Paul needs to get a better media guy.  He ads were very mediocre.

Also, Obama is now saying he will get the troops out in 2009, moving up the pull out schedule.  This is good news, but does it leave Paul with enough of an issue to run on?

Would Dr Paul be agreeable to run as Obama’s Vice President?

Quite frankly, I believe that is the only way Obama could get enough of the White Man’s vote to win enough (ie ONE) Southern and Mountain states to win the Electoral College.

TAKING THE RON PAUL MESSAGE TO THE TROOPS
http://tinyurl.com/284r2g

Not sure a re-entry after having withdrawn the possibility of running as an independent is all that positive, actually. It reinforces the idea that Paul is a kind of schlemeil, eccentric, wierd and very definitely flakey. Ross Perot pulled a similar stunt - entering, withdrawing, and entering again - in 1992 and it cost him dearly on election day. He might easily have placed first or second had he not proven himself so unpredictable. Paul hurt himself putting the kebosh on an independent candidacy a week or so ago. I would have voted for him as an independent prior to that announcement but would hestitate to do so now. But for him to continue to toy with the idea of getting anywhere as a Republican is just out-and-out lunacy. The chief beneficary of any McCain scandal will be Huckabee and Paul’s supporters, as thoroughly and unbelievably credulous as they are, would be simply reinforced in their fantasies with such developments.
Paul has meaning only as an independent, but right now, if he backpedaled and ran as an independent he’d look like an idiot. I won’t vote for an idiot.

Does the Congresional district polling data look bad?

Red,

The latest report had Paul at over 60 percent support and his Neocon hand picked opponent at between 18 and 20 percent.  The rest were “undecided”, but even if the Neocon got all of them, which he won’t, it isn’t enough. 

Here is the report from the NRO Corner:

Paul’s Congressional Seat [David Freddoso]
His congressional campaign strikes back in the blogosphere against the story I saw (and alluded to) earlier — what I saw came from the Prism Political Update. The following blog reply supposedly comes from Mark Elam:
Peden is NOT leading Dr. Paul in this race. In fact, most voters still don’t even know who Peden is. How do I know this? Because I am Ron Paul’s campaign manager and I have personally overseen 4 different political surveys in district 14 in recent weeks. All 4 surveys have shown the same results: Ron Paul has a high favorable rating and high marks on his job approval. And if the election were held today, 60+ percent of the GOP voters say they would vote to reelect Ron Paul, while only 18-20% chose Peden. The remaining 20% or so say they are undecided or refuse to give an answer to these scientific and statistically accurate surveys.
The note adds that Paul is not short of cash, and that he has no plans to end his presidential run before the March 4 primary.
02/21 02:23 AM

BTW, it appears that Justin has been having a possible man crush on Obama.  However, I think the chances of Obama opposing the neocon agenda are less likely than Obama being on the “down low” in his personal life.

I really don’t think he is up for the job - he always mentioned his apprehensiveness before his becoming so popular and this is not the frame of mind of someone who really wants to be in the WH. I think the guy is great but the only redeeming thing about his campaign now is how he has opened the eyes of so many to the value of strict constitutionalism, libertarianism and REAL conservatism rather than lip service.

His high caliber character is mis-matched by how his “TV persona” came across from the debates—he was eloquent but the media’s job of effectively excluding him has made a third party run have very little chance - besides, he’d look like a flip-flopper since said he would not run as a third party.

He’d have no effect on McCain regardless and McCain’s fate - barring surprises - perhaps primarily rests with who’d be the democrat—Hillary might galvanize the GOP (with a lower probability of a whide margin in Nov) while Obama would be a far more definitive win over McCain. At this point Obama - given continued momentum - will win in Nov easily imo. If Paul and his campaign had been viable I’d vote for him but now its Obama for his antiwar stance.

@ Capp - I posted at Justin’s “March” piece a retraction of my post to you

Peace

It looks like his seat is safely in the bag (but please contribute to Ron’s congressional campaign!),so why not soldier on, even as an independent or (GOD FORBID)as the Libertarian nominee!

Surely it is a sign of how strange we’ve become, or jaded, that people who support Ron Paul because, first of all, he is an honest man, should now urge that he break his word and run on a third party or independent ticket so that—of all things—he can continue getting his message out to the American people.

I hope he stays in the race up to the convention.  Something may break, just as long as it is not his word.

“Also, Obama is now saying he will get the troops out in 2009, moving up the pull out schedule.”

Hah!  If you believe that I have a bridge I’d like to sell ya!  Obombya is saying what he thinks he needs to say to get elected.  It’s a smart marketing move.  This is market segmentation - he’s distinguishing himself from Hillary to win the base of the Democrat Party.

In effect Obombya was for the war before he was against the war before he was for the war before he was against the war.  He’s flip-flopped around more than a fish out of water.

What Ron Paul said to CNN is no different than what he said three weeks ago or 3 months ago for that matter, so I don’t know what Justin is talking about regarding Ron Paul getting back into the race.

Ron Paul’s staff can run an effective congressional campaign but when it comes to a national campaign they’re way over their heads.  They need to get some top flight people in there who know how to run a national campaign.

> I really don’t think he is up for the job - he always mentioned his apprehensiveness before his becoming so popular and this is not the frame of mind of someone who really wants to be in the WH.

I have the somewhat quaint idea that desire for political power is not an admirable quality for a candidate to have.  I am of the opinion that we’d be better off selecting political leaders by random lottery than we are in the current system where the most creative demagogue/liar/mudthrower gets the gig.

RP’s lack of desire for power is one of the best reasons to vote for him IMO.

Scott

I’ve contacted the Ron Paul people with a plan that will get his message out clearly to voters, while bypassing the mainstream media, and it will cost pennies.  Let’s see how serious he is about winning; because, I assure you, we can by using this plan.

Paul would NOT be breaking his word if he ran as an independent. His Feb. 8 statement said only that he would not be running on a third party line. An independent candidacy would be without a party label or apparatus, meaning his supporters would have to work like mad to get him on the ballot everywhere. But he could do so and maintain his integrity---AND give him some leverage towards obtaining the Republican nomination, should there be a brokered convention starring a scandal-ruined McCain.

Somebody please straighten me out.  I keep thinking that the best we can hope for is McCain for president.  Why?  Because if Obama wins, and adopts essentially neocon policies, the bulk of the “antiwar” left will turn into apologists for their guy.

McCain as president would keep the antiwar movement, for whatver it’s worth, more intact.

But again, please tell me why I’m wrong.

keep thinking that the best we can hope for is McCain for president.  Why?  Because if Obama wins, and adopts essentially neocon policies

Disagree.  First, there is no reason to belive Obama will do this.

Second, McCain winning sends a message that people want the war, or are willing to put up with it at least.

If Obama wins we have his statements that he would get out.  If he does not the anti-war movement will react and have a firm basis for doing so.

Not with McCain.  You will get the response that we had a election and you lost, so back off for a while.

“uniquely American orneriness”? What an earth are you talking about? The uniquely American orneriness that let Bush steal two elections? The uniquely American orneriness that let the perpetrators of 9/11 get off scot free? I thought you were above that sort of great country exceptionalist drivel…

I’ll say this much,it was good to see him on CNN again (now that the nomination appears sealed,thanks!)

March 5th, after Paul handily wins re-nomination in the District 14 Texas Primary it is time for Paul to crank it up several notches.  He isn’t going to win the presidency.  He is going to be re-elected.  It is time to hammer his economics messages home and hard.  Because it is all coming home to roost.  March 5th is sadly just about when 4,000 troops will have died in Iraqmire.  And the Democratically controlled CONgress will undoubtedly give Bush and the Telecos all the support, protection and assistance they need.

C’on Ron: You’re either in or your out. Make up your mind.

Interesting, but what’s that editorial cartoon showing a bloated “Americas welfare system”?

