What grassroots efforts for RP2008 were counterproductive?

[Mahkato]

We must learn from our mistakes in order to not repeat them in the future. What did the grassroots do this year and last that we should avoid next time around (regardless of who the candidates are)? There are some obvious things like not harassing reporters and not starting conversations with politically disconnected people on complex subjects like the Fed and 9/11, but what did we do that we should not have, or what should be tweaked?


Were sign waves effective? Worth our time? Did they win votes? Did they motivate our members to do other tasks, or just waste time?
The first and second money bombs were effective, but were additional moneybombs worth the effort? Should we focus on sustained giving now that the moneybomb card has been played?
Was the Ron Paul R3V0LUTION logo and phrase effective at recruiting new people, or did it scare people off?
Was the blimp worth its $400,000 cost, in terms of local and national media exposure, motivation for existing Paul supporters, and in recruiting new people?
Were signs posted EVERYWHERE effective at piquing people's curiosity?
Were newspaper ads effective?
Was poll-bombing effective, where thousands of RP supporters would descend on web polls to overwhelm them with support for RP?

What grassroots efforts were missing or less than needed?


Voter registration drives?
Door to door canvassing?
Lit drops?

Note that I am not trying to cast blame here, since I think that external forces (media blackout, etc.) were primarily responsible for RP's failure. I just feel that we need to find out what we did poorly, where we can do better, and what we didn't do at all that we need to be ready for in future races for liberty candidates.

Many RP supporters (myself included) were new to the political process. What percentage of them will come back in 2010 and 2012? Will their experience make them significantly more effective next time around? Will liberty candidates who lost this time come back next time? Will other RP supporters run for office next time who did not this time?

Also, :bunchies:.

[Bryan]

Great post! Here's my $0.02:

* Were sign waves effective? Worth our time? Did they win votes? Did they motivate our members to do other tasks, or just waste time?

Mixed. Better than nothing and better if you're passing out literature on the streets. Good for socializing and for starting new people off easy.


* The first and second money bombs were effective, but were additional moneybombs worth the effort? Should we focus on sustained giving now that the moneybomb card has been played?

Hard to say-- some may be good, we'll find out with the Tea Party for Liberty. They may be really good come 2011. :)


* Was the Ron Paul R3V0LUTION logo and phrase effective at recruiting new people, or did it scare people off?

Great on college campuses- not so good at GOP conventions, functions, etc.


* Was the blimp worth its $400,000 cost, in terms of local and national media exposure, motivation for existing Paul supporters, and in recruiting new people?

The numbers show that it got much more media exposure then what was put into it. It was a great motivation icon for our movement. Don't think a repeat would have the same payback but who knows. As far as recruits, it can only set a spark- like a sign or bumper sticker.


* Were signs posted EVERYWHERE effective at piquing people's curiosity?

One of the top campaign supporters in Texas saw a sign "Google Ron Paul" so she did. The rest is history. Signs work- dealing with legal issues is a pain however.


* Were newspaper ads effective?

Have to be, so long as they are good ads. :)


* Was poll-bombing effective, where thousands of RP supporters would descend on web polls to overwhelm them with support for RP?

I think so. It really showed something to me in what I would call the original poll bomb, on the MSNBC website the night of the first debate.



What grassroots efforts were missing or less than needed?

* Voter registration drives?

Only really important within meet-ups and rallys or when finding supporters canvassing. There was a rally in Texas where they registered maybe 100+ just two days before the deadline. I became a deputized voter registrant- don't see much value. YMMV.


* Door to door canvassing?

Need more, more and more.


* Lit drops?

Need more, more and more.

Again- just my $0.02.

[nate895]

Were sign waves effective? Worth our time? Did they win votes? Did they motivate our members to do other tasks, or just waste time?

Sign waves are moderately effective and an essential element to almost any campaign, but they were done too much in the RP campaign. It is mainly a morale booster for average supporters to get them to volunteer/donate because they actually see the support, and for people to who have already volunteered or donated to volunteer more time and donate more money.


The first and second money bombs were effective, but were additional moneybombs worth the effort? Should we focus on sustained giving now that the moneybomb card has been played?


