Where do we stand with Newspaper Adverts in early-primary states?

[D.A.S.]

I would like to gauge where we stand on Ron Paul advertisements in local newspapers of early primary states. I think the constituency that we desperately need to reach, the 50+ crowd, still read their hard-copy newspapers -- at the very least the Sunday papers which come with a lot of coupons and flyers.

Understandably, there has been a lot of emphasis on TV ads, but the newspapers must not be ignored. If the campaign had to choose, I'd suggest focusing on Sunday papers and running ads there over several weeks.

The primary purpose for those ads should be to dispel the myth that Ron Paul is unelectable, as I believe that is primary obstacle even with those who otherwise agree with Ron Paul on most of his ideas but believe their vote would be wasted. So, we have a bunch of good polls against Obama we could flaunt, both state polls and national polls, and we should also remind folks that a few polls have us in 3rd nationally. Something like, "Why does the media Black Out Ron Paul? Is it because he is the one who can actually beat Obama in 2012?"

I'm thinking such newspapers as Des Moines Register (IA), Union Leader (NH), the State (SC). But also smaller regional newspapers would be a good thing to tap into because folks who like their local newspapers would be pleased to see a candidate who views their local papers as important enough to advertise in.

Does anyone have an idea what the advertisement rates are for full-page ads in the papers like I listed above?

Has the Campaign been investing in this strategy or planning to do so? I would love to know where we stand, as this isn't something we should ignore.

[parocks]

This might be something that the official campaign is in charge of.

[sailingaway]

It would have been only $900 to put a full page insert ad into the Ames paper, that is what RevPac paid. Dusman made a fantastic ad that someone picked up and Tarzan paid a licensing fee for some number of images -- but it was something like $40 for the fee, anyhow, so definitely doable. For that matter we had a whole string of ads suggested that are ready to go, some need stock payments like dusman's. Dusman's was based on second quarter donation money though so we would either have to go with it FAST before the new numbers come out on the 15th, or wait and recalculate the numbers.

[sailingaway]

here is dusman's ad but we have a whole thread of suggestions.

http://americanfreepress.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/us-military-loves-ron-paul.jpg

As for the campaign, they were planning TV print (I think) and direct mail over the next 30 days -- or 20, I guess we're already 10 days into that period. But I have no detail beyond that email the campaign sent out for the end of quarter push.

[king_nothing_]

The military donations are a great idea for an ad, but the graph itself on that one is just weird. A circular bar graph...? When people see a circular graph they think pie graph. That graph is counterintuitive.

[D.A.S.]

I'd very much favor running dusman's ad ASAP, although I have my doubts about that pie chart (I think most people won't be able to decipher it at first glance).

Bottom line - we've had a taste of the TV media's response to us - I believe going directly to local papers is a strong, strong approach in the early states, and now is the time, especially the primaries getting moved up. If we must choose because of the money we can raise for this, I think IA and SC would be excellent constituencies for this ad.

If over $2,000 were collected to get the Ron Paul plane to fly, I'm sure there will be even more support for this sort of an undertaking...

[D.A.S.]

The military donations are a great idea for an add, but the graph itself on that one is just weird. A circular bar graph...? When people see a circular graph they think pie graph. That graph is counterintuitive.

Yea, I've said the same thing since the first time I saw this ad... I'm an engineer, and I have a problem with this graph. It just isn't the best presentation of the numbers.

But the graph is an EASY fix... The rest of the ad is brilliant!

[pauliticalfan]

Yes, we need to run the military ad for sure.

[IDefendThePlatform]

I think running some grassroots ads in local Iowa and New Hampshire newspapers is a great idea.

As far as content, this is my personal favorite pie chart graphic just because its so overwhelming looking:
http://i.imgur.com/2ughJl.png (http://imgur.com/2ughJ)

[roversaurus]

I second, third and forth this.
Lots of people read the newspaper.
I think more than read direct mail.
Doesn't everyone just throw away mail from politicians?

[roversaurus]

I think running some grassroots ads in local Iowa and New Hampshire newspapers is a great idea.

