Sign Waving vs Canvassing

[eldeeder]

Ok, we had a friendly little debate tonight at one of my meetup groups. Should we do more sign waving or more canvassing? These are my thoughts.

When you get enough people sign waving at a busy intersection, people take notice. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. People want to know what the fuss is about, so they look up Ron Paul. With 15 people, we waved signs at an intersection for 2 hours, and saw around 80,000 cars. At 1.25 people per car, thats around 100,000 people. How long would it take a team of 15 to canvass that many people? Lets say each house has 10 people living in it. Thats 10,000 houses. At 5 minutes per house, with ZERO travel time between houses, thats 833 man hours, divided by 15 people, is about 55 hours per person. Keep in mind the estimate numbers.

I would argue we exposed roughly the same number of people to the message in 2 hours. (granted, not as detailed, but who listens to details when they just dismiss you anyway)

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to discourage anyone from any form in which they choose to campaign, I would just like to know what people here think. When I canvass, I find very, very few people that dont know about ron paul and then get excited about him. Either people support him, or they don't.

I dont think we can depend on converts for this. I think we need the people who don't care, or just don't know about Ron Paul and his message.

So the sign waving gets my vote. People love commotion. Signwaves deliver that. What people don't like, is strangers knocking on their door and wanting to talk politics.

So those are my thoughts. Id like to know what other people think.

[RobS]

Sign up for the precinct program, and do it.

It has been proven time and again to boost results by at least two times the norm.

voters.ronpaul2008.com

If you want to supplement the precinct program with sign waves, go for it, but I don't think it can be argued at this point that the precinct program ABSOLUTELY works. We have seen it work in Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina....

[Richandler]

None of the other campaigns do sign waving. That should be your first clue as to how ineffective it is. Canvassing and personal phone calls make much more impact.

[dante]

We have data from the campaign that canvassed districts turn out 2-3x as many voters for Ron Paul than he gets on average in the rest of the state... and that's also 2-3x what he is/ was polling. Bottom line is sign waving might raise name id... but does nothing to convince potential voters or identify them to get them out to the polls.

[hopeforamerica]

Guess you lose that arguement:p Sign waving is fun and creates name recognition. Now we need to talk to people! Bottom line is that most people won't go look up Ron Paul after seeing all the fuss (those that would have already have done it).

[DirtMcGirt]

canvass...

[Gadsdenfly]

Sign waving was good and helped create a buzz but time for real hard work of gettting out the vote. That means canvassing. Even lit drops are more effective sign waving. Hit those screen doors and door knobs you can do a lot in a day. Many throw out the political junk but man, many people read through it and then look for more info. And then go sign wave if you like. :)

[HenryKnoxFineBooks]

Sign wave for an hour...then go canvass!

[robert4rp08]

Sign waving is utterly useless in terms of spreading the message or teaching people about Ron Paul. The only thing sign waving is good for is showing that Ron Paul has support. That's not going to convince people to vote for him though.

[all J's in IL for RP]

An hour spent on sign waving is an hour you can be contacting voters.

Sign waving is sooooo 6 months ago.

[VoluntaryMan]

Canvass. Sign waving attracts attention, but doesn't persuade anyone. It's time to go tell those GOP primary voters why you've been waving signs for months.

[eldeeder]

Sign up for the precinct program, and do it.

It has been proven time and again to boost results by at least two times the norm.

voters.ronpaul2008.com

If you want to supplement the precinct program with sign waves, go for it, but I don't think it can be argued at this point that the precinct program ABSOLUTELY works. We have seen it work in Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina....


Not familiar with that yet... Thanks for the info, Ill get started!

[specsaregood]

thats around 100,000 people.

And how many of them were registered voters eligible to vote for Ron Paul in your states primary/caucus? You dont know? Exactly.

I can say with 100% certainty that the 1000 plus people I have talked to while CANVASSING, ARE ELIGIBLE to vote for Ron Paul in our states primary. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. The shotgun approach was good 6 months ago when people could register or change parties. Not anymore.

