Operation Convert the Baby Boomers: Two Different World's - How do we merge them?

[walt]

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a top digg user. He is Gen Y. I asked him how he thought Ron Paul was doing. He stated without hesitation, "He's winning in a landslide isn't he?"

That is certainly an interesting perspective - it's also based on a small niche of a bigger world - a world we must convert!!!

I later had dinner with a person I used to work for in college who is now in his early 60's, a classic baby boomer. I couldn't help but notice how different they were in their realities. He watches old media primarily. He considers himself a Republican. He stated that it's a choice between Rudy and John McCain based on what he knows now (he hadn't watch a debate). Ironically, he said I'd like one of them to talk about ending this stupid war. I then asked him if he had heard of Ron Paul. He said he had seen some people holding signs - but he had no idea what it was about. When I told him he became upset that the news was hiding this truth. He said he would now do independent research. I told him I'd send him a video or two - A New Hope and Stop Dreaming. He wrote me back this morning and said there is no way he could vote for Rudy after watching those videos and would do more research.

Where am I going with this? We have fully penetrated the Gen Y market. They know who Ron Paul is and now either love or hate him, fortunately there are many more of the former than the latter. The baby boomers I meet frequently have name recognition but have not been converted fully(we've barely scratched the surface really), in my opinion primarily because they've never been fully exposed to the message. Remember these were the anti-war flower children of the 60's that rallied against the Vietnam War. The ground is fertile, but must lead them to the promised land in a much, much different fashion than Gen Y. They do not research information on the Internet the way we do unless asked to by their close inner circle, in fact the person I talked to does not like nor trust Google.

I would like to propose that we as a group declare the rest of November, Convert a Baby Boomer Month, develop a strategy to engage and convert every single one of them across the nation. Our success depends on it.

[Corydoras]

One thing that bears remembering is that the younger boomers were Reaganites-- the liberal press of that day called them the Reagan Youth. They should be easier to convert.

[Mr. White]

I agree with your idea, but we havn't even gotten to some of the board's "Lets associate Paul with a British terrorist because I saw this cool movie once" day.There I said it. Not taking away from your idea, just venting about the other. Sorry.

[nullvalu]

Yep I caught the tail end of Gen X.. Though, the way I see it is Gen X will be the hardest to convert.. It just seems most of the people I talk to who are gung ho about the war are this generation..

I see Gen Y as something like Julia from 1984.. somewhat naive, but knows something is wrong and wants to do something about it but they don't know what. Most are easy converts.

Also hard converts are 50-something's.. People like my parents, christians, who take the MSM as gospel.

[walt]

I agree with your idea, but we havn't even gotten to some of the board's "Lets associate Paul with a British terrorist because I saw this cool movie once" day.There I said it. Not taking away from your idea, just venting about the other. Sorry.

You are wasting you, a precious resource, on something that does not matter. I beg you to divert yourself to our actual purpose - converting the undecided and unopionated people that Ron Paul is their best choice for President.

We need to stop engaging the fools who are entrenched in neo-con ways and divert OUR FULL AND COMPLETE ATTENTION to the masses of the undecided and not of strong opinions. These people you can convert, those you can't. Reagan got elected wihtout the Internet. How? People talked to other people directly. Let us return to our purpose and stop diverting precious resources to non-productive activities amongst the entrenched anti-paulites.

[walt]

Yep I caught the tail end of Gen X.. Though, the way I see it is Gen X will be the hardest to convert.. It just seems most of the people I talk to who are gung ho about the war are this generation..

I see Gen Y as something like Julia from 1984.. somewhat naive, but knows something is wrong and wants to do something about it but they don't know what. Most are easy converts.

Also hard converts are 50-something's.. People like my parents, christians, who take the MSM as gospel.

Yep, if we don't bypass the MSM with this group, we can't win. How will we do this? I know we can if we chose the right course.

[noxagol]

I'm working my parents over, who usually vote straight democratic without really knowing anything. I got my dad to admit two things, 1) That i have made him interested in Ron Paul and 2) That I am the most informed person in politics he has ever talked to.

[nullvalu]

Yep, if we don't bypass the MSM with this group, we can't win. How will we do this? I know we can if we chose the right course.

I like the idea of passing out Ron Paul's statement of faith in church parking lots, but some people had a problem with that.