As far as content, this is my personal favorite pie chart graphic just because its so overwhelming looking:
http://i.imgur.com/2ughJl.png (http://imgur.com/2ughJ)

Yes, this is a better graph and I don't think we need to include Obama, we're running against the other Republicans right now.
However, the circular graph is more eye catching, if more confusing.

[bluesc]

How about Iowa State Daily? (http://iowastatedaily.com/)

Some info from a writer for them posted in another thread here:


For the record, the Iowa State Daily has the readership of Iowa State University, which has an attendance of approximately 30,000 students. On top of that is the thousands of employees (administrators, professors, grounds keepers, janitors, etc), many of whom also read the paper. The ISU Daily also has a subscription service that serves oodles more people with print copies all across the state and nation. Furthermore, the ISU Daily is on racks all across the city of Ames, where Iowa State University is located. God knows how many residents of our host town read the paper. Our readership very well could be 50,000 people in print, and as pointed out, gazillions online now, haha.

In short, the Daily reaches far, far more readers than the average small town paper. Furthermore, it services a predominately young demographic who appear to be very receptive to libertarian philosophy. I'm not saying the Iowa State Daily is important (that's for you to judge). I'm only saying that it's not exactly unimportant.

I'm not even sure if they run ads, but if the caucus date is set to a date while college is out of session, it may be a good way to remind them to register to vote. Can't imagine it would be that expensive either. Btw, they are writing an excellent series of articles on Ron. First part here. (http://iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_010be5ec-eadb-11e0-a7a2-001cc4c03286.html)

[D.A.S.]

I think running some grassroots ads in local Iowa and New Hampshire newspapers is a great idea.

As far as content, this is my personal favorite pie chart graphic just because its so overwhelming looking:
http://i.imgur.com/2ughJl.png (http://imgur.com/2ughJ)

Indeed, indeed - this graph is MUCH easier to interpret! And Obama could probably be included in this pie graph as well, for effectiveness.

I really think we should be making this happen. Newspapers really cannot be overlooked at this point.

[D.A.S.]

Here's the graph with Obama in it, which I like even better for a newspaper:

http://www.ronpaul.com/images/ronpaul-military2.gif

[D.A.S.]

bump

[sailingaway]

Does Ron need to be purple? Sorry, I just don't like that color of purple. I really appreciate that we have people who can do all this stuff.

[D.A.S.]

Preview:
http://i.imgur.com/NNG1al.jpg

Original size here:
http://i.imgur.com/NNG1a.jpg

This is my version of the Pie Chart of Ron's active military donations for Q2 2011.

Perhaps dusman could include this one in his ad graphic. I made this a very high-res image JPEG (over 1.2 MB) so that the fonts and lines are smooth - whoever works with this image can always scale it down as needed.

Anything I need to change or adjust? Any suggestions welcome.

[mit26chell]

The military donations are a great idea for an ad, but the graph itself on that one is just weird. A circular bar graph...? When people see a circular graph they think pie graph. That graph is counterintuitive.

I think maybe it's supposed to be military themed - like a radar or something?

I could be wrong. It does seem a bit odd, but it serves its purpose.

[roversaurus]

Don't include Obama in the pie chart. We're running against the republicans. There is no need to confuse the issue. Don't make the reader think "Why does Obama have more than the republicans? That just gives republicans another reason to link Ron Paul with Obama/democrat/non republican. AND we are not running against Obama until next november.

[pauliticalfan]

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6469/piechart1.jpg

I just created this version of the graph. Does anyone know exactly what font is being used in the ad? I'd like to match it up with that. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Also, we should get the ball rolling on running this ad in Iowa papers ASAP.

[Maximus]

Don't include Obama in the pie chart. We're running against the republicans. There is no need to confuse the issue. Don't make the reader think "Why does Obama have more than the republicans? That just gives republicans another reason to link Ron Paul with Obama/democrat/non republican. AND we are not running against Obama until next november.

This. When Ron Paul has like 75% of the chart it just looks dominant.

[D.A.S.]

This. When Ron Paul has like 75% of the chart it just looks dominant.

I disagree wholeheartedly. The fact that Ron Paul takes in more donations that Obama, the current Commander-in-Chief, says a lot, if not more than the comparison to other Republican candidates. I definitely think Obama needs to be included. And by drawing Ron Paul - Obama comparisons, we get it into people's minds that Ron would take on Obama.

