HEADQUARTERS needs to aggressively fund the ground game through meetups and hiring more local campaign workers!
Posted February 27th, 2008 by Ralph Waldo
HQ needs to aggressively fund the ground game through meetups, and hiring more local campaign workers! While volunteer efforts are great when you can get them, well-financed efforts increase the chances of producing the results we all want.
HQ needs to start re-investing its resources and funds in a strategic manner. They need to aggressively fund the efforts of key meetup groups and hire as many campaign workers as possible in the remaining key locations.
output
I agree
I agree with most of the comments about HQ. I feel like they were given one of the greatest opportunities then ruined it. As for the head of HQ making over $30,000 for one month. That was just ridiculous and one of the reasons I stopped donating. I believe in the message, I believe in Ron Paul but HQ had no idea what they were doing. Kent Snyder did nothing for the campaign, HQ did nothing for the campaign, it was all grass root support. Yet whenever the grass roots make suggestions, or ask questions to the HQ we are ignored.
Thanks for posting this!
This was very informative and encouraging.
Yeah, I'm not sure what the campaign is doing
1) Incompetent? Don't know how to play the cards they're dealt
2) Compromised? Someone is in cahoots with the other players
3) Waiting? Holding their hand till the bitter end.
John McCain is within a hair of being outed as
1) NOT EVEN BEING ELIGIBLE TO RUN AS PRESIDENT
2) Hated by Vietnam Veterans for being the pampered son of an Admiral and killing 100's of compatriots in a multimillionaire airplane crash, sealing his records, giving vital information to the enemy, barring POW's rights
Why isn't the campaign calling him on this now? Call an injunction to stop John McCain's run for Prez. I don't know. I keep on thinking about Ross Perot recalling why he actually dropped out of running-the powers that be threatened his daughter. I wonder if they have gotten to Ron Paul too.
LOOK I KNOW MOST OF YOU ARE PISSED AT HQ
But listen, If we go to a brokered convention... which we probably will. We will need every penny to advertise to the delegates, and not just advertise but negotiate... It will be like a ground war, vs large scale advertising (being more like an air war.) Air wars are expensive, but with out budget, a ground war is doable.... Keep this also in mind we are spending nothing, and the press and his own stupidity is destroying McCain.. More bad news from him will come out, more people will become disenfranchised.... AND MORE WILL SEE/HEAR ABOUT RON PAUL. Yes I know we all think we know where the good Dr. should spend the money we sent him, but keep this in mind , most of us don't know what they know.... Their is a strategy that is beyond brilliant, and I know what it is...Unfortunately I can only give you some of the info. at this time...... Be Patient, ....
Did you notice not one of the campaigns really hard core focused on getting delegates??? I mean they are either stupid, or playing to loose....
Why do you think HQ is focusing almost purely on delegates??
Ron himself has stated that
Ron himself has stated that a brokered convention is a near impossibility at this point. What part of that is difficult to understand?
I think it's more a refusal to accept than an inability
to understand.
Big difference.
I even begin to wonder whether RP believed in his own
campaign. The entire operation just folded after super Tuesday, and why? If any presidential primary season was up for grabs it was this one. The field weak, the supposed nominee lacking sufficient 1st round votes, general republican party turmoil and an unfolding economic crisis that may have fallen right into RP's lap come summer.
The fight was over and that exactly what we were told.
So, if that's the case, why is Kent Snyder taking almost $50,000 per month from us? Scoundrel....
A LOT of that was "Reimbursement Expense" rather than Salary
Salary-wise Synder makes less than Moore.
Problem is how/why are $30K+ worth of expenses (one expense check in Jan for over $32,000) being reimbursed to the campaign manager -- there is NO transparency with that.
(Hence the reason that OpenSecrets says RP's campaign rates a LOWER transparency value than John McCain -- or virtually ANY other candidate).
More Important Than Ever
These coming primaries are just as important than the first ones. If Dr. Paul can start getting in double digits it sends a clear message of his support. Grassroots individuals are not political experts and need help. They should focus on getting politcal veterans out there to help the ground workers.