Americans could well have managed to take care of the sort of social welfare system that they have (in the land of 2-week vacations, no paid maternity leave, etc), if they did not spend billions upon billions yearly in weapons. You should rather had included a cartoon showing Americas bloated “defense / arms system”.

Totally idiotic, and will likely not change under Ron Paul. Reason being that if did try to make large cuts into the so-called “defense” spending, he would probably get assassinated. Little loopholes exists in everyones protection, you know, and if they do not exist, they can be arranged.

The first commenter nailed it. For all of Ron’s great ideas, the message hasn’t been best utilized by the campaign commercials that cost so many supporter dollars. It’d be nice to believe the ideas could sell themselves, but that’s being a bit naive. Presentation isn’t meaningless, for the same reasons we would have a harder time accepting Ron’s ideas if he wore a wig and fake moustache. The production values of the TV spots aren’t good, they come across as a bit amateurish, and ultimately are about as helpful as wigs and fake moustaches—they are distracting and bad. I realize it is a grassroots campaign, but better to spend twice the money on a great TV spot that smacks people upside the head and wakes them up, rather than two-for-the-price-of-one that puts people to sleep. The fact is, supporters have made better Ron campaign spots *for free* and uploaded them onto youtube, than have been the actual paid campaign ads on TV presumably created and produced by professionals. (I dunno, maybe volunteers are making them??)

I just don’t think Obama will pull out of Iraq completely, bases and all.  But withdrawing from Iraq is only one issue.  When President Obama starts telling America what a grave threat Iran is, I’m guessing the Left will behave similarly to the way it did during Clinton’s bombing adventures.

Having a crotchety, old, right-wing Hawk in office guarantees an opposition from the Left.  With charismatic, liberal “unifier” President who takes hawkish positions, it seems unlikely that much resistance will exist from the Right or the Left.

I hate to break it to everyone but there is not a single candidate who can do a damned thing about the wretched mess of our political behemoth because the Vast Bureaucracy is neither elected nor measurably impacted by any election. Funny enough, remove the political industry from our lives and the paltry service jobs remaining might be enough to fund a good portion of the GNP of Upper Volta.

The New York Times and Cable News Networks have pretty well demonstrated that journalism is a dead art in the lapsed Republic.

You could install a retired Mexican Pit Bull in the Oval Office and the only thing that would change is the IQ would be raised a few points. Actually, I’ll go out on a limb here and assert that the average village dog of Mexico would, if given a fair chance with his companeros, provide a more efficient Congress than the Bunko-Trainees we have now. The least we could do for ourselves is give everyone in Congress a Mexican Wrestlers Mask and a set of tights and film that sideshow for distribution on CSpan.

Bless Dr. Paul but its like trying to conduct High Tea during a Nor’easter.......

“He’s got the money, he’s got the grassroots organization, and his supporters are full of frustrated energy and ready to go to work for the cause.”

Actually, he has SOME money (probably $6 Million left, which is a lot, more than the campaign has had on hand for any length of time previously)—but even that will only go so far. And unless it is put into the hands of someone with some actual managerial skills, will get squandered like the previous 20+ Million was.  This could also be a very dangerous point; the money left was raised recently under the virtually FALSE pretense that it was needed for Feb 5th primaries—but NONE of it was spent on that; if those funds are diverted to something OTHER than the campaign (say some foundation employing Snyder, Moore & Co) then they could find themselves facing lawsuits, FEC fines, and a host of other problems (and they will then WISH they had spent it all on a “bltiz” TV ad buy).

The grassroots “organization” (if it can be called that) is currently and rapidly falling apart. As the campaign is utterly failing to do ANYTHING to support their efforts in the states that have primaries, they are pissing people off left, right and center. Meetup groups are dropping like flies and member counts are down as well, as the local supporters are coming out of the “spell” and beginning to deal with the reality that the campaign HAS (de facto) ended and is abandoning them—so they are “closing up shop.” People who had previously vowed to support the campaign “forever” are now going back to their daily lives in disgust.

And the supporters are full of frustrated energy… but frustrated with WHO… they are not yet sure. The campaign has been feeding the movement “media bias” (the standard GOP ploy) and assorted other conspiracies as a CYA ploy. But among the supporters are many (the saner, cooler heads—but also the savviest) who are NOT so stupid as to drink the Kool-Aid, they have examined the FEC data, they KNOW (or are starting to realize) that the campaign managers screwed this up and wasted $20 Million.  And they are capable of writing and creating SOLID documentation that proves exactly that.

If that foolish March on Washington actually happens—they would be able to spread THAT info pretty wide within a single day—and to a literal “mob” hungry for blood. If my name were Kent Snyder or Lew Moore or Jon Bydlak, I would be hull-down over the horizon well before then.  Tarring and Feathering ARE an American tradition, and still a possibility with a “frustrated” mob.

And even Ron Paul himself—with his FULL retreat to defend his job—is being looked at “askance” by some as they come back out of the worshipful delusional mindset.

So final point is that all those “assets” you list are also potential liabilities. In the end, if they are not careful, Ron Paul AND his chosen “inner circle” may find themselves on the wrong side of the “mob” they have created.

Brklienfelder’s comments are extremely disturbing to me. I continue to walk blocks every weekend and to phone canvass every night.  If brklienfelder is correct, I will be livid!  I was already beside myself that the campaign didn’t hire a heavyweight manager after bringing in big bucks.

@ J. Clifton

I had thought the implication of Ron Paul’s statement that he would not run on a third party ticket was that he would not respond to losing the Republican nomination by taking his marbles elsewhere and undermining the Republican effort.  That, I think, was the general understanding, and in fact Paul’s intention.

As for getting out his message, his best shot was in the debates.  And his message, or the most important part of it, was himself, a honest man with an exemplary personal life and career in politics.  Against the blackout he garnered what—5 or 6 percent of the vote?  Any independent run at this point would simply be embarrassing.  By staying in and persisting, he at least has a chance of embarrassing those Republicans still capable of being embarrassed.  And when things go bad, with Mccain and ultimately with the winning (I imagine) Democrat, he will be a reproach to his party and the country as well. That is not a small thing, and probably for now the only thing.

Those who think that Ron Paul is lacking the fire to wield the power of the presidency or that the vast, unelected federal bureaucracy would thwart his every move have not considered two things. 

First is the Zen-like power of doing nothing.  Exercising the power of doing nothing doesn’t require any great management skills or burning political ambitions.  He could veto every unconstitutional bill that crosses his desk.  He could refuse to spend money authorized by Congress.  He could authorize the DoJ to not prosecute victimless crimes.  He could simply not exercise the dictatorial powers that presidents now take for granted such as invading countries without a declaration of war.  He could just snooze and vacation through his four years and we suffering taxpayers would all be immeasurably better off.

The second power is that of the pardon.  Other than mass firings, what else would demoralize the vast, unelected federal bureaucracy and undo their handiwork more effectively than mass pardons by President Ron?  All those languishing in federal prisons, for anything other than what normal humans would recognize as crimes, would be sprung free.  So go ahead and pop that little pill knowing that if you lie to some busybody with a shiny badge about it, you won’t spend any time in a cage for Lying To A Federal Agent, Resisting Arrest, Obstruction Of Justice, Conspiring To Destroy Evidence Of A Crime, Insider Trading, ad nauseam.  You could tell the busybody with the shiny badge to take a hike because President Ron has pardoned you in advance!

There is another power.  It’s a dark power, and must be approached with trepidation and humility.  In that toolkit of legal dictatorial powers that the presidency has accrued, there must be some tools that would allow President Ron to rule by decree and thereby dismantle the federal Leviathan.  Needless to say, that would set a dangerous precedent for subsequent presidents who want to be real dictators.

lolololololo

Ron Paul says that he’ll keep going if his supporters keep donating and campaigning.  I don’t think that’s quite good enough.  Although we know he’s the right guy for the job, it’s hard to donate money and campaign when you feel the “staff” is not being wise.  I also don’t think it’s enough to think/wish something will torpedo the McCain & Huckabee campaigns.  I don’t want to give up but they are making it easy to do so.