[D.A.S.]

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6469/piechart1.jpg

I just created this version of the graph. Does anyone know exactly what font is being used in the ad? I'd like to match it up with that. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Also, we should get the ball rolling on running this ad in Iowa papers ASAP.

That graph is spiffy, but we're dealing with an ad on the black background, which is why I picked a brighter color theme in my graph. The black pie slice will get lost, and it will be tough to tell the difference between the navy blue and the burgundy when you're scanning the ad. I think the colors need to be bright to jump out at people on FIRST GLANCE.

[pauliticalfan]

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1370/workbook3chart1.jpg

[D.A.S.]

Thanks!

I just did a quick-and-dirty overlay of the pie charts suggested by me and pauliticalfan onto dusman's original ad, and here is what we get:

1. My version:
http://i.imgur.com/gsvZw.jpg

2. pauliticalfan's version:
http://i.imgur.com/GRufN.jpg

I think I like #2 (pauliticalfan) better for its color scheme and pie arrangement, BUT we need the font sizes boosted on pauliticalfan's pie chart! Just for reference, on my own pie chart (#1) I used 40pt font for Ron Paul and 32 pt for others (before the image was scaled down).

For the overlay process, I simply airbrushed the previous graphic out and also took out the little blue dot in front of legend caption, since it will no longer be needed with different colors used.

[McDermit]

I think maybe it's supposed to be military themed - like a radar or something?

I could be wrong. It does seem a bit odd, but it serves its purpose.Yeah, it looks like a radar target.

I think anyone who is taking the time to look at the ad will look long enough to read the labels and figure it out. At first glance, it may confuse a couple folks.. but did it take anyone here more than a second glance to figure it out? It seems pretty clear to me.

If it is going to be reworked, the person who originally created the ad should be the one to do it, as none of the renderings in this thread fit the theme of the ad and would look like an afterthought. Let dusman handle the design elements.

[D.A.S.]

If it is going to be reworked, the person who originally created the ad should be the one to do it, as none of the renderings in this thread fit the theme of the ad and would look like an afterthought. Let dusman handle the design elements.

Of course -- all I'm doing is throwing some things out there and getting the ball rolling on that. My graphics are simple and crude, and I am only using them to convey my recommendations to the graphic designer.

While the original graphic of the radar was great in terms of design, a few of us did find it confusing and a bit difficult to understand/read quickly. I very strongly recommend going with the standard pie chart suggested above, so the message is simple, quick, and effective.

[Eric21ND]

We need to run Ron Paul's statement of faith in ever county Mike Huckabee won in Iowa and soon!

We could try to run a veterans add showing Ron's support by veterans on Veterans day.

[McDermit]

Looks like $5k for a full page ad in the Union Leader.

The Weirs Times (weekly? 32-55k distribution? this is in NH) is around $900 for a full page.

[Tarzan]

Trying to target different papers across several states and towns can be challenging... and expensive. What I would love for us to do is use this ad and create an insert to be used in periodicals aimed at military personnel. This could include Stars & Stripes and The Military times. I think it would be a much more "doable" project for the grassroots rather than placing ads with varying specs in numerous papers.

As an insert we could include additional information such as RPs stance on foreign policy while maintaining a strong national defense. The next planned money bomb is Veterans Day... November 11th and that seems like a perfect target. Get the military folks on our side and encourage them to give more. As an insert it would also last longer than a single edition of a paper... which is often discarded. As an insert it would be more likely it would be kept, and even passed on to others.

But, lead times on ad placement can be some time out. Reservation for insert space tends to have a shorter turn around... but, the point is that time is growing short to target a Veterans Day release. We would need to get the money together, check placement deadlines, and get final copy in place and printed.



Stars & Stripes (http://www.stripes.com/customer-service/contact-us/advertise-with-us)
Military Times (http://militarytimes.com/advertise/)

[D.A.S.]

We need to run Ron Paul's statement of faith in ever county Mike Huckabee won in Iowa and soon!

We could try to run a veterans add showing Ron's support by veterans on Veterans day.

Agreed 100%. I think both religion and troops would be good for Iowa...


Looks like $5k for a full page ad in the Union Leader.

