Front-Loading the Campaign?

[Jesubub]

As a Texan (and in the spirit of continuous improvement), I'm having issues with going through the same routine as before of securing votes here at home only to have them deemed worthless by the time March comes around. I'd like to focus all/most of my energy on securing votes where the first votes are taken. Back in late-2007, I sent 1,600 letters to IA & NH, but I want to explore other ways to make my time, energy & money have the biggest impact possible. I'm thinking that holding local fundraisers to fund drop-shipments of campaign materials to long-established & trusted early-state Meetups could be a good start, but I want constructive input from the RP community. Should we all be focusing on the early states?

Here's how I closed a letter to our local group yesterday:
"To get to the point, there's only one front line in this fight — wherever Ron Paul is giving & taking fire. Instead of fighting a potentially-futile battle for votes here at home while the action is elsewhere, we have to take our steel to the fight. That doesn't mean we can't be working on a fall-back in case the fight comes to us and go through some meaningful motions to secure votes — we just can't act as if we're the center of the political universe. Winning or contending in the early primaries will reap dividends here at home. If Paul does well in the early primaries, you can be sure the early states will repay us in kind. We MUST win those early battles to win the war. I invite each of you to fire back your own ideas and shoot mine down if needed. We need to start brainstorming NOW because the first primaries are only 4½ months away!"

Your opinions are appreciated.

[erowe1]

As a Texan (and in the spirit of continuous improvement), I'm having issues with going through the same routine as before of securing votes here at home only to have them deemed worthless by the time March comes around. I'd like to focus all/most of my energy on securing votes where the first votes are taken. Back in late-2007, I sent 1,600 letters to IA & NH, but I want to explore other ways to make my time, energy & money have the biggest impact possible. I'm thinking that holding local fundraisers to fund drop-shipments of campaign materials to long-established & trusted early-state Meetups could be a good start, but I want constructive input from the RP community. Should we all be focusing on the early states?

Here's how I closed a letter to our local group yesterday:
"To get to the point, there's only one front line in this fight — wherever Ron Paul is giving & taking fire. Instead of fighting a potentially-futile battle for votes here at home while the action is elsewhere, we have to take our steel to the fight. That doesn't mean we can't be working on a fall-back in case the fight comes to us and go through some meaningful motions to secure votes — we just can't act as if we're the center of the political universe. Winning or contending in the early primaries will reap dividends here at home. If Paul does well in the early primaries, you can be sure the early states will repay us in kind. We MUST win those early battles to win the war. I invite each of you to fire back your own ideas and shoot mine down if needed. We need to start brainstorming NOW because the first primaries are only 4½ months away!"

Your opinions are appreciated.

If there's something you're excited about doing, then as long as it's in any way productive, I'd say do it.

However, my meetup did what you're talking about last time around, and I think it wasn't the best use of our resources. We're right on the border with Michigan, which was the next primary after NH in 2008, and we decided to concentrate our efforts there, rather than in most of our home towns in Indiana. I remember one older and more experienced gentleman who wasn't too keen on that idea and kept saying, "All politics is local." Looking back I realized he was right. I can say more if you're interested.

[Jesubub]

If there's something you're excited about doing, then as long as it's in any way productive, I'd say do it.

However, my meetup did what you're talking about last time around, and I think it wasn't the best use of our resources. We're right on the border with Michigan, which was the next primary after NH in 2008, and we decided to concentrate our efforts there, rather than in most of our home towns in Indiana. I remember one older and more experienced gentleman who wasn't too keen on that idea and kept saying, "All politics is local." Looking back I realized he was right. I can say more if you're interested.

I'm interested in everything you'd like to say about it. I want to learn from the mistakes AND successes of others. Lay it on me.

I'm not advocating focusing anywhere near 100% of time & money on early states, just a firm majority. If we were all voting on the same day, the "all politics is local" manta would fit like a glove, but due to the order of primaries, we need to balance that with an "all for one" attitude. But, with the media blackout in 2008 form, early Paul victories aren't guaranteed to influence later elections.

