What is more motivating? US Senate, US House, State Senate, State House?

[Michigan11]

As this movement grows and sees the results, how do you rank the following offices of representation?

[Michigan11]

as in what do you personally view as the most important races to win this cycle or any cycle....

[libertybrewcity]

I could care less about the position. I think it is the candidate that matters most. If they have proven to be honest, consistent, and passionate, I could care less if they run for state house or us senate.

[Michigan11]

I could care less about the position. I think it is the candidate that matters most. If they have proven to be honest, consistent, and passionate, I could care less if they run for state house or us senate.

Good point, I decided to go middle of the road with the US house seat, but I agree.

Just curious if some have a passion for this or that ya know?

[Maximus]

The power to filibuster, plus being 1 out of only 100, makes the US Senate amazingly powerful

[libertybrewcity]

The power to filibuster, plus being 1 out of only 100, makes the US Senate amazingly powerful

This is true.

Lately, I have been really into the state house races. Controlling a state legislature is also a great power on the local level.

[sailingaway]

I put senate but it has to be the right candidate and they have to ultimately have a chance to win (whatever winning means) to keep people motivated.

I say 'whatever winning means' because even if I 'knew' day one Ron wouldn't get the presidential nomination, I'd consider it a win for him to run in any event, to be in the debates and to be a focus for spreading the message.

Nobody does it better. :p

[Vessol]

Local statehouses are where we have to focus.

[Imperial]

You need all of them. High-profile Senate races (or gubernatorial races for that matter), even if not necessarily winnable, do alot to motivate our base and keep our ideas in the national spotlight. Rand Paul and Debra Medina are two examples where they have shown the GOP that we are a force in the party that must be considered.

However, you ultimately need to win some down-ballot races. We will never have the ranks to fill up those high-profile seats without sitting state legislators. It also serves as a training ground for our candidates to learn how government works.

[TheTyke]

I think the more powerful the office, and the more attention the media focuses on it, the more motivating it will be. Many of us got really excited about Ron because he was running for President, but few of us paid any attention to his congressional races. The same thing for Rand - as potentially 1 of 100, he has already catapulted our views into the national spotlight, and will continue to do so as he influences policy with his votes.

Unfortunately, I think this is a shame in a way. We have hundreds if not thousands of liberty candidates running for small offices around the country, and they are starved for money because their races don't seem as urgent, or quite simply, no one knows about them. But all those offices would add up to a big effect, and their victory will ultimately be necessary for the restoration of our Republic. We definitely need to set up a mechanism to vet and fund liberty candidates on every level.

[LibertyEagle]

Local statehouses are where we have to focus.

I agree this these need to be our primary focus. It is our best chance to take this country back. However, that doesn't mean if there is an outstanding candidate for the U.S. House and Senate that we shouldn't support him/her too.

Has everyone read Thomas Woods' new book on Nullification? If not, you should.

[Acala]

Statehouse (I voted for State Senate but I don't see a difference between State senate and house)

The Federal government is finished. It stole the rights and powers of the states and the people by fraud and force of arms and used those usurped powers to steal our wealth and curtail our liberty. And in its frenzy of greed it has poisoned its own feast. The time is coming for the States and the people to reclaim their former rights, powers, and liberties. The time soon will come when the Federal government will not be able to resist a unified movement by the states. It is critical that the states be well-stocked with people who understand what has been lost and how the power of the states can be used to restore it.

[johnrocks]

While I'm excited about Rand Paul and think that he is the most important one this year; just being the Son of Ron Paul is huge for us,imho; I think where the primary focus should be is at the local level, abandon the cover alls ,goatees and dread locks , put on a suit and tie and look more mainstream. While your at it, don't try to shove the entire libertarian philosophy down people's throats, don't focus on 9/11 truther crap or legalizing dope either, it's hard enough to try to convince people to change things like our foreign policy or tax system without all the baggage;again,imho.

[RPgrassrootsactivist]

State legislatures are by far the most important.