The Weirs Times (weekly? 32-55k distribution? this is in NH) is around $900 for a full page.

Thank you for those numbers. I think we need to target newspapers with the greater reach into the heartland, away from large cities. I think folks in the cities are more likely to get their news on the internet, and we can probably reach them in other ways, but the folks who are really spread out is where newspaper circulation will be big help for us. On those larger newspapers like the Union Leader, we probably don't need the FULL page to save money and instead opt for more runs of the paper. Smaller papers will be more affordable, but then again maybe a full-page ad isn't necessary to get more circulation runs in for the same money.

Any thoughts?

[dusman]

Subscribing to this thread.

I was waiting on the Q3 numbers to come out as they will probably be even better than Q2. I intended to change the graph to a pie chart, as that seems like a change everyone is in agreement on. We already have the rights to the image and it won't take but an hour or so to update the graphic to be print ready.

What should happen is have a handful of you guys get into the FEC numbers and do independent overviews.. until we narrow down to a very accurate number. We don't want to release bad numbers and give anyone ammo to counter with.

[D.A.S.]

Trying to target different papers across several states and towns can be challenging... and expensive. What I would love for us to do is use this ad and create an insert to be used in periodicals aimed at military personnel. This could include Stars & Stripes and The Military times. I think it would be a much more "doable" project for the grassroots rather than placing ads with varying specs in numerous papers.

As an insert we could include additional information such as RPs stance on foreign policy while maintaining a strong national defense. The next planned money bomb is Veterans Day... November 11th and that seems like a perfect target. Get the military folks on our side and encourage them to give more. As an insert it would also last longer than a single edition of a paper... which is often discarded. As an insert it would be more likely it would be kept, and even passed on to others.

But, lead times on ad placement can be some time out. Reservation for insert space tends to have a shorter turn around... but, the point is that time is growing short to target a Veterans Day release. We would need to get the money together, check placement deadlines, and get final copy in place and printed.

Stars & Stripes (http://www.stripes.com/customer-service/contact-us/advertise-with-us)
Military Times (http://militarytimes.com/advertise/)

Those are great suggestions about the military-aimed periodicals. I'll be curious about their circulation numbers.

The reason for local newspapers idea is to target early-primary states ONLY and particularly since the sentiment for supporting our troops reaches far and wide in the heartland, way beyond the actual military families. You're right, it would be an intensive project to identify the newspapers and to raise money for the effort, but it could be worth a shot, especially if we focus on LOCAL newspapers, rather than things like Des Moines Register and NH Union Leader... I could be wrong, but that's what my gut is telling me right now.

[orenbus]

Today is the sign bomb! Time to wake America up!

At today's sign bomb spread the word about Black This Out!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwCsrWxSozQ

[D.A.S.]

Subscribing to this thread.

I was waiting on the Q3 numbers to come out as they will probably be even better than Q2. I intended to change the graph to a pie chart, as that seems like a change everyone is in agreement on. We already have the rights to the image and it won't take but an hour or so to update the graphic to be print ready.

What should happen is have a handful of you guys get into the FEC numbers and do independent overviews.. until we narrow down to a very accurate number. We don't want to release bad numbers and give anyone ammo to counter with.

I'm not really sure how this data on military donations was collected from FEC... Would love to know more about that.

[dusman]

Another suggestion would be to get in contact with your military posts Family Readiness Groups (FRGs). Every Army post has dozens of them, made up of the civilian spouses of the soldiers. These groups are THE MOST influential groups to the soldiers, as typically they are headed by the spouses of the unit commanders. Having had my (ex) wife co-running ours.. you better believe I used that to my advantage. I can't tell you how many times the commanders were initially put off on ideas.. until their wives, whom were FRG Leaders, come home to push the idea. Before you knew it, the commander was on board and the whole unit would have mandatory involvement in whatever it was.

I'm not sure exactly how you would go about targeting them or if you could in fact get any kind of sponsorship of events. However, I can say that if the spouses saw the donation numbers, you could inspire an emotional attachment from those groups and get whole units influenced.

How I would go about it is approach these groups not necessarily from a Ron Paul position (not directly anyways), but instead have the FRG coordinate an event that is based on understanding the Constitution and the importance of the oath, what it means, etc. Then, what better way to express those concerns and issues, than with Ron Paul materials.. including ads like the one I created.

