above) or their request to join is "nicely" refused (typically with a suggestion for them to join a more local group and link to that group).

Also, most of the Organizers that I know are somewhat reticent to "purge" people from their meetups -- none of us want to "offend" people and make them think their VOTE is not wanted -- but conversely it doesn't do anyone any good to have a group with 200 members, yet only have 3 people show up for meetings or action events; so some "purging" IS starting to happen (again, this is up to the local Organizer -- the guy or gal who is actually footing the $$ bill for the meetup group.)

Finally, BTW, if you are one of the many people who "joined" your local meetup(s) and feel that by "clicking" that join button, you are somehow "supporting" the campaign in your local area... you are deluding ONLY yourself -- instead of helping, your "click" actually makes things worse -- either quit or get off your but and at least show up for a meeting once per month -- even for just 5 minutes -- and then hand the Organizer a $5 or $10 bill, I assure you they will both appreciate that, AND put the money to good use (in our group, a fiver pays for 10 more DVD's!)

My dad has been an Obama supporter, but has recently lost interest because of religion. My dad thinks that Obama poses with religious people disingenuously.

I think my dad is opening up to Ron Paul slowly and cautiously.