[LibertyEagle]

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a top digg user. He is Gen Y. I asked him how he thought Ron Paul was doing. He stated without hesitation, "He's winning in a landslide isn't he?"

That is certainly an interesting perspective - it's also based on a small niche of a bigger world - a world we must convert!!!

I later had dinner with a person I used to work for in college who is now in his early 60's, a classic baby boomer. I couldn't help but notice how different they were in their realities. He watches old media primarily. He considers himself a Republican. He stated that it's a choice between Rudy and John McCain based on what he knows now (he hadn't watch a debate). Ironically, he said I'd like one of them to talk about ending this stupid war. I then asked him if he had heard of Ron Paul. He said he had seen some people holding signs - but he had no idea what it was about. When I told him he became upset that the news was hiding this truth. He said he would now do independent research. I told him I'd send him a video or two - A New Hope and Stop Dreaming. He wrote me back this morning and said there is no way he could vote for Rudy after watching those videos and would do more research.

Where am I going with this? We have fully penetrated the Gen Y market. They know who Ron Paul is and now either love or hate him, fortunately there are many more of the former than the latter. The baby boomers I meet frequently have name recognition but have not been converted fully(we've barely scratched the surface really), in my opinion primarily because they've never been fully exposed to the message. Remember these were the anti-war flower children of the 60's that rallied against the Vietnam War. The ground is fertile, but must lead them to the promised land in a much, much different fashion than Gen Y. They do not research information on the Internet the way we do unless asked to by their close inner circle, in fact the person I talked to does not like nor trust Google.

I would like to propose that we as a group declare the rest of November, Convert a Baby Boomer Month, develop a strategy to engage and convert every single one of them across the nation. Our success depends on it.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this is a WONDERFUL idea!!!

[LibertyEagle]

I like the idea of passing out Ron Paul's statement of faith in church parking lots, but some people had a problem with that.

Maybe I missed something, but the only things I saw were requests to either 1. ask the pastor's permission first and offer to come back and clean up any mess or 2. go ahead and do it, but go back immediately after the service to pick up any discards in the parking lot.

[nullvalu]

Maybe I missed something, but the only things I saw were requests to either 1. ask the pastor's permission first and offer to come back and clean up any mess or 2. go ahead and do it, but go back immediately after the service to pick up any discards in the parking lot.

Some people thought it was rude altogether to leave stuff on people's cars.

I like #2 in your list.

[ape]

I'm the youngest guy in my work group (24), everyone else is in their mid to late 50's. I have had no problems converting them to Ron Paul, democrat or republican.. My parents were bushies, they are now gonna vote with me for RP in the primary. You just gotta get in their ear and hit them with facts. Talk about money/economy and how Paul would be great for their pocket books & retirement, talk up Social Security which they all will be collecting eventually etc etc... they seem to care about that stuff the most, even more than the war.

[Brian Bailey]

I'm working my parents over, who usually vote straight democratic without really knowing anything. I got my dad to admit two things, 1) That i have made him interested in Ron Paul and 2) That I am the most informed person in politics he has ever talked to.

#2 is one of our best leverage points, and one that we should make a conscious effort to leverage

[Ninja Homer]

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a top digg user. He is Gen Y. I asked him how he thought Ron Paul was doing. He stated without hesitation, "He's winning in a landslide isn't he?"

That is certainly an interesting perspective - it's also based on a small niche of a bigger world - a world we must convert!!!

I later had dinner with a person I used to work for in college who is now in his early 60's, a classic baby boomer. I couldn't help but notice how different they were in their realities. He watches old media primarily. He considers himself a Republican. He stated that it's a choice between Rudy and John McCain based on what he knows now (he hadn't watch a debate). Ironically, he said I'd like one of them to talk about ending this stupid war. I then asked him if he had heard of Ron Paul. He said he had seen some people holding signs - but he had no idea what it was about. When I told him he became upset that the news was hiding this truth. He said he would now do independent research. I told him I'd send him a video or two - A New Hope and Stop Dreaming. He wrote me back this morning and said there is no way he could vote for Rudy after watching those videos and would do more research.

