What's going on in the Texas 14th?
Submitted by salt-of-the-earth on Sun, 02/24/2008 - 15:15
Ron Paul for Congress has solicited and received over $1 million from his supporters nationwide, most donors coming from outside his district, if I follow his donor real-time graphs on his website. I'm one of them. This money could help him or could be a real political liability, even if we can rationalize that his office affects all of us nationally. I think his campaign should address this issue head on--"Hey, 14th District folks! Your congressman is famous nation-wide! Folks all over the USA wish he could be their congressman, too. Be proud of him!", not try just to ignore it so that Chris Peden can use it as a persuasive talking point.
What concerns me more, much more, is that it looks like the Ron Paul for Congress campaign is repeating the same (losing) strategy that the Ron Paul for President has followed over the past six months. That is: drop in, give a speech or two or three to a bunch of college students (who mostly don't vote) or to a raucous rally of supporters (who need no convincing), shake a few hands of supporters, and then disappear. NO wandering the malls and factory gates pressing flesh of the unwashed minions, visiting rest homes for old folks (who DO vote), and in general NOT doing retail politicking to folks who VOTE and who are not already converted. What does Ron Paul (or his campaign managers) have against retail politicking? Dr. Paul is a brilliant thinker and inspiring writer; he's the most affable and decent fellow around; his voting record and performance in Congress are impeccable--but his performance as a campaigning politician over the past year has been less than stellar, to put it mildly.
More concerns: I go to the Ron Paul for Congress website and click on the "County Coordinators" link--and what comes up is not a single county coordinator, but the names and e-mail addresses of his campaign manager and coordinator. What the...?
And only 10 days before what may be the most critical election of his congressional career, one for which he is well-funded (>$1 million is plenty for a strong, no-excuses congressional campaign, especially for an incumbent), where's Ron Paul? Not in the 14th district, it would seem. He's in Kileen, Austin, Denton... Look at a map of Texas. Texas is bigger than most countries. He's hundreds of miles from his district. Shouldn't he be pressing flesh and buttonholing potential VOTERS in places like Galveston, Texas City, Victoria, Angleton, Alvin, Bay City, and, yes, Friendswood? I just don't know what to think.
I know some posters on this site think that Dr. Paul should be putting all his efforts into his presidential campaign, and write off his congressional seat. Maybe. But he hasn't---and a defeat in the primary for his congressional seat could be the final nail in the coffin of his presidential campaign. Imagine the triumphant crowing of the MSM : "Not only could he not win a single presidential primary, he couldn't even carry his own congressional district. Tee hee, hee! What a loser!" And no tag in American politics is more lethal that "loser".
Will someone KNOWLEDGEABLE and actually on the ground in the Texas 14th District please enlighten us aliens in other states who have donated to his Congressional campaign as to how Ron Paul is REALLY doing in his congressional re-election bid? Please tell me that I am just being a paranoid worry-wart...
I mostly agree
"shake a few hands of supporters, and then disappear"
Even when it comes to mere email ... I'm on the email list for all of the candidates, just to see what they do. Obomb_us and Huck send out a lot of emails and are not shy about asking for money. Everyone sends out more emails than our guy.
Then there's the whole problem of Jesse Benton, well-balanced, honorable, logical, trustworthy, great guy, the sort you hope your sister will marry, definitely not the James Carville type, unbalanced, shifty, jumping-out-of-skin with excess energy and ideas crazy man you wouldn't want anywhere near the same part of the country as your sister.
The first gentleman you invite to dinner. The second hack job you hire to run an exciting, winning campaign. The two are mutually exclusive. The former watches things happen, the latter makes things happen.
Nothing's happening. The sails are up, there's no wind.
Solution, give Benton an awards banquet, accolades, and a new, finer office and replace him ASAP.
Okay, here's how I respond
Okay, here's how I respond to all this: 10-TIME CONGRESSMAN. DEFEATED TWO INCUMBENTS! His whole party against him AND the other party, too, and he STILL cannot be beaten! Jeez, folks. There is not the media blackout in his local seat that there is nationally. They all know him there and they continue to elect him in landslide numbers. These people are obviously not fools, and neither is Dr. Paul. In addition, thanks to use he has more campaign money for his seat than he has ever had. How can he lose?
www.paulforronpaul.com
But..
The Paul campaign's internal polls show Paul losing by 10%. His district contains part of suburban Houston (that it never included before), many of those people work for NASA and are very aware that Paul votes against NASA's budget. He could easily lose.
Do you not understand this
Do you not understand this is how he has won that district for 10 terms?
www.buckforchuck.com
www.whokilledtheconstitution.com
www.revolutionbroadcasting.com
Dr. Steve Parent
Anybody from the Texas 14th online?
Comment please. I'm not a "troll" (whatever that overused and abused term means), but really want to know how things are going there.
salt-of-the-earth
You may not be a troll
But you don't have a lick of sense in how to promote a person. Hope you are not an inspirational speaker or a salesman, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a school teacher, or a neighbor of mine, or a friend of anyone, or a father, or a mentor to anyone, or in any public forum (this one was one too many.) But I am sure your mother loves you.
Too busy canvassing
We're too busy canvassing here in the 14th to post online much anymore. I just got back from a banner making party. There will be a lot more signs going up soon.
The damn Peed-on bastards have been pulling down our Ron Paul signs (caught them once), but we have too many now for them to make much of a difference any more.
Wecolm to the Ron Paul Campaign
I said this same thing in Iowa. He spent 90% of his time in Des Moines when EVERY other candidate was all over. I said the same thing back then and couldn't believe it. What is Ron Paul thinking? At that point I didn't think he really wanted to win because if he would, he would have been campaigning. I hear you!!! It sucks because you feel like he expects his supporters to do everything.
I'm not being disagreeable..