Lovely idea...
too bad that HQ has no interest in doing much to get their candidate out there.
The only time you hear a peep from them is when they want more money....yeah, I suppose getting paid 30,000 a month is a bit draining on the ol' coffers....
As for sending paid staff to meetups, you should ask those kids from AK how well that worked for them....
:(
You sound like
a wet rag. Why are you even here?
I'm taking your advice back to October
when the campaign should have done it. Do you want a Red Sox shirt?
Umm...
... how can you aggressively fund anything with only $6 million and also have enough cash to ride out the next 7 months until the RNC???
If the HQ staffers donanted BACK to the campaign anything
above what RP makes per month, that would help.
500 grassroots campaign workers at $2,000 each, that would only cost $1 million. It could be done on a 1099 contract basis and if strategically done, could make a big difference in the remaining primaries.
I am afraid this whole situation, is a serious revelation.
I don't want to jump to conclusions but IF . . .
I don't want to jump to conclusions but IF it's true these top HQ people are being paid $30-$48,000 per month, I think they should offer to donate it BACK to the campaign and finance some of the grassroots efforts.
Ummm most of them NEVER donated to the campaign itself.
Which to my mind is a reflection of their TRUE level of belief in the race.
Go pull a few staffer names from the campaign website and look them up for yourself on OpenSecrets or the Huffington FundRace page... or for the more savvy, the FEC website.
Rather shocking really.
amazing...I'm sorry RP didn't understand that loyalty
to those local guys was not the right thing to do on a national campaign. It was his choice and those people were simply not qualified.
Notice how they completely and utterly disappeared after that post super-Tuesday email went out. Man, did they pack it up fast.
How about posting the
How about posting the results you uncovered. I'd be very interested to see the results.
Would just get flagged as Trollish...
Anyone who wants CAN do the research... the sites are simple enough to use.
I wouldn't flag you
I love these sites, but alot of us don't have the time to do the research (also don't have the time to search for the right links).
It's obvious....
that dailypaul is being overtaken by McHuckabee supporters. 3 negative posts within the last hour. Man, you guys are aggressive. But the REAL supporters see right through you.
By "REAL" supporters I presume you mean people like yourself?
Who came on board here within the last month or two... and *maybe* donated a $20 spot to the campaign once or twice, just LOVE calling people who disagree with you "trolls" and other assorted names...
And are otherwise pretty much completely clueless?
LOL, thanks for the laugh
better than crying
ITS OBVIOUS THAT THE MAIN HQ IS A JOKE...
they covered the official campaign expenses for the month of January on Ron Paul Revolution Radio yesterday..
turns out, Kent Synder the campaign manager made $48,000 just for the month of January alone!!
what else, paypal made over $300,000 for "processing fees" for donations coming in I assume.
a number of "campaign marketing stragetists" were hired, all which were paid over $100,000 a piece..
Remember, these are all official numbers from the campaign
this is bullshit, I sent money for TV ads etc,.. not to have a bunch of leeches pocket all the donations, which is what is going on
call the campaign, or call in to ron paul revoultion radio if you dont believe me,...they read the official expense report yesterday on air so we would all know where the money is being spent.
Kent Snyder should be
Kent Snyder should be castrated and thrown into a vat of snails.
actually, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't reflect all that well
on RP's management decisions. Snyder is clearly unqualified to organize a national presidential campaign, continues to take our money while doing squat for the national work ($48 G per month, that's almost criminal for this campaign, especially considering how incompetent he is) and has just done a wretched job of communicating with us. Yet, RP keeps him there with Moore, et al. Very sad.
If true - outrageous!
That's more than RP makes as a congressman. Anyone know what Kent Snyder did and how much he was making before he started working for the campaign?
You could fund
500 campaign workers at $2,000 each, that would only cost $1 million. It could be done on a 1099 contract basis and if strategically done, could make a big difference in the remaining primaries.
This is not a criticism - it is a suggestion!
$28 million dollars, or whatever the total is now, should be enough to fund a world class campaign including hiring the necessary people on the ground to get the job done.