Just a thought.

[Tarzan]

Those are great suggestions about the military-aimed periodicals. I'll be curious about their circulation numbers.

The demographics, rates and specs can be found in these links:

Stars & Stripes (http://www.stripes.com/customer-service/contact-us/advertise-with-us)
Military Times (http://militarytimes.com/advertise/)


the military folks also have steady jobs and get paid relatively well (better than when I was in)... they also vote and would be a good target for donations... and, they are the group most directly affected by withdrawing from conflicts (war)... if we can get their support we might also get them to convince their families in the US

[dusman]

I'm not really sure how this data on military donations was collected from FEC... Would love to know more about that.

Initially, we had members here scrutinize through the public FEC records and run a tally of total donations. We finally got sources to corroborate the numbers, such as Politifact.com and a few others. Perhaps once we get really good numbers, we Drudge it and send it to Politifact and as soon as we get a source.. we put it in my ad.

[dusman]

The demographics, rates and specs can be found in these links:

Stars & Stripes (http://www.stripes.com/customer-service/contact-us/advertise-with-us)
Military Times (http://militarytimes.com/advertise/)

Yes, these are absolutely the best ones to get in. I used to read Stars & Stripes while deployed and often times it was one of the few publications I really had access to. A lot of our soldiers overseas don't have access to Mainstream sources... hence why I was so shocked to find out that Americans weren't as excited about Ron Paul as I was, when I found him on Youtube. I didn't have any moronic MSM babbling their counter non-sense in my ear.

Amazing how different the perspective truly is when they don't have a grasp.

[Tarzan]

Yes, these are absolutely the best ones to get in. I used to read Stars & Stripes while deployed and often times it was one of the few publications I really had access to. A lot of our soldiers overseas don't have access to Mainstream sources... hence why I was so shocked to find out that Americans weren't as excited about Ron Paul as I was, when I found him on Youtube. I didn't have any moronic MSM babbling their counter non-sense in my ear.

Amazing how different the perspective truly is when they don't have a grasp.

Personally, if we were able to do only one, I would go with S&S. I read it and it was much more widely available in my experience. Plus, they accept inserts... but reservations must be made 21 days in advance.


Stars & Stripes Rates and Demographics (http://stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.128115!/menu/standard/file/2011_Rates_General_LR.PDF)
Full page, full run (Europe, Pacific & Med East) color ad would cost $15,146.00

Insert rate for 2 page insert (10x14" max folded size) in the full run $60 per M (100,000+ total distribution)
Insert Printing example: 8½x11", 4/4, 80# text gloss:
10M: $1,189.50 + shipping
100M: $9,232.00 + shipping
Prices from Print Place (http://www.printplace.com/printing/brochure-printing.aspx)
(we have used these people for years with great results)
Inserts would cost about $15,232.00 + shipping for distribution to 100,000

Purchase of Image Rights would be about $500


A note on distribution... S&S claims they reach about 430,000 readers. Most periodical claim the same sort of reach beyond what they actually print. Most of the claims are bull... but, I have actually witnessed S&S being passed around and read in various locations by additional readers. I tend to think that number is probably actually correct or, at least, certainly in the ballpark.

[McDermit]

For variety's sake, a half page, full run, full color ad in S&S would be $9442.

[D.A.S.]

Personally, if we were able to do only one, I would go with S&S. I read it and it was much more widely available in my experience. Plus, they accept inserts... but reservations must be made 21 days in advance.


Stars & Stripes Rates and Demographics (http://stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.128115!/menu/standard/file/2011_Rates_General_LR.PDF)
Full page, full run (Europe, Pacific & Med East) color ad would cost $15,146.00

Insert rate for 2 page insert (10x14" max folded size) in the full run $60 per M (100,000+ total distribution)
Insert Printing example: 8½x11", 4/4, 80# text gloss:
10M: $1,189.50 + shipping
100M: $9,232.00 + shipping
Prices from Print Place (http://www.printplace.com/printing/brochure-printing.aspx)
(we have used these people for years with great results)
Inserts would cost about $15,232.00 + shipping for distribution to 100,000

Purchase of Image Rights would be about $500


A note on distribution... S&S claims they reach about 430,000 readers. Most periodical claim the same sort of reach beyond what they actually print. Most of the claims are bull... but, I have actually witnessed S&S being passed around and read in various locations by additional readers. I tend to think that number is probably actually correct or, at least, certainly in the ballpark.