I have seen numerous comments here and elsewhere about Paul’s campagin staff being incompetent.  My response is this:  how ‘competent’ can any campaign staff be when the entire news media blacklists your candidate.  It seems to me that 95% of advertising for candidates is given free to them by the news media.  Paul has had the task equivalent of scaling El Capitan barehanded and with one arm cut off.  To those who criticize:  please sit in the back seat of my car and tell me what to do.  Oh and get a job in the NFL restricted to Monday mornings.

Bill W., NH,

I’ll say its not good enough. And with his refusal to mount an independent candidacy, I really wonder who’s all that excited about supporting him as he self-destructs as a Republican. Closing the door on an independent run casts Paul hereafter as an unmitigated schemeil, one with no time to right the stupidities to which his staff has been prone. If that staff is anything like those one sees so regularly exhibiting such uncritical and imbecilic enthusiasms on the web, you’d be better off putting your checkbook bacvk in the drawer.

John Lowell

Regardless of what his chances are on a third party ticket, this much is clear:  he has zero chance of winning the GOP nomination from a ‘brokered’ convention packed with neocon delegates, and if he doesn’t run on a third party ticket, he won’t be on the ballot in November.

Ron Paul never dropped out. Go back and read the message. He’s always been in the race and says he will stay in. Taking a 2 week hiatus to focus on his congressional district is something entirely different, and necessary in the grand scheme of things.

I agree with you, Sean.

How come I am the only one that seems to have read Paul’s Feb 8th statement and not misconstrued it as “suspending his campaign”. Other than saying that there is “nearly zero chance of a brokered convention”, there was nothing in there implying he was suspending his campaign (unless you think there’s a need for campaign staff in states that have already voted).

Where did all of the pro-Obama nutjobs come from? Obama, McCain, Clinton or Huckabee. We’ll be lucky to survive 4 years of any of them. But, unless you’re psychic, none of you know which of the 4 will be the worst. My guess is, because he appears to be the lesser evil, Obama will be as bad as McCain (Pakistan or Iraq)… and that is freakin scary!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKSfwfy0h8

Sad, very sad.
Brklienfelder and his fellow Loyalists can keep on supporting the King out of fear.  We patriots will be laying low in the fenceline waiting for our chance (a.k.a. a brokered convention or at least a huge presence for Dr. Paul’s convention speech)

Getting the nomination outright was impossible - I’ve known that for a year.  No amount of advertising was going to sway the unthinking followers of the communist neo-tards or the socialists.  In just one month, Obama has convinced his groupies that he has been anti-war all along.  That wasn’t done by advertising - it was done by both the Neocon Republicans saying it during debates in conjuntion with the TV media whores saying it constantly.  But, we can show our numbers, we can have a voice - they are just not going to give us a podium to do it from.

Joe, obviously you haven’t been following (which calls into question why you’re even commenting) or you’d know that, even in the states where delegates are committed to a neo-con for the first round of voting, a large number of those delegates are Paul supporters. I’d estimate that, in GA (where I’m a delegate), 20% of the voting delegates at the state convention (where we elect our delegates to national) are Paul supporters. My CD went to Romney so, if I make it to National, I can vote for Paul on the first ballot but, even in the CD’s whose delegates are pledged to Huckabee, they’re only pledged for one of two ballots (depending on results). And again, approx 20% of those delegates are COMMITTED Paul supporters. This is happening is every state. If Huck drops pre-convention and his delegates become uncommitted, Paul’s chances get better. You don’t have to believe me but watch. If McCain doesn’t take the nomination during the first vote at the RNC, things will get very, very interesting.

Dr. Paul NEVER withdrew from his presidential campaign.  He never withdrew but that is what the mainstream media got out to the public.  He did rearrange some of his campaign staff to assist in his congressional race.

As far as the earlier statement “I really don’t think he is up for the job - he always mentioned his apprehensiveness before his becoming so popular and this is not the frame of mind of someone who really wants to be in the WH”

Dr. Paul wasn’t apprehensive because he didn’t want the job ratherhe feared Americans weren’t ready for the issues he believed in.  How wrong he was!

I don’t know why people freaked out and thought he was leaving the presidential race in the first place.  I read that letter and it did nothing except tell the truth that winning was unlikely but he was not dropping out of the presidential race.  However he did need to pull away a little to cover his congressional race.  geesh.  talk about going overboard.  I know people who have been on this end of the stick for so long might be a little programmed to always expect the worst but we really have to try our best to not MAKE it happen by this kind of overreaction.

Dr. Paul needs to go 3rd party.  John McCain is going to be thoroughly discredited after all of the skeletons are pulled out of his closet.  This mistress/lobby scandel is nothing compared to what will be coming out about this narcisstic fraudster.

Obama is a “smooth operator”.  I will give him credit there.  He has a lot of people fooled.  But the more he talks, the more people will begin to realize that he has nothing to say.  “Hope for Change” “Yes we can”.  It makes me want to go out and buy The Secret.  His 15 minutes of fame will fade by November.

So, enters Ron Paul.  integrity, experience, smart, honest, humble, full of wisdom, the light.  There is room for this good man.  He needs to secure his seat in congress then make a run for it.  If ever there was a time for a 3rd party run, this is it!

Ron Paul, 2008.

Franklin,

No one’s misunderstood Paul’s announcement. Its just that they consider his stiff-arming an independent bid as tantamount to a suspension - or more properly a withdrawal - because it would require the credulity of a dog to believe that anything more might come of his Republican aspirations, and that would be so even if snapshots turn up of a partially clad McCain or Huckabee with some under-age boy. Its the essential meaning of the announcement that has caught many of us. Paul was through as a presidential aspirant the
moment he pull back from an independent run. And if he tries to recapture the mood later no one will be listening. Paul will deserve that.

John Lowell

The idea of Ron Paul running as a third party candidate was one that came from the MSM early on in the campaign. It’s intention was to neutralize any possible momentum the candidate might develop. Ron Paul’s reasons for running as a republican were that he has been a republican congressman during his entire career, he has already tried running on a third ticket, and lastly that third party candidates don’t get any respect. It’s curious now his supporters keep inquiring whether he’ll run third party. If there’s anything his campaign has taught him and many of those who have been following it, is that the media is just as likely to ignore the doctor as a libertarian, or constitution party candidate as they have been twhile he’s been running in the GOP. Perhaps he should discussed his prospect a little with Pat Buchanan and thrown in the towel from the get go, but he did reluctly enter the race and no doubt would have exited a good while ago except for that new highway Al Gore built. Ron Paul is now more educator than candidate, but who knows in the long run education may prove more lasting, ie Goldwater.

Taking a man at his word, is in most cases is an ill-advised course of action especially when it involves a politician running for office, but in Paul’s case is probably warranted. Dr. No has made it clear that he has never stepped out of the running (that’s just mediaspeak from the LATimes article to garner attention), and drawing attention to his race for congression caused more money to come into his congressional-run coffers than into the presidential coffers. (This reflects not lack of support for his presidential run but ennabled maxed out supporters to continue to give just as the Texas primary run gets underway).

Well, I can see from the lack of response to my Mexican Fiesta Platform that we are still inflicted with the kinds of dreamers and satisfied also-rans that make this political system the dependably moronic sideshow it is.

I offer a Shred-Face Mexican Pit Bull as President and a Congress of Mexican Wrestlers and you folks keep yammering on about the doomed efforts of the Good Mr. Paul. Jaysus H but no wonder Hunter blew his brains out.

Your Republic is toast girls, gun ports, stockpiling non-perishables and hoarding behavior the only answer unless you actually like what the lapsed Republic has rotted into in which case, honk your clown nose and keep doing EXACTLY what you already are doing. Find a Turkey Buzzard and apprentice yourself to it. Learn to love the smell of carrion. Welcome back to a much more better Medievalism because this Dark Age is being televised.