Get out there and get the information directly into the voters hands. It is as simple as that.

[jblosser]

Since no one really talked about the specifics of your math argument... the problem is that the goal is not to expose as many people as possible to the name. The goal is to get votes. People in American historically don't vote. 10% of the registered voters turning out in a primary is a big deal, and most people aren't even registered.

You canvass because it means going to where the people that actually vote are and making sure they get out and vote for your guy. You can talk to 1000 houses and if only a handful of them come vote for you, you're coming out better than the other guys given a large field like this one.

Sign wave downtown after dark when you can't go door to door. And even then you're doing it to find the existing supporters who will walk up for a yard sign so that you can get them out canvassing the next day.

[jabrownie]

# of people who drive by (times) % of people who actually see your signs (times) % of those who will remember that they saw your sign by the time they make it however many miles back home/office (times) % of those who are actually motived to take the time to look further (times) % of those are won over by what they find (times) % of those who actually go vote = really really really really small percent.

Canvass.

[eldeeder]

None of the other campaigns do sign waving. That should be your first clue as to how ineffective it is. Canvassing and personal phone calls make much more impact.

In all fairness, I dont really see people doing much of anything for any other candidates.

[eldeeder]

Sign waving is utterly useless in terms of spreading the message or teaching people about Ron Paul. The only thing sign waving is good for is showing that Ron Paul has support. That's not going to convince people to vote for him though.



"utterly useless "



I ask you to choose your words carefully. Are you telling me that the 25+ hours I spent LAST WEEK ALONE were USELESS? If thats the case, I may as well drop out now and start pullin my pud a hell of a lot more, because, apparently you're sayin Ill have more to show for it when I'm done. Im not saying I am right in this argument, I just want to know what people think, but PLEASE, dont ever tell anyone what they do is "useless."

If someone just changes their email signature to "google Ron Paul" I would argue they've done plenty. Can they do more? Of course! But who here is ready to say they've done the most they can do?

Im not saying I do more than other people on here, but just be careful telling people what they do is "useless"

[RPTXState]

Sign waving gets poeple thinking

Canvassing gets poeple doing

Both are good. But votes win elections, not thoughts.

[tx08]

Is there a way to tell if someone has already signed up as my precinct's leader?

[specsaregood]

"utterly useless "

I ask you to choose your words carefully. Are you telling me that the 25+ hours I spent LAST WEEK ALONE were USELESS? If thats the case, I may as well drop out now and start pullin my pud a hell of a lot more, because, apparently you're sayin Ill have more to show for it when I'm done. Im not saying I am right in this argument, I just want to know what people think, but PLEASE, dont ever tell anyone what they do is "useless."


I don't think he meant it as a insult, so don't take it that way.

It sounds like you have been running your hindend off trying to support Ron Paul and have just discovered that you were on a treadmill the whole time.

Just take this knowledge, and turn your efforts into more productive approaches. The campaign has officially asked us to canvass, we should take their advice.

[specsaregood]

Is there a way to tell if someone has already signed up as my precinct's leader?

When you sign up and it lists precincts, it lists the leaders of those precincts. So in short, yes.

[ronpaul4pres]

Just think: If sign waving were better than canvassing, it would be promoted on http://voters.ronpaul2008.com. It is not.

[zakkubin]

The answer is both.

You sign wave to get casual name recognition to the masses.

Then you canvass to talk 1 on 1 and they have at least "heard of him" so he is legit. This makes them much more apt to listen to his message.

------
BUT in a cruch time I would advocate what my group did today:

Today my meetup group did a sign wave like your talking about. But we had a great system where when the cars were stopped at red lights we all picked a car and handed them R.P. literature. When that light turned green we ran to the traffic that was then stopping... 3 hours later and we now have name recognition with thousands and many of those people have some literature to read about him...

People actually turned around and came over to ask for yard signs! So I think this is a mix of both worlds. Effects lots of people and also some 1 on 1. ( only 30 seconds- green light= you're about to be ran over )

[eldeeder]

I don't think he meant it as a insult, so don't take it that way.

