Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Ron Paul is trying to herd 'angry cats'

[kaligula]

Not a bad article but makes the mistake to think that Ron Paul is trying to organize libertarians and independents(which he compares to trying to organize a herd of angry cats). The herd is actually self-organizing itself. It also fails to mention that Paul typically does well in straw polls among GOP party activists, which would imply Paul would certainly be able to use tradtional GOP organizational structures if he were to make headway in his campaign.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0808pageaug08,1,6987313.column?ctrack=1&cset=true

[JosephTheLibertarian]

The "angry cats" have been "herding" each other.

[Electrostatic]

http://www.infinitecat.com/infinite/smallpics/smallpics-201-300/300s-cheesedoodle.jpg

[JosephTheLibertarian]

http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Cats/CatInPool.jpg

[SeanEdwards]

Check out what this herd can do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

[shrugged0106]

It cracks me up that the so called "in the know" old media types still just dont get it.

They think that all of us are organized by the campaign and thus totally overlook the new paradigm that we are living in.

They have never before witnessed spontaneous love and suport for not only our candidate, but moreso for the ideals that he delivers to us.

This, my friends is the "glorious cause", they just dont know it yet

[freelance]

Oh WOW! What great print ads articles like this and the images posted above inspire!

[MozoVote]

Add constitutionalists, some anti-war Democrats, and some people so soured on politics that they have not voted in decades (or never have). The coalition is wider than just Indys and Libs.

[Bradley in DC]

Sounds like a "thank you" campaign is in order:

Clarence Page is a member of the Tribune's editorial board. E-mail: cptime@aol.com

Here was mine:

Dear Mr. Page,

As a former Ron Paul legislative staffer and current supporter, I was happy to read your balanced account of his presidential campaign. You are one of the few big name journalists actually taking the time to do a good job, thanks. Regarding the organizing angry cats line, however, you need to understand us a little better: in our philosophy and in the real world, we operate under a Hayekian "self-organizing" approach. While Dr. Paul is clear on our message, tens of thousands of volunteers all over the country are organizing themselves with various projects to support the campaign in very different ways--all with no co-ordination from the formal campaign.

To give just a few examples to understand how this is working, Paul's revolutionaries take issue with the "spamming" the polls charge (as if it's a bad thing that one candidate actually has energized Americans!) and organized a "Spam Drive" (in truth, it was a food and charity drive with just a token amount of spam) for a children's charity center in South Carolina. Independently some people have have come together for an amazing variety of projects--I've been politically active for 20 years and have never seen anything like this campaign. RonPaulRadio.com is an internet radio station devoted to broadcasting the Freedom Philosophy message. Operation Spooner was organized by volunteers to enable other volunteers to call Iowans about Ron Paul (a similar letter writing campaign was launched). TV, radio and print ads have run in Iowa independent of any contact with the campaign or PAC--individuals have an idea, post it in an email or on RonPaulforums.com (or another bulletin board), others offer constructive criticism, and those who want to contribute to funding the project do so).

In short, the cats may be independently minded, but we're not angry. We're just excited about a candidate wanting to defend liberty and acting appropriately.

Best,
Brad

[JosephTheLibertarian]

http://cats2100.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/sunna_funny_cat.jpg.w300h267.jpg

[angelatc]

Here is what our MeetUp Organizer (we're in Chicagoland) wrote as a response:


Cat Herding for Ron Paul

I would like to thank the Chicago Tribune for the recent Clarence Page
column about the Ron Paul campaign for President. It was interesting
to see that the article hailed our organization for being very active
online, winning many post-debate polls, and activism on message
boards. Especially considering it also said that our organizational
structure would be a major hindrance from moving up to the top tier of
candidates, because organizing our libertarian leaning supporters it
is like "herding angry cats". Well, I am glad to report that cat
herding is much easier than previously thought.