Where am I going with this? We have fully penetrated the Gen Y market. They know who Ron Paul is and now either love or hate him, fortunately there are many more of the former than the latter. The baby boomers I meet frequently have name recognition but have not been converted fully(we've barely scratched the surface really), in my opinion primarily because they've never been fully exposed to the message. Remember these were the anti-war flower children of the 60's that rallied against the Vietnam War. The ground is fertile, but must lead them to the promised land in a much, much different fashion than Gen Y. They do not research information on the Internet the way we do unless asked to by their close inner circle, in fact the person I talked to does not like nor trust Google.

I would like to propose that we as a group declare the rest of November, Convert a Baby Boomer Month, develop a strategy to engage and convert every single one of them across the nation. Our success depends on it.

Great idea Walt!

I posted about having a "tell your family about Ron Paul week" a while back:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=20954

All the college kids will be home during Thanksgiving week. The best way to convert baby boomers is for their children to tell them about Ron Paul. I really think there needs to be an organized push for this. Give kids the tools they need to convert their parents, and we could see a huge boom of new supporters in a week.

If Ron Paul had the baby boomer vote, the whole election would be over before the first primary. Baby boomers are 25% of the population, with 80% of the wealth. We'd see massive donations, a huge shift in the amount of MSM coverage Ron Paul gets, and his polling numbers would shoot up.

I'll post back in a bit on how to convert baby boomers. Lunch time. :D

[wfd40]

Great idea...

the older set of baby-boomers actually present quite the paradox. Quite ambivalent, but once converted... incredibly passionate.

[ShowMeLiberty]

Great idea Walt!

I posted about having a "tell your family about Ron Paul week" a while back:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=20954

All the college kids will be home during Thanksgiving week. The best way to convert baby boomers is for their children to tell them about Ron Paul. I really think there needs to be an organized push for this. Give kids the tools they need to convert their parents, and we could see a huge boom of new supporters in a week.


Excellent idea! Nothing works so well as hearing about Ron Paul from someone you personally know and trust. I started sending emails to my friends and family a few weeks ago with links to YouTube videos and news articles. It's working!

My mom, a baby boomer and lifelong Democrat is convinced that RP is the only hope for the country. She's been telling everyone she knows about him, she's going to put a bumper sticker on her car, and whatever else she can do. She abandoned Hillary when I pointed out who gets the most contributions from the defense industry (Hillary) and who gets the most from soldiers (RP). :)

My best friend is also a lifelong Dem, but she's a convert now too. Still working on a few others, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. ;)

[Brian4Liberty]

I would like to propose that we as a group declare the rest of November, Convert a Baby Boomer Month, develop a strategy to engage and convert every single one of them across the nation. Our success depends on it.

The Baby Boomers are very big on investing. They have 401(k)s, IRAs, CDs, stocks, mutual funds and money market accounts. They have saved money because most of them don't want to depend on the government. They check their balances and gains and losses almost daily.

Explain to them Ron Paul's monetary positions; how he wants to stop destroying the US dollar and protect our savings. Give them real examples, for instance the loss of 36% of their savings in the last few years due to the dropping dollar.

Savings are destroyed by inflation, and it is the fiscal irresponsibility of our government that will put Baby Boomers right back at square one. Tell them that the money they have saved over their entire lives is being eroded right under their feet. Only Ron Paul understands and is honest about doing something about it.

From Money Magazine (a trusted source to Baby Boomers):

http://biz.yahoo.com/hmoney/071102/110207_revell_moneymag.html


Some related threads here:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=30889
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=30391

[walt]

Great idea Walt!

I posted about having a "tell your family about Ron Paul week" a while back:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=20954

All the college kids will be home during Thanksgiving week. The best way to convert baby boomers is for their children to tell them about Ron Paul. I really think there needs to be an organized push for this. Give kids the tools they need to convert their parents, and we could see a huge boom of new supporters in a week.

If Ron Paul had the baby boomer vote, the whole election would be over before the first primary. Baby boomers are 25% of the population, with 80% of the wealth. We'd see massive donations, a huge shift in the amount of MSM coverage Ron Paul gets, and his polling numbers would shoot up.

I'll post back in a bit on how to convert baby boomers. Lunch time. :D

This should be one anchor events of this month.

[ksuguy]

I agree with your idea, but we havn't even gotten to some of the board's "Lets associate Paul with a British terrorist because I saw this cool movie once" day.There I said it. Not taking away from your idea, just venting about the other. Sorry.

Most Americans don't even know who Guy Fawkes was.