Moneybombs are effective tools of this movement, and the only real way that it has succeeded in raising money so far. All candidates have moneybombs, except they tend to occur naturally as the result of significant primary wins. We just need to do them earlier, since a campaign cannot be flooded with a bunch of cash it doesn't know what to do with, you wind with the campaign spending it on garbage advertisements, or saturating the market with one ad that loses its effectiveness over time.


Was the Ron Paul R3V0LUTION logo and phrase effective at recruiting new people, or did it scare people off?

I don't think this had much effect good or bad. Signs are only for name recognition, and unless you have something like "I'm a Nazi" or "I'm a Communist" on it, it will be fine. Obama's posters are actually scary, and 53% of the voters voted for him.


Was the blimp worth its $400,000 cost, in terms of local and national media exposure, motivation for existing Paul supporters, and in recruiting new people?

No, it wasn't. It was a $400,000 sign in the air, it would be more effective to have a massive display on a few thousand people's cars driving around early primary states than to put this thing into the air, and its cheaper to.


Were signs posted EVERYWHERE effective at piquing people's curiosity?

Signs are there for name recognition. They are an essential element, but, like sign waves with volunteer hours, money was probably better spent on TV advertisements.


Were newspaper ads effective?

We won a county in Iowa, and that was one of the focuses of their campaign.


Was poll-bombing effective, where thousands of RP supporters would descend on web polls to overwhelm them with support for RP?

Not effective in convincing voters, but vital to keep morale high, because high morale leads to more effective volunteer hours, which leads to more votes.


Voter registration drives?

Effective, but should be priority after canvassing and lit drops.


Door to door canvassing?

Can't do enough of it.


Lit drops?

Can't do enough of it.

[trey4sports]

the biggest mistake made was not going all out in New Hampshire.
Had we put 5 million into New Hampshire with great commercials and door knocking/lit drops we could have WON new hampshire

its easy for me to play armchair quarterback but i really am not sure why we didnt try to win an early state especially with our high level of funding.

when Johnson runs in 2012 I reccomend that WE run the campaign.

we create a PAC
elect a president
elect a treasurer
etc.

from there our money bombs go directly to the PAC. The PAC will allow for grassroots A/V guys to create commercials, ad's or whatever is needed and the money will be used at the discretion of the PAC president.

[Kotin]

well the over zealous 9/11 truthers did not help and I think we can safely say its a good idea to leave that stuff out entirely.

[trey4sports]

the truthers did alot for this movement.
they may have hurt us in the media but it just shows all diffrent types of people are drawn to freedom, we dont need to alienate them nor do we need to embrace their ideas. tolerance is key

[Kotin]

the truthers did alot for this movement.
they may have hurt us in the media but it just shows all diffrent types of people are drawn to freedom, we dont need to alienate them nor do we need to embrace their ideas. tolerance is key

I agree, as I started out as a truther, not in the movement but in my wake up.

its the ones at the march screaming that 9/11 was an inside job that I attest to.

[klamath]

The grassroots did as much damage to RP as the official campaign did.
When RP had to defend himself on national TV when he was asked did he believe 911 was an inside job, it showed the grassroots had defined RP to the rest of the nation as a truther.

The in your face attitude of many supporters to every republican website wasn't a help.

[Kludge]

This... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n9DyXRNJPQ)

[pacelli]

The sign waves in the bitter cold New Hampshire winter would have been more effective if the candidate was more visible in New Hampshire. Ron's placing in NH was a major disappointment to most of the Ron Paul supporters who were on these forums around that time.

The blimp was a poorly managed waste of money but a great idea. If the FEC doesn't block it, I'm sure a candidate in the future will find some kind of loophole and get a corporate sponsor for one.

Moneybombs are definitely a great thing when they are planned and announced ahead of time for a proper viral marketing campaign behind the RIGHT candidate, there is no donor fatigue, and no economic recession.