It sounds like you have been running your hindend off trying to support Ron Paul and have just discovered that you were on a treadmill the whole time.

Just take this knowledge, and turn your efforts into more productive approaches. The campaign has officially asked us to canvass, we should take their advice.


I didn't take it that way at all. If it just took one person to get me to quit, I would've quit months ago. People can say whatever they want to me, I don't care. Im a grownup, I can deal with it. I was just saying dont dismiss anyone, and dont discourage anyone. I haven't found any success in canvassing. That doesn't mean it doesnt work. I was just looking for opinions, and thankfully, I can find plenty of diverse ones here! Viva Ron Paul!

[libertarian4321]

Sign waving is utterly useless in terms of spreading the message or teaching people about Ron Paul. The only thing sign waving is good for is showing that Ron Paul has support. That's not going to convince people to vote for him though.

You've been on these forums long enough to see DOZENS of threads about people who won't vote for Ron Paul because "they don't think he has a chance."

Yet you think that sign waving is useless because all it does is show that Ron Paul has support?

Let that sink in for a second, then tell me how "useless" it is...

I won't even get into the fact that a large portion of the electorate still has no idea that Ron Paul is even a Presidential candidate yet.

I guarantee you that 15 people at a busy intersection at rush hour will expose a hell of a lot more people to Ron Paul's name than the same 15 people banging on doors at 2 PM on a weekday (when most voters aren't even going to be home).

On top of that, there are some people who WILL volunteer to sign wave, but simply WILL NOT be willing to pound on doors.

So no, sign waving is not "useless."

Both sign waving and canvassing are useful- its up to the individual to decide whether his time is best spent doing one, the other, or both...

[newmedia4ron]

CANVASSING

why?
You need to make sure people are registered, know their polling place, etc
You NEED TO GET THEIR PHONE NUMBERS
Collecting contact info of people you know want to vote for Ron Paul is critical
Its all about setting up the GOTV

[AmyPA]

Lit drop. Phone calls. Face to face. Do it.

[Richandler]

In all fairness, I dont really see people doing much of anything for any other candidates.

Then you haven't been paying attention to the race. All the candidates who have won a state or two have people making calls and canvassing non-stop the week before the elections hitting upwards of millions of people with actual conversations about their candidate. The truth is the campaign needed to get the whole precinct leader thing started earlier if we were going to win. What we must learn from this is what we have to start doing earlier if we are to win any elections in the furture.

[newmedia4ron]

What we must learn from this is what we have to start doing earlier if we are to win any elections in the furture.

Hell yeah as soon as the general election is over we need to get a head start for the 2012 election.

[dblee]

You have to understand that canvassing is not about converting people, although that is a nice side effect. It's about identifying people that already support paul so that when primary or caucus day comes, we can GET OUT THE VOTE.

Having all the supporters in the world doesn't matter if they don't vote.

[libertarian4321]

Then you haven't been paying attenti+on to the race. All the candidates who have won a state or two have people making calls and canvassing non-stop the week before the elections hitting upwards of millions of people with actual conversations about their candidate. The truth is the campaign needed to get the whole precinct leader thing started earlier if we were going to win. What we must learn from this is what we have to start doing earlier if we are to win any elections in the furture.

I think you are missing a salient point.

Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past 10 years+ knows Rudy Giuliani and McCain. Romney is almost as well known.

Ron Paul is an obscure congressman from Texas that almost no one but Libertarians and those in his district had heard of 6 months ago, and who is probably still no better known to "Joe Sixpack" than Ru Paul.

So efforts that get his name out to the masses and show support (e.g. sign waving) will be far more effective for Ron Paul (low name recognition) than it will for Rudy Giuliani (almost universal name recognition). Of course, canvassing helps with name recognition, too. But you can reach a lot more people in an hour sign waving than you can walking neighborhoods (thousands sign waving versus dozens canvassing).

And again, for those who simply WILL NOT canvass (and there are many who won't), sign waving is better than sitting home watching Oprah or tapping away at your keyboard on the Ron Paul forums...

