If You Were Working For Ron Paul 2012, How Would You Run His Campaign?

[Sola_Fide]

If you had the job, what would the campaign look like? How would you market Ron Paul and our ideas?



If I had my way, I would make Ron Paul 2012 look much like Rand's campaign. I have so many anecdotal stories with my time with the Tea Party Patriots in Kentucky of mainstream Republicans and "social interventionist" giving a second look at non-interventionism, small government, and liberty.


If I were handling political ads for RP 2012, I wouldn't rail so much against interventionism, rather I would tout Ron's belief in a strong national defense. I wouldn't talk about ending the drug war, rather I would talk about Constitutionalism and state's rights. I wouldn't have Ron be seen as the civil-liberties crusader, rather I would tout Ron's strong family values and pro-life stance. Lastly, and most importantly, I would stress that RON PAUL IS THE TEA PARTY. Ron Paul IS the voice of limited government...the only one.


Ron Paul 2012 can learn a lot of things from how Rand won the conservative vote in Kentucky.



If you had the job, what would you guys do?

[james1906]

Take back the word conservative.

[Sola_Fide]

And I would add something else: Judging by how bad the monetary situation is going to be by 2012, I would make sure Ron is seen as the only competent candidate in these matters.

[FSP-Rebel]

If i were he, I would go on the mark levin show and say it how it is.

[Sola_Fide]

Take back the word conservative.

Definitely. I would market Ron as a strong conservative...the strongest one.

[GunnyFreedom]

I would also run a targeted Republican blitz in the primary and a targeted Dem blitz in the general.

There are what...50 Million Republican Primary voters? If we had nationwide just 10,000 canvassers, we'd have to hit about 5000 homes each to have visited every Republican primary voter in America. That's actually doable. That kind of ground game will extremely intensify our air game.

[Mr.Magnanimous]

I wouldn't stress foreign policy, but I would make the point that regardless of whether or not the voters initially supported the invasion of Iraq, we need to look at it from an economic stand-point and withdraw from the arena, and accuse the other candidates of putting pride in front of prosperity.

[Philhelm]

Take back the word conservative.

Bravo!

[fj45lvr]

he needs to confront the frauds he is competing with more directly exposing them for hypocrites, i.e. "take the gloves off" and put it out there as to their statism.

need to get actual LONG debates with people (not 60 second responses to BS questions that not everyone gets to answer...)

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

I wouldn't stress foreign policy

Gonna have to, especially if we don't withdraw from Afghanistan by next July. Foreign Policy entanglements and how they have bankrupted our country HAS to be front and center. Otherwise we will not get the Anti-War crowd as last time. I would also suggest Ron needs to showcase the failure of the War on Drugs and how it affects Minority Communities the most.

[hazek]

If I was running his 2012 campaign:

1. I'd make sure Ron and everyone on the staff understands this: Deceiving Images: The Science of Manipulation (http://www.linktv.org/video/2142) I feel like this is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of how Ron must present him self in order to win. He absolutely needs to understand this and properly use it if he want's success. No way around it.

2. I'd want Ron to start answering any and every question he ever gets by saying "In 2007 I was the only politician who admitted and told America we were already in a recession and I can use the same tools that helped me understand that to also fix the problems. No other politician knew it or said it out loud back then, why trust anyone else this time around?"

3. When promoting: I would focus first on his impeccable record of voting in the house and second on his integrity when it comes to special interests. I believe there is no other politician who can compare.

4. When fund raising online: I'd do my best to hire the most inspirational video designers and have them make a really awesome promotional video for a money bomb, I'd contact any money bomb organizers out there and have them only hold a single money bomb on a very important date with at least 4 months between another one.

5. I'd wait with releasing his new book until 2011 and I'd use it as a reason to guest appear on as many TV shows as possible.

6. I'd try my best to place this interview: YouTube - Candidates@Google: Ron Paul (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCM_wQy4YVg) at the top on the first page of his campaign website. I feel it's one of the best interviews and represents him really well.