[nate895]

the biggest mistake made was not going all out in New Hampshire.
Had we put 5 million into New Hampshire with great commercials and door knocking/lit drops we could have WON new hampshire

its easy for me to play armchair quarterback but i really am not sure why we didnt try to win an early state especially with our high level of funding.

when Johnson runs in 2012 I reccomend that WE run the campaign.

we create a PAC
elect a president
elect a treasurer
etc.

from there our money bombs go directly to the PAC. The PAC will allow for grassroots A/V guys to create commercials, ad's or whatever is needed and the money will be used at the discretion of the PAC president.

Already being done for Johnson. PM me if you want to help, somewhat specific info is in the 2012 section in the OP of "Who Should we draft in 2012? Poll 2."

[Jbrabble]

Write campaignforliberty.com on all of your money

[Bern]

the biggest mistake made was not going all out in New Hampshire.
Had we put 5 million into New Hampshire with great commercials and door knocking/lit drops we could have WON new hampshire

Agreed. Without the backing of the GOP kingmakers, NH was all or nothing. The media can't rightly ignore the candidate who wins NH.

[Austin]

One of the best threads here to date.

I agree with Bryan on all his answers. However, I will note that sign waving should not be the focus of our energy. No matter how many honks you get, how many cheers, it's a poor representation of how much support you actually have. That said, if you are handing out literature or using the event to help supporters get active, then it is appropriate.

I'll also stress that canvassing and lit drops are the make it or break it of our future campaigns.

[PatriotOne]

There is nothing conventional that we can do that will overcome the machine of corrupt elections. We need to make DVD's and distribute them all over the country. We need to educate America for 2012. These DVD's need to be comprised of MANY topics to expose the corruption, educate people on the direction this country is taking and expose the NWO. Many of you guys don't even know the danger we are in but it's time you learned along with the rest of the country. People need to know the cold hard truth. Politcal correctness is not going to do it. I am talking Guerilla Warfare here and we better get started soon.

If RP's campaign had spent it's money in this way, people would be rioting in the streets right now guns in hand.

[Mahkato]

There is nothing conventional that we can do that will overcome the machine of corrupt elections. We need to make DVD's and distribute them all over the country. We need to educate America for 2012. These DVD's need to be comprised of MANY topics to expose the corruption, educate people on the direction this country is taking and expose the NWO. Many of you guys don't even know the danger we are in but it's time you learned along with the rest of the country. People need to know the cold hard truth. Politcal correctness is not going to do it. I am talking Guerilla Warfare here and we better get started soon.

If RP's campaign had spent it's money in this way, people would be rioting in the streets right now guns in hand.

I gave some DVDs to my friends, but none of them watched it. People just don't care, as long as they're comfortable. And when they get uncomfortable, they look to the government to find out who to blame it on.

[PatriotOne]

I gave some DVDs to my friends, but none of them watched it. People just don't care, as long as they're comfortable. And when they get uncomfortable, they look to the government to find out who to blame it on.

That's why it's time to be blunt. No more pussy footing around. The kind of video's I am thinking of will scare the shit out of the people about their government. No need to make stuff up. The truth is scary enough.

[Mahkato]

That's why it's time to be blunt. No more pussy footing around. The kind of video's I am thinking of will scare the shit out of the people about their government. No need to make stuff up. The truth is scary enough.

Yeah, but they won't be scared if they never go so far as to actually watch what you give them. I think it was Operation Education that was paying people $2 to watch and answer a short survey about a video. That seems like a better return on investment than duplicating 1000 DVDs and having them all thrown in the garbage.

[PatriotOne]

Yeah, but they won't be scared if they never go so far as to actually watch what you give them. I think it was Operation Education that was paying people $2 to watch and answer a short survey about a video. That seems like a better return on investment than duplicating 1000 DVDs and having them all thrown in the garbage.

Just because your friends are lame doesn't mean they all are :p. The ONLY thing I have really had great success at is having my friends/family/acquiantances watch the movies available. They say so much more in so much less time than trying to explain it ourselves. I am not talking about making a 1000 DVD's. I am talking about making a million plus DVD's. Even if only 1 out of every 10 people watch them, they will be shared, talked about and others will be made curious to watch them. Like I said, guerrilla warfare is the only way. We HAVE to go around the system. We have been left with no other choices and if people haven't figured that out by now, well, all really is lost. They made the rules. The game is fixed. We can no longer be dillusioned enough to think otherwise.