Serious Question....

[StrictBaptist]

If Ron announces he is running in 2012, who would I contact to get involved? Does anyone know? Or if I can get involved now to be a part of his running team in any way?

Thanks

[KCIndy]

Welcome!

I would suggest you keep on frequenting the Ron Paul Forums. There will be lots of news and information here as the next few months unfold. :)

[RileyE104]

can get involved now

I would recommend that you simply do whatever you can in your everyday life to promote his 2012 run.

Off the top of my head I can think of the following:


- talk to friends and family

- pass out pamphlets (in whatever way) if you have the time;
by this I mean person to person or even just putting them in mailboxes or leaving them in certain places like phone booths, or post them up near store entrances

- put out stickers or do your own graffiti in places you know people will see... there's nothing like free ads :)
bumper stickers, bathroom graffiti, etc. :D

- make yourself a walking advertisement by wearing clothing that promotes an RP 2012 run

- call in on radio shows / cspan if you get the chance and let them know who you support and why!

I imagine if everyone on this forum did the above it would help a lot in spreading the message.

[GunnyFreedom]

If Ron announces he is running in 2012, who would I contact to get involved? Does anyone know? Or if I can get involved now to be a part of his running team in any way?

Thanks

What you will have to understand, is that RP08 was a very grassroots trype of organization, so much so that the traditional top-down volunteer coordination was not present the way it was in other campaigns. One of the biggest improvements we could make in RP12 is to increase volunteer coordination with the campaign, but coordination was already very strong outside the campaign.

We used tools like RPF's to coordinate action across the nation as well as locally. The RP PCC was neither aware nor involved in that.

What most needs to be done right now to prepare for RP12 is, especially (it would seem to me) on your part, is to help lobby believers to understand why a Constitutional government is a more Godly government.

The Church has mostly been led to believe that a government claiming moral authority over the lives of it's citizens were a Godly model, but I believe they are mistaken. Instead, render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what it's God's. The reason we are already so messed up is because of man staking claim to authority over God's dominion.

By handing the jobs that the Church is supposed to do over to Uncle Sam with a rifle in his hands, the Church is abdicating it's God-given authority, and as a result public morality is collapsing in the vacuum. Making what was basically the State and giving them charge over what is essentially Church doctrines, is a disaster waiting to happen. I look around, and it's clearly happened.

The political class who mostly self-identify as 'social conservatives' think it's time to double-down. They want to have the government claim even more and stronger authority "If only we get them all under control..." I say it's time to get out and let the Body set the moral agenda as it is right and Godly.

So we find ourselves at odds with social conservatives. They often claim abortion as a moral issue to legitimize their claim, rather than the life/limb aggression claim that it is, and of the natural right to life.

Morality can only be set by example. Only justice can be imposed. Mixing the concepts makes the people lost. so-called "moral justice" (as I am using it here) puts the State into the rightful place of God, an idolatry called "statism." Rendering unto Caesar what belongs to God.

Read up on Pastor Chuck Baldwin, a most Godly-minded believer who understands the distinction of powers, and ran for President in 2008 on the Constitution Party ticket. We need to prepare the way in the churches. The churches went after Huckabee in 2008, but he was no better than the rest at giving over God's power to the State. Maybe worse even. They didn't know what to look for but they need to this time around.

Chuck Baldwin's columns will help make that happen, a lot. I would try to get as many churchgoers connected to Chuck Baldwin as we can between now and the 2012 campaign. look at him and see for yourself before you do, of course, but he is a Godly man who is working to go back to the origin of American liberty which saw the Church become the largest faith on the planet.

There is a lot of work to do to make ready for Ron Paul 2012, and if we can start seeding the churchgoers now with the right concepts to watch for in the 2012 election, we will be going a long way towards making that happen. I think spreading the acclaim of Pastor Chuck Baldwin is a good course to follow towards that end.

[Cap]

Once Ron announces, watch to see local Ron Paul "Meet-up" groups resurrect themselves. Here is where you can do tremendous good for the campaign.

[Elwar]

Why wait until Ron Paul announces?

Start now.

Go walk your precinct and gather voter information. Find out what people believe in now so that you can work on a focussed message when promoting him.

