I just gave my stump speech as an interested Congressional candidate

[Rhys]

And boy did it go over like a lead balloon. I was talking to a small group of seniors, and they basically said we liked you up until Iraq. I ended with Iraq so if I drop it from my talk to seniors.... cross your fingers.

For legal reasons, I'm only testing the waters right now... and damn, is it cold. No wonder Ron Paul has so much trouble. I need better sound bytes.

I managed to save some conservative cred when I stole from RP and I said "I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." This line saved my first appearance but by a thread. All it really did was allow them to remember I'm a conservative.

Also, when I said things like "If you want a message of liberty in Washington, if you want the Constitution to mean something again, and if you want the government out of our lives, then you have to vote for me" they ate it up.

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

That line went over amazingly well.

There's so much we can rip off directly from Ron Paul. I need to watch more videos and read more speeches.

[Ex Post Facto]

lol, good job.

[Cowlesy]

I'd stick Iraq in the middle.

The old-time sandwich method. Start off with happy stuff, put the hard to swallow stuff in the middle, and end it with an uplifting part.

They start liking your message, ponder the middle part, and leave being happy again.

Shiney, happy people holding hands :)

[MozoVote]

I think Iraq needs to be couched in language that emphasizes the need for Iraqi's to take over the destiny of their country, and that our troops should not be caught in the midst of their sectarian clashes. We wanted out of Somalia and Haiti for those reasons. Even McCain said so.

People do shut their ears quickly when saying "we need to leave".

[Jeremy]

Luckily for us, the whole Iraq thing (biggest problem in the party) will be gone eventually.

[billjarrett]

Or you can sugar cote it like our current politicians do their views:

"I vow to fight for our government to be more effective in it's war on terror, while streamlining the effort and cutting out the waste so we don't go bankrupt doing it"

Don't need to mention that Iraq would be the waste you'd cut.

[jake]

focus on the weak open border and how troops in Iraq are needed here to defend the border

[JimInNY]

Or you can sugar cote it like our current politicians do their views:

"I vow to fight for our government to be more effective in it's war on terror, while streamlining the effort and cutting out the waste so we don't go bankrupt doing it"

Don't need to mention that Iraq would be the waste you'd cut.

yeah, what he said. :)

[sgrooms]

When you say you want to get out of Iraq, people automatically associate that with giving up on the war on terror.

Say something along the lines of we thought they were in Iraq, we now know they aren't, yet we are still there. I want to get out of Iraq, stop spending billions of dollars there, and spend that money to go after the terrorists directly.

I've gotten a LOT of people to take a second look at Ron Paul after telling them this, when they had originally written him off.

[Bold As Love]

Great Job!!!!

Ron Paul has written so much good material.

If you haven't already, get a copy of "A Foreign Policy of Freedom". Its a great start and will give you lots of ammo on the foreign policy issues.

Immoral and illegal war....if it was wrong at the start, why is it right in the middle of it? The fact that we are painted as not being supportive of the troops because we are not supportive of an unconstitutional action.

Only Congress has the power to declare war, for decades, congress has been abdicating its responsibility to an ever-imperial presidency. Lots of powerful arguements there. Of course, he makes them more gracefully than I do.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...I ADMIRE WHAT YOURE DOING!!!!

[Bubba]

Good work! Lots to be said for "know your audience" !!

Next time, scent yourself with either Vicks Vaporub or mothballs first. That'll get their attention because you will smell like one of the pack.

[pinkmandy]

Great job Rhys!!! Nobody is perfect at anything the very first time. ;) Be real, be genuine, and show you care. You'll do great! Goal is statesman (telling the truth), not politician (telling them what they want to hear) anyway. Goal accomplished!

[FreeTraveler]

Luckily for us, the whole Iraq thing (biggest problem in the party) will be gone eventually.

Yes, you can stress that part, and the "Armed Neutrality" buzzword goes over well with neocons. :)

[Bold As Love]

Goal is stateman (telling the truth), not politician (telling them what they want to hear) anyway. Goal accomplished!

QFT, that's right.

[AJ Antimony]

Remember, it's not Iraq which is the issue but foreign policy. Talk about foreign policy as a whole and you'll do better.

[ike]

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

Can anyone back this up with numbers or sources? I've had a hard time selling this line.

Is this based on personal income tax only? As the IRS handles more than just personal income tax, if we're only talking about completely doing away with the personal income tax, it doesn't seem as though you can get rid of the IRS.

[The One]

[QUOTE=Bold As Love;1282672]Great Job!!!!


KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK...I ADMIRE WHAT YOURE DOING!!!![/QUOT

+1

[The One]

Good work! Lots to be said for "know your audience" !!

Next time, scent yourself with either Vicks Vaporub or mothballs first. That'll get their attention because you will smell like one of the pack.


LMAO

[gerryb]

Yeah, no reason to bring up Iraq. Just mention the 672,000 troops abroad that should be protecting our borders, not Germany, Japan, South Korea and 130+ other countries of the world.

If they ask what your policy on Iraq is, tell them you want to bring the troops home when the mission is accomplished.

If they are a neocon they most likely won't ask any more questions on Iraq, and you will have won them over without compromising your position, because they didn't prod more. If they prod more, drop some names. Tell them you will read, analyze, and use the guidance of current and former CIA experts (Schuer, Chalmers Johnson, et. al), enlisted military personell (donations to RP..), and military leaders.

If you're going to BE a politician, ACT like a politician.

[LandonCook]

And boy did it go over like a lead balloon. I was talking to a small group of seniors, and they basically said we liked you up until Iraq. I ended with Iraq so if I drop it from my talk to seniors.... cross your fingers.

For legal reasons, I'm only testing the waters right now... and damn, is it cold. No wonder Ron Paul has so much trouble. I need better sound bytes.

I managed to save some conservative cred when I stole from RP and I said "I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." This line saved my first appearance but by a thread. All it really did was allow them to remember I'm a conservative.

Also, when I said things like "If you want a message of liberty in Washington, if you want the Constitution to mean something again, and if you want the government out of our lives, then you have to vote for me" they ate it up.

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

That line went over amazingly well.

There's so much we can rip off directly from Ron Paul. I need to watch more videos and read more speeches.

I'm proud of you Rhy... I'm glad someone else is getting out there! I find my speeches to be incredibly fun. I got alot of practice in my 4 meetup groups and now talking to crowds is like breathing...

"I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." Great line! In fact I will remember that one...

I suggest talking about how you have felt betrayed by an administration that went after a dictator instead of the terrorist that killed 3000 of your countryman... And how irresponsible it was to let him get away 3 separate times.

The Welfare/Warfare line works as well... Make sure everything you say about Iraq ties into Conservatism.

You had it right though… Talking strict conservatism to groups is necessary. If you want to convince anyone on foreign policy I would suggest a one on one environment or well planned speeches. Make sure you say NOTHING you would hear a democrat say. You might agree, just make sure you word things differently.

[cheese]

"if it were up to me, I'd send every troop in Iraq to destroy Osama bin Laden and protect the U.S. border."

[TruthAtLast]

When you talk about the IRS here is your speech. Memorize it :D



Many people think it isn't feasible to eliminate the IRS. Well, they're partially right. With the current level of spending it IS impossible to eliminate the IRS. But it is important to first understand where your Income Tax dollars go.

Most people know that our National Debt is now at an all-time high of $9 Trillion dollars. It is also growing at a rate of $500 billion per year and maybe much more according the recent 3 Trillion dollar budget request submitted by the President. This is money that the Government is spending that it doesn't have.

We borrow this money from Communist China and other countries and just the INTEREST on this National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget equaling approximately 400 billion. This means that right now about $0.44 of each dollar paid in taxes goes to paying just the Interest on money our Government has already spent.

Our Military is the second largest expense in our National Budget but virtually everyone agrees that we MUST continue to have a strong military. It is vital to the protection of our borders and our people.

However, we currently have 700 bases in 130 different countries and maintaining this empire costs us another $500-700 Billion each year. We've had troops in South Korea for 50 years and our forces are spread all over the globe. This actually makes our national defense weaker because we clearly do not have the ability to protect our own borders nor the ability to fund our current military campaign.

If we were to be attacked or had another natural disaster, we would not have the resources to defend ourselves due to the over-deployment of our forces.

One of the the most glaring concerns is that less than 5% of the cargo coming into our ports is actually checked. This is how the terrorists can and likely will attack us. This is not just a hole in our defense against a terrorist attack, it is also a major hole in our fight against drug and gun trafficking. We need to strengthen our military and spend that money here at home where it is needed. Keep our airports, our ports, and our borders safe. That is the true mission of the Military as intended by our founding fathers. It is meant to protect the American people, not to police the entire world and force our way of life down their throats. You can not promote Democracy through the barrel of a gun.

So by redeploying our troops here at home, it will strength our National Defenses, save us billions of dollars, allow our troops to spend more time with their families, and keep them out of harms way.