What is the point of all of this if Ron Paul doesn’t run 3rd party?  To change the republican party’s platform?  The republican party doesn’t pay attention to its platform as it is.  To have Paul win a brokered convention?  Anyone who thinks that’s going to happen is dreaming.  For Paul to be able to speak during prime time?  The republican party will not let him speak.

I don’t understand what the strategy is here.  And it is true that a lot of the meetup groups are falling apart and people are drifting away.  This is all very sad.

Why can’t Paul reconsider his decision in light of new circumstances?

C’mon Ron: You’re either in or your out. Make up your mind.

Ron Paul never dropped out of the race, despite the media reports.  They were laughable, actually—all any intrepid reported had to do was click over to RonPaul2008.com and read the press release. 

Ron Paul explicitly stated that he was staying in the race all along, he only mentioned scaling back on his operation—you don’t need to campaign in 50 states after 30 of them have voted.

As for Obama, two years ago he was pushing for troops to withdraw by March of 2008.  I guess that’s all forgotten by now.

Here’s the inspiration I cling to.  Lincoln won the 1860 Republican nomination through a brokered convention.  “The Daily Paul” mentions hoping Dr. Paul will “pull a Lincoln”.  How exciting that would be!
http://www.greatamericanhistory.net/nomination.htm

I notice that Dr. Paul is calling on this Washington March to happen as soon as possible.  If it garners amazing media attention and helps in the momentum, wouldn’t he still have time to run as an Independent?  Maybe he’s waiting to see what the response will be.  I truly believe he’s got something going on in that nitelligent mind of his.  I admire him for going all out for what he believes in and not just his ego.  I would be surprised if he weren’t a kick hiney chess player.

An Etienne de la Boetie campaign
Continue the campaign until the convention with a
series of professional media ads, that emphasize the
anti-war, small government message. Hammer especially
on the $9 trillion debt and the $50-60 trillion plus
in unfunded liabilities.  Get the public on our side.
Some people will wonder ‘Why didn’t we hear about this
guy before?’

McCain has skeletons galore that are coming out.  He
may have the most delegates before the convention, but
the force of public opinion can keep him out.  His
wins were fraudulent.  If the Times had not sat on the
Iseman story before the New Hampshire primary, he
would not have won it. Who will the Republicans
turn to?

If the Ron Paul campaign can do the ads right this
time and keep going, holding massive rallies, perhaps
it can get public opinion on its side.  Suppose
September polls show McCain losing easily to Obama,
but Paul doing much better.  What will the Republicans
do then?

A public opinion campaign can also build for 2012,
with Ron Paul running again as a Republican for
President from 2013 to 2017, with a hand-off to a
running mate such as Murray Sabrin after Paul’s first
term.

Laura,

Because no one will listen to him then, Laura. The experience of Ross Perot is instructive in this instance. At times, Perot lead in the polls back in 1992 but withdrew owing to some hurt feelings about insults to his family, if I recall. On re-entry a few months later he had lost ground significantly, many coming to believe that he was much too eratic to be President. You just don’t disappoint and then kiss and make up it would seem. And in Paul’s case there is just nothing like the ground swell of interest enjoyed by Perot. Paul had - and I say had - interest because of his potential to damage McCain’s candidacy. With Clinton ascendant on the Democratic side for a time, it looked good for McCain. Paul could have taken away enough votes from McCain to deny him the Presidency and that’s the kind of power he’s throwing away. They’ll bargain with you if you can do that to them. Nobody’s bargaining with a Republican Ron Paul nor after this will they with an Independent Ron Paul. Paul through away a real opportunity to become a power broker, to influence policy. He’s a schlemeil, an unmitigated schlemeil.

John Lowell

I wish sometimes that Dr. Paul would emphasize more how his vast knowledge in the medical sector would also be an asset to a Paul presidency.  Our healthcare system needs an overhaul and he’d be the one to do it.

“But Wednesday he struck a different note. ‘I will stay in as long as my supporters want me to,’ the Texas congressman promised CNN. ‘And I say as long as the number of volunteers continues to grow, and the money comes in, and there are primaries out there, and they want me to be involved, I am going to stay involved.’”

should have read:

I’m staying till the end and will be fighting hard along side all of my supporters who continute to donate and campaign for me.  We will march, we will vote, and we will win!!!

Many RP supporters are young and able but you can’t just say “let them run with it”.
They need direction,organization and, as Obama illustrates oh so well, they need rallying points from the top and often.

Mr. Klienfelder, are you alleging incompetence or something else?

My impression of the campaign staff is that they were not ready for prime time. The campaign was run more like a third party effort than a GOP primary campaign. But I think they were just in over their heads.

So John Lowell,
If Ron Paul can’t reconsider (because one can’t kiss and make up in politics), what should we do now?  I can’t vote for McCain or the dem nominee.  The only other option that I see is for the LP and the CP to run Bob Barr on a fusion ticket.  Is there another option that I don’t see?

What’s all this nonsense talk about Paul entering and
withdrawing?  He never suspended his campaign...what
are you guys reading?  Too much MSM, me thinks.  He
has ALWAYS maintained that he WILL NOT run as a 3rd
party and never said that he was “suspending” his
campaign.  On the contrary, he has said numerous times
that he is going the distance.  The video he made
after Super Tuesday never said that his campaign was
“on hold” at all, but only that he was placing more
focus on his, until then, neglected congressional run.
I don’t know where you guys are getting this…

The whole 3rd party Yes-or-No question is not that important to the vast majority of Americans - but like many pseudo-controversies, political fans can’t get enough of it.  Of course the candidate strongly denies he’s switching parties - until he actually does it - and then there’s no looking back.  Ron Paul should take that $6 million dollars and hire the hippest, trendiest advertising agency around - the group that does Apple iPod or Volkswagon, etc.  Ron Paul might be too thrifty to pay the top dollar fees this involves.  If so, then his best advisors need to help him.  $5 million worth of truly high-grade, memorable ads is worth way, way more than 5 X times as much as $1 million worth of mediocre ads, soon to be forgotten.  This is the one area where cheapness gets magnified many times over - and local car dealership ads might be Exhibit A in that principle.
Ron Paul doesn’t have quite the dominating personality that Perot had to make those charts work in 1992 (few people really do).  But, he could appear magical with the right video production.
P.S. Focus the attack on the war, civil liberties and spending - and leave abortion, immigration and the gold standard for another day.  Or, maybe try a last-second, ‘long bomb’ to Sibel Edmonds for a touchdown!!

Doesn’t it take 6 million to get your name put on the ballots for an Independent run?  Maybe he is being frugal for a good reason.  Maybe I’m just being hopeful too.

Hi Laura,

Well, if you ask Raimondo at this point, you’d likely be encouraged to consider Obama and that because he now has become - interestingly with Paul no longer willing to stand as an independent - the de jure anti-war candidate. Except to his small coterie of arcane enthusiasts, Paul had no mass allure as to bread and butter questions certainly, it was only as an anti-war figure that there was any broad support for him at all. But he’s now thrown that away and Obama has moved into the vacuum. But I cannot vote for Obama or McCain as I’m Catholic, take my faith seriously, and cannot countenance a politician’s support for abortion, stem-cell research, war and torture. When the system fronts someone capable of knowing both what a human being is and how to act toward one appropriately, I’ll vote but not until. 

John Lowell

Obviously many of RP’s supporters expected him to run on a third party ticket in spite of the fact that he’s always said he would not.  Just another case of not actually hearing what a person states in plain English. Seeing a good man being bashed because he doesn’t follow the expectations you personally have projected onto him, while typical of human behavior, is still pretty disturbing.

While Ron Paul as president is my fervent desire, there’s also the question of how long he’d remain president. Would it be 18months? 2 years? How long would it take before the people who really run this country simply blew his brains out? I saw Kennedy assassinated live on TV. My heart would break to see the same fate for Ron Paul.