7. I'd hire a coach for Ron not so much to change the way he talks publicly but to help Ron understand some of his public speaking mistakes and give him more tools so he can communicate better. This goes hand in hand with my 1. point.



I could think of more but this is just the first few things that popped into my mind.

[james1906]

Gonna have to, especially if we don't withdraw from Afghanistan by next July. Foreign Policy entanglements and how they have bankrupted our country HAS to be front and center. Otherwise we will not get the Anti-War crowd as last time. I would also suggest Ron needs to showcase the failure of the War on Drugs and how it affects Minority Communities the most.

I wouldn't emphasize it as much in the primary, but in the general, drill away at Obama's failure.

[wormyguy]

Take back the word conservative.
I would rather take back the word "liberal," but that's neither here nor there.

[johnrocks]

Try to be more pragmatic like Rand, if a few nutcases do something to make us all look bad like throwing snowballs at Hannity;quickly denounce it; don't allow the truther movement to get too close;sorry guys but most just dismiss without ever hearing more than "9-11 truther" and it hurts more than helps.


If you want to win, you can't be a purist, I wish that you could, but you can't.

[Dreamofunity]

Educational: Spread the message!

Anti-war: talk about the failure of the Obama administration to do anything beneficial in the war, also take the fiscal conservatism issue to it; you can't be a fiscal conservative if you support unnecessary, expensive war. We can't afford it, etc. Plus the whole moral issue, people are dying for nothing.

Anti-fed/bailouts: His usual speal on monetary policy, inflation, federal reserve and general fiscal conservatism.

Anti-patriot act/pro-civil liberties: talk about the failures of the Obama administration to do anything about civil liberties.

General philosophy of liberty


I don't expect Ron to win; to be honest, the country isn't ready and frankly he is too old for the general population to see him as viable. It would be more beneficial for Ron to run on the imporant issues of the day, get out the right philosophy and principles to educate and convert people to the ideas of liberty, not something watered down. Once people become more educated, a more pragmatic campaign can be run with greater success (Rand 2016?)


Here Ron sums up what is needed in his own words:
YouTube - Ron Paul 2012! : The Revolution Continues! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7C5CqKDHxc&feature=player_embedded)

[DeadheadForPaul]

I wouldn't stress foreign policy, but I would make the point that regardless of whether or not the voters initially supported the invasion of Iraq, we need to look at it from an economic stand-point and withdraw from the arena, and accuse the other candidates of putting pride in front of prosperity.

This. Ron turned any question into "we need to stop policing the world"

Dumb strategy for a GOP primary.

[lester1/2jr]

agree with others focus on foreign policy. It's the most attractive part of the platform and was really under utilized in favor of other stuff in 08

[djdellisanti4]

AquaBuddha, I would follow your plan until Ron won the primary. In the national race I would try to make Ron look a little more "liberal" and definately make him look like a dove.

[torchbearer]

I'd focus 90% of the campaign resources in Iowa and NH, hoping for wins there to be the catalyst for wins elsewhere.
the reason- the biggest negative they will throw at ron will be his electability. once that is dispelled, they will have to consider him a contender.

[djdellisanti4]

Educational: Spread the message!

Anti-war: talk about the failure of the Obama administration to do anything beneficial in the war, also take the fiscal conservatism issue to it; you can't be a fiscal conservative if you support unnecessary, expensive war. We can't afford it, etc. Plus the whole moral issue, people are dying for nothing.

Anti-fed/bailouts: His usual speal on monetary policy, inflation, federal reserve and general fiscal conservatism.

Anti-patriot act/pro-civil liberties: talk about the failures of the Obama administration to do anything about civil liberties.

General philosophy of liberty


I don't expect Ron to win; to be honest, the country isn't ready and frankly he is too old for the general population to see him as viable. It would be more beneficial for Ron to run on the imporant issues of the day, get out the right philosophy and principles to educate and convert people to the ideas of liberty, not something watered down. Once people become more educated, a more pragmatic campaign can be run with greater success (Rand 2016?)