For variety's sake, a half page, full run, full color ad in S&S would be $9442.

Would we be able to raise this sort of cash here through chip-ins, or would this be something we could convince the RevPAC to get involved with?

[Eric21ND]

Evangelicals are the key electorate to win Iowa. Without them we can't win. They are searching for a conservative to back, let's promote Ron Paul to them by putting Ron Paul's Statement of Faith in every county newspaper on sunday. Every county that Huckabee won in 2008.

[D.A.S.]

Evangelicals are the key electorate to win Iowa. Without them we can't win. They are searching for a conservative to back, let's promote Ron Paul to them by putting Ron Paul's Statement of Faith in every county newspaper on sunday. Every county that Huckabee won in 2008.

I do think this is a great idea.

[Tarzan]

Would we be able to raise this sort of cash here through chip-ins, or would this be something we could convince the RevPAC to get involved with?

Dunno? There is no telling. On one project over $2,000 was raised rather quickly for a sky sign plane in Florida. This is a lot more and it is difficult to say. With a finished ad/insert it would be easier. I am not holding my breath waiting for RPAC... nothing seems to be happening on that front. Plus, this was proposed to them over a month ago and there has been no action on this or any other projects requiring funds. In fairness, they have raised very little money.

By going after local papers you would certainly have more time to raise money. But, it also becomes more complicated as to how the money can be raised. Contributors would have to give in good faith because supporters cannot collude on a grassroots project. Basically, you can't get more than one person together and give funds that would help a candidate. Doing a chip-in for this type of project would be in clear violation of the rules. So, donations would have to be made to one individual with no (expectation of anything, wink) or by purchasing a product 9say, an electronic pamphlet) from a corporation.

Right now everyone is saving their nickles for BTO... my guess as to your question would be NO.

To get this done in time for the Veterans Day money bomb and targeting the military we will, once again, be a day late and a dollar short. :(

[D.A.S.]

Dunno? There is no telling. On one project over $2,000 was raised rather quickly for a sky sign plane in Florida. This is a lot more and it is difficult to say. With a finished ad/insert it would be easier. I am not holding my breath waiting for RPAC... nothing seems to be happening on that front. Plus, this was proposed to them over a month ago and there has been no action on this or any other projects requiring funds. In fairness, they have raised very little money.

By going after local papers you would certainly have more time to raise money. But, it also becomes more complicated as to how the money can be raised. Contributors would have to give in good faith because supporters cannot collude on a grassroots project. Basically, you can't get more than one person together and give funds that would help a candidate. Doing a chip-in for this type of project would be in clear violation of the rules. So, donations would have to be made to one individual with no (expectation of anything, wink) or by purchasing a product 9say, an electronic pamphlet) from a corporation.

Right now everyone is saving their nickles for BTO... my guess as to your question would be NO.

To get this done in time for the Veterans Day money bomb and targeting the military we will, once again, be a day late and a dollar short. :(

Are the rules that we'd have to set up a PAC for collecting money to do something like this?

I wish we could communicate with the campaign to do something like this or at least RevPAC. They've been working on a couple videos, while I think actual paper-and-ink media should be the target of their efforts in the early states like IA, NH, NV, and SC, to raise voter awareness for Ron Paul's platform, "electability", and record.

If I had money, I'd happily spend my own to run a couple of print ads for Ron Paul in IA and NH, but alas I got nothin' to invest in this at this point. Still, I think it is important. So I will try to map out a few newspapers in early states by circulation and see if there will be some interest in a concrete strategy when it's put on the table - so far we're speaking in abstract terms.

At the very very least, if there is no interest in doing what I propose, and if RevPAC and the Campaign won't deal with this adequately, writing letters to the editors of local newspapers in IA, NH, and SC could prove a sneaky and affordable tactic to raise awareness of Ron Paul there. This works best in smaller newspapers, I think.