[spivey378]

definately mention the dollar decreasing 36%.

mention all the gains they have made via 401ks being negated by poor policy.


"how long do you want to keep working so we can police the world?"

[Ninja Homer]

Read wikipedia so you know who baby boomers are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer

Baby boomers are either already retired, or nearing retirement. A big thing for them will be social security. They've been paying into social security their whole lives, but that money is gone. The only way they'll be able to get that social security is to bring all the troops home. The only way to do that is to elect Ron Paul.

Baby boomers want to live forever and look good doing it. They purchase about 50% of all the beauty products, alternative health products, vitamins, supplements, etc. The FDA is trying to outlaw many of those products. Ron Paul introduced HR 2117, the Health Freedom Protection Act.

Baby boomers will vote to protect their children. They grew up watching TV, and for the most part, trust the News more than they should. Many of them believe in the whole "war on terror" thing and genuinely believe that we have to continue this war so their children will be safe. One thing that will almost instantly negate that belief is for their children to talk to them about it.

Tell your parents how you feel about the war. Tell them that you feel less safe now because of the war, and how this war is actually creating more terrorists. Tell them about all the God-given rights that have been taken from you as a result of this war. Tell them that you are worried for YOUR children, and what kind of world they will live in. Tell them about Ron Paul's foreign policy, and how it will make the world a safer place.

Last, but not least, ask your parents to donate to Ron Paul for your Christmas present. When you do that, your parents WILL take you seriously about all the things you've told them about Ron Paul. They will look into him more on their own, they'll ask other people about him, they'll tell their friends about him, and they will become supporters.

[Mortikhi]

I've already converted two Baby Boomers, aka the worst generation. My parents.

Now I'm working on two other ME GENERATION p.o.s.' my in-laws

[Taco John]

Everybody needs to be familiar with this material:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/lopez2.html

[Rivington Essex]

In the NY MeetUp group, we have noticed older and older people joining.

We keep asking members to ask their parents to donate. It wakes the parents up and they pay attention. For MeetUp leaders, post that in your e-mail this week.

"Please ask your parents to donate to Ron Paul."

[James R]

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a top digg user. He is Gen Y. I asked him how he thought Ron Paul was doing. He stated without hesitation, "He's winning in a landslide isn't he?"

You have a very good point. My parents are babyboomer neocons and I'm still waiting for that killer video to show them about Ron Paul. RonPaulIsHope does not do it because its too pop-culture. On the other hand the RonPaul.org video is too outdated. If it was made up to date it would be the perfect video for the baby boomer neocon generation.

We need a video that includes the clip of:
1. Most of the military video that is getting rave reviews on YouTube. I have no doubt it would be a strong universal appeal, including to baby boomers.
2. The clip that shows Ron Paul's wife telling him why he should run something like ("People will believe you when you tell them you want to protect their freedoms").
3. Possibly show the clips that show Ron Paul's grandchlildren playing him a song. That will have a very strong impact on Republican baby-boomers. If it weren't Ron Paul I would almost think it was a cheesy spoof of the non-existent American family!
4. Show the Ron Reagan quote (short version), and possibly the clips comparing Ron Reagan to Ron Paul if those are made.

[libertygrl]

In the NY MeetUp group, we have noticed older and older people joining.

We keep asking members to ask their parents to donate. It wakes the parents up and they pay attention. For MeetUp leaders, post that in your e-mail this week.

"Please ask your parents to donate to Ron Paul."

Consider this from Saturday's Part II section of Long Island's Newsday:

Likelier To Vote:

"No other demographic turns out more voters or has a higher voter participation rate than people over 50, according to research from AARP, which notes that exit polling showed voters in that age group cast HALF of the ballots in last November's election.

The 50- and older crowd isn't just pulling the lever for candidates who share their values and political goals. They are also pitching in at campaign headquarters of organizations that support a favorite cause.."

I believe this demographic is important to target, because they are consistent and reliable voters. Not only that, they would make excellent Ron Paul Activists. Especially those that are retired, who have more free time to volunteer, want the socialization, and like us, it makes them feel they are doing something fufilling and worthwhile. Any thoughts?

I believe a big issue with them is Social Security and Health Care.

Any ideas how/where we can reach out to seniors?