Given that last statement, the gift Dr. Paul has given us is the value of his message, sparking the passionate involvement of hundreds of thousands of grass roots supporters and obviously, if you would simply think about it, a long term goal. I don’t expect all the campaign experts too busy blogging to submit their resume will be sticking around much longer to play a part in this.

However, for those that do follow through the path is clear. Stay involved. Work in your own back yard and bring about change in the same slow and steady manner the neocons used to take over America. It’s not sexy or short term, it’s going to require actually doing something, as in hard work, instead of sitting on your backside and second guessing someone else’s hard work. Not everyone’s up to this sort of task.

Whether or not Ron Paul becomes president is almost irrelevant.  It’s not just Bush, or the future McCain , Obama or Hilary or whomever that’s giving our country and the world a royal screwing. The present crop of politicians, at every level, needs to be weeded out and replaced by men and women of integrity and courage who will follow the example of Dr Paul and uphold the Constitution. This is the opportunity Ron Paul has given us. Make of it what you will. Do the necessary work or sit back and bitch about the work every one else is doing. It’s your future and as RP is pointing out all the time, it’s all about personal responsibility.

brklienfelder, you are either full of it or not too bright. Until the 1st Quarter 2008 FEC reports are released, how can you claim to know what the 20 million was spent on? I went through the 4th quarter reports and a huge chuck of that 20 mil isn’t accounted for (meaning it will be in 1st quarter 2008).

Connie, sadly, it could cost more than that.

Bill, I hope you’re being sarcastic about “rallying points” from the Obama campaign. Do you seriously think if Paul went around spewing substance-less garbage about “change”, everything would be different? Nope, but if Paul had hundreds of hours of uncritical, fawning media coverage, that might change things.

John Lowell, you forgot something else… Obama is not anti-war. He is anti-Iraq War (even though he has stated on multiple occasions he will keep troops there for counter-terrorism purposes). I don’t want our troops in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan or Iran and I don’t think JR does either. If he came out and said he would cast a vote for Obama, I could no longer take him seriously.

Everyone, faint for Obama…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J80mVXvs64

president ron paul had to defend his house seat so we the true patriots will still have one voice in goverment.to all the negative comments and slander towards dr paul is so wrong.i say so long you fake americans.

“...But, unless you’re psychic, none of you know which of the 4 will be the worst.”

Franklin,

I’m psychic.  The worst of the four is easy...it’ll be the one who wins!

Ron Paul or Nobody! Literally.

Ron Paul is right to stay in. Who knows what sort of disaster could occur between now and the convention. I think most supporters understand the majority of public doesn’t understand the message yet, but that sort of thing has a way of changing fast provided the right event occurs. Given the way the economy is between a rock and a hard place right now and Paul is the only one equipped to deal with an economic disaster (not to mention the one who predicted today’s problems in 2005) by staying in he could be the right man in the right place at the right time.

It’s nice of him to stay in there and I think that’s what most supporters want.

Although it’s a slim chance, Ron Paul’s chances are still better with the Republican Party.  The pledged delegate count is not that significant in a brokered convention, which is still very likely.  There are many unpledged (including all former Romney delegates) and even many pledged delegates who would vote for Ron Paul after the 1st ballot at the RNC.  Please continue supporting us in the later states as we get as many supporters as possible to the RNC.

“Bill, I hope you’re being sarcastic about “rallying points” from the Obama campaign. Do you seriously think if Paul went around spewing substance-less garbage about “change”, everything would be different? Nope, but if Paul had hundreds of hours of uncritical, fawning media coverage, that might change things.”

I am being serious but no, not about empty slogans for change.  Ron Paul is change of the most dramatic kind and I hope he gets some more chances to voice that forcefully in the MSM. 

The people who might be considered “negative” here aren’t really that at all.  They saw a chance, a good chance and it’s been blown (at least for the moment) - they are saying what has to be done to go on:  better use of the donated money, effectively organizing the younger supporters, and being a bit more of a leader rather than just saying, “hey, I’ll go along if everyone else does” - that’s the message of late and it doesn’t resonate well with the young.

Justin-

Love your articles!  Whenever your byline pops up, I know I’m in for a treat.  I have to ask though...why did you think that RP was dropping out?  I hear that many got that impression, and I’ve never quite understood the reaction.  I guess it proves he could have been more careful with his words, but I read the release a few weeks back with a completely different attitude.  The congressional seat is important, but there’s no way he’sgiving up on the delegate race.

Dan Peterson

How incompetent is Ron Paul’s campaign staff???....Ah….let’s see
Obviously more competent than Rudy’s, Fred’s, Mitt’s and the other 5 Republican losers. Oh wait, what about the campaign staffs of the other nearly bankrupt Republican front runners, seconds away from imploding. Oh and what about the incredibly competent campaign staffs on the Democrat side...let’s see how many did they start out with? You naysayers are a curious lot, not far removed from the “Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down”, live for the moment, Romans in the Coliseum. Paul’s campaign grows daily. There are still nine months left to the Convention. Nine months to get the word out. This is a longitudinal struggle that increasingly gains support and strength. Ron Paul has the “Machine” on the run. The toothpaste is out of the tube….there is no stopping this train and they know it.
Ron Paul 2008
USC TITLE 50 1520

Bill, then what were the “rallying points” you alluded to earlier? I am curious because the only thing I’ve seen Obama use to “rally young people” is “substance-less garbage about ‘change’”. You seemed to be implying that if Paul’s campaign had acted more like Obama’s campaign, he would’ve been more successful. That’s why I thought you were being sarcastic. With or without “rallying points”, Paul’s supporters have been much more motivated and organized. And, unless you can specify the “rallying points” you claim Obama’s campaign provided, I’ll stick to believing what I’ve seen over the last year (that Paul has provided many more “rallying points” for young people than Obama). If Obama was treated by the media the way Paul has been, Obama would have dropped out long ago.

I don’t believe the now pouting Paul supporters are “negative” but they are naive (not their fault). To think that Paul could win the nomination by winning the majority of delegates through primaries and caucuses is naive for the youngsters and borderline delusional for anyone over 30. Find any longtime libertarian that has been following this campaign and you will find someone extremely optimistic about the situation. What Paul’s campaign has accomplished so far seemed impossible 6 months ago. Being disappointed about what’s happened with Paul’s campaign is like being disappointed you have to split your lottery winnings with someone else that played the same number. That would only make sense if you expected to hit the jackpot when you bought the ticket. So, no, those poeple aren’t being negative, they just had incredibly optimistic (read unrealistic) expectations.

Paul’s message of late hasn’t changed one iota so if “it doesn’t resonate well with the young” now then it didn’t before. And that makes the point moot.

Prodigy Knows…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkEUda92a1c

Red Phillips: “Mr. Klienfelder, are you alleging incompetence or something else? My impression of the campaign staff is that they were not ready for prime time. The campaign was run more like a third party effort than a GOP primary campaign. But I think they were just in over their heads.”

At a minimum I am alleging the “in over their heads” incompetence.

More likely is a higher level that is a combination of inexperience, naivete, stupidity and arrogance. (Witness the sheer arrogance and self-admitted cluelessness of Jon Bydlak here: http://www.youtube.com/user/GWBlogSpotAdmin )

At the extreme—though I have NO evidence of it—there is always the *possibility* of fraud and embezzlement mascarading as incompetence. (The 1988 Libertarian RP campaign had an embezzling campaign manager—so it is NOT out of the question. Millions of dollars are tempting to people who do not have millions—even if it’s just “redirecting” a few thousand here or there, it destroys the integrity and purposeful direction of the organization.)

But unless one is a “kool-aid drinker” (and suspended all critical thought) then I don’t see how anyone can NOT view the campaign’s operation as a fiasco of mismanagement.