Here Ron sums up what is needed in his own words:
YouTube - Ron Paul 2012! : The Revolution Continues! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7C5CqKDHxc&feature=player_embedded)

This video reminds me of this quote:

"Quintessentially and metaphysically, [the libertarian] should remain of good cheer. The eventual victory of liberty is inevitable, because only liberty is functional for modern man. There is no need, therefore, for libertarians to thrist maniacally for instant action and instant victory, and then fall into the bleak of despair when instant victory is not forthcoming. Reality, and therefore history, is on our side."

Murray Rothbard

[Fredom101]

I would also run a targeted Republican blitz in the primary and a targeted Dem blitz in the general.

There are what...50 Million Republican Primary voters? If we had nationwide just 10,000 canvassers, we'd have to hit about 5000 homes each to have visited every Republican primary voter in America. That's actually doable. That kind of ground game will extremely intensify our air game.

In 08 we had canvassers in NH hitting up far more homes than any other candidate, yet, RP got only 8% of the vote. Gotta be a better way.

[Ninja Homer]

To start with, I'd avoid labels, like "conservative", "tea party", etc. Just focus on policy and why it's right. Stick to the economy for the most part.

Rather than a traditional marketing campaign, they need to do a network marketing campaign. What's the point of spending millions on TV ads if there's another complete blackout of Ron Paul on TV like last time? I have some pretty big ideas on how to put together a very successful network marketing campaign that would be unlike anything any political campaign has done before, and I think it would be huge. I'll try to write it out in its own thread later today.

[UtahApocalypse]

Use the Grassroots. Why hire someone to make "He's catching on" when they could have gotten Aravoth, or others for peanuts. Why waste resources that the grassroots are capable of?

[JVParkour]

He needs to scale back his views on foreign policy, and simply say we need to reconsider a some things as a way to save money, rather than saying "PULL OUT OF EVERYWHERE!"

He needs to point out where other candidates failed.

He needs to trim his eyebrows a bit, I mean, the general public is rather superficial, look at Mittens!

Talk economy. He is the only one that has any idea. I think in the debates he should directly ask other candidates economic questions, then tell them they are wrong, and explain correctly. This should be kept basic though, so people won't get lost.

As much as it sucks, we need to get rid of the R3volution logo. It isn't professional, and it sounds to 'anarchist'. (You know what I mean, the media has defamed the black-robed anarchist...etc)

Those are just a few of my ideas.

[IPSecure]

Regarding this awesome post: "This is how you get it done"
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=200463

Regarding this awesome post: "Overwhelming Demand at Fair Causes State-wide Rand Paul Material Shortage"
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=258778


Looked up the State Fair, has a "Youth Leadership Day" YAL anyone? http://www.bigtex.com/sft/guestinfo/Contactus.asp (http://www.bigtex.com/sft/guestinfo/Contactus.asp)



Campaign For Liberty at the State Fairs?




If so, will the 12evoɺution band together and have large booths at every State Fair?




If so, will the 12evoɺution band together and have a huge float in the nightly parade?



Campaign For Liberty at each and every County Fair (http://www.festivals-and-shows.com/state-fairs.html)?




If so, will the 12evoɺution band together and have large booths at every County Fair?

A method to share the tents / displays / floats among the different shows needs to be looked into.

Float Example:
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsR9ke3CNtDXRB63LxgtR-U1hyqlFE0UUzUsg1E5lQ9jQhf8g&t=1&usg=__k_986hgQuNnZhNrFftYQzy9sbeg= (http://www.ozarksvoter.info/photos/index.html)

Live coverage?
NH/ Iowa/ SC 24/7 FM/ Internet/ Satellite Ron Paul 2012 Radio (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=267354&highlight=State+Fairs)
Big grassroot project ideas? Here's mine: A radio station! (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=267241)
http://www.rprradio.com/ (http://www.rprradio.com/listen.shtml)

[TNforPaul45]

..........most of the above posts................