[LukeNM]

Gen-X'er here (boomer)! We are not hard to convince. We have watched this country sell out and go down the tubes since the 60's. We have paid a lot of money in taxes going to causes we (I) do not believe in. We have paid into SS, myself for over 50 years, and I have actually maxed-out twice, but they keep raising the maximum. A lot of us have cash, we are looking for a cause and we still believe in this country.

We do not consider ourselves seniors, and many of us will continue to work past our established retirement date. Myself, I have a full time job, plus have a web hosting business and sell products on eBay. I am not looking for a handout and I am not looking forward to retiring, to me, to retire is to die…

Back in the day we scoffed at things being made in Japan, so imagine how we feel about the things that are now being made in China (worse junk). We took pride in American ingenuity and industry, but that is no longer the case.

Many of us have not yet considered or heard about Ron Paul, because of the media blackout and/or negativity, we tend to still believe them since the news used to be an honest business.

The best way to win us over is not to be too pushy.

Case in point: My wife was a FredHead. I had been mentioning Ron Paul, briefly on occasion, just getting his name out there. Then I announced that Ron Paul was going to be on Jay Leno. She said, Oh, I’ll watch it with you (my first thought was, gee, give me a break, didn’t say it, just thought it). Bottom line, she liked him, said she would vote for him for President. I told her he had to win the primaries first. She asked when was that? I told her in June... So some of us need a little direction and gentle coaxing. Don’t ever say, I told you so; leave some reading materials lying around, and comments like this will get you nowhere fast with us Mort “I've already converted two Baby Boomers, aka the worst generation. My parents.” Here I though I have made a contribution, sorry you feel that way.

Some facts to consider: When I was in 8th grade we had to take a Constitution test to graduate and move on to high school (so we know something about the Constitution). I remember when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. I remember the Korean War ending. I remember when Alaska and Hawaii were not states… I vividly remember the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated!

So be respectful, watch your language, and behave yourselves because some of us are in here keeping an eye on you! You will not manipulate us, our thinking and experiences are different from yours, but we can be reasoned with! Once we are committed, we are all in, and we will not back down!

[Eric21ND]

I had lunch yesterday with a friend of mine who is a top digg user. He is Gen Y. I asked him how he thought Ron Paul was doing. He stated without hesitation, "He's winning in a landslide isn't he?"

That is certainly an interesting perspective - it's also based on a small niche of a bigger world - a world we must convert!!!

I later had dinner with a person I used to work for in college who is now in his early 60's, a classic baby boomer. I couldn't help but notice how different they were in their realities. He watches old media primarily. He considers himself a Republican. He stated that it's a choice between Rudy and John McCain based on what he knows now (he hadn't watch a debate). Ironically, he said I'd like one of them to talk about ending this stupid war. I then asked him if he had heard of Ron Paul. He said he had seen some people holding signs - but he had no idea what it was about. When I told him he became upset that the news was hiding this truth. He said he would now do independent research. I told him I'd send him a video or two - A New Hope and Stop Dreaming. He wrote me back this morning and said there is no way he could vote for Rudy after watching those videos and would do more research.

Where am I going with this? We have fully penetrated the Gen Y market. They know who Ron Paul is and now either love or hate him, fortunately there are many more of the former than the latter. The baby boomers I meet frequently have name recognition but have not been converted fully(we've barely scratched the surface really), in my opinion primarily because they've never been fully exposed to the message. Remember these were the anti-war flower children of the 60's that rallied against the Vietnam War. The ground is fertile, but must lead them to the promised land in a much, much different fashion than Gen Y. They do not research information on the Internet the way we do unless asked to by their close inner circle, in fact the person I talked to does not like nor trust Google.

I would like to propose that we as a group declare the rest of November, Convert a Baby Boomer Month, develop a strategy to engage and convert every single one of them across the nation. Our success depends on it.

Walt did you catch the GOP focus group I posted that was playing on C-SPAN2? If that's any idea how the primary will go we're in a lot of trouble. Only 1 out of 12 even heard of Ron Paul and his opinion was negative on him because "he's weak on national security." That was the ONLY mention of Ron Paul in 2.5 hours oh discussion. :eek:

The thing is thought none of the voters had strong feelings towards any candidate so there is still hope, and many were wishing for things that are Ron Paul's bread and butter platform. They just don't know he even exists....