You are in charge of getting as many votes for Ron Paul in your precinct as possible.

[cswake]

^ This. We have another year to keep laying groundwork for support so that he isn't laughed at and ridiculed in the Republican primaries the way they disgracefully did it in 2008. When I was canvassing two years ago, I actually had a McCain supporter tell me she was insulted by the way they treated Ron.

Forgot the specific speech(es), but he encourages us all to help in any way that we want so long as you have fun doing it. I'd extend off of that and say that each of us should evaluate ourselves and ask how can we make the greatest impact based upon your network, skills, money, time, etc.

[ronpaulhawaii]

If Ron announces he is running in 2012, who would I contact to get involved? Does anyone know? Or if I can get involved now to be a part of his running team in any way?

Thanks

For success we will need to win the GOP Nomination. To win the GOP nomination we need to have a majority of Delegates. To be Delegates we need to be active in our local GOP. To be effective in our local GOP we will have to be tolerant, and diplomatic, while educating the uninformed.

IOW, attending local GOP meetings is something you can start on right now, while waiting to see what other opportunities arise, to do more...

ONWARD!!!

[guitarlifter]

What you will have to understand, is that RP08 was a very grassroots trype of organization, so much so that the traditional top-down volunteer coordination was not present the way it was in other campaigns. One of the biggest improvements we could make in RP12 is to increase volunteer coordination with the campaign, but coordination was already very strong outside the campaign.

We used tools like RPF's to coordinate action across the nation as well as locally. The RP PCC was neither aware nor involved in that.

What most needs to be done right now to prepare for RP12 is, especially (it would seem to me) on your part, is to help lobby believers to understand why a Constitutional government is a more Godly government.

The Church has mostly been led to believe that a government claiming moral authority over the lives of it's citizens were a Godly model, but I believe they are mistaken. Instead, render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and render unto God what it's God's. The reason we are already so messed up is because of man staking claim to authority over God's dominion.

By handing the jobs that the Church is supposed to do over to Uncle Sam with a rifle in his hands, the Church is abdicating it's God-given authority, and as a result public morality is collapsing in the vacuum. Making what was basically the State and giving them charge over what is essentially Church doctrines, is a disaster waiting to happen. I look around, and it's clearly happened.

The political class who mostly self-identify as 'social conservatives' think it's time to double-down. They want to have the government claim even more and stronger authority "If only we get them all under control..." I say it's time to get out and let the Body set the moral agenda as it is right and Godly.

So we find ourselves at odds with social conservatives. They often claim abortion as a moral issue to legitimize their claim, rather than the life/limb aggression claim that it is, and of the natural right to life.

Morality can only be set by example. Only justice can be imposed. Mixing the concepts makes the people lost. so-called "moral justice" (as I am using it here) puts the State into the rightful place of God, an idolatry called "statism." Rendering unto Caesar what belongs to God.

Read up on Pastor Chuck Baldwin, a most Godly-minded believer who understands the distinction of powers, and ran for President in 2008 on the Constitution Party ticket. We need to prepare the way in the churches. The churches went after Huckabee in 2008, but he was no better than the rest at giving over God's power to the State. Maybe worse even. They didn't know what to look for but they need to this time around.

Chuck Baldwin's columns will help make that happen, a lot. I would try to get as many churchgoers connected to Chuck Baldwin as we can between now and the 2012 campaign. look at him and see for yourself before you do, of course, but he is a Godly man who is working to go back to the origin of American liberty which saw the Church become the largest faith on the planet.

There is a lot of work to do to make ready for Ron Paul 2012, and if we can start seeding the churchgoers now with the right concepts to watch for in the 2012 election, we will be going a long way towards making that happen. I think spreading the acclaim of Pastor Chuck Baldwin is a good course to follow towards that end.

You should write a theological/philosophical/political (whatever you want to call it) essay on how libertarianism is the Godly way and post it, and I'm talking about one that pulls scripture from the Bible, contains counterarguments to popular arguments against this concept, and really goes in depth.

I am an avid Christian, and I truly believe that the libertarian philosophy is the most in line with what the scripture supports. I'm actually probably going to write an essay on this for my own benefit as well as others' benefit in the future. If you don't want to, then if you know of any scripture that would help support the libertarian philosophy, then let me know.