[AmyPA]

Those who won't canvass should be out flyering, or writing letters, or making phone calls, or converting people at the local watering hole. Something.

If RP supporters refuse to do anything but sit on their computers and sign wave, we're in a heck of a lot of trouble.

[AmyPA]

Signwaving is fine for a group activity one day a week. And if you want to go hold a sign on your lunch hour, great. But putting a huge focus on it, imo, would be a mistake.

And you ought to get your members to go do a lit drop in a neighborhood after the sign wave. If you make the not-so-fun stuff a group activity, it's a bit more fun.

[GunnyFreedom]

Do your canvassing. Sign wave while you sign bomb.

Sign bomb from 10 AM to noon, lit drop until 1 PM, Canvass from 1 PM until sunset, then sign bomb and sign wave until 8 PM then set up a table on the strip, with hella foot traffic, sipping coffee and chatting up Ron Paul until about 10:30 PM then sign bomb and sign wave until 1 AM.

Signwave while you signbomb!

Wash, rinse, repeat.

[tcindie]

Those who won't canvass should be out flyering, or writing letters, or making phone calls, or converting people at the local watering hole. Something.

If RP supporters refuse to do anything but sit on their computers and sign wave, we're in a heck of a lot of trouble.

Agreed.. But the signwaver-only types are still better than those who jumped ship after Iowa and New Hampshire (two mostly insignificant states having only 52 delegates collectively between the two)

Because at least the sign wavers are still here, and will most likely vote at their primary/caucus. Hopefully they'll have others voting with them. Sure it's not as effective as other things, but it's not wholly counterproductive.

[JohnnyWrath]

I don't like being bothered at home via phone or knock....my opinion.

My advice is sign waving 100%, but do it in areas where hopefully you can hand out literature as well....easy to read and NOT too long or too in depth....if it is not catchy right from the start....it will go right in th garbage.

OK, I am NOT kidding here at all....completely serious....no matter what you do, try to get friends that are girls, and are easy on the eyes to help with.....this should be common sense, but it quite often is not it seems....guys will be swayed by girls so much easier than by other guys...even if they hate Ron Paul right now, they will stand and talk about him with a pretty girl when they would tell another guy to F-off.....guys are always more likely to listen if a girl is present.....

[GunnyFreedom]

I don't like being bothered at home via phone or knock....my opinion.

My advice is sign waving 100%, but do it in areas where hopefully you can hand out literature as well....easy to read and NOT too long or too in depth....if it is not catchy right from the start....it will go right in th garbage.

OK, I am NOT kidding here at all....completely serious....no matter what you do, try to get friends that are girls, and are easy on the eyes to help with.....this should be common sense, but it quite often is not it seems....guys will be swayed by girls so much easier than by other guys...even if they hate Ron Paul right now, they will stand and talk about him with a pretty girl when they would tell another guy to F-off.....guys are always more likely to listen if a girl is present.....

The cold fact is that canvassed precincts do statistically better than twice what uncanvassed districts do. I am not a fan of canvassing, but precincts HAVE to be canvassed. If it comes down to a choice between only canvassing and winning, or only sign waving and losing; well, I'll go do the hardest, slowest job: door to door canvassing.

Most people are appreciative. Maybe 1-2% just close the door and say 'go away.' If a good canvass doubles our precinct vote tallies, then I will canvass.

[qwerty]

This is the most effective way, it has been proven!

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=104208




:cool:

[libertarian4321]

I don't like being bothered at home via phone or knock....my opinion.


Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

[Sey.Naci]

None of the other campaigns do sign waving. That should be your first clue as to how ineffective it is. Canvassing and personal phone calls make much more impact.What he said.

[GunnyFreedom]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

Well if you would rather Ron Paul lose than to do what has been proven to work, well, that's your perogative. Don't come crying in 2 years though. :(

[Santana28]

our sign waves are in a mostly Obama supporting neighborhood and have been very effective at getting the message out that there is such a thing as an anti-war Republican out there...

i think we're going to shoot for a rotation allowing everyone to do both canvassing and sign waving all day... just taking shifts

[robert4rp08]

You've been on these forums long enough to see DOZENS of threads about people who won't vote for Ron Paul because "they don't think he has a chance."