Dream and preach at will, the reality IS - many supporters across the nation have to work full-time and are not in a position to volunteer, that is why they donated!!!!
A campaign staff making 6 figures should be expected to deliver!
Sorry Ralph... you haven't been paying attention...
Don't know why I have to keep reposting this.
Go check the FEC reports (4th Q and January 2008 are out) -- the vast majority of that money is all gone.
Most of it ($17 M) was spent in 4th Quarter of 2007. Another $8 M (or thereabouts) was spent on staffers, ads, etc through end of January (including substantial that was spent towards Feb 5th effort).
All that is left is the $6 M raised this year (minus salaries and ads, etc spent after end of January -- which means some Feb 5th and following, and whatever is being spent on the effort(s) in Texas).
So probably somewhere between $3 M and $5 M is all that they have on hand right now (possibly even less), and donations have been steadily decreasing to minor a "dibble" since the "zero chance of brokered convention" email went out on Feb 8th.
Can't expect to make much of a "nationwide ad blitz" with $3M to $5M. Certainly not a world changing ad campaign (unless they were SUPER effective ads... and the campaign staff hasn't come up with any of those to date.)
Ron still has $6 million
Ron still has $6 million more than most candidates at this point...
Dr. Paul..
.. still has $6 million more than McCain and Huckabee perhaps (he's probably actually down to $3-4 million now).
Obama brought in $30 million in January ALONE...
Yeah, but the same basic team of ID10T5 in control of it.
So it's highly unlikely that it will accomplish much more than the previous $26 M.
And most like it is LESS than $6M -- we just don't know how much less yet. (But every week that passes the salaries and other expenses eat part of it -- and the most expensive staffers and offices are still around, it was the "cheap" people and offices that were let go in the "tightening and leaning" reshuffle).
Yeah, you're probably right.
Yeah, you're probably right. :D
Trust me, I wish I was wrong.
NOTHING would please me more than that the remaining cash would actually be put to GOOD, EFFECTIVE USE...
And some amazing ads would be done to not only enhance the campaign (I doubt winning is possible anymore) -- but at least to get the REAL message out there (none of those smarmy nasty anti-immigrant ads, I mean the REAL MESSAGE).
THAT would be amazing, regardless of the results.
But I'm not gonna hold my breath.
You can't produce and field
You can't produce and field test media ads and purchase any significant air time with the amount Dr. Paul has left.
A Texas MeetUp group said it would cost $3.5 million for just airtime for a BASIC media ad campaign in just the the state of Texas. The $3.5 million doesn't include production costs (which are VERY high).
Dr. Paul probably only really has like $4 million left and donations are bone dry. Dr. Paul needs every penny of that $4 million to maintain his basic staff for the next 7 MONTHS until the RNC convention in September.
Drink, Drink that Brawndo Kool-Aid.
There's really nothing else to say about this kind of hogwash.
Drink deep, cause it's got Lectrolytes.
Which part of what I said do
Which part of what I said do you INTELLECTUALLY disagree with and why?
(as opposed to a mere ad hominem response).
Are you disagreeing with the Texas Meetup group that estimated air time costs for a basic media ad campaign in Texas would be $3.5 million?
Are you disagreeing that producing and field testing quality media ads is really expensive?
Are you disagreeing that the campaign staff needs funding for the next SEVEN MONTHS until the RNC?
I miss your point. Perhaps because you didn't make one.
=)
They can't
Fortune Favors the Bold
McCain-Feingold
You people have a million ideas
of what HQ could/should be doing. WE are the grassroots. We are not campaign staff. Too much constant criticizing of HQ. Yet, donations are WAY, WAY down. There is only so much money and it is HQ responsibility to spend it in the way they feel is best. As I have said many times on here....this isn't RP's first campaign. He knows what he's doing.
RON PAUL DOES,...HES CAMPAIGN HQ DOES"NT...