Sadly, the “message” will be blamed because Snyder, Moore & Co. are doing a CYA and Ron Paul is unable to discern it.

Jerri Lynn Ward:
“Brklienfelder’s comments are extremely disturbing to me. I continue to walk blocks every weekend and to phone canvass every night.  If brklienfelder is correct, I will be livid!  I was already beside myself that the campaign didn’t hire a heavyweight manager after bringing in big bucks.”

Yeah, well sorry. I wish it weren’t true either, but it’s not just sour grapes or some personal opinion. I’ve examined the FEC data in detail.

I’m afraid you’re currently having proverbial smokescreen blown in your face by the campaign management. The whole “precinct leader” program is a lark—they’ve spent less than $10,000 on it total, and it’s mainly a means of keeping people “involved” and donating and “on the hook” at least until the new book is published, etc.

Ever ask yourself why publish a “manifesto” as a book?  In the era of the internet? If they wanted to get a “plan” out to people why not just publish a PDF?  Why delay it so long as to require a dead-tree version? And with a publication date so far out (end of April?) has it even been written yet? Or is it just a cover with no content at this point in time?

Answer is simple. Books are profit making for authors AND publishers. Niche books with a “captive” audience of pre-ordering buyers are a gold-mine.

This is no longer REALLY about a Presidential campaign (if it ever was). It’s becoming about developing and then milking a constituency (in a legal, if not altogether ethical, manner).

Cheers.

The best reason for Ron Paul to run as a third party presidential candidate is that the sort of ideas he represents needs a party to put together candidates at every level of government for the older conservative (it was called liberal in the nineteenth century).  These views which he represents are primarily truly limited and localized government, non-aggressive foreign policy coupled with free trade that is not a phrase for government managed trade.  He also represents a perspective that we need hard metals based currency that is not easily manipulated by government.  These are views that when represented by one man makes the man appear as a kook.  But if hundreds of candidates are running on these ideas at all levels of government then people will have to take notice and wonder if there is something to these ideas.  Ron Paul could thus help build a party that will be committed to the core of his ideas and not just his personality.  Finally such a party would need thousands of precint workers.  Right now the Ron Paul campaign has attracted such a group of people that might transform a small third party into a significant national party representing some of the most vital and timeless thinking of Ameriacn Conservatism (and in the distant past American liberalism).  The truth is that the Ron Paul campaign has no chance of winning in 2008, but it has an opportunity to leave an inheritance of ideas committed to those who will build these ideas into a lasting political movement.

There is nothing wrong with a 72 year old man not wanting to run for President on a third party ticket that almost assuredly could not win.

There is however something very foolish about the most fiscally conservative member of the house, who’s fanatical devotion to principle is something of legend, publicly announcing that he will not run third party when the obvious goal of his campaign is to forward controversial issues and develop a committed grassroots corps both inside and outside of the GOP.

The problem with Pauls announcement threefold.  First, without the implied threat of a third party run, the media has no reason to cover Paul and the GOP has no reason to even consider taking him seriously on the platform commitee. Secondly, his younger supporters will assume that the whole show was a way to build the base of a party they hate, by co-opting those on the fringes (the Newsmax article, suggest this is where Pauls power really lies) and will largely regard him as a sellout and a fraud.  Thirdly and lastly by staying in the race to a convention he admits he cannot win, Paul is shooting his credibility as an indepedent, anti-politician in the foot with grassroots conservatives, who don’t like the idea of a principled guy admitting defeat while he jetsets around the country preaching to the converted and hiring foreign policy analyst (he hired Leon Hadar, Ivan Eland, and Robert Pape days before the announcement) on their dole. 

The bottom line is that Paul and his advisors were foolish to come forward with that announcement.  With several people dropping out of the race in the preceding days, and a very strong showing in several States, Paul really could have wielded some power as a third party THREAT, even if he never had any intention of going that route.  That this error was made should not really surprise anyone though.  This is afterall the same campaign that decided to release it’s candidates campaign bio at the end of April.

@Franklin:

“brklienfelder, you are either full of it or not too bright. Until the 1st Quarter 2008 FEC reports are released, how can you claim to know what the 20 million was spent on? I went through the 4th quarter reports and a huge chuck of that 20 mil isn’t accounted for (meaning it will be in 1st quarter 2008).”

Um, Franklin? Anyone home in there?

The FEC reports are already out. You’re just not bothering to look at them. (Go fetch http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/mapApp.do )

The 4th Qtr 2007 FEC report—where details on how the $17 Million was SPENT from the $25 Million ($5.4 from 3rd Q and almost $20 from 4th)—came out on February 1, 2008.

And the January 2008 FEC report (reports are required MONTHLY now)—came out this past Wednesday.

The campaign had only $6 million left as of January 31, 2008.

Majority of the money you are pinning your hopes on is LONG GONE.

But you hold onto those delusional thoughts, OK.  Drink more campaign “kool-aid” it’s yummy and Oh so tasty.

Good article, Justin.

Ron Paul should run as as an “independent Republican” and beat the snot out of McCain like Joe Lieberman ran as an “independent Democrat” and beat the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate.

My 2 cents.

Go Ron Paul!

brklienfelder,

You’ve got to be kidding right? While you’re at it, don’t forget to mention that Ron Paul has four nipples and can be seen riding a broom above his neighborhood during a full moon.

If character assassination wasn’t so vile and contemptible a practice, your posts would actually be hilarious.

Good luck with your “chumming the waters for the terminally gullible campaign” sir saboteur.

“Disagree.  First, there is no reason to belive Obama will do this (adopt neocon policy).

Really now? Habe you seen who his new foreign policy advisor is? Zbigniew Brzezinski.

If you had any belief that Obama was anti-war, you can chuck that silliness out the window.

John

Ron Paul never ruled an independent bid. All he said when he was asked was he had “no intention”. Take a closer look - I think you’ll find this is indeed so. As you and I know, intentions can change without losing face. However, he has definitely ruled out a third-party bid.

Harold…

The only saboteurs were the people RUNNING the campaign.

The whole thing is over. The money’s blown. The opportunity is gone, the campaign is lost. Everything else it a pipe dream, a delusion of people unwilling to recognize reality, or trying to avoid accountability.

Fight and work on the local level, yes. but quit trying to put the LSD trips onto other people already.

Oh, and Justin… it ain’t gonna happen dude.

Peace.

Piri,

I suspect that we may be splitting hairs with this third party/independent distinction. And if we need to watch Paul quite so carefully as to analyze how he may treat the word, “intention”, we’d likely do just as well backing Hillary Clinton. I think his meaning is clear enough: The man purposes to cause the Republican Party absolutely no anxiety. I had hoped to vote for him but won’t now under any circumstances what with his abandonment of the only meaningful course that had been open to him. Paul is the worst sort of amateur, igniting interest only to douse the flames with poorly considered financial management and a personality caught up in the most unappealing abstractions. Paul missed his calling in becoming a physician, he has all the instincts - and verve - of an accountant. As well intentioned as he may be, at every important juncture he appears the quintessential schlub. I won’t vote for a schlub.

John Lowell

Dylan,

A very fine analysis, yours, and accurate in every respect.

John Lowell

Okay, we have read all the posts and have come to the following conclusions.

1.  Many of you were NEVER even supporting Dr. Paul and are posting your BS to try and get his REAL supporters to give up on Dr. Paul.  That is NOT going to happen.

2.  You may have been a Paul supporter but NOT truly a part of the RON PAUL RƎVO˩UTION.

Whether Dr. Paul wins the nomination or not he still has WON because he has gotten his supporters interested in fighting for the betterment of Our Country and many are running for office in State, Local and Federal government.

We are up against the Status Quo and they have controlled us and our money so long that they will NOT give up without a fight.

We do not know about most of you but we are willing to FIGHT to take back Our Country and peaceably if at all possible but we have NOT ruled out other ways. 

