USA Today Ad - Official Press Release
Posted November 20th, 2007 by Jane Aitken
One Ron Paul Supporter Foots Bill For Full Page Ad in ‘USA Today’
Hopes well-timed and well-placed ad will wake America up
Boston MA – November 21, 2007 – Larry Lepard, a 50-year old investment manager, Harvard Business School MBA, and Ron Paul supporter, is bringing the concept of “grassroots” to a whole new level. After collaborating on design and copy with a spontaneously generated team of Paul supporters on ronpaulforums.com, Lepard invested approximately $85,000 of his own money to send a message to the voting public: “Ron Paul is the best hope America has to restore the Constitution and get our country back on track.”
The full page ad, due for publication on Nov. 21 in USA Today, is entitled “An Open Letter to the American People,” and reads as though it were penned by the Founding Fathers. In it, they admonish modern day citizenry for not heeding the founders’ original warnings. Each advisory is then followed by a forthcoming solution if Ron Paul is elected as President. Issues such as entangling foreign alliances, government corruption, excessive taxation and preserving national sovereignty are emphasized.
Lepard followed the political career of Congressman Ron Paul for over 20 years by subscribing to his newsletters, donating to his congressional races, and attending speeches at economic forums. “Over the years, I learned to admire both his positions and his integrity. He struck me as the ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’ type,” says Lepard. When Dr. Paul announced his candidacy for President back in March of ’07, Lepard had already donated to Paul’s exploratory committee.
Lepard, husband and father of three, is gravely concerned about the prevailing pre-emptive war paradigm, as well as what he views as the loss of civil liberties as the US Constitution is continually decimated. “I view this expenditure as an investment in the future of this country and of my children. Right now, it is David vs. Goliath. This ad is my way of throwing a stone…very hard and very well aimed…at the forehead of overbearing government. We’ll see if it hits the target.”
Ron Paul is a 10-term Republican Congressman from the 14th District of Texas. Dubbed by many as the Champion of the Constitution, his campaign has recently shocked media pundits with unexpected fundraising feats. Most recently, grassroots efforts netted $4.2M in one 24 hour period this past November 5th, with $8.5M being raised so far this quarter. Paul is gaining in the polls and may have more money on hand than so-called “top-tier candidates” such as John McCain. The Ron Paul campaign had no involvement in the creation or funding of the USA Today advertisement.
# # #
To view the ad, go to http://thewriteagency.com... .
For additional information or to schedule an interview with Larry Lepard, contact Liz Comeau of The Write Agency at 603-343-4321 or (cell) 603-969-0176. You may also email Lepard at lwlepard (at) gmail (dot) com .
Bookmark/Search this post with:
you can extend your support online
at ireachable.com/vote and check daily and total score as well as opinion locations on google map
An Excellant, Excellant Ad!!! Great Stuff!!!
This Ad by Larry Lepard is absolutely terrific and perfectly frames the case for Ron Paul.
It hits on all the major issues in a way no other Ad that I've seen, coming from the Ron Paul Campaign itself (or elsewhere), has to this point.
Hats off to Larry Lepard. He really hit a home run here.
To view the ad, go to: http://thewriteagency.com...
Can the Ron Paul Campaign literature, marketing materials, and TV ads follow the great example set by Larry Lepard and do something similar-?
The Ron Paul Campaign needs to produce more Ads of this quality and this type of issue framing!!
Soon...
I will be doing a story on the woman who has designed so many fabulous pieces for the grassroots in NH.
That USA Today Ad sure was effective - NOT
RP hasn't even cleared 9 Mil. I sure hope most contributors ignored the J G Wentworth plea (for money NOW), and still plan on the Teaparty.
Donate Early and Often
Excuse me, telling Ron Paul supporters to ignore official communications from Ron Paul (like the fundraising email) would be ... unwise.
I know you weren't referring to the fundraising plea from the USA Today ad, because it dutifully advertised teaparty07 but not ronpaulmoneybomb. So your off-topic response was ... misguided.
All, please be alert for psyops in these decisive early stages of the war. Keep bombing the targets daily.
Donations
I gave $100 yesterday, and I am planning on going all out on December 16th, the tea party, and I am going to get at least 5 others to join in on that day and sign up.
The Tea Party is going to be the event.
The amount yesterday was nothing compared to possibly 10 million on December 16th.
Negativity Noted - If you don't like the total - Donate Again
It is nearly impossible to measure the impact of a "brand" building newspaper advertisement. The success of this ad is in distribution and eyeballs.
The day before Thanksgiving, full page in USA Today gives you both.
Are you kidding Mr. Smith? This is a genius ad with genius placement and positioning and All of those involved should be celebrated.
I THINK THE AD WAS GREAT - THANKS LAWRENCE LEPARD
Let's all give more and time and money. How many RP contributors have hit the $2300 target? I am selling back vacation time to contribute to the campaign. Do what you can.