So in other words, Ron needs to move towards the generality of false political image rather than the voting populace moving towards him and truth.

Sounds like a recipe for failure to me, since all the other GOP candidates already know how to put on a false political mask better than Ron will ever be able to do.

Yes Ron is a little rough around the edges, but changing his core message is something that he does NOT need to do. If he did, he could be slammed for being "washy" and like all the others.

Brush up his public speaking, organize his campaign a little (I'm sorry ron, but you do need SOME sort of Centralized, Top Down command structure in the core of the campaign), and have him stick to the same message from 2008, but just with more "Look I was right!" and he might do fine.

[Zatch]

Talk about how Ron Paul is strong on defense and border security for the U.S. as opposed to most other Republicans who are only strong on defense and border security for Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, Georgia, Kazakhstan etc.

[james1906]

To start with, I'd avoid labels, like "conservative", "tea party", etc. Just focus on policy and why it's right. Stick to the economy for the most part.



People respond to labels. Look at how products are marketed to the masses. McDonald's makes substandard burgers, yet they sell more burgers than anyone, why is that?

[StrictBaptist]

We have to remember, the last tim Ron ran, he was less known, and at that time there wasn't as big of an urge to fix the country. With the things obama has done in office, and how much our freedoms, Ron Paul is getting more and more known. I have 5 friends that in 2008 had no clue about Ron, but now all 5 are supporting his run.

I sure wouldn't make Ron sounds more liberal. The people want to get rid of this large goverment, big brother bullcrap. I think the best things would be:
-get ron more known, although lately his name is getting out there, with a lot of tea party and grassroots geoups.
-try to get the democrats that dislike obama to see why and how Ron can fix this.
-Ron is awesome with economic, but his last election didn't seem to focus a lot on the social side, I would make sure people know where he stands on all the issues,some tea party groups support Palin because she's a social conservative.
-Rons plan for the War IMO was great! However a lot of people didn't seemto understand it(I'm talking about liberals or middle grounders here)
-Setup Ron Paul groups(like the tea party has)

Definatly try to get Ron more media time. Last election the media didn't seem to focus on Ron, whhat is funny is that since then, Ron has gotten a lot of attention.

[dude58677]

I think I'd run a very sarcastic campaign. I'll say that we bomb every country on the face of the Earth, raise the debt ceiling to 100 trilion, execute every tax evader, etc.

LOL, seriously. The same as Rand Paul.

[GunnyFreedom]

In 08 we had canvassers in NH hitting up far more homes than any other candidate, yet, RP got only 8% of the vote. Gotta be a better way.

Talking to hard-core Republican voters about stuff they didn't care about, like ending the war? Or just visiting every registered Republican forgetting that 80% of them do not vote in primaries? Or just knocking on every door you encountered forgetting that only 12% of the doors you hit even vote in a GOP primary at all?

[Fredom101]

Talking to hard-core Republican voters about stuff they didn't care about, like ending the war? Or just visiting every registered Republican forgetting that 80% of them do not vote in primaries? Or just knocking on every door you encountered forgetting that only 12% of the doors you hit even vote in a GOP primary at all?

When you put it like that, it seems even more hopeless...:(

[Jordan]

So in other words, Ron needs to move towards the generality of false political image rather than the voting populace moving towards him and truth.

Sounds like a recipe for failure to me, since all the other GOP candidates already know how to put on a false political mask better than Ron will ever be able to do.

Yes Ron is a little rough around the edges, but changing his core message is something that he does NOT need to do. If he did, he could be slammed for being "washy" and like all the others.

Brush up his public speaking, organize his campaign a little (I'm sorry ron, but you do need SOME sort of Centralized, Top Down command structure in the core of the campaign), and have him stick to the same message from 2008, but just with more "Look I was right!" and he might do fine.


