Attack Dogs for Liberty

[nate895]

Most of the time, the easiest way to win an election is to attack your opponent and all that they stand for. However, when a candidacy gets bogged down in a theme of attacking its opponents, it can backfire on the candidate for a perceived lack of their own ideas. One way to get around this is to have third parties with no connection to the campaign(s) support attacks against opponents. My idea is to form a group for the 2012 elections and beyond to do research and create attacks against the four major opponents of Ron Paul in the Presidential race, and as many Senate/House candidates as possible.

One of the reasons the Ron Paul movement hasn't taken off is the lack of political operatives. If we had more political operatives doing research, managing campaigns, and creating attacks against opponents, then we might be able to not only give ourselves positive momentum, but other candidates negative momentum. That's what it take to win: Positive momentum for your team and negative for the others (especially if you are well behind, as Ron Paul is).

The idea would be to create a group, my idea for the name is "Conservatives for Limited Government PAC," and then spend countless hours digging up dirt on anti-Limited Government pols, particularly Ron Paul's opponents. Also, research and ads can be done in support of Liberty candidates, but that would be a secondary goal. Overall, the goal would be to reveal all of the anti-limited government positions/statements of politicians.

[GunnyFreedom]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Icymudpuppy]

I don't have time to be digging dirt, but I'd donate.

Money bomb for negative ads!

[nate895]

The main volunteer that the PAC would need would be an audio-visual expert. I can research and create newspaper ads, leaflets, etc., but I am not very good at putting together a quality video.

[MRoCkEd]

Yes! Set it up just like American Crossroads.

[nate895]

Yes! Set it up just like American Crossroads.

They were one of the organizations I was thinking about when I came up with the idea. We can be the "American Crossroads" of the Old Right coalition.

Edit: Except I'd prefer to organize as a PAC, rather than purely a 527.

[AlexMerced]

I'm down, I'd be glad to offer financial and speaking support

[nate895]

//

[specsaregood]

spend countless hours digging up dirt on anti-Limited Government pols

So I guess this is what an "Old School Presbyterian" does? Is this what Jesus would do? Just saying....;)

[Thomas]

Ron wont go negative, but outsiders can

[aravoth]

I'd love to participate in this. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, but finding the time to research everything is challenging.

[nate895]

So I guess this is what an "Old School Presbyterian" does? Is this what Jesus would do? Just saying....;)

I was looking to focus more on political issue scandals than on opponents' integrity. However, we don't want people without integrity, do we?

Seriously, though, it would be hard to dig up a mistress, let's say. Generally you need an actual news organization to get that kind of garbage.

[Elwar]

I'd love to participate in this. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, but finding the time to research everything is challenging.

I support Aravoth doing video work on this.

:)

[nate895]

Ron wont go negative, but outsiders can

Exactly the point.

[nate895]

Bump

[erowe1]

Be sure to research options for what kind of group to make it before making it official. A PAC is one possibility. But it seems like the attack ad groups, like Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, are generally 527's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/527_organization

[nate895]

Be sure to research options for what kind of group to make it before making it official. A PAC is one possibility. But it seems like the attack ad groups, like Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, are generally 527's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/527_organization

PACs are a special type of 527 that can endorse candidates and specifically campaign to get them elected, but that comes with a limitation on how much you can accept in donations to your PAC. You can be both a "soft-money" 527 and a "hard-money" PAC by making a separate bank account for the two organizations. These type of PACs are called "Affiliated PACs."

[libertybrewcity]

im down but I would probably rather focus my money for the campaign and grassroots canvassing/other projects.

[erowe1]

PACs are a special type of 527 that can endorse candidates and specifically campaign to get them elected, but that comes with a limitation on how much you can accept in donations to your PAC. You can be both a "soft-money" 527 and a "hard-money" PAC by making a separate bank account for the two organizations. These type of PACs are called "Affiliated PACs."

If this group is just to attack RP's opponents, then isn't it more advantageous to go the soft money route?

[nate895]

If this group is just to attack RP's opponents, then isn't it more advantageous to go the soft money route?

That would be the primary initial purpose, and we'd organize accordingly. However, we could also organize a "hard-money" PAC if we got significant enough support. Also, we could organize a PAC with just enough money to fund a website just to say "We endorse these guys" with a link from the main 527 organization, hopefully cementing the fact that Ron Paul is the only conservative for limited government running for President.

[nate895]

Given some of this support, I'll bring it up at the next local C4L meeting to see if I can get some broader local support. If we can get enough money to open up a bank account with a decent-sized balance, I'll setup a website to start the donations and volunteers rolling in.

[Maximus]

I'm not sure what exactly you'd need in a volunteer, but I'm willing to financially support (I don't have big bucks). This is a weapon we need this time around.

[nate895]

I'm not sure what exactly you'd need in a volunteer, but I'm willing to financially support (I don't have big bucks). This is a weapon we need this time around.

At first, we'd just need a videographer since I cannot make a decent video for the life of me. However, we could also use as many volunteers researching as possible. Political research requires a lot of time pouring over documents, transcripts, videos, etc. trying to find that big gaffe that would shame the candidate in the eyes of the voters. Either we'll have to hire people to do it (which would be impossible at first), or we'll need volunteers. In the future, if the organization lifted off significantly, we'd probably have both a small corps of employees and a large group of volunteers.

[nate895]

Bump. I think this is important.