Yet you think that sign waving is useless because all it does is show that Ron Paul has support?

Let that sink in for a second, then tell me how "useless" it is...

I won't even get into the fact that a large portion of the electorate still has no idea that Ron Paul is even a Presidential candidate yet.

I guarantee you that 15 people at a busy intersection at rush hour will expose a hell of a lot more people to Ron Paul's name than the same 15 people banging on doors at 2 PM on a weekday (when most voters aren't even going to be home).

On top of that, there are some people who WILL volunteer to sign wave, but simply WILL NOT be willing to pound on doors.

So no, sign waving is not "useless."

Both sign waving and canvassing are useful- its up to the individual to decide whether his time is best spent doing one, the other, or both...

Oh really? Seeing people waving signs convinces people that Ron Paul has a chance? I'm pretty sure that comes with primary/caucus results or a heart to heart conversation. When people see a sign that says "Ron Paul. A hope for America" that doesn't let people know that he is running for president. Or when people see a sign that says "Ron Paul. President 2008" that doesn't let them know he's a strict constitutionalist, against the war, against the IRS, etc? People that have never heard of Ron Paul and see these signs just think.... who is this Ron Paul guy. I wonder if he's a Republican, Democrat, or Independent. Oh well, he must have no shot at winning since I've never heard of him before.

Sign waving is fun. Sign waving makes great YouTube videos. Sign waving will get you a few honks from supporters. Sign waving will not convince anyone to vote for Ron Paul. We need face-to-face contact to wipe away what people hear on the news, and waving a sign in their face isn't going to accomplish that.

We have actual evidence that canvassing can double, even triple the number of votes for Ron Paul. We out sign wave, out rally, and out march any other candidate's supporters anywhere... what has it accomplished thus far?

More people may get exposed to the name Ron Paul by sign waving, but more people will commit to voting for Ron Paul by canvassing... and these newly committed people will talk to their friends and family about Ron Paul... and these people will spread the word, etc etc etc.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy sign waving, and I think there is a time and place for it. But the original question was... sign waving or canvassing? In my opinion, if canvassing is an option it should ALWAYS be done over sign waving.

[RonRules]

With well chosen intersections, where lots of people are stuck waiting, combining a sign waving and passing around slim jims and DVD's is a very good combination.

I've done several. With about 20 RP supporters and 3-4 on each corner, and the remaining handing out slim jims and DVD to passerbys and people in cars, we can provide around 300-400 slim jims per hour. That's very effective.

The joy of sign waving is contagious, and I have often seen passerbys join us.

[firebirdnation]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

+1

[expatinireland]

Sign waving might be a fun group effort but in the end it is about building name recognition.

Static signs do the same job with less effort.

Precious time is best put to canvassing. Don't signal or tick off the opposition, identify the uncommitted for conversion and identify supporters to get out the vote on election day.

[romeo2]

do what my church did when we were street preaching(jesus loves you)

busy intersection. a lot of signs. a lot of people(crowd attracts a crowd theory you said right). and have the smoking hawt babes passing out gospel tracks(in this case, ron paul slim jims) to the cars that stop at a red light. we have everybodies attention because they are reading the massive signs. all the ladies have to do is put one track in the air (they were in their late teens and early twenties and in shape lol) and nod to the people in the cars if they wanted one. they cant reject the girls, after one car accepts, everybody down the line does. i think this is a ton more effective than 2 man teams on different intersections around town. have a major one at a single time with some honeys and hit all the intersections like that.

edit: yeah somebody mentioned this a few posts up

[firebirdnation]

I think you are missing a salient point.

Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past 10 years+ knows Rudy Giuliani and McCain. Romney is almost as well known.

Ron Paul is an obscure congressman from Texas that almost no one but Libertarians and those in his district had heard of 6 months ago, and who is probably still no better known to "Joe Sixpack" than Ru Paul.