The spontaneous organizing among Ron Paul's supporters has been
nothing short of amazing. Over 30,000 volunteers have signed up and
formed over 680 local grassroots groups all over this country through
meetup.com in about 3 months. While all of the Democratic front
runners are using the same meetup.com tool, the next closest candidate
to Ron Paul is Barack Obama who has less than a 6,000 supporters and
only 70 meetup.com groups. In Illinois alone, the Ron Paul campaign on
meetup.com is approaching 1,000 volunteers in 20 local grassroots
campaign groups all across the state.
I believe that it is Ron Paul's message of economic and civil liberty,
principled Constitutional government, and a non-interventionist
foreign policy has drawn these activists to this campaign through
message alone. We have accomplished our organizing with virtually no
financing or direction from the central campaign. Apparently Internet
tools and decentralized grassroots campaigning are the effective cat
herding tools for the next generation. Ron Paul followers are finding
many creative ways to support this campaign, including a currency
coined by the Liberty Dollar with Ron Paul's image on it. The better
financed and better known candidates need to ask themselves why is it
that someone with so little name recognition and small amount of money
can get so many dedicated activists engaged in grassroots politics.
Why is Ron Paul dominating the Internet when others have much more
money and supposedly more supporters?

I cannot explain why the Ron Paul campaign doesn't get more mainstream
media coverage, but I do know that Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter were
at 1% and 2% respectively in the polls near this stage in previous
elections and they both went on to be President. So instead of waiting
for the media to catch up to us, the 30,000+ and rapidly growing Ron
Paul grassroots volunteers will continue to spread the message of
peace, liberty, Constitution and Ron Paul. Hopefully, the rest of
America will get to hear our message real soon. I am quite sure you
will find that he is unlike any other candidate that you have come
across in a long, long time.

[nullvalu]

just got that email (in the chicago area too) I'm so proud we finally got recognized in the chicago market.

I almost got on 560 AM this morning... they were talking about healthcare, they just didn't stay on the subject long enough for me to get on the air.. but when I said who I was calling about the screener sounded really excited that I was going to mention Ron Paul.. oh well, i'll try again.

[nullvalu]

wrote him a quick email:

Thank you so much for having the courage to write an article about Ron Paul, I live in the Chicago area and am proud you are one of the firsts to put his name out there..

I'm voting for Ron Paul in 2008, and YES I'm a real person - not a series of pixels and binary data!

Thanks again!

[Thomas_Paine]

You know what this reminds me of?

The old example of a line of people passing a message along to each other. By the time the Ron Paul message goes through all the corporate screening, government lapdog grilling and into the scripts of media hosts it comes out the most mangled and horrifying portrait known to man.

[angelatc]

I invited him to a Meet Up. I think it's sort of condescending to talk to a professional pollster to find out who we are.

[Eli]

cool,
Sent

[Razmear]

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070811/OPINION05/708110313/1006/OPINION

I liked this one, of course he doesn't realize that we don't need instructions from HQ, we are an autonomous force that gets things done independently.

small snip:
Which leads to another reason why I think Paul faces trouble in moving his campaign to the next level of public attention: organization. You can't win political campaigns without it, but organizing libertarians, by their very nature, is about as easy as herding cats. Angry cats.

eb

[michaelwise]

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070811/OPINION05/708110313/1006/OPINION

I liked this one, of course he doesn't realize that we don't need instructions from HQ, we are an autonomous force that gets things done independently.

small snip:
Which leads to another reason why I think Paul faces trouble in moving his campaign to the next level of public attention: organization. You can't win political campaigns without it, but organizing libertarians, by their very nature, is about as easy as herding cats. Angry cats.

eb

I like to think of myself as a Hard Core Republican.

[buffalokid777]

Guilty....

Independent Minded Angry Cat

[happyphilter]

TERRIBLE! I was borderline neocon!

[buffalokid777]

TERRIBLE! I was borderline neocon!

What made you decide you weren't a neocon anymore?

Did you have second thoughts about killing everyone who was standing in the way of spreading democracy through the world by force while destroying the democratic republic here in America?

[happyphilter]

What made you decide you weren't a neocon anymore?

Did you have second thoughts about killing everyone who was standing in the way of spreading democracy through the world by force while destroying the democratic republic here in America?