But in my mind, this is the way campaigns should be run. A campaign should live and die by the creativity and hard work of its supporters, not by how much money a candidate has to fund his own campaign or whether a party machine is behind them. We are a young movement, but growing every day. Through the meetup groups and pooling our resources, each one of us can make a difference. Be creative. Put up a sign, put bumper stickers on telephone polls. Tell your neighbors and family about Ron Paul. Just tell them to look on the internet for anything about him, because he could win the presidency and they still wouldn't cover him on the nightly news. RP said in a recent speech a lot of people in Washington were asking him how he was able to use the internet so successfully. He answered that maybe they should get a message that is worth selling! This message is powerful. It is our job to spread it far and wide. The resources are already there on the internet, all we have to do is point people to them.
You're half right--but half of a bridge won't span a river
Having enthusiastic, committed supporters one of the greatest possible assets for a political candidate. And there's no doubt that Ron Paul has had some of the most energetic and dedicated grassroots support ever enjoyed by any American political candidate. But it's obviously NOT enough by itself!
Evidence: Just look at the primary election results from Iowa to Kansas to wherever. Ron Paul is averaging a measly 5% of the vote nationwide.
If grassroots enthusiasm alone were enough, he'd be the frontrunner, not McCain! I've been a member of the RP grassroots for about as long as it's been around, and have put in I don't know how many hours canvassing and talking to thousands of potential voters and most of them DO NOT get their information from the Internet (sorry, internet techies), nor are they impressed by sign waves or TV newscast images of enthusiastic campaign rallies. They listen to newscasters, watch debates, read newspaper ads and magazine articles, and want to SEE and HEAR the candidates themselves! Door to door canvassing by supporters can be more effective than rallies and sign waves, but, again, obviously it's not enough by itself. Person-to-person persuasion of friends and relatives can be very effective--but, let's face it, can only reach a very limited number of people.
I'm not saying that RPs campaign should be a slick, made-for-the-media affair, but there's obviously a great deal to be said for retail campaigning by candidates, as well as for well-done, simple, emotionally persuasive media ads and for sharp performances in televised debates. Just look at who's in the lead by far right now and how they got there. The grassroots needs to do its part; but it WON'T be enough if the central campaign doesn't do its part skillfully, too. Enough said.
salt-of-the-earth
one thing the congressional district campaign is doing...
almost every 2 or 3 days i get an 8x11 (maybe larger) flyer on different topics about where rp stands. i think they look great, are very reader friendly, lots of info. i have seen more rp ads on tv than anyone else. i have seen obama ads on tv. i have not seen 1 mccain ad, or huckabee ad. have seen hilary ads. i have not seen 1 peden ad on tv. however there are many peden signs everywhere!
Details, please.
Honeybee:
Are you actually in the 14th? Could you give more details of how the RP campaign is going there? What're the sources of Peden's support? (Who's putting up all the signs?) You could e-mail me privately if you want. Just go to the "Contact" link on my Account Profile on DailyPaul. I desperately want Dr. Paul to win at least his congressional re-election but am more than a bit anxious--needlessly I hope.
salt-of-the-earth
I am in the 14th District
... I have heard a lot about who put Peden up to running. But I do not know. It is so strange that 1 year ago Peden was so complimentary of Paul and now he is actually lying about him. I have seen virtually no letters to the editor in support of Peden, but I have seen some for Paul. As you probably know, Peden had a rally on the same day as Dr. Paul, both at the local Civic Center. Paul's turnout was huge. Peden's was extremely small. I have heard some things about who attended and why but since I have not spoken to the "perpetrator" in person I will not repeat them. If true about the "perpetrator", I am very disappointed in them. I am really not too concerned that he might lose his congressional seat. I have been working the one early voting location, and most people I have spoken with say they will vote for RP for congress but not president. That has been frustrating but at least it seems that he will keep is congr. seat. Of course, anything can happen. There have been some frustrations with the local campaign office, too, that I have been made aware of. Wish I could be more encouraging and say that he will sweep the district, but I just do not know.
Honeybee
'I have been working the one early voting location, and most people I have spoken with say they will vote for RP for congress but not president.'
Did they give a reason for not voting for him as pres? I don't get it; good enough for congress, but not the leader of our country?
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
- Plato
It's complicated...
Some say that they will register as Democrats just to defeat Hillary, but then they can't even vote for Ron as the republican congressman. Some (who watch MSM, I guess) are all for McCain because he is in the lead. Others think Ron has no chance of winning and want their vote to count. Go figure. Despite what we all know about Ron, and his record, and beliefs, others are not as well educated about him as we supporters. Also you have to keep in mind... that at least 1/2 the population is below average intelligence. We are not free if we aren't willing to defend Liberty. Patriot4Paul.
we are not free if we aren't willing to defend Liberty
From apparent appearances......
it is our own local Republican Party leaders that are behind Peed-on. And as far as the congressional campaign staff, they felt it wasn't nessessary to bother to put up the RP congressional campaign signs until the primary on mar. 4th. Again the grassroots supporters resovled this ourselves by placing the signs at the 10 early voting locations in our county (RP's home). There has been record turnout at these polling places,(early voting lasts for 10 days before the election) and that was being ignored by the campaign staff, go figure. We are not free if we aren't willing to defend Liberty, Patriot4Paul.
we are not free if we aren't willing to defend Liberty
remember too...
Ron Paul has been sent back to congress 10 TIMES from this district. People know who he is, what he has done, where he stands and continue, year after year, to send him back. This virtual unknown, Peden, more than likely cannot unseat Dr.Paul.
Chris Peden's Financial Filings
http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00435776/31907...
This is a SELF-financed campaign. It might be nice to find out who convinced Peden to run and what he was promised. I'll wager any amount of money the Bushes are behind this.