This entire election was FIXED and the LSM is getting just what they wanted and that is you panny wastes are giving up on the ONLY person that has OUR WISHES in mind and NOT the wishes of the BANKSTERS and Elitists who have controlled us since 1913.

As long as Dr. Paul is willing to keep fighting we are going to work on his behalf and if he does NOT win we will NOT quit and keep on fighting for every American.

Why does the R3volution have to be about taking over the republican party?  Why can’t it be about merging two or more 3rd parties and creating a new major party?

Laura,

The RƎVO˩UTION is NOT about any party at all.  No matter what party DR. Paul was in we would vote for him.

The problem with a 3rd party is it is very expensive to get on the ballots and the Repubs and Dems stop you from being in the debates.

If Dr. Paul really did have a billionaire backer, like was rumored, then he would have a chance as a 3rd party.

That rumor was put out there more than likely to try to get us to let our guards down and slow down with our support and Donations.

We have heard that the Constitution Party would accept him if he would run as a 3rd Party but because of the reasons we just said that is hard to do at this time.

We The People are waking up but not enough of us have awakened to fight for the rights of 3rd Party candidates.

Even though the LSM has McCain as the nominee NOT all of his delegates are locked-in as of yet.

We just have to keep pushing forward and IGNORING anybody that comes along and tries to get us to give up.

This is way more than just about an election this is about ALL of our Futures and the Futures of Americans to come.

Can’t some of us work to make a 3rd party viable?  It seems like if we’re not actively trying to change the republican party then some of you think we are traitors to the movement.

Some of us think that trying to change the republican party is a waste of time.

If Ron Paul won’t reconsider the 3rd party option, I sure hope the LP and CP can get together and get someone good with national name recognition to run.  I think a large percentage of voters will be looking for another option this time around.  Many, many people won’t even consider Ron Paul because the republican brand has been ruined by W. and the neo-cons.

The glass is half empty:
For whatever reason Ron Paul will never
be President of the United States.

The glass is half full:
His candidacy has recruited a large body of
supporters to the cause of freedom.

Which half is bigger depends on how these supporters
organize themselves.  Worst case scenario: they are
spammed by anyone who thinks they have something to
sell the RP constituency.  Best case scenario: they
become a movement with their own focus and organization.
In this latter case they will outgrow Ron Paul...no matter how
fine a man he may be.  RP is good because he espouses
principles, the principles aren’t good because they are
expoused by RP.  Nuf said.

This is to dispute that MeetUp Groups are losing their members.  According to this post below they have still been increasing their membership.

We are one of over 1600 RON PAUL Meet Up groups around the Country. In just the last few weeks 11 people have joined our group. Our primary is coming up April 22nd for Pa. Ron PAUL needs your support now! If you want to help Save the US Constitution the time is NOW! Get involved contact your local Meet UP group and make a difference. For more information on our Ron PAUL meet up group. http://ronpaul.meetup.com/1330/

Dr. Paul is making a difference and you can too!

Vote Ron Paul For President!

Posted by: Jim Brislin | February 22, 2008 at 03:56 PM

Post found at site below.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/paul.html

Yes, the meetup group #s grow each and every day as they are established in upcoming primary states.  But the activity of the groups is down, way down in the states that have had their primaries. For example, the next meetup group event in NH is drawing two people who will meet at a bar in Manchester one evening this week.  The daily contributions totals look good as they are averaged with the Money Bomb days but overall the daily take is becoming, and rather quickly, lesser and lesser. I don’t think the contributions are lessening due to folks reaching their $2300 limit but because the “excitement” has fizzled out and the younger folks have reached their own personal limit cause they do need to eat.  The movement isn’t dead but it needs something galvanizing soon.  And, sure, Obama is saying virtually nothing of substance but he’s saying it well and it’s working.

I’ve been a Ron Paul fan for 7 years, an assistant Meetup coordinator for two large CA groups, maxed-out my contributions and want him as my president. But what would be the point of a 3rd party presidential bid? The MSM media blackout and marginalization that’s been so effective in the primaries would only continue. The blimp, 6.4 million dollars raised in one day, 2nd in Nevada, and other historic accomplishments were never mentioned in west coast news.

His planned D.C. March? Even if 100,000 people show-up, I assure you it won’t make headline news. Far better to spend our time and resources on a well organized educational campaign. Time to take the Ron Paul Revolution back to the drawing board. I suggest we start with educating the young people, from Jr. High School age and up.  I would hope that after the convention Dr. Paul will roll-out a well conceived, expertly organized national educational effort that his supporters can become very enthused about. Books, study material, DVD’s, perhaps a magazine, correspondence course, seminars, door-to-door material, etc. Let’s get to work and build a solid foundation for future elections.

I would like to see the Good Doctor stay in to the convention, but with a change in tactics. The Reaganesque ads they’ve been running have accomplished nothing AFAICT, so they should do something with all the money they have: Shift to a program of education. Play a quote from one of the three stooges (winners), the patriot act, or part of the US code and then refute it with the words of Jefferson and/or Madison, spoken by either Ron, or an actor with the appropriate accent. Then Ron could come on and tell them asses whose words they are and that whatever idea at issue is clearly unconstitutional. Perhaps that would get some of the idiots who are swayed by political commercials to pay attention, do some research, and stop being idiots. That would be something.

@Westwave

I would agree… but there is something ELSE at play here.

The media blackout is pretty much CAUSED by the campaign staff.

Say What?

That’s right, the media blackout is caused BY THE CAMPAIGN STAFF.

I have spoken with several reporters from a variety of papers, some local, some major “national” ones—and while there may be an “agenda” blackout by the beltway news (NYT, WaPo, NYC TV, etc) --the rest of the country is a bit more independent.
What THOSE reporters tell me is that when they contact the Ron Paul campaign to try to get some additional info for a story, or local contacts, or event schedules—they get stonewalled. They leave messages, and if they are LUCKY, someone calls back 3 or 4 days later SANS requested info.  Most reporters give up in disgust (why bother).
Conversely, the OTHER campaigns are “proactive” putting these reporters names and phone numbers in a database and then CONTACTING THEM and/or sending info OUT to these same reporters.  And when they call THOSE campaigns, they get almost immediate replies, WITH the info or clarifications they need.
So if YOU were a reporter… which campaign would you write about more often (or at all)—the ones that make your job easy, or the ones that make you pull proverbial “teeth” to just get basic info?

Think about it.  At a certain point these reporters all say: he’s polling low, they won’t help us with info… sayonara RP!

RULE of THUMB… if you thumb your nose at reporters they will do likewise.

Never under estimate Dr. Paul.  His foundation of principles to live by are rock solid.  He seldom if ever attacks an individual.  Be assured, if he becomes president, he will pull out the troops and cut the budget to start balancing it.  And the only individual interest to be hurt will be lobbyists, corporate thieves, personal/private individuals whose name is greed.  In position, Dr. Paul will hit the greed of the military/industrial complex and publicaly arm twist the congress. Congress will cave.  This man has a backbone of steel.

“RULE of THUMB… if you thumb your nose at reporters they will do likewise.”

other Rule of Thumb:  if you don’t reach out to churches a guy like Huckabee gets their votes here in NH, not exactly a state with a hotbed of fundamentalists but you still have to make some sort of effort.

another Rule of Thumb:  You have to go to the diners/cafes in NH that are mentioned by the Washington Post.  To not do so is sacrilege in this very small state that doesn’t ordinarily cotton to outsiders - he was welcomed here and those influential diner folks were ignored. If you think McCain ignored them you are delusional. 

Another Rule of Thumb: You don’t concentrate all your campaign workers in Concord, the capital, on primary day.  You spread them out to as many polling places as possible so that the voters see that there is large support for your candidate.  Even Dennis Kucinich did better than us in that regard.

Rule of Thumb:  when much of your base are young folks, you need to provide direction.