But the biggest fear that most people have when faced with the notion of no Income Tax, is that the Government wouldn't have the money to run without it. They fear that social and government services would be affected.

For 2007, the government estimates that its income from all sources will total $2.34 trillion. $1.07 trillion of that comes from the income tax on individuals, and $230 billion comes from the income tax on corporations. This totals $1.3 trillion dollars of income tax revenue.

This also means that the Government would be left with $1.04 trillion even without the Income Tax, which is more than the national budget in 1974 even after it is adjusted for inflation.

Much of this additional revenue comes from taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, tires, tariffs on trade, military hardware sales, and more. A properly managed Government has more than enough money to stay strong and run efficiently.

The IRS also costs us another 10 billion each year just to run and by overtaxing our businesses with Employment taxes, our jobs move overseas. American products often can't compete because they have to build these taxes into the costs of their products. Imagine the type of economic stimulus and growth that would occur if our companies and our people were not taxed. Businesses could expand and offer more jobs and could afford to give raises to their current employees.

But if we cut this spending, what would happen to Social Security? That is an important question. Here are some facts about Social Security.

Social Security is not part of the Federal Budget general fund. But that doesn't mean it is protected! Right now there is more money being paid into the Social Security Trust Fund than being paid out to beneficiaries. This is because most baby-boomers haven’t retired yet and are still paying in.

BUT.. what is left over is being "borrowed" and used in the General Fund. Remember, the Government doesn't have enough money for how much they spend. Government agencies using the money from Social Security promise to pay it back, in essence issuing IOUs.

So ALL of the money in the Social Security Trust Fund has already been spent as part of the National Debt!! There is nothing there and the Government clearly doesn't have a way to pay it back without borrowing more money from China or other countries, all of which is being borrowed with Interest.

You might wonder how this is even possible; why isn't there anyone in Washington that can balance a checkbook? There are a few of us, and more are coming. The people are waking up. This is why you must elect me to Congress.

I will fight to my dying breath to restore our liberties, balance our budget, fix our economy, and pay back the Social Security for all of those who have already paid into it.

[Bluedevil]

Some people should consider (not necessarily you) running for their state house or senate. It isnt easy to jump straight into Congress with no political experience or contacts in the Party.

[Rhys]

thank you everyone. these are truly good peices of advice... and a speach.

call your local gop and ask for help to start a campaign. they wont endorse you till you win the primary, but they'll introduce you to people. sometimes you'll find, like me if i decide to run definate, that you'll be unopposed in the GOP.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I would have told them to go over there and fight their own war. Statism is evil, anyway.

[LEK]

I think Iraq needs to be couched in language that emphasizes the need for Iraqi's to take over the destiny of their country, and that our troops should not be caught in the midst of their sectarian clashes. We wanted out of Somalia and Haiti for those reasons. Even McCain said so.

People do shut their ears quickly when saying "we need to leave".

Yes, very well said.
We stepped into the middle of a three way ethno-religious strife that has been going on forever.

Something I read fom Ron Paul's writings was that Iraq had never had a suicide bombing in it's history until we occupied it.

All of this info is on the Issues links. Good stuff.
I put this together if you're interested (Foreign Policy): http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=118302&highlight=Foreign+Policy

[Bubba]

focus on the weak open border and how troops in Iraq are needed here to defend the border

Yeah, what he said.

[Bubba]

WOOT WOOT, yeah you gotta be carefull, like in Iraq say I think it was decieving for us to get in there, but we did good things, we gave them freedom, gave them a democratic process, got rid of a tyrant, and I believe its time that our good men and woman in uniform come home with honor.

Why promote filthy lies?

[jkm1864]

makes You wonder why senior citizens are scammed by con artist every year. The trusting old farts they deserve the eugenics program coming to them just for being ignorant fools.

[purplechoe]

yup, emphasize the economy when talking about the war, rising cost of oil because of it, and the eventual fall of the dollar and standard of living which hits the elderly the hardest. It's all tied together with printing the money and borrowing it to fund the war.

Can you imagine if we had put a bounty of $1Billion on Bin Laden and his associates? Every mercenary in the world would be gunning for him.

[coffeewithchess]

I think Iraq needs to be couched in language that emphasizes the need for Iraqi's to take over the destiny of their country, and that our troops should not be caught in the midst of their sectarian clashes. We wanted out of Somalia and Haiti for those reasons. Even McCain said so.

People do shut their ears quickly when saying "we need to leave".

