hyoomen
02-29-2008, 07:57 PM
I just got back from the last couple of hours of early voting at my local polling place in Dallas, TX, and I have both good/bad news to share.
Good:
-record turnout (last day in excess of 1000 at my polling place)
-very few people were opposed to the messages I promoted for Congressman Paul
-of the people who stated they were voting Republican, were uncertain, etc. maybe came back out to thank me and suggested they had voted for Congressman Paul
-even people voting Democrat were extremely supportive ("He's a good man!" or "Good luck, we need more principled politicians like him!")
-two people whom I discussed Goldwater conservatism with returned from the polling place with an encouraging message, "You tell your man he got two more votes."
-overall, anybody I discussed restoration of the GOP to "old school conservatism", downsizing of the federal government, balancing the budget, legalizing the Constitution, or ending foreign intervention was verbally supportive of Congressman Paul for those issues
-a large number of people expressed a desire for Congressman Paul to run as an independent/third party candidate
-pretty much everybody wants to stop the neoconservative agenda
Bad:
-with an hour and a half left until polls closed the numbers were around 75/25 in favor of the Democrats
-an overwhelming number of people acknowledged their interest (and even passionate support for) Congressman Paul but were voting Obama either because of the misdirection of the Republican Party or because they wanted to stop Senator Clinton
-nobody (presumably of the 3/4 voting Democrat at my polling place) would listen to anything if I promoted Congressman Paul as a Republican
-most people were surprised to know Congressman Paul is still in the race
It was disheartening how vehemently opposed people were on the basis of party. President Bush has successfully unified this nation (in opposition to the GOP).
Successful approaches:
1) Are you a Conservative voter (as opposed to Republican)?
2) (if Democrat) Here's some important information about the only man who could change a Democrat's mind
3) (if obviously against the war [hint 70+% of the population]) Here's some information about the only Presidential candidate with a plan to end the war NOW.
4) Defeating the neocon movement is far more important than the next four years of any candidate's administration -- only Congressman Paul can help with that.
5) Always counter 'electability' issue with importance of voting to change the party platform or historical precedents (Lincoln's convention, Goldwater's loss being less important than cultural impact small government conservatism had on the next twenty years, etc).
6) I hope you have the same Hope For America Ron Paul has.
Conclusions:
I think we can make a crucial impact on the Tuesday primaries. More importantly, I think that if we can hang on through the convention and some how pull off a nomination we could actually have a decent chance against Senator Obama. Also, though I can sympathize with Rep. Paul's perspective on an independent run, I think he is likely the only person to run on a strong enough platform to break the vicious cycle. To that end, once the Texas primaries are over, I'll join the underground movement to convince Congressman Paul of the merits of defending the Constitution and championing Liberty by running as an independent.
How about everybody else?
Good:
-record turnout (last day in excess of 1000 at my polling place)
-very few people were opposed to the messages I promoted for Congressman Paul
-of the people who stated they were voting Republican, were uncertain, etc. maybe came back out to thank me and suggested they had voted for Congressman Paul
-even people voting Democrat were extremely supportive ("He's a good man!" or "Good luck, we need more principled politicians like him!")
-two people whom I discussed Goldwater conservatism with returned from the polling place with an encouraging message, "You tell your man he got two more votes."
-overall, anybody I discussed restoration of the GOP to "old school conservatism", downsizing of the federal government, balancing the budget, legalizing the Constitution, or ending foreign intervention was verbally supportive of Congressman Paul for those issues
-a large number of people expressed a desire for Congressman Paul to run as an independent/third party candidate
-pretty much everybody wants to stop the neoconservative agenda
Bad:
-with an hour and a half left until polls closed the numbers were around 75/25 in favor of the Democrats
-an overwhelming number of people acknowledged their interest (and even passionate support for) Congressman Paul but were voting Obama either because of the misdirection of the Republican Party or because they wanted to stop Senator Clinton
-nobody (presumably of the 3/4 voting Democrat at my polling place) would listen to anything if I promoted Congressman Paul as a Republican
-most people were surprised to know Congressman Paul is still in the race
It was disheartening how vehemently opposed people were on the basis of party. President Bush has successfully unified this nation (in opposition to the GOP).
Successful approaches:
1) Are you a Conservative voter (as opposed to Republican)?
2) (if Democrat) Here's some important information about the only man who could change a Democrat's mind
3) (if obviously against the war [hint 70+% of the population]) Here's some information about the only Presidential candidate with a plan to end the war NOW.
4) Defeating the neocon movement is far more important than the next four years of any candidate's administration -- only Congressman Paul can help with that.
5) Always counter 'electability' issue with importance of voting to change the party platform or historical precedents (Lincoln's convention, Goldwater's loss being less important than cultural impact small government conservatism had on the next twenty years, etc).
6) I hope you have the same Hope For America Ron Paul has.
Conclusions:
I think we can make a crucial impact on the Tuesday primaries. More importantly, I think that if we can hang on through the convention and some how pull off a nomination we could actually have a decent chance against Senator Obama. Also, though I can sympathize with Rep. Paul's perspective on an independent run, I think he is likely the only person to run on a strong enough platform to break the vicious cycle. To that end, once the Texas primaries are over, I'll join the underground movement to convince Congressman Paul of the merits of defending the Constitution and championing Liberty by running as an independent.
How about everybody else?