You don't have to change the contents to change the packaging.

[RPgrassrootsactivist]

Ron needs to listen to Doug Wead. For example:


http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/how-ron-paul-wins-in-2012-step-one/

http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/ron-paul-and-karl-rove-dont-mix/

[TheTyke]

When you put it like that, it seems even more hopeless...:(

On the contrary... I think Gunny is pointing out areas where we could be much more efficient and successful. Spend our valuable time talking to Republicans who actually vote in the primaries. Meet them on issues that matter to them- cutting spending, balancing the budget, repealing Obamacare, term limits - not trying to "educate" them (ie. ram our pet ideas down their throats.)

I'm an advocate of having fair booths etc. Be everywhere, work harder than anyone else.

We did it in Kentucky for Rand, we can do it in Iowa & New Hampshire for Ron and get the snowball rolling down the hill!

[GunnyFreedom]

When you put it like that, it seems even more hopeless...:(

Really?

Is it really that hard to just skip the non-voters on a list and move on to the next house?

Is it really that hard to focus on spending, jobs, and the economy during a Republican Primary?

Bring out the stuff Dems like when reaching out to Dems in the General. When you are reaching out to Reps in the Primary, stick with stuff that Reps like.

That strategy makes you feel hopeless?? :confused:

[GunnyFreedom]

On the contrary... I think Gunny is pointing out areas where we could be much more efficient and successful. Spend our valuable time talking to Republicans who actually vote in the primaries. Meet them on issues that matter to them- cutting spending, balancing the budget, repealing Obamacare, term limits - not trying to "educate" them (ie. ram our pet ideas down their throats.)

I'm an advocate of having fair booths etc. Be everywhere, work harder than anyone else.

We did it in Kentucky for Rand, we can do it in Iowa & New Hampshire for Ron and get the snowball rolling down the hill!

Yeah, this.

[Lord Xar]

1. I would have Ron take some sort of public speaking lessons to gain more force and charisma. He has to find ways to create the deep substance in shorts amount of time.

I brought up this analogy with some family members in which one said "he doesn't have much charisma" etc.....

I said voters vote how they approach trophy or one night stands. They go for the quick satisfaction. All fluff, no substance. It is who can sell themselves in the shortest sound bites. Whereas, Ron, is more of "wifey" material. You understand.


2. I would ask him to be more aggressive to his opponents. He tends to let others stear the conversation away from his strong points into "soundbites"... that elicit quick emotion, but are empty in depth. I feel he needs to take a more "commanding" tone.

3. Fire his old "commercial" / PR staff. They seemed outgunned and outmanuevered.

*****************

In relation to what Gunny said, sure - I agree. I also think we should start the revolution sooner and create the ground game sooner rather than later. We learned alot from 2 years ago on what works, and what doesn't. What gets people motivated etc... There have been alot of Ron Paul repubs running and I think using them on the local level via their lists could create an early jump for us.

What I also think will work and more & more people are coming to grips with - nothing seems to change between dems/repubs when they are in power. We need to change the script and agree with it. Truly, the only person who has been outside these politican manueverings has been Ron Paul. We need to color Ron with the "real change" monikor. imho.

[fj45lvr]

seriously play some of Avaroth's videos during prime time (with the original soundtrack if possible).

[Promontorium]

I would plug the grassroots directly into the campaign. Ron Paul 2012 wouldn't be 2008 with 3 staffers per state, with thousands of meetup groups pleading to be heard. 2012 would have a juggernaut alliance of volunteers, 100,000 + on the official list. Not to stifle the independent ideas, but to make sure those shitty ads aren't used again, to make sure the staff is the grassroots, the current RP/RP elite is too incestuous.

Rand proved psychotic ignorant lies from the collectivist left won't kill a campaign, but the candidate has to appear serious in person. Ron Paul will have to step the hell back from his educator podium, and get on his soapbox. People don't vote for teachers. People are dumb. You have to talk to them like the brand new things you're saying are what they always believed. Ron would need to get political.