So efforts that get his name out to the masses and show support (e.g. sign waving) will be far more effective for Ron Paul (low name recognition) than it will for Rudy Giuliani (almost universal name recognition). Of course, canvassing helps with name recognition, too. But you can reach a lot more people in an hour sign waving than you can walking neighborhoods (thousands sign waving versus dozens canvassing).

And again, for those who simply WILL NOT canvass (and there are many who won't), sign waving is better than sitting home watching Oprah or tapping away at your keyboard on the Ron Paul forums...

Those are excellent points, it seems the biggest obstacle we currently face is name recognition. I usually limit my activities to literature drops instead of bugging people at home. I also dislike it when someone shows up to my house unannounced, and I hate telemarketers. Some folks here will flame you for not doing things their way, but I like to give credit to everyone who is trying to help, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

[maghi85]

how about putting goods like.... a long line
"If you want to" - "End Income Tax" - "Bring Troops home" - "then vote for Ron Paul"
1st sign board 2nd sign board 3rd Sign board 4th sign board
i mean something that gives the entire RP message in one sentence... so that you don't have to google up this mystery...

[maghi85]

people need to work on their families and friends first... trust me its traditional and it works alot faster...
because all RP supporters are RADICAL by nature because they realize a threat and feel cheated and bias by the MSM...
you just have to radicalize your friends and they'll radicalize their friends...
it's going to be alot faster than going to people you don't know

[firebirdnation]

how about putting goods like.... a long line
"If you want to" - "End Income Tax" - "Bring Troops home" - "then vote for Ron Paul"
1st sign board 2nd sign board 3rd Sign board 4th sign board
i mean something that gives the entire RP message in one sentence... so that you don't have to google up this mystery...

There are a group of signs like that off the freeway in this area. The first sign says something like "End the IRS", second sign says "End the War", and then at the end there is a large Ron Paul for President sign. Very effective IMO.

[specsaregood]

Same here- and the door knock is even more annoying than the phone.

If you aren't a friend, a relative, or someone coming to tell me I've won the publishers clearing house prize, stay the hell away from my door- I don't want what you are selling- and even if I did, I won't buy it because you are annoying me by knocking...

Since I don't like being pestered at home, whether by salesmen, religious nuts, or political canvassers, I won't do it to others.

That's funny, the majority of people THANK ME for giving them information Ron Paul, when the primary is (date) and any other info.

[robert4rp08]

There are a group of signs like that off the freeway in this area. The first sign says something like "End the IRS", second sign says "End the War", and then at the end there is a large Ron Paul for President sign. Very effective IMO.

And Clinton signs say "End the War" too. And Obama signs say "Vote for Change". And Edwards signs say "Bring the Troops Home". And Rudy signs say "911 911 911 I will protect you". And McCain signs say "I'm an American Hero"

Are those effective signs too?

[firebirdnation]

That's funny, the majority of people THANK ME for giving them information Ron Paul, when the primary is (date) and any other info.

On a related note, I haven't been bugged in long time, but sometimes a Jehovah's Witness will come by and try to leave me some stuff. I will also tell them thank you for the information and hope they leave as quickly as possible. I then toss their literature right in the trash. Perhaps those people are just polite? I wish there were some real research on this as I am very interested in seeing the results. I will try to see what I can find on the topic. Keep up the good work, at least you are out there doing something. :)

[chelu]

I found Ron Paul through the internet. Not through banner ads, or seeing his name everywhere, but by an article link similar to what we try and do with Digg, with Ron Paul's policies or debate clips. I guess in internet terms that would be the equivalent of sign waving & canvassing with slim jims. Canvassing and giving voters the formal introduction to Ron Paul's platform and leaving them with something to ponder should be first, and then we hammer home the name ID, and the sense of belonging to something, with the sign-wavings, the Blimp, moneybombs, etc.... I'd say it's a cycle of both sign waving and canvassing. Sign Wavings get some to take the initiative to "Google Ron Paul", but for the rest, that's where canvassing fills the void.