I don't agree with how the campaign is spending the money, so therefore I will not donate again. I am here in New Mexico,...I have seen TV ads for Hillary, Obama, Huckabee, and McCain,.........still no Ron Paul tv ads at all!! this is total bullshit, he could easily win New Mexico, the interest for him is here, every where I go I see stickers, and people ask me who he is
but still, no tv ads will be run here because the "official campaign".....more like "official joke"....is a bunch of shills.
we all keep donating thinking there gonna up advertising and such,...they have had millions of dollars we sent them, which they blew.
Ron needs to fire all those hacks, and hire all grassroots people, there all working their asses off for free right now as it is,....why havent they aired any of the great youtube videos that we made??
Nooo,. instead they spent a few million making their own "official" tv ads,...which almost all of them were terrible and you all know it! the first couple were almost a joke i couldnt believe it
Actually, it is the campaign staff responsibility to spend it
in a RESPONSIBLE manner... not just "how they feel is best." They have a fiduciary "trustee" like responsibility to spend it on CAMPAIGNING.
And while this is not RP's first campaign, HE is not really running (or even properly overseeing) the Presidential campaign (certainly not like he is the Congressional Campaign) -- and has left the entire P campaign up to others.
And sadly, at a minimum, THEY do not seem to have a clue what they are doing.
We are being galvanized into a movement
that won't just roll over and go back to sleep.
If I were a Romney supporter - even a passionate one - I wouldn't have volunteered to be a precinct captain. I would assume someone paid was taking care of that. I wouldn't be aware of the congressional candidates in my state that are aligned with him politically who will need my help in 2010. I would have gone back to sleep by then.
I know a lot of us have had trouble in the area of knowing what we need to do and having the resources to do it, but many of us have also fought hard to form the lasting networks to overcome these problems. Still, there is a gap where we did need more help and I'm not trying to justify the gap, but I did want to point out that there are some benefits to knowing it is up to us and change won't happen otherwise.
Ron Paul National Delegates Alliance
You may find help here. These people have national conference calls every Tuesday night with tips and tricks for delegates. Other successful delegates also share their strategies. There is also a forum that is for delegates only. It's a good group to be a member of. http://ronpaul.meetup.com...
Excellent idea for a gathering!
Someone on this forum stated that some of the RP HQ staff were being paid $30,000 per month. If that is true, for the same money you could hire 15 campaign workers at $2,000 for a month of fulltime RP work.
Asking for help from HQ is not waiting for a Messiah
I have sent every dime I could to the campaign. Now, I had an unexpected financial hit. I am out of canvassing materials, out of money, and sitting here in the dailypaul day after day rather than going door to door. We have 251 people in the meetup this AM, 9 of us RSVP's for tomorrow's meeting. We have no local headquarters even though it is the capitol city. Several attempts to get guidance, appearances, etc from several members of our meetup have met no response. I do not mean to complain, I know the campaign is very busy with the upcoming states, and that my state is not a big player. However, they are going to lose Idaho over this, and Idaho was VERY winnable after Romney dropped out. Becoming a delegate in this state essentially means getting elected, and we newbies need help. Our deadline is less than a month away. Our primary is not until May. I suspect if HQ shows up at all, it will be in the middle of May. At that point, there will be NOTHING we can do to become delegates.
I am not looking for Jesus. I am looking for someone with political experience to help. When I try to tell the people in the meetup what I have learned, they disreagard me because I have no experience. So, when you all see Idaho go 100% to McCain, understand it is because our meetup never understood the process in this state. It will not be a case of vote fraud.
HQ, are you listening? Get us help in the next 2 weeks, or don't bother at all.
Ummm... I would strongly suggest.
...that you NOT hold your breath on that one.
I agree
Any campaign that has received as much money at this one, should have a world class ground game including, strategic plans, people, and material.
RP wants us to be leaders
STOP WAITING AROUND FOR A CHRIST LIKE FIGURE! Get off your ass and do something. Ron Paul was only inspiration. He wants us to take the ball and run with it. It starts with the individual. We must make this happen.
Hey, we weren't asking for
Hey, we weren't asking for The Second Coming, just a go-getter Libertarian with a whip-smart staff. We got the first part, not the second.