Annoucing early won't do anything. Obama was irrelevant until 2008, and yet Ron Paul's campaign was dead after Super Tuesday. Dead. I'd point out McCain was irrelevant until 2008 too, but he stayed irrelevant. People blame Sarah Palin, they're the kinda people what voted for Bush.

No more spamming. I got this average conserative radio host in my area, to this day he specifically forbids any caller to bring up Ron Paul. I'd instead push for issues. That's all Ron has. If this were a Rocky movie, it'd be Rocky 6, Rocky is too old for speed or charisma, he needs to focus on blunt force trauma. Let the grassroots decide the talking points by the monopomedia. Let the issues all swing towards Ron Paul.

I also wouldn't allow any delusional shit. Play to win or not at all, and if he's losing, stop taking sucker's money. I'd keep it straight from day 1.

[libertythor]

When you put it like that, it seems even more hopeless...:(

It isn't hopeless. You can purchase a list of the names and addresses of all voters who voted in the last GOP primary. Your local grassroots group should purchase a list of all eligible primary voters and one of the likely primary voters and use those.

Just check with your county registrar. :)

[libertythor]

In 08 we had canvassers in NH hitting up far more homes than any other candidate, yet, RP got only 8% of the vote. Gotta be a better way.

I remember seeing a couple of Youtube videos of canvassers in NH bringing up 911 truth to voters. I am not saying that you were responsible for that, but we must try to avoid a repeat of that.

[GunnyFreedom]

It isn't hopeless. You can purchase a list of the names and addresses of all voters who voted in the last GOP primary. Your local grassroots group should purchase a list of all eligible primary voters and one of the likely primary voters and use those.

Just check with your county registrar. :)

We used VSS which does all that for you. WAY better than VoterVault, and actually up to date. Of course it was $600 for one year for 6 counties, but as often as not the local county GOP chairs will be willing to share that cost.

[Tinnuhana]

Small input: visual aids
I loved Perot's graphs. When you aren't that acquainted with economics, those go far. I took the course Tom Woods taught on FDR and the New Deal and some of Higgs's graphs were very enlightening, especially refuting the notion that WWII got the US out of the depression. Debunking their skewed version of US economic history puts things in context for people.
I also have found it advantageous when discussing domestic and foreign policy to differentiate between intervention and regulation (keeping things regular). For example, something like: prosecuting Madoff was regulating (enforcing contracts and preventing fraud); bailing out the banks was intervention.

[tangent4ronpaul]

If you had the job, what would the campaign look like? How would you market Ron Paul and our ideas?



If I had my way, I would make Ron Paul 2012 look much like Rand's campaign. I have so many anecdotal stories with my time with the Tea Party Patriots in Kentucky of mainstream Republicans and "social interventionist" giving a second look at non-interventionism, small government, and liberty.


If I were handling political ads for RP 2012, I wouldn't rail so much against interventionism, rather I would tout Ron's belief in a strong national defense. I wouldn't talk about ending the drug war, rather I would talk about Constitutionalism and state's rights. I wouldn't have Ron be seen as the civil-liberties crusader, rather I would tout Ron's strong family values and pro-life stance. Lastly, and most importantly, I would stress that RON PAUL IS THE TEA PARTY. Ron Paul IS the voice of limited government...the only one.


Ron Paul 2012 can learn a lot of things from how Rand won the conservative vote in Kentucky.



If you had the job, what would you guys do?

There is a tremendous amount wrong with the initial post in this thread. I will start with the observation that most Tea Parties are from the religious right Most in this spectrum don't follow RP, through they may follow RAND! Really, I'd take about a 180 turn from the initial OP. Most of it at least.

Convince ppl that the new right is the old left in objectives - anti-war, anti-corp, pro-free will and drug use, anti-incarceration - pro freedom!

Toughs kind of things appeal to the general population.