[firebirdnation]

And Clinton signs say "End the War" too. And Obama signs say "Vote for Change". And Edwards signs say "Bring the Troops Home". And Rudy signs say "911 911 911 I will protect you". And McCain signs say "I'm an American Hero"

Are those effective signs too?

I haven't seen any of those signs for the other candidates yet, but when I do I will let you know if they are effective or not. But, there is a big difference between Ron Paul and the other candidates, that difference is name recognition. I have seen a few Obama and Clinton commercials on TV here, and for those who are not educated on the candidates and issues, I would say they are very effective. :)

[ASayre]

From most effective to least effective:

Talking to people you know personally
Canvassing
Phone Banking
Targeted Tabling (eg, gunshows)
Tabling elsewhere (state St)
Lit drops at homes
Handing stuff out to passerbys
Letter Writing
Putting stuff on cars
Sign Bombing
Sign waving with issues ('Never voted to raise taxes') etc
Sign waving
Posting online
Nothing

This is my experience. We've done all of these and then some, and this is the best way to get to people. Signwaving does NOT get info into the hands of people. It does NOT provide 1 on 1 communication.

[Freedom&Reason]

I say do a little bit of all at first and see what you think is the most effective. We did sign waving and canvassing here in Michigan and they both worked. I canvassed with cars while I was sign waving(at stop lights). people would stop buy and get signs and lit from our sign wavings. It is not necessarily what you do, it is how effective you are at it. I see people say it was proven that canvassing works, can they prove that sign waving doesn't?

[robert4rp08]

I haven't seen any of those signs for the other candidates yet, but when I do I will let you know if they are effective or not. But, there is a big difference between Ron Paul and the other candidates, that difference is name recognition. I have seen a few Obama and Clinton commercials on TV here, and for those who are not educated on the candidates and issues, I would say they are very effective. :)

Well, that's the point. People aren't going to learn about the candidates and issues from signs. All candidate signs are positive because they were put up by supporters. The only way to inform people is by talking to them.

[ASayre]

If you don't want to go up door to door, at the very least, set up a table on the sidewalk of the main street of your town (lots of foot traffic), and have materials there. Signwave if you must, but be sure to have a place where people can actually get some info.

[firebirdnation]

Well, that's the point. People aren't going to learn about the candidates and issues from signs. All candidate signs are positive because they were put up by supporters. The only way to inform people is by talking to them.

How can you say signs are not effective? Perhaps someone better let all those companies who pay big bucks for billboards know that their money is being wasted. ;)

I have also noticed a trend in which businesses hire someone to stand on a street corner waving a sign. Perhaps sign waving is more beneficial than some realize?

Of course signs are not the be all and end all, but rather, they are one tool we can use to get Ron Pauls name out there.

[specsaregood]

On a related note, I haven't been bugged in long time, but sometimes a Jehovah's Witness will come by and try to leave me some stuff. I will also tell them thank you for the information and hope they leave as quickly as possible. I then toss their literature right in the trash. Perhaps those people are just polite? I wish there were some real research on this as I am very interested in seeing the results. I will try to see what I can find on the topic. Keep up the good work, at least you are out there doing something. :)

Yeah, I can tell when somebody is just "being polite".
The difference is how I SHAPE my talking points.

I go out my way to make it sound/feel like I am just giving them information. Helping them out. Of course the fact that our primary has been moved up to Feb. 5th (and 80%+ of the people don't know that, helps). Also the fact that Unaffiliated voters can vote in the Republican primary is also helpful, as the vast majority 90%+? of unaffiliate voters don't realize that.

I guess it helps if you smile, are not pushy and not an asshole. But who knows, maybe they are "just being polite". I don't care, I got the information into their hands, it is up to them from there...

[firebirdnation]

Yeah, I can tell when somebody is just "being polite".
The difference is how I SHAPE my talking points.

I go out my way to make it sound/feel like I am just giving them information. Helping them out. Of course the fact that our primary has been moved up to Feb. 5th (and 80%+ of the people don't know that, helps). Also the fact that Unaffiliated voters can vote in the Republican primary is also helpful, as the vast majority 90%+? of unaffiliate voters don't realize that.