The Bible says to use its words like a sword, and I fully believe that one could use scripture to show that the libertarian philosophy is the Godly way.

[cswake]

I am an avid Christian, and I truly believe that the libertarian philosophy is the most in line with what the scripture supports. I'm actually probably going to write an essay on this for my own benefit as well as others' benefit in the future. If you don't want to, then if you know of any scripture that would help support the libertarian philosophy, then let me know.

The Bible says to use its words like a sword, and I fully believe that one could use scripture to show that the libertarian philosophy is the Godly way.Welcome to the forums! You're not alone in your beliefs and many others have already laid some groundwork to do accomplish what you're saying:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_libertarianism


http://libertarianchristians.com/2009/05/27/libertarian-resource-page/

To me it is makes sense, I don't believe God would want individuals to use the power of the government to force others into the choice of compliance. I think the critical component is to have someone understand that government is force and violence in its very nature.

Let me also suggest Ron Paul needs help convincing the religious base of the Republican party that the Just War Theory should be followed... :rolleyes::mad:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war


the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
there must be serious prospects of success;
the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.


Some probably could argue that our wars in the Middle East, Vietnam, and Korea comply the first one, but the last three aren't even debatable.

[Chester Copperpot]

If Ron announces he is running in 2012, who would I contact to get involved? Does anyone know? Or if I can get involved now to be a part of his running team in any way?

Thanks

What others said.. This is a grassroots thing so its decentralized.. Everybody does whatever theyre good at. Some people are good at videos for example like Aravoth? Me I dont know the first thing about making videos. But I can talk to complete strangers everyday about the federal reserve (and I do) so they get it.

Ron Paul has said the best thing we can do is educate ourselves on things so that we can explain and educate to our friends, family, associates, etc.. and so thats what I do.

I dont push. I dont preach. But I explain things how I see them. After awhile you'll see your circle of friends & family come to you when they want things political explained. And its okay if they dont agree on every single issue. And sometimes it takes years.

For example Ive had a friend for years.. Total neocon. Warhawk rah rah. Makes his living on the internet. Told me about the DHS seizing 75 websites the other day. I explained that that is why protecting everybodys' liberty is so important.. One day its airline passengers, then its pot smokers, then maybe its your livelihood on the internet.

I think he gets it now.

Rahm Emanuel said no crisis should go to waste.. And I think we can take that same approach.. Except that we should take the approach of getting the statism out and restoring liberty, instead of what they always do - which is take our liberty.

[MelissaWV]

For success we will need to win the GOP Nomination. To win the GOP nomination we need to have a majority of Delegates. To be Delegates we need to be active in our local GOP. To be effective in our local GOP we will have to be tolerant, and diplomatic, while educating the uninformed.

IOW, attending local GOP meetings is something you can start on right now, while waiting to see what other opportunities arise, to do more...

ONWARD!!!

This, but only sort of.

The most effective thing you can do is educate yourself (which this post shows you are willing to do). You could visit your state's forum on this site and, depending on which state it was, you could review what happened in 2008. There is a lot of delegate-related info out there on how things panned out.

In some states, to become a delegate you really do have to be "in" with the GOP. This is problematic at this time because joining before the midterm elections would have made you seem vested by the time 2012's decisions roll around. In other words, joining now has "I want to get a certain person elected President, and I'm out of here after the election" written all over it. Many states with big GOP organizations are quite wary of that.

In some states, to become a delegate you have to "run for office." Frankly, no one much cares who runs for delegates most of the time. You don't advertise, and no one noses around in your past. I know that when I ran for delegate I needed to put down who I was supporting, but that didn't make a difference. Most of the delegates were elected with votes in double digits. Some areas had no one vote for any delegates :p The point is that even people for "the other side" are not always organized in your state.

Figure out what happens, why, and when in your state. Primaries are won by people who know how to gain numbers and work the broken and chaotic systems that dole out delegates. The flipside of the coin is that once you get into a position to jockey for the nomination, you have bargaining power. Even if Dr. Paul is not a frontrunner, having a few states in his pocket could mean a cabinet position if it's played right.