If we took all of the resources the Ron Paul movement expended on federal candidates in this election cycle and instead directed those resources to state legislative candidates, we could possibly have a legislative majority of Ron Paul Republicans, or maybe even a supermajority, in both chambers of one or more state legislatures. State senates may be a variable in how quickly this could be accomplished, because I believe that in many, if not most states, many senators will have different dates of term expiration.

A supermajority in both chambers of just one state would allow for waves of nullification, thus changing the course of American history.

I hope some of the key leaders of the Ron Paul movement realize this before the 2012 election cycle, and start to direct peoples' attention to state legislatures. If we keep focusing most of our efforts on Washington D.C. in order to defeat the tyranny coming out of Washington D.C., we're going to fail.

[Kludge]

Don't care so long as the race is relatively cheap and the candidate has a conservative or libertarian philosophy consistently applied.

Being a politician is a skill, one which requires first-hand training. It's very possible many states will dissolve along with the federal government if occurs. New governmental organizations will occur.

Ofc - if that situation does not happen in our lifetime, I want all focus to be on a libertarian-leaning sheriff and a federal Congress which is as anti-war as possible. To me, state regulations are secondary, and I don't think secession is politically viable in any state (nor is nullification judicially viable), but that can change. It needs to be kept in mind that state officials (like Glen Bradley, hopefully), are not necessarily always going to be in that office, and that establishing credibility, a voting record, and connections is a great way to start a future federal race with minimal costs.

[forsmant]

My state doesn't have a house. Unicameral.

[RPgrassrootsactivist]

Bump for further discussion.

[LittleLightShining]

State House and Senate. Biggest bang for your buck and an almost immediate return on investment.

[bricklayer]

definitely getting more interested in local government. as a believer in decentralized political power, it's almost paradoxical for me to put more resources into national races than state or county races. on the other hand, the "bigger" races are a nice way for like-minded individuals across the united states to share ideas and make lots of noise.

[South Park Fan]

State legislatures should be our priority. They are the places where the nullification bills will originate from.

[TCE]

Ironic that the State House is the area we say we care about the most, but that we promote the least. Gunny's moneybomb has 35 pledges. If he was running for U.S. Senate, that would be AT LEAST 300. What are we not doing that we should? How can we get people excited about Gunny's candidacy when he's up in the polls and one of us?

Truthfully, if we can't even get excited and get money to Gunny, there is no hope for us reclaiming any State Legislature.

[Kludge]

Ironic that the State House is the area we say we care about the most, but that we promote the least. Gunny's moneybomb has 35 pledges. If he was running for U.S. Senate, that would be AT LEAST 300. What are we not doing that we should? How can we get people excited about Gunny's candidacy when he's up in the polls and one of us?

Truthfully, if we can't even get excited and get money to Gunny, there is no hope for us reclaiming any State Legislature.

Very many "Ron Paul" folks aren't on RPFs. They're the ones who need to be contacted and made aware a "Glen Bradley" even exists. It's people like Gunny, and not Rand so much who we need to spam Myspace & other social networking sites for.

It makes sense Rand has loads more media coverage and national name recognition given he's a high-profile US Senate candidate. I've never heard of state legislature candidates on national media. It's up to us to step up to promoting Gunny.

[Southron]

I don't donate to federal candidates anymore unless I have no state candidates to support.

With limited funds I believe this is how I can make the most difference.

[TCE]

Very many "Ron Paul" folks aren't on RPFs. They're the ones who need to be contacted and made aware a "Glen Bradley" even exists. It's people like Gunny, and not Rand so much who we need to spam Myspace & other social networking sites for.

It makes sense Rand has loads more media coverage and national name recognition given he's a high-profile US Senate candidate. I've never heard of state legislature candidates on national media. It's up to us to step up to promoting Gunny.

But how many people have done that? Everyone I have contacted isn't interested since most are (unfortunately) liberals, but there are some people on these forums with huge mailing lists who haven't been interested. Right now we are only expecting $600 for Gunny, which is anemic. Hopefully that number will be much higher.