[walt]

Walt did you catch the GOP focus group I posted that was playing on C-SPAN2? If that's any idea how the primary will go we're in a lot of trouble. Only 1 out of 12 even heard of Ron Paul and his opinion was negative on him because "he's weak on national security." That was the ONLY mention of Ron Paul in 2.5 hours oh discussion. :eek:

The thing is thought none of the voters had strong feelings towards any candidate so there is still hope, and many were wishing for things that are Ron Paul's bread and butter platform. They just don't know he even exists....


It's not trouble, it's opportunity quantified, it's where we must move the troops - outside their comfort zone, with no supplies - suck it up and tough it out, it's a revolution...

[Brian4Liberty]

I've already converted two Baby Boomers, aka the worst generation. My parents.
Now I'm working on two other ME GENERATION p.o.s.' my in-laws

Hey there, that's a great way to convince boomers... :rolleyes:

And what would we call people that appear to hate the previous generations? The "Hater" generation?

[Energy]

For the ones who don't have internet.... hand-picked to stay as neutral as possible:

Ron Paul DVD's at http://ronpauldvd.com

[LibertyEagle]

Gen-X'er here (boomer)! We are not hard to convince. We have watched this country sell out and go down the tubes since the 60's. We have paid a lot of money in taxes going to causes we (I) do not believe in. We have paid into SS, myself for over 50 years, and I have actually maxed-out twice, but they keep raising the maximum. A lot of us have cash, we are looking for a cause and we still believe in this country.

We do not consider ourselves seniors, and many of us will continue to work past our established retirement date. Myself, I have a full time job, plus have a web hosting business and sell products on eBay. I am not looking for a handout and I am not looking forward to retiring, to me, to retire is to die…

Back in the day we scoffed at things being made in Japan, so imagine how we feel about the things that are now being made in China (worse junk). We took pride in American ingenuity and industry, but that is no longer the case.

Many of us have not yet considered or heard about Ron Paul, because of the media blackout and/or negativity, we tend to still believe them since the news used to be an honest business.

The best way to win us over is not to be too pushy.

Case in point: My wife was a FredHead. I had been mentioning Ron Paul, briefly on occasion, just getting his name out there. Then I announced that Ron Paul was going to be on Jay Leno. She said, Oh, I’ll watch it with you (my first thought was, gee, give me a break, didn’t say it, just thought it). Bottom line, she liked him, said she would vote for him for President. I told her he had to win the primaries first. She asked when was that? I told her in June... So some of us need a little direction and gentle coaxing. Don’t ever say, I told you so; leave some reading materials lying around, and comments like this will get you nowhere fast with us Mort “I've already converted two Baby Boomers, aka the worst generation. My parents.” Here I though I have made a contribution, sorry you feel that way.

Some facts to consider: When I was in 8th grade we had to take a Constitution test to graduate and move on to high school (so we know something about the Constitution). I remember when Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. I remember the Korean War ending. I remember when Alaska and Hawaii were not states… I vividly remember the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated!

So be respectful, watch your language, and behave yourselves because some of us are in here keeping an eye on you! You will not manipulate us, our thinking and experiences are different from yours, but we can be reasoned with! Once we are committed, we are all in, and we will not back down!

Thank you for saying that Luke. I am also a baby boomer. I think sometimes, some of the younger folks have a hard time understanding that some of us have been fighting what has been going on in our government, longer than they have been alive.

It does no more good to pit generations against each other, than it does races. We somehow must come together to try to get our country back.

Welcome to the forums. :)

[LibertyEagle]

I've already converted two Baby Boomers, aka the worst generation. My parents.

Now I'm working on two other ME GENERATION p.o.s.' my in-laws

Look Mortikhi, this is not a winning strategy towards bringing middle-aged and older Americans into this campaign. You know, the MAJORITY of Americans! Plus, the ones who have the money to make contributions! Not to mention the fact, the ones who are members of the Republican Party. :rolleyes:

I've seen a lot of insults on this board towards the baby boomer generation. Those of you who are doing this need to cut it out. Do you understand there are a lot of lurkers on this board? Do you honestly think that insulting someone is the way to get them to join this campaign? If you do, please think again! When you do this, it is no better than those who divide people based on race or religion. It's just another means to keep us divided and unfocused on our goal.

If we're going to win this thing, we're going to have to increase our ranks by one heck of a lot. Please stop insulting people.