-t

[Sola_Fide]

You have to win the Republican primaries first!

Look at how Rand won the primaries in Kentucky...by being a pro-life, budget balancing, small-government conservative!

[GunnyFreedom]

You have to win the Republican primaries first!

Look at how Rand won the primaries in Kentucky...by being a pro-life, budget balancing, small-government conservative!


Ding!

[tangent4ronpaul]

We are talking KY - that's deep south. A lot of states breath a lot different.

-t

[1000-points-of-fright]

I know he's humble and doesn't like to toot his own horn, but he needs to start pointing out that he's been warning us about almost all of our current problems for decades, especially on the financial crisis, while everyone else was calling him crazy.

[Esor]

First and foremost, it must be understood that the republican primary race and the 2012 presidential races are two totally different challenges and they must be attacked differently.

In the primary race, Ron Paul needs to appeal to the neo-conservative war mongers, the moderate “I really don’t want to pick a stance” republicans, and the hijacked tea party votes. I’m not advocating a change in the Paul platform at all, but a few points must be heavily emphasized and others avoided as much as possible. He needs to stress secure borders, small federal government, state’s rights, his pro-life stance, lowering taxes, cutting spending and bring up his voting record as proof. The most important asset Paul has (besides us of course) is his past voting record and his magical skill of understanding the extremely difficult and seemingly foreign concept of economics (I think that’s how you spell it). This needs to be at the forefront of the attack. In politics, where politically irrelevant things actually matter, Paul has the Christian/good southern family man personality in the bag.

Ron Paul needs to embrace the tea-baggers while keeping his distance from them (so he doesn’t get tea bagged himself). Getting too close could be the downfall of Ron, who shouldn’t accept any title claiming him to be the “leader/founder of the Tea Party.” I think the perfect response to any question about the Tea Party should be “I share many views with those in the Tea Party movement, but their message has started to drift away from the important things like our rising deficit and increased spending.” Embrace with a ten foot stick and a can of mace in your hand. Unlike most of you guys, I can picture the Tea Party movement as being the downfall of it all. Not in any violent way, but simply by slow assimilation into the mainstream republican base. Like a freedom mouse being gradually digested by the evil snake of status-quo.

The presidential campaign is a whole different enchilada. Cheese versus beef my friends. If he locks down the republican nomination, he will have the Republican vote in check. This is due to the sheep mentality that most republicans (and most democrats for that matter) will vote for anyone on the ballot with a little R after their name (or D). Freshly out of the primary race, Paul should continue to focus on his likable conservative views but start focusing on his contempt for the republican leaders, corrupted politicians, and status-quo. As the race continues down the road, he can start to bring up his more liberally accepted ideals like civil liberties, ending the drug war and foreign policy. He will need to point out that nearly every president in the last fifty years has been a failure. It is time to change, and not the kind Obama was trying to advocate.

The last thing I have to say in this short response turned essay is unity. This isn’t a partisan battle for the white house and it never should be. Stop squandering over the little issues between left and right, republicrat and democran. This movement is about one thing and it needs to be the face of the Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign. This is about taking our fucking country back. If that isn’t something to unite behind, then I’ll move to fucking Switzerland.

I am sick of this one party system and these over debated issues that shouldn’t even be in debate. Politics has become a freak show to keep you all side-tracked while our country and our liberty are hijacked, stripped, and sold to the highest bidder.

[Eric21ND]

1. Buy a fully decked out campaign bus for Iowa and New Hampshire and perhaps SC. Keep them in each of the early primary states. Go around speaking in each of those states at numerous venues via the buses. Ron will have a professional, serious-looking campaign and he will be able to transverse the state in relative comfort and keep his energy high. I want to see Ron hitting smaller towns all over these states, not just sticking to Des Moines.

2. Talk about the economy, reducing government, and reigning in spending....rinse, repeat.

3. Higher a top notch ad agency, like Rand usued for his election. Most voters don't even know he's a Physician!