Can we all recognize that Dr. Paul has been in Congress longer than those of us observing this contest.  Dr. Paul also knows what his message is and how it is accepted by the media. Can we just get behind him and support what ever direction he deems the most prudent and is in the best position to lead.  To be sure, we must avoid any negative thoughts that are based on what the press or media hope for and have twisted to convey their agenda.  If one does not have anything hopeful and progressive to say then just sit back, watch and learn.  There are many frustrated and some discourged folks that are expressing themselvs.  They need to just cool it.  Give our heroe our support and time to call the shots.  He doesn’t need to split his attenton to bolster his own troops.  If you can not be helpful ,at least avoid helping the opposition.

bert,

Nothing wrong with hashing all of this out to try to understand what’s going on.  It always amazes me when people are so insecure that they don’t want others to air opposing viewpoints.  Debate is healthy and good!  We know we don’t call the shots.  We know Ron Paul makes his own decisions.  Nothing wrong with analyzing them.

Obama is a member of the CFR- Council on Foreign Relations.  It makes me laugh when people actually think that he (or Hillary--another CFR member along with McCain) will end the war or bring the troops home.  His “advisors” would never allow it.  When it comes to foreign policy, there is NO difference between the Democrats or the Republicans.  The Democrats are just angry because their guy isn’t in calling the shots.  None of them complained when Clinton was invading and bombing countries.  Obama has already made it clear on more than one occasion that he would as President “interfer” or “intervene” in the affairs of other nations if needed.  His anti-war stance is nothing more than a crutch to get him into the White House.

In a move that can only make Ron Paul appear just that much more irremediably weak and ineffectual, the New York Times reports today that Ralph Nader plans to appear on one of the network news shows tomorrow and might announce an independent bid for president. I’d guess that that would be almost certain, given the circumstances. Having spat in the face of the right-wing anti-war, anti-system crowd, Paul, rather than offering a way toward unity with them, now enables a greater cohesiveness of those on the anti-war, anti-system left. Has it been this man’s sole purpose over the last year to embody the processes involved in ones evolution from schlub to schlamazel? At this juncture, you can almost hear the air coming out of the “revolution”.

John Lowell

Ever sence Ron 1st started this run for president, he said he is a republican and will run as a republican… Can’t you all understand. He is a republican. The Republican Party has been hijacked just as the democrat party has. Ron Paul is not a revolution, He is part of the New American revoulution. he unites us all upon one common goal, FREEDOM.

If Ron Paul runs as an independent, Justin, and Ralph Nader does run again, who are you going to support?

You were a Nader raider in 2004.

well, RP never said that he wouldn’t run as a 4th party candidate.

“March 5th, after Paul handily wins re-nomination in the District 14 Texas Primary it is time for Paul to crank it up several notches.  He isn’t going to win the presidency.  He is going to be re-elected.  It is time to hammer his economics messages home and hard.”

This comment is right on target. No flip-flopping about a 3rd party candidacy; rather stay the course in the R party and use the race to sell freedom. The ground still needs more plowing; we’re not ready to harvest yet.

I should add that we have a Depression coming. We need Ron Paul talking economic sense for people to turn to for explanations, to short-circuit a replay of FDR-worship. People need to have someone out there to tell them why Obama is making the economy worse. He will be perfectly positioned in Congress for that role.

Sam DiMuzio,

Oh, I think its safe to underestimate Ron Paul, Sam, all respect to you, in any case.

John Lowell

Oh, yeah Paul X,

Going back on to Paul"s gold standard, that would not cause a massive deflationary spirling into a world wide depression?

Get real

from the Houston Chronicle:

“AUSTIN (AP) — Acknowledging his imminent failure, maverick Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Saturday that he won’t get back into the race for the White House as an independent candidate once a GOP nominee is solidified.

“I have no plans to do that,” Paul told a small group of reporters before a rally. “I would suspect that if we don’t win, if the trends continue we’re not likely to win, that I will run for Congress."”

What do we make of this then?

Looks like it’s time to find a Libertarian Party candidate that we can get behind (or may be a Constitution Party candidate).  Bob Barr looks good to me!

Bill W. NH,

Here’s what I make of it: That the Ron Paul presidential run was aimed primarily at the purpose of keeping his congressional seat; that it brought him attention, money, and the naive enthusiasms of a volunteer corp of seventeen year olds, none of which can hurt when you’d like to beat back a primary challenge. For anyone actually to have believed that the purpose of the Paul candidacy was to won the presidency or to have reformed the Republican Party would almost certainly qualify them for a kind of guardianship. It seems that no one asked Paul how it was that he spelled a important word. Most thought he meant “principle” when he really meant “principal”.

John Lowell

Not one poster mentions that the air went out of this campaign with the revelations about the newsletters, and Paul’s disingenuous response. Did he deliver an honest product to subscribers who thought his byline meant that he was the actual writer? No. Was he honest when he claimed not to know who wrote the offending articles? No. My $800 in donations to the campaign were poorly spent on a man who dissembles.

John, My enthusiasm started to wane the very first day I stepped into campaign Hqs and realized that there were a very eager bunch of campaign workers but a staff unreceptive to ideas that might win campaigns (nothing amazing was I able to contribute, just the usual organizational skill stuff that is essential and should have been a given).  When I figured out they weren’t willing to spend any real money (and, they had it) I figured it was going to be a useless effort and that was magnified 100 fold as I stood alone at my polling place knowing full well there were a bunch of them relaxing in Hqs out of the bitter cold.

Nicolas,

I was always a little uncomfortable even after Paul’s explanations about the racism charges. He seemed so passive about what had happened. “They” told him that he couldn’t do anything about the problem, that he had to take responsibility for what was written, he said. I thought that remark rather strange. Why couldn’t he have refused responsibility for them? While he appartently fired the guy that wrote the pieces, he never seemed energetic enough fully to refuse association with them. It would be hard to conclude that someone had his finger in a thumbscrew.  The man is just totally ineffectual politically and odd personally. He really should never have become a politician or even a physician; accountancy would have been far more suitable for him.

John Lowell

John Lowell said:
He really should never have become a politician or even a physician; accountancy would have been far more suitable for him.

Well, he bacame both - 10 terms in Congress (must be doing something right- ineffectual politically?) and 4000 babies deivered (do you know what it takes to ecome a doctor? And he must have quite the clientele - odd personally? Guess those women didn’t mind his oddness.)

I don’t know too many men who have one of those acomplishments to his name much less two.

Give me a man who is what he is - no fake actors or coached talking heads. I think we’ve had quite enough of those kinds of political pundits.

Sheesh, we thought there were grown-ups on this site but we see there are still adolescents.

The Racist Newsletters were a Conspiracy AGAINST Dr. Paul and a man calling himself Heavy Fed spilled the beans.

Heavy Fed even suspects it was that NAZI, Bill White, that actually wrote those racist newsletters.

Come on, even people with half a brain can figure it out that if those Newsletters did go out to Dr. Paul’s members that one of them would have complained at the time they went out and NOT years later when he was running for Congress.

Bill White was the person that gave the newsletters to The New Republic.  They had them 6 months before they sprung that article 1 DAY before the 1st Primary.

If you do not believe us then read the article below.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_heavy_fe_080216_conspiracy_against_r.htm

ONLY A Doctor WILL HEAL Our Country,
Freedom4America Group

By the way, here is how a Non-Neocon newspaper writes what Dr. Paul said at the UT Rally.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

As long as the supporters keep increasing and the cash keeps rolling in, Ron Paul won’t give up his run for president. That was the Republican Texas congressman’s message to thousands of cheering fans Saturday afternoon in front of the University of Texas’ Main Building.

“I get the question frequently: When are you going to drop out?” said the Libertarian-leaning, 10-term congressman from Lake Jackson. “I have told them, it’s our campaign. As long as the numbers keep growing and the funds come in to support it, I will stay in the campaign.”

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/24/0224ronpaul.html

ONLY A Doctor WILL HEAL Our Country,
Freedom4America Group