[Eric21ND]

Let's face it, it's tough to become a national delegate as a newbie. Did we have any Ron Paul supporters actually make it to the convention in 2008? I don't think even one did. Gotta be buddy buddy with local GOP people for that, lots of back scratching, envelope licking, ass kissing, etc.

In other words let's win the Iowa, NH, and SC primary and get away from these pie-in-the-sky scenarios.

[GunnyFreedom]

Let's face it, it's tough to become a national delegate as a newbie. Did we have any Ron Paul supporters actually make it to the convention in 2008? I don't think even one did. Gotta be buddy buddy with local GOP people for that, lots of back scratching, envelope licking, ass kissing, etc.

In other words let's win the Iowa, NH, and SC primary and get away from these pie-in-the-sky scenarios.

We had 4 from NC. Would have been 5 but I missed it by 1 vote.

[ronpaulhawaii]

Let's face it, it's tough to become a national delegate as a newbie. Did we have any Ron Paul supporters actually make it to the convention in 2008? I don't think even one did. Gotta be buddy buddy with local GOP people for that, lots of back scratching, envelope licking, ass kissing, etc.

In other words let's win the Iowa, NH, and SC primary and get away from these pie-in-the-sky scenarios.

Actually, there were plenty who made it to the RNC. MY GF was an alternate... Add to that the fact that r3VOLutionaries now run the GOP in many counties and we have a comepletely different scenario. Yes, these folks had to be diplomatic as they educated the uninformed, but many of the former "rank and file" are now coming our way, due to these people's willingness to "lick envelopes" for liberty...

While I will agree that CPAC, ISP, and NH are pivotal, I reject your "pie in the sky" attitude... Just because you can't see yourself being diplomatic with the GOP is no reason to dissuade others.

[Eric21ND]

Actually, there were plenty who made it to the RNC. MY GF was an alternate... Add to that the fact that r3VOLutionaries now run the GOP in many counties and we have a comepletely different scenario. Yes, these folks had to be diplomatic as they educated the uninformed, but many of the former "rank and file" are now coming our way, due to these people's willingness to "lick envelopes" for liberty...

While I will agree that CPAC, ISP, and NH are pivotal, I reject your "pie in the sky" attitude... Just because you can't see yourself being diplomatic with the GOP is no reason to dissuade others.
If we did have Ron Paul stealth delegates on the floor of the convention they wussed out. I remember a heated discussion sometime ago. I do like the idea of not keeping our eggs in one basket, so by all means go for the delegate take over, but nothing is more valuable than early campaigning in Iowa, NH, SC.

[RedBloodConservative]

If we did have Ron Paul stealth delegates on the floor of the convention they wussed out. I remember a heated discussion sometime ago. I do like the idea of not keeping our eggs in one basket, so by all means go for the delegate take over, but nothing is more valuable than early campaigning in Iowa, NH, SC.

Its funny you should mention South Carolina, since that is the state I live in...All I gotta do is find out who to contact in SC to get this started in Janurary!

[GunnyFreedom]

If we did have Ron Paul stealth delegates on the floor of the convention they wussed out. I remember a heated discussion sometime ago. I do like the idea of not keeping our eggs in one basket, so by all means go for the delegate take over, but nothing is more valuable than early campaigning in Iowa, NH, SC.

Only 1 of ours was 'stealth.'

[MelissaWV]

If we did have Ron Paul stealth delegates on the floor of the convention they wussed out. I remember a heated discussion sometime ago. I do like the idea of not keeping our eggs in one basket, so by all means go for the delegate take over, but nothing is more valuable than early campaigning in Iowa, NH, SC.

You have this puzzling notion that all the Ron Paul national delegates were "stealth." In fact, Dr. Paul had several national delegates, but no states won.

[GunnyFreedom]

If we did have Ron Paul stealth delegates on the floor of the convention they wussed out. I remember a heated discussion sometime ago. I do like the idea of not keeping our eggs in one basket, so by all means go for the delegate take over, but nothing is more valuable than early campaigning in Iowa, NH, SC.

and in terms of value, the major reason I am a State Legislator today is because I took Ron Paul's advice to become a delegate in 2008. Our whole State Party is moving in our direction at flank speed because of what we accomplished in 2008 2009 2010. That's not valuable?