[lastnymleft]

I think there are two angles that might work well with middle-aged, and older generations:

(1) Self-interest - This is probably best aimed at the middle-aged bracket. Getting rid of the IRS will really benefit them. I can't believe so little is made of this. It's almost like a throwaway line. How much did your parents (etc) pay in income taxes last year? Suggest they wouldn't have to. What could they do with that money otherwise? Pay off the credit cards and house mortgage? Go on a holiday? When they ask how he can do that, and suggest he'll just raise taxes elsewhere, point out his track record of NEVER having voted for a tax increase, and say that the money will come from winding back empire (~150 bases around the world), and by creating a much smaller, less bureaucratic government. Make the point about social security being UNFUNDED to the tune of about $40TRILLION! (Well, funded with IOUs from other parts of Treasury that borrow from overseas by selling Treasury Bonds) That means that if things carry on, as is, with regular, cookie-cutter candidates, like Clinton, then they won't get the benefits they hope to.

(2) Guilt - This will probably be most effective on the older generation - those that are most worried about the legacy that they will leave behind when they die, and that *say* that they care about their children and grandchildren. It needs to be pointed out that the US economy is in an absolute MESS. That the country is BANKRUPT, and living off the kindness of strangers (ie Chinese, and Japanese), and that that may end at any point that those foreign governments decide, collapsing the whole economy. Show them that you are passionate about the issues, and care, and are genuinely worried about your future. Then hit them with the doozy: (depending on how old *you* are) it's *their* fault, for having let the politicians to date stuff it up like it is. They are responsible for the current situation, and how it affects you. If they really cared about *you*, and what happens to you and your own children, they need to snap out of it, and start listening to you: they need to look into, and seriously consider, this straightforward, honest guy by the name of Dr Ron Paul, because you honestly believe that he is the only one that can correct the situation. Let them know that if they vote for anyone other than Dr Paul, they will be making the situation WORSE for you and yours. Tell them that they are forever preaching about trying to make the world better for their kids, but that all they do is talk. Enough of the talk! NOW is the time for them to act on their alleged-concerns. If Ron Paul doesn't get in, and your parents/grandparents voted against him, then they are effectively sentencing you to a increasing hardship and tyranny.

I'm not talking emotional-blackmail here in the sense of "If you love me, you'll do it (without due cause)". I'm talking about them being convinced to at least look into and consider the guy, because it means so much to you, and you don't want to live in a country that is ruled by the likes of authoritarians, and tyrant-wannabes like Guiliani, and you don't want your own kids to do so, either. Because you are genuinely scared for your future. Enough with the talk, grandma/grandpa! If you really care, act!!

[walt]

stop dreaming and a new hope need to be on the list due to the older background music

[libertygrl]

Walt did you catch the GOP focus group I posted that was playing on C-SPAN2? If that's any idea how the primary will go we're in a lot of trouble. Only 1 out of 12 even heard of Ron Paul and his opinion was negative on him because "he's weak on national security." That was the ONLY mention of Ron Paul in 2.5 hours oh discussion. :eek:

The thing is thought none of the voters had strong feelings towards any candidate so there is still hope, and many were wishing for things that are Ron Paul's bread and butter platform. They just don't know he even exists....

YES! I saw that as well! How pathetic was that?? Sad how they are going to use the responses from those people to manipulate the masses even more! But my thinking was exactly like yours - they may not have heard of Ron Paul, but they are still open to other possibilities.

Wasn't this focus group from Virginia? Ron Paul supporters need to spread the word out there!

[libertygrl]

Look Mortikhi, this is not a winning strategy towards bringing middle-aged and older Americans into this campaign. You know, the MAJORITY of Americans! Plus, the ones who have the money to make contributions! Not to mention the fact, the ones who are members of the Republican Party. :rolleyes:

I've seen a lot of insults on this board towards the baby boomer generation. Those of you who are doing this need to cut it out. Do you understand there are a lot of lurkers on this board? Do you honestly think that insulting someone is the way to get them to join this campaign? If you do, please think again! When you do this, it is no better than those who divide people based on race or religion. It's just another means to keep us divided and unfocused on our goal.

If we're going to win this thing, we're going to have to increase our ranks by one heck of a lot. Please stop insulting people.

Amen to that!

[pacelli]

bump. Relevant now more than ever.