Oh yes, I thought the mexican boarder should have been a mind field. I thought that if anything our government was too weak and we needed to become imperialistic, And I agreed with everything the government did. And bill Orielly was my hero!
I could go on but I wont.

Just this entire summer has been kind of an eye opener. Between Ron Paul, Political classes, and just educating myself.

I decided that it is not what the government does, but the principle of their actions. Sure tapping our lines might not effect me, it might even help protect us, but the principle of the matter is that this country was founded under the presumption we would keep and exercise our liberties, not let them be taken away. Im a patriot, and Ill be damned if i let everyone who has struggled and died in the name of freedom have done so in vein.

[Electrostatic]

http://content.crazyphotos.com/oddanimals063.jpg

RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I'm a hardliner libertarian

100% socially liberal - pro choice, pro gay marriage, against death penalty, against gun control, against drug laws, against id's and driver licenses, against speed limits lol
100% fiscally conservative - low taxes, do away with fed reserve, do away with irs, decrease regulations etc

I may take a more moderate stance on some things because I don't believe in lockstepping, but those are roughly my positions.

my beliefs on taxes: a government that relies on private contributions. The only taxation I believe in is temporary taxation (deadline) I'd still prefer just about any tax system over what we currently have though!

Ron Paul doesn't have to herd me.

[happyphilter]

I dont agree with the article in the fact that we are not all independants. Well, maybe we are haha, but we have found a way to get together and accomplish things.
Look at all the things we do from getting active in meetups, or getting an ad in a paper. We might do a lot of things independent but we CAN come together.

[Man from La Mancha]

Major flaw with article is that he says many old Libs are the reason for support but fails to take in account the many young supporters that were never Libs before.

[buffalokid777]

I dont agree with the article in the fact that we are not all independants. Well, maybe we are haha, but we have found a way to get together and accomplish things.
Look at all the things we do from getting active in meetups, or getting an ad in a paper. We might do a lot of things independent but we CAN come together.

You hit the nail on the head....

I have been independant since I registered to vote....(Changed to Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries....)

Joeseph is a hard line liberatarian....

You were once a borderline neocon....

George Bush said he was a uniter not a divider....the only truth in that statement is he united everyone into hating him.....

Ron Paul is the only candidate who can unite the masses to move forward and repair this country after the mess king george the 2nd has made.....

[happyphilter]

Ha, I remember bush saying he was a Uniter.
EVERYONE I share and explain Ron Pauls views with are going to vote for him now. He has a strong message, however quiet it may be. It is our jobs to make that message heard.

Lets just keep the train a rollin, we have done well thus far. As ron paul said, (roughly quoted) He dosent feel like he is leading his troops, but rather he is a part of them.
continue to help each other out and spread the word, and we will show we aren't just a bunch of loan wolfs chaoticly howling at the moon.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

You hit the nail on the head....

I have been independant since I registered to vote....(Changed to Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries....)

Joeseph is a hard line liberatarian....

You were once a borderline neocon....

George Bush said he was a uniter not a divider....the only truth in that statement is he united everyone into hating him.....

Ron Paul is the only candidate who can unite the masses to move forward and repair this country after the mess king george the 2nd has made.....

Joseph ;)

[walt]

reprint from days ago, please check the board before posting by author?

[Aratus]

right now, does the semi-confirmed shifting around of tokens last nite from barr to gravel
and ruwart to kubby now hint at the divisions inside the LP convention that shall play out in full today?

[LibertyEagle]

I decided that it is not what the government does, but the principle of their actions. Sure tapping our lines might not effect me, it might even help protect us, but the principle of the matter is that this country was founded under the presumption we would keep and exercise our liberties, not let them be taken away. Im a patriot, and Ill be damned if i let everyone who has struggled and died in the name of freedom have done so in vein.

:) Thank you for that. It really brought a smile to my face. Welcome to the revolution.

[wgadget]

This is a very old thread. BTW, what are the Libertarians up to?

[SLSteven]

Roar!!