[Eric21ND]

Its funny you should mention South Carolina, since that is the state I live in...All I gotta do is find out who to contact in SC to get this started in Janurary!
If I was you I'd contact Jack Hunter, the southern avenger guy....he'd point you in the right direction. Meanwhile, your goal should be to "own" your community. Find out who the republican primary voters are and knock on doors, get their political indo/feelings, converse with people, give them RP literature atune with the issues important to them.

I remember the primary last go around and a large percentage had no idea who RP was, let alone his positions.

[Eric21ND]

You have this puzzling notion that all the Ron Paul national delegates were "stealth." In fact, Dr. Paul had several national delegates, but no states won.
No, that isn't my notion. I know we won 40 or so delegates to the national convention by staying in the race. What we were discussing back then was a way for all Ron Paul supporters to either, a.) Become national delegates themselves and force a floor vote between Ron and McCain or b.) Persuade the national delegates to our side by giving them books and DVDs about Ron.

My question was if we even got any "stealth" delegates on the floor, who weren't already declared to go to Ron? Someone said we might have had one. My point being the nomination is going to won or lost in the early states and going for a delegate take over might be a waste of time and resources.

[GunnyFreedom]

No, that isn't my notion. I know we won 40 or so delegates to the national convention by staying in the race. What we were discussing back then was a way for all Ron Paul supporters to either, a.) Become national delegates themselves and force a floor vote between Ron and McCain or b.) Persuade the national delegates to our side by giving them books and DVDs about Ron.

My question was if we even got any "stealth" delegates on the floor, who weren't already declared to go to Ron? Someone said we might have had one. My point being the nomination is going to won or lost in the early states and going for a delegate take over might be a waste of time and resources.

Well my point is that we need to do BOTH. If we only do one and not the other (whichever that one is) then we will fail. If we take all the primaries but ignore the delegates we fail. If we take all the delegates but ignore the primaries, we fail. If we take the primaries AND the delegates, we win. There is no one or the other here, it's either both or nothing.

[Eric21ND]

Well my point is that we need to do BOTH. If we only do one and not the other (whichever that one is) then we will fail. If we take all the primaries but ignore the delegates we fail. If we take all the delegates but ignore the primaries, we fail. If we take the primaries AND the delegates, we win. There is no one or the other here, it's either both or nothing.
Well if we win the state primary/caucuses we automatically get a certain number of national delegates. I know each states have different criteria about how and where their delegates go. The delegate take over scheme at the national convention is way, way last ditch effort. Now if god forbide someone like Palin gets the nomination it would be a good strategy to use...hell there would probably be a revolt on the floor regardless if the Paulites were on the floor if she was the nominee.

[GunnyFreedom]

Well if we win the state primary/caucuses we automatically get a certain number of national delegates. I know each states have different criteria about how and where their delegates go. The delegate take over scheme at the national convention is way, way last ditch effort. Now if god forbide someone like Palin gets the nomination it would be a good strategy to use...hell there would probably be a revolt on the floor regardless if the Paulites were on the floor if she was the nominee.

I'm not talking about a delegate takeover scheme, I'm talking about the fact that if RP wins every single State and we have no delegates we could still lose the nomination. It's not one or the other, it's both. We saw too many examples in 2008 where RP had his RIGHTFUL delegates denied him, or people who hated RP were sent in place of his rightful delegates. The only way that doesn't happen again is to focus on both things, primaries AND convention delegates.

If you do either without the other we are just wasting our time. We have to do BOTH.

[Eric21ND]

I'm not talking about a delegate takeover scheme, I'm talking about the fact that if RP wins every single State and we have no delegates we could still lose the nomination. It's not one or the other, it's both. We saw too many examples in 2008 where RP had his RIGHTFUL delegates denied him, or people who hated RP were sent in place of his rightful delegates. The only way that doesn't happen again is to focus on both things, primaries AND convention delegates.

If you do either without the other we are just wasting our time. We have to do BOTH.
Yeah good point. Hopefully some of us can actually make it to the floor and not compromise our principals to get there.