We should convince Dems: voting for RP in the primary will convince Obama to end the wars

[BarryDonegan]

This is the only practical way a Democrat who would otherwise just be rubberstamping Obama in the general can make any statement with his or her vote this time.

Thoughts?

[Ekrub]

Thoughts? "democrats" aren't really interested in ending the wars. Most people see politics in the same way they see a sports game. If George bush had a d next to his name they would champion his presidency as a success.

[doodle]

If they took this advice and Ron Paul won GOP Primary, my fear is that then Ron Paul would go on to defeat Obama and win in the general too. Risky scenario.

[Proph]

The best way to get them to change their minds is with TV (since it's the most widely used), IMO. However, FOX has already shown that they aren't going to play fair this year. It's yet to be known about CNN, although I remember them being *somewhat* fair last time around (except for Beck, but look who he is working for now). Even if everything was 100% fair, how many democrats would watch a republican debate? There's also the random interviews on each of the stations...but those are a place for sound-bytes...not full-fledged ideas.

You could say the internet, but people would have to willingly visit the contents. If you go to highly populated websites and avidly push Paul, you'll probably be dismissed as a "Paultard" and end up doing more harm than good due to the herd mentality on some of these sites. Would you like it if someone came on here and blindly started pushing someone that *wasn't* Paul? I will say that networking sites can be a *great* way to get the word out, though. Not so much going around and pushing him on others' pages, but just showing that you agree with Paul's ideas on your own page. If someone reads your thoughts and opinions, they might agree and realize they aren't alone (or at the very least, become curious and do some research on their own).

Just my $.02.

[Matt Collins]

Barry, the ONLY people that matter during the primary are the likely Republican voters. You and I have a skewered anecdotal view because of where we live (a very Democrat town). We are unique compared to the rest of the state with the exception of 3 other major metropolitan areas. Everywhere else no Democrats support Ron for the most part.

But again, this is not a winning strategy even where we are because there is more inertia to get a Dem to vote in the Republican primary than there is to convince Republican voters who are already voting in the Republican primary to vote for Ron Paul.

To achieve electoral victory, the ONLY people that matter are likely Republican voters until after the primary. Just like in Rand's race

[libertybrewcity]

Barry, the ONLY people that matter during the primary are the likely Republican voters. You and I have a skewered anecdotal view because of where we live (a very Democrat town). We are unique compared to the rest of the state with the exception of 3 other major metropolitan areas. Everywhere else no Democrats support Ron for the most part.

But again, this is not a winning strategy even where we are because there is more inertia to get a Dem to vote in the Republican primary than there is to convince Republican voters who are already voting in the Republican primary to vote for Ron Paul.

To achieve electoral victory, the ONLY people that matter are likely Republican voters until after the primary. Just like in Rand's race

^this X 1,000,000

[Matt Collins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TCtu0bBtQ&feature=channel_video_title


SOURCE:


http://ronpaultrainer.blogspot.com/2011/04/introduction-to-campaigning-for-ron.html

Campaigning for Ron Paul 2012


So, do you want to be involved to some degree in the upcoming Ron Paul campaign?
If so, here are the basics that you need to learn and don't skip the 6 Essential Rules
of campaigning at the bottom of this note.



1. This campaign will not be won on facebook, gasp!
You will need to get involved with your local Republican party, another gasp!
After all, you will be campaigning first for the Republican nomination. Hence,
you will need to convince actual blue haired old ladies, who only watch Fox News,
that they should vote for the Champion of the Constitution. Yes, it can be done.



2. Find or start your local Meetup group for Ron Paul.
Go explore here: http://www.meetup.com/
(Careful, there might be several groups--some defunct.)



Events

I won't bore you too much in this note, but there are 3 major events you need to plan for.
They involve traveling to Iowa and maybe even New Hampshire. While you probably won't
be able to vote for Dr. Paul at these events. The friends you will meet and the lessons you
will learn about campaigning will change your life. If you plan now, you can ask off work
and adjust your schedule. Don't worry about food and lodging--there will be so many
projects for funding all of that.



Make plans now to attend the Iowa Straw Poll this coming August 13th.

August 13, 2011 - Ames, IA
Ames Straw Poll
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_Straw_Poll



Later your help will be put into practice during the Iowa Caucus in January? of 2012 or
in New Hampshire. If you are serious about this, just plan now to spend Christmas in
Iowa or New Hampshire.