I guess it helps if you smile, are not pushy and not an asshole. But who knows, maybe they are "just being polite". I don't care, I got the information into their hands, it is up to them from there...

I hope I didn't come off as I was knocking you or the fact that you are getting out there as that was not my intention. What you are doing is excellent and needed. :)

[specsaregood]

I hope I didn't come off as I was knocking you or the fact that you are getting out there as that was not my intention. What you are doing is excellent and needed. :)

I couldn't care less what some anonymous guy on a message board thinks anyways. :) But thanks.

Besides it is pretty darn rewarding when while canvassing you get to a house, open with "Hello, I'm a volunteer for the Ron Paul for President campaign.." just to have them cut you off and say, "I love Ron Paul, do you have a sign? I've been wondering where i could get a sign!".
Giving them a sign and gettng their phone number so you can remind them to vote on the primary day.

As long as everybodyis doing something...

[FreeTraveler]

Hell yeah as soon as the general election is over we need to get a head start for the 2012 election.

There's an election in 2010 after this one, then 2012.

[angrydragon]

http://people.ronpaul2008.com/campaign-updates/2008/01/29/another-one-bites-the-dust/#comment-7885

# Ron Bedell Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 12:19 am

Dear Folks,

I’m sure you are aware of most of this. However, I would just like to tell you what we went through down here in Broward County, South Florida. As you know, Dr. Paul took 3% of the vote in Florida. In the 13 precincts that myself and someone else worked here in Broward County, Dr. Paul came in second to John McCain; that’s right, Dr. Paul beat Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee. This happened with almost NO media coverage of Dr. Paul. Also, Broward County is a strong for Giuliani but Dr. Paul beat Giuliani in those 13 precincts that we worked. We know of other Dr. Paul supporters in Broward County who were waving Dr. Paul’s signs, but they did not do that well in their precincts. Sign waving does NOT get votes, BUT PRECINCT WORK DOES GET VOTES!!! Please do the precinct work and that is how Dr. Paul will win. God Bless You.

[GunnyFreedom]

I happen to believe that signwaving is amazingly effective. I've taken to carrying a sign with me wherever I go, except when canvassing, and I wave it whenever appropriate. Oh yeah, people love that! I'm getting 1 in 5 hard positives and 1 in 50 negative. Sunday was 80% ignoring us. Tuesday was maybe 15-20% ignoring us.

You want to wave signs? Come to Alabama, I'll show you some great places! Only come quick so I can coordinate it with the sign bomb and the canvass.

[robert4rp08]

From the campaign HQ:


We received this message this morning from a Ron Paul supporter in Florida. Because it is so important, we are sharing it with you, too.

I wanted to share my experience canvassing here in Broward County, South Florida.

As you know, Dr. Paul took 3% of the vote yesterday in Florida. A friend and I signed up on the campaign's website to be a precinct leader, and took it upon ourselves to canvass 13 precincts in Broward County. I'm proud to report that in the precincts that we canvassed, Dr. Paul came in second to John McCain.

That's right; Dr. Paul beat Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee. This happened with almost NO media coverage of Dr. Paul. It's particularly noteworthy, because Broward County is a stronghold of Rudy Giuliani.

We know of other Dr. Paul supporters in Broward County who were waving Dr. Paul's signs, but they did not do that well in their precincts. Sign waving does NOT get votes, BUT PRECINCT WORK DOES GET VOTES!!! Please do the precinct work in your area so that Dr. Paul will win. God Bless You.

Help us by signing up today to be a precinct leader in your area. If you really want to make Ron Paul our next president, sign up and begin canvassing right away. You're counting on Ron Paul to do his part, and he's counting on you to do yours.

This is work that any dedicated supporter can do, and, along with donating, is the most important thing you can do to ensure a Ron Paul victory.

Sign up yourself, and then encourage all your friends to sign up here: https://voters.ronpaul2008.com.

Daniel McCarthy
Internet Communications Coordinator
Ron Paul 2008

There's your evidence.