[erowe1]

1) What we need to do immediately is build up his donor base, which is translocal.
2) The most effective campaigning you can do is local.
3) Doing things elsewhere requires you to expend extra time and money, such as travel time and cost, that you could either donate to the campaign or use locally.
4) Every part of the country already has its own supporters. Getting involved in places could come across to those supporters as meddlesome, and the reason is because it can actually be meddlesome. There will be redundancy of efforts, feelings of bitterness, and potential supporters getting annoyed by getting contacted by multiple different strangers for Ron Paul without any knowing what the other was doing.
5) This isn't a short-term one-shot deal. The networks you build now in your home town and the people you influence will continue to be networks for future political activities and continue to be people you influence in the future. It's your local network where this is most true. In 2008 I had no interest in the long-term. I thought that the only election that would ever matter so much was that one. And then in 2010 I wished I had a better local network set up to support John Hostettler. And now in 2012, I wish I had a better local network for this election. We (meaning the RP supporters in my area) would be more effective if we had taken more of a long-term perspective all along.
6) In order to win the nomination, Ron Paul will need to compete in every single state. It's true that a poor showing in the early states could knock him out. But it's also true that a good showing in them won't win him the nomination. If he's a serious competitor in the race after those early states, the establishment will rally against him. They'll unite behind one candidate to beat him, and they'll go all out through the entire primary season to make sure they do. He will need to win Texas, and he will need to be able to take advantage of a foundation you laid there back in the summer of 2011. Don't cut any corners on that. You and other Texans are the very best people to be doing that.

[Jesubub]

Wow, thanks for taking the time. I don't disagree with anything you've said. I know I'm still going to get that helpless itch and look for some way to help the early states, but I won't keep my eye off the local stuff.

Along those lines, I've been brainstorming ways to get locals to contribute to the campaign early. I pulled up the FEC list of local donors and thought I could hit up past Paul donors first. Since we're in Paul's Congressional district, there's a good history of donors to Paul's Congressional campaigns. I'm sure the campaign is already soliciting that list, but perhaps a plea from a local can help. I was also thinking about selling BBQ plates to raise money for local signs.

So, got any local campaigning tips while I have your attention? In 2007-08, we did the usual door-to-door, car slim jim, and signage stuff, but I'm open to any other tactics.

[erowe1]

Wow, thanks for taking the time. I don't disagree with anything you've said. I know I'm still going to get that helpless itch and look for some way to help the early states, but I won't keep my eye off the local stuff.

Along those lines, I've been brainstorming ways to get locals to contribute to the campaign early. I pulled up the FEC list of local donors and thought I could hit up past Paul donors first. Since we're in Paul's Congressional district, there's a good history of donors to Paul's Congressional campaigns. I'm sure the campaign is already soliciting that list, but perhaps a plea from a local can help. I was also thinking about selling BBQ plates to raise money for local signs.

So, got any local campaigning tips while I have your attention? In 2007-08, we did the usual door-to-door, car slim jim, and signage stuff, but I'm open to any other tactics.

When it comes to helping in the early states, one thing I'd suggest is not to do it on your own initiative. Look for things that either the official campaign is coordinating (such as the phone calls to Iowa), or else things that are being led by local Ron Paul supporters in the place you want to help. Make it more of something where you're available to help in ways they want you to help. If you see opportunities to do that, by all means take them if that's what you feel the zeal to do. But if you can't find opportunities like those, don't go out of your way to make a new mission for yourself all from scratch in some distant state.

[Jesubub]

When it comes to helping in the early states, one thing I'd suggest is not to do it on your own initiative. Look for things that either the official campaign is coordinating (such as the phone calls to Iowa), or else things that are being led by local Ron Paul supporters in the place you want to help. Make it more of something where you're available to help in ways they want you to help. If you see opportunities to do that, by all means take them if that's what you feel the zeal to do. But if you can't find opportunities like those, don't go out of your way to make a new mission for yourself all from scratch in some distant state.

My first order of business was to contact Meetup organizers in early states and see what they need or see if there are bigger regional initiatives worth contributing to. I certainly don't want to reinvent the wheel in an area I'm not familiar with. Thanks again for your input!

[svobody]

Be wary of hitting people up for money that have donated in the past. Trust me, the campaign is on this, and I've talked to people that have donated in the past who are turned off by all the solicitation for money this go around. We need new donors, fresh blood. The easiest way to accomplish this is to talk to people, IMO - convert them, then solicit for $