Okay, here's the important part. The key to being a good campaigner for a political
candidate involves cultivating a basic understanding of marketing and sales. By the way,
it is possible to keep your moral integrity through this process--but it is a tricky, no doubt.
You should never lie and misrepresent the truth--but this doesn't mean you bury your head
in the sand and not learn how TO SELL.



Canvassing is the process by which you interact with an individual, qualify that they are
a likely voter and persuade them to support the candidate you are representing.
The overarching principle to learn is to never show your cards before they show
you their cards. You need to know how to best approach each individual you speak with.



Here are 6 rules to guide you when selling your candidate:


Don't make your issue their issue.
Don't get into debates.
Don't go down rabbit holes.
Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know."
Don't trash-talk other candidates.
When you make a sale, stop selling.



I could write a couple paragraphs on each of these points, but I'll leave it at this for now...
And, wow, number 4 is profound! I'm considering adding a final step of "asking for a
commitment." If you've sold someone on your idea or candidate, you need to involve them
in an action that they can take to fulfill their verbal commitment.
This list was inspired by a video about campaigning for Ron Paul found here:

http://youtu.be/Ib1EEFzRqW4

That's all for tonight.

Aaron
Contact him here: patriotpodium@gmail.com

[showpan]

I disagree with the statement that Democrats aren't interested in ending the wars or the FED. The democrats are now split just like republicans were. But don't believe me...a democrat...just go and check out the democraticunderground forums and see for yourself. If Paul was to pick someone like Grayson as a running mate, we would end up with probably 1/3 of the dem vote.

hxxp://www.democraticunderground.com/


Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.
-Antisthenes

[SilentBull]

Please, stop counting on democrats to win a REPUBLICAN primary. It is a waste of time.

[fletcher]

I disagree with the statement that Democrats aren't interested in ending the wars or the FED. The democrats are now split just like republicans were. But don't believe me...a democrat...just go and check out the democraticunderground forums and see for yourself. If Paul was to pick someone like Grayson as a running mate, we would end up with probably 1/3 of the dem vote.

hxxp://www.democraticunderground.com/


Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.
-Antisthenes

Everyone at DU hates Ron more than they hate the neocons. You'll get banned if you admit to supporting him. Democrats do not care about ending the wars. Their only objective is to increase the size and power of government. To them, neocons supporting big government is more important that Ron being anti-war.

[AuH20]

Very few democrats want to see the redistribution machine disassembled.

[showpan]

I still disagree. I have been a member there since it was started. Yes...there have been many bannings of members who do not support Obama, I'm one of them...lol...I still read the forums though and if you look at most of the pro Obama threads, they are loaded with an equal amount of negative posts and there are many, many threads against the rise of the machine....again...the dems are split and to not take advantage of that would be foolish.

I wonder how many Republicans have become Libertarians after being disenfranchised by their own party?

I have made very good progress in pointing out that Obama is just another blue dog in a party full of them and a vote for Ron is a vote against both parties while another vote for Obama is a mandate for more neocon (Bush lite) policy and a continuance of perpetual war. The progressive Dems actually have a lot in common with Libertarians...they both want less government, end the wars, end the FED, end NAFTA, eliminate the Patriot ACT, eliminate government interference and meddling, no to corporate bailouts, the list goes on. Most of them also agree that Keynesion has failed miserably, and this is a point that should be hammered home. Grayson and Kucinich are more popular than Obama and they believe in all of these things although Kucinich sold out on Obamacare while Grayson didn't. These are two Democrats that would never get their parties support much like Ron.

Libertarians do not have an exclusive position on the many issues that Americans are facing coming into the next election and there are many Americans who can be swayed simply by pointing out the truth to them.

And the anti Ron sentiment didn't work on me...alienating people because of party affiliation would be ignoring a missed opportunity.

[Badger Paul]

To me, we have to do well at the straw poll first before we can engage in any talk about bringing along progressives or independents. But if we do well it becomes more of a realistic possibility because the nomination becomes a realistic possibility.

And if they do come aboard, you can convince a lot of non-ideological Republicans, just your average ordinary Main St. party guy, to back Ron Paul just because he has that kind of drawing power which makes him more likely to be able to give Obama a run for his money. The polls prove it as we all know.

[axiomata]

If Democrats don't have their own presidential primary (other than a Obama rubber-stamping), I think it would be possible to get a sizable Democratic vote, especially in open primary states. Certainly worth going after.