Yea, it's not what you say, but HOW you say it. If you are running Republican, it is probably smart to not even mention, "we need to leave". Probably the best thing is to bring DVDs with you and have some of your own speeches on them and then speeches from Ronald Reagan on them as well...let them start to remember what conservatives USED to say...but definitely mention and talk up a "Strong national defense".

[Akus]

And boy did it go over like a lead balloon. I was talking to a small group of seniors, and they basically said we liked you up until Iraq. I ended with Iraq so if I drop it from my talk to seniors.... cross your fingers.

For legal reasons, I'm only testing the waters right now... and damn, is it cold. No wonder Ron Paul has so much trouble. I need better sound bytes.

I managed to save some conservative cred when I stole from RP and I said "I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." This line saved my first appearance but by a thread. All it really did was allow them to remember I'm a conservative.

Also, when I said things like "If you want a message of liberty in Washington, if you want the Constitution to mean something again, and if you want the government out of our lives, then you have to vote for me" they ate it up.

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

That line went over amazingly well.

There's so much we can rip off directly from Ron Paul. I need to watch more videos and read more speeches.
seniors, like high school seniors or like "I defended the South" seniors?:rolleyes:

[JosephTheLibertarian]

The government is just a mafia. Do we stop the mafia by joining them? You can keep doing what you're doing, I don't care.

[ronpaulblogsdotcom]

Wow I remember you asking about a few things a couple of days ago.

Nice to see it come to action. Good Job.

Ya, you and I have been able to deal with the idea of leaving Iraq knowing that it will probably not ever get us anything, except maybe geting very good at fixing holes in pipelines. But most people hate quitting. Especially when it seems so easy. A financed war. Soldiers they may not know. Or that dont tell them much about the fighting.

And I dont know what office you are running for but it is likely you would not be asked to continue the fighting in the Middle East very often. The main thing would be military spending. I would talk about not wanting to Increase the war. That would be the most important vote. Talk about the size and population of Iran. That they are not even Islamic, but Persian. The expected death tolls. The record profits by oil companies. Get the audience pissed at the oil companies and the waste.

Ever other country buys their oil. Even those Communist Chinese. There are tons of oil world wide when we include tar oil which is in huge abundance outside of the Middle East. Some as close as Canada.

[ronpaulblogsdotcom]

The government is just a mafia. Do we stop the mafia by joining them? You can keep doing what you're doing, I don't care.

Wow a libertarian with a defeatist attitude, and a member of a political party acknowledging, that he wants no part of the political system.

Should I be surprised?

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Wow a libertarian with a defeatist attitude, and a member of a political party acknowledging, that he wants no part of the political system.

Should I be surprised?

Defeatist? Government is evil. That's...the truth. You can run for anything you want, did I ever tell you not to? Nope. Telling you not to would make me a statist, no?

[yongrel]

Rhys, the important thing to remember when talking about Iraq, or any other issue that has become highly partisan, is not to use your opponent's language.

If you talk about the "war in Iraq" and "the War on Terror," you're using the language of the neocons. Those and similar phrases have very strongly defined meanings for people, and by using them, you've already lost.

Jim Webb won in Virginia by talking about "occupation" and "invasion." By refusing to use the defined language of his opponent, he was able to unseat a popular Republican by turning his voters against him.

So revisit the way you phrase your arguments. Word choice can make all the difference.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Rhys, the important thing to remember when talking about Iraq, or any other issue that has become highly partisan, is not to use your opponent's language.

If you talk about the "war in Iraq" and "the War on Terror," you're using the language of the neocons. Those and similar phrases have very strongly defined meanings for people, and by using them, you've already lost.

Jim Webb won in Virginia by talking about "occupation" and "invasion." By refusing to use the defined language of his opponent, he was able to unseat a popular Republican by turning his voters against him.

So revisit the way you phrase your arguments. Word choice can make all the difference.

He also successfully smeared George Allen as a racist. No, I don't give a shit about George Allen lol

[yongrel]

He also successfully smeared George Allen as a racist. No, I don't give a shit about George Allen lol

That helped too. :D

[lastnymleft]

With the older generation, I would focus on two angles:

(1) Self-interest - This is the dollar depreciation aspect. A lot of older folk live of fixed-interest cash deposits. At least 10% of their money is being STOLEN each year by an unauthorized Inflation Tax that winds up in the pockets of the Elites that own the Fed dividends, and
(2) Legacy - They all want to "leave something behind", and none want to leave a mess behind, for those they love. They probably think they've done a good job, but you've got to guilt-trip them into voting for you by explaining to them how THEIR generation lived it up, and put everything on the credit card, resulting in a HUGE, unpayable $9 TRILLION dollars of debt, plus $60 TRILLION in unpayable obligations.