I have mine!
I work at a grocery store and I scored mine this afternoon! What a great page!
Just got mine
I just got my copy... love it! It's funny that the reverse of the page that the ad is on is a full page ad for "US Treasury Gold" and Gold American Eagle coins.
lol
mine too
Looks great...single page insert.
First paper I have bought in at least 12 years (only 33). I believe newspapers and postage stamps are an old and busted tradition, but I hope this makes some people notice RP.
Newsstands Sold Out!
I live in an area of North Carolina where I am pretty certain there's little Ron Paul supporters. Our meetup group is low and not very active. Heck our primary is so late it almost doesn't matter. Anyway, for what it's worth.. went to get a copy of USA Today and 4 of them were sold out. Normally, you'll see the things completely full. I was really surprised. I wonder if it was just a co-incidence?
Nicely Placed
I found the paper in the local library and turned immediately to "The Nation" section and found the ad nicely placed upon opening that section... on the right-hand (premium) side of the paper.
Then I walked to the nearest "news shop" and bought the last copy on their display!
Hurray!
Gwen Kraft
Great ad...we found it!
We found the ad..my partner is blind.
FEC?
Can someone please tell me how Larry Lepard plans to stay out
of jail? I thought there was a $2300 limit on individual donations,
including in-kind donations. I'd do the same thing in my hometown
newspaper if I thought it was not prohibited by McCain/Feingold.
Apparently. . .
The supporter, as mentioned in the previous reply, must not be connected to the campaign and cannot remain anonymous:
http://www.freemarketnews...
It had absolutely nothing to do with the official campaign
It was a grass roots effort, not sanctioned by the campaign. Totally paid for by an individual not officially associated with the campaign. ie: It was not a donation.
If you're able to do this, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as you don't get the official campaign involved.
- - - - - - - - -
We're SO going to win this thing!
Did Mr. Lepard commit a crime?
It is my understanding that McCain/Feingold limits individuals to a maximum donation of $2300 toward the candidacy of a candidate, regardless of whether it is donated to a registered PAC or not. Individuals are not limited as to the amount that can be given to a political party for general purposes (e.g. get out the vote, staff salaries, etc.). I suspect Mr. Lepard will be getting a visit from federal agents in the next few weeks, or maybe he'll just be indicted by a secret cadre of hand-picked stooges (ie. a federal grand jury).
What Donation?
Mr. Lepard never gave the money to the campaign or the candidate. He is merely speaking out, which he has a right to do.
Now, if he conspired with someone on staff or talked to Ron before he did this, that is a problem.
it's not a problem
It's his money, his words, he can, and did, dispose of both as he sees fit. If Mcain's insane finance regulation disagrees with that, then Mr. Lepard has done us all an even greater service through civil disobedience....It is bad law....and just think of the publicity if he is arrested over it...
Mike Stahl
Scan a portion of the page with the ad -- please!
Please scan a portion of the page with L.Lepard's ad for all of us to see how it looks in the actual newspaper.
Thank you
three places
I had to go to three different stores to find a copy! That's a great problem to have.
Jason
Remember the Constitution
Ron Paul USA Today Ad Huge Success!
Ron Paul supporters have another campaign victory to talk about.
I bought a copy
I placed two slim jims inside each copy of the newspapers that are still in the newspaper slot box. The copy is now in the break room for my peers to read.
This afternoon, I will continue to buy more copies so I can place more slim jims in it and leave my copy in the restaurants' waiting area.
Cheers!
gcarroll-grand rapids, mi
Better than Britany ?
If USA Today sales with a Ron Paul ad are better than a story about Britany maybe they'll give a discount on a rerun for Christmas.
USATodays gone!
I just went to two conveniance stores near where I live and the USAToday's are sold out! Both clerks said a guy came in and bought every copy! WTF?
I don't know if this an RP guy or what. We need to leave papers available for the general public to get!
UH OH
This should NOT be allowed...because this is censorship!
other supporters
We are not the only ones who knew this was coming out. It would not surprise me if someone from the other camps would do this.
Let's hope not
I'm not going to worry too much about them. We have more supporters anyway :) Don't you think ?
I've yet to get a copy, going to run off now and see if I can find one... it'll be going to the family reunion tomorrow for everyone to see !!
Now that sounds
like something right of the dirty tricks bag.
Maybe we should have bought them all up and just stood outside the store and handed them out for free.
That way we would have been sure they were getting into the hands of We the People and not we the dirty tricks gang.
And I also agree, I hope this isn't the case, but you never know what those who want to sink Ron Paul's campaign are capable of.
I got the last one
They are selling out already.
Embed
does anybody have an embed code for this? I want to paste this everywhere.