If they don't vote for you, they'll be destroying their own standard of living while they are alive, and destroying the future of all their children, and grandchildren.

Have a cuppa tea with them, and be genuine. People can smell fake a mile away. (Mind you, Romney still got a lot of votes...)

[1836]

And boy did it go over like a lead balloon. I was talking to a small group of seniors, and they basically said we liked you up until Iraq. I ended with Iraq so if I drop it from my talk to seniors.... cross your fingers.

For legal reasons, I'm only testing the waters right now... and damn, is it cold. No wonder Ron Paul has so much trouble. I need better sound bytes.

I managed to save some conservative cred when I stole from RP and I said "I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." This line saved my first appearance but by a thread. All it really did was allow them to remember I'm a conservative.

Also, when I said things like "If you want a message of liberty in Washington, if you want the Constitution to mean something again, and if you want the government out of our lives, then you have to vote for me" they ate it up.

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

That line went over amazingly well.

There's so much we can rip off directly from Ron Paul. I need to watch more videos and read more speeches.

I've been slammed on here before for being a more "traditional Republican" but I'm really starting to get a sense of how to make Ron Paul's message attractive to GOP voters.

What I'm finding is that Republicans love Ron Paul's "strip-the-government-of-everything" message, but do not like the idea of simply pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and withdrawing all military forces around the world.

Maybe it is just that my forte is economics and that nobody wants to argue that with me, but the only real arguments I ever get in with other Republicans regarding Paul is the whole idea of the balance of world power, the United States' position in the world, etc.

I'm starting to realize that if we are going to be successful as a movement within the GOP, we cannot simply be saying to withdraw military forces everywhere because they are not necessary. I think what may be required is a "humble foreign policy" kind of approach where we say to Republicans, "We need to figure out how to refocus our efforts from Iraq into Afghanistan, where the terrorists were trained and where the war on terrorism began. We need to be fighting terrorists around the world where they are, instead of diverting our resources into unnecessary and expensive resource installments in places like Japan, Korea, and Germany. The military must be efficient and powerful."

Something like that. This whole "withdraw military forces everywhere" thing just isn't playing, as I'm finding out. I'm inclined to agree more with it than not myself, but if it doesn't play to the electorate, we are shot.

Therefore, refashioning the message in the manner I prescribed above may be the best thing that we can do.

[Tarzan]

And boy did it go over like a lead balloon. I was talking to a small group of seniors, and they basically said we liked you up until Iraq. I ended with Iraq so if I drop it from my talk to seniors.... cross your fingers.

For legal reasons, I'm only testing the waters right now... and damn, is it cold. No wonder Ron Paul has so much trouble. I need better sound bytes.

I managed to save some conservative cred when I stole from RP and I said "I don't trust big government in Washington, I wont trust them in Baghdad either." This line saved my first appearance but by a thread. All it really did was allow them to remember I'm a conservative.

Also, when I said things like "If you want a message of liberty in Washington, if you want the Constitution to mean something again, and if you want the government out of our lives, then you have to vote for me" they ate it up.

Also, when asked what I would replace income tax with, I said "we'd have the same level of big government without the income tax as we had 10 years ago when every republican I know was clamoring about the size of government. If Bill Clintons government was too small for us, then we've lost all hope as conservatives."

That line went over amazingly well.

There's so much we can rip off directly from Ron Paul. I need to watch more videos and read more speeches.

When speaking to seniors tie social security to iraq... tell them how much we are spending in iraq... how much per year, per month, per day... tell them that that money is YOUR SS money... instead of keeping it safe they are spending YOUR SS money in iraq... i think you will get a different reaction.

we have to get our of iraq to save social security for our seniors
(even though I think SS is unconstitutional... we cannot just bail on the program... its like drugs, seniors cannot just quit cold turkey and the government got them hooked and dependent on the damned thing)

[brandon]

I like Sabrin's strategy of dealing with the iraq issue. Start out by talking about how securing our borders and protecting us from terrists is your number one issue. This sounds exactly like what the neocons say, so it gives you some common ground. Then say we have troops spread out all over the world, leaving us vunerable to an attack at home. If we want to stay safe from the terrists, we need to bring our troops back here.

Avoid words and phrases such as "american empire", "war", "occupation", and "invasion". They are too emotionally charged, and the sheep associate them with code pink type people. We have to learn the language and double speak of the neocons if we want to appeal to these people.