Print out the page and show it and leave the paper for people
Let's be wise about this and find out how many papers are in the stores we may buy from and leave some papers for the people to see this add. Instead, just print out the pdf and show it to people with the other ad which explains it.
Today Presents a Great Opportunity to Email the Ad to Friends
I've sent emails to friends and contacts with an attached .pdf of the ad. I enclose a message about Ron Paul, the success of November 5th and links to www.ronpaul2008.com and www.dailypaul.com. I tell them to buy a copy of today's USA Today and close with a Happy Thanksgiving wish. I've gotten great feedback from a number of people already.
I bought one for break room
I bought one for the break room at work. If there are people still at work today they are less likely to be travelling so I wanted it seen by these people. I put out only that page opened to the ad. And I plan to put it out every few days each week.
Same here
I bought 2 copies, one for me and one left at work.
Don't buy all the papers today (Wednesday)
This issue of USA Today is (so I understand) a two-day issue, as they don't publish on Thanksgiving; so leave the papers there for tomorrow. If there are any left Thursday evening, that's when to buy them all if you want to. As Lawrence Lepard wrote at Ron Paul Forums, advertising to ourselves doesn't get us ahead; we want those papers to go to people who don't yet know about Ron Paul.
Buying Papers to pass out? Standing out on the Street?
These seem to be rather extreme ideas to "get the message out" ...
Why not tell everyone coming to Thanksgiving lunch or dinner what the message is all about? I've got 3 such events and I'll make sure everyone knows to see the videos.
The Rich Sage
http://www.richsage.com
Let's Keep Up The Bombing!
Time to focus on ADDING to our number$$$.
TAX BOMB-----BOOM!
If you have a few minutes please cut and paste the email below. Send it to restaurants in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Later we can do other states. Use www.referenceusa.com through your local library homepage or Google the phone numbers.
It's very simple. Just call and say "I'm a volunteer and there is a bill before Congress that would make gratutities tax free. We need to mobilze the servers to contact their Congressmen to get this bill passed. Congress won't do it unless we tell them to. I just need an email address to send all the information to you. It will link you right to your Congressman and you can just send them an email. What email address do you want me to send it to? Thanks!"
The response has been explosive! It's fun, easy and fast.
This is the package:
Subject: Tax Free Tips Act - Keep The Tips!
As promised, here is the information we need to distribute so we can get Congress to pass the TAX FREE TIPS ACT.
We need to mobilze the millions of service workers across America. The politicians in Washington are not going to pass this unless we speak up. They'd rather keep that money for their pet projects and special interests. This will only take you two minutes.
1. Read the Introduction http://files.meetup.com/5......
2. Print out and post these flyers http://www.nhlibertycalen......
3. Email/call your Congressman http://www.house.gov/writ...
4. Forward this email to all of your contacts.
Together we will put billions of dollars into the hands of the service workers of America.
Thank You!
[Your Name]
[Your Phone]
Read The Bill Here. H.R. 3664: Tax Free Tips Act of 2007 http://www.govtrack.us/co......
Tax Free Tips
Just a stupid question. Would this also help the people who own the restaurants? Such as less paperwork, happier employees?
Tax Free Tips
I clicked on all of your links and they are not working except the one for your Congressman.
Tax Free Tips Flyer
He had this one wrong from my website:
http://www.nhlibertycalen...
Very nice press release
I hope it gets out to the national media.
US News and World Reports
I think they picked it up...
http://www.usnews.com/blo...
Buy a dozen copies of USA
Buy a dozen copies of USA Today ($9.00 + $1.00 tip for the newstand owner) and turn the Ron Paul ad to the outside so it becomes the "front" page. Then stand by the newsstand and hand them out for free to people who were planning to buy them, and take the opportunity to give them Ron Paul information.
In some cities, newspapers are hawked to motorists waiting for a red light. This is another opportunity for spreading the holiday spirit; give them a free paper with the Ron Paul ad on the "front" page.
ZoomerzMom......You!.....
Are a genius!
I'm in!
There are 14 million service sector workers out there waiting to hear about Ron Paul's TAX FREE TIP ACT.
14 Million!
And they take immediate personal and viral action.
I suggest we take a special day and refrain from posting negative posts (which never produce anything of value) and call just one restaurant - get an email address and forward the TAX FREE TIPS ACT email to them.
It's working and it's EXPLOSIVE!
TIC...TIC....TIC
http://www.dailypaul.com/...
good idea
the talking makes all the buck worth it.
It is good to see all the
It is good to see all the new arrivals here.
Welcome to the revolution.
Your going to have a lot of fun.
And your going to change the world!
Ron Paul is whats happening!
Go Ron Paul!
Monumental!
That is a great ad! They did a fantastic job!
That will surely get some peoples attention.
Nice job! Best yet!
Go Ron Paul!