[orenbus]

Are the rules that we'd have to set up a PAC for collecting money to do something like this?

I wish we could communicate with the campaign to do something like this or at least RevPAC. They've been working on a couple videos, while I think actual paper-and-ink media should be the target of their efforts in the early states like IA, NH, NV, and SC, to raise voter awareness for Ron Paul's platform, "electability", and record.

If I had money, I'd happily spend my own to run a couple of print ads for Ron Paul in IA and NH, but alas I got nothin' to invest in this at this point. Still, I think it is important. So I will try to map out a few newspapers in early states by circulation and see if there will be some interest in a concrete strategy when it's put on the table - so far we're speaking in abstract terms.

At the very very least, if there is no interest in doing what I propose, and if RevPAC and the Campaign won't deal with this adequately, writing letters to the editors of local newspapers in IA, NH, and SC could prove a sneaky and affordable tactic to raise awareness of Ron Paul there. This works best in smaller newspapers, I think.

Yea you are right from what I've seen RevPac has been primarily focused on video ads but are they actually being run in early primary states or are they having trouble getting the funding to air the ads? If they are having problems getting money to fund the ads then they should move down to "paper-and-ink media" as you point out, we have internet videos covered. That was never really a problem in the 2008 campaign (having enough internet based videos), the biggest problem was circumventing the media and doing voter out reach directly to critical voters in early primary states. Hmm sounds familiar.

I would especially be interested in hearing what some of the members of the Advisory Board would have to say, specifically Lawrence Lepard since he already has experience funding newspaper ads organized from grassroots here on this forum from 2007. I wonder if he thinks it is a valuable use of money to do ads in papers or if our focus should be something else that can be done in early primary states that the official campaign isn't or won't be covering.

edit: looks like they are also did Billboards in Iowa but targeted specifically for the Straw Poll
http://www.revolutionpac.com/actions/

[roversaurus]

Iowa and New Hampshire should be the focus of newspaper ads. Unless we've got a ton of money, then Stars and Stripes would be great. Especially for South Carolina.

I think we should have 3 ads.
1> A faith based ad
2> This military ad
3> and an economic one. As crude as this picture is I think it alone makes an awesome ad:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?320964-LA-Times-Ron-Paul-s-chump-change

[orenbus]

As far as the legality of the chip-ins this was never considered an issue in 2007, we didn't care!

There were plenty of projects that went into the thousands of dollars and from my understanding nothing ever happened to the organizers of any of those chipins. Of course not many went past say $5,000 so a $10,000 project may raise some eye brows from the FEC if they ever decided to see what we were doing on the forums which isn't likely. I think they are more focused in making sure the official campaigns books are straight as opposed to going after individuals not directly associated with the campaign or not having a PAC.

For larger projects going into tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands obviously it would make sense to have some protection of the individual organizer of whatever project taking in the money, but a newspaper ad, I don't know. I think it's more important that if anyone decides to do this those that donate make sure the guy/gal taking in the money has been vetted by the forum or grassroots community.

[D.A.S.]

Just to underscore the importance of newspapers in Iowa, here are some figures (from Iowa Newspapers Association):


• 86% of Iowans read newspapers

• Iowa newspapers average 2 readers per copy

• 51% of Iowans turn to their newspaper first for shopping information (compared to 18% for Internet, 3% for TV and 1% for radio)

• 42% of Iowans turn to their newspaper first for product cost information, versus 32% turning to the internet, 2% turning to television and less than 1% turning to radio

• 43% of Iowans rely on their local newspaper first for community events

• 80% of Iowans access the Internet...over 96% of Iowans with computers at home have Internet access and more than 53% of them have accessed a newspaper web site in the past 30 days

• In the past two weeks, 52% of Iowans say they purchased an item advertised in the newspaper, versus 15% from television advertising and 5% from radio

• 78% of Iowans read or look at advertising inserts in their newspaper

• 50% of Iowans prefer to receive advertising inserts in their newspaper versus 7% by direct mail

• 45% of Iowans read political advertising in newspapers.Newspapers lead all other media as the source most relied on for information on local political candidates.

• 86% of Iowans have read at least one issue of a newspaper in the past week

[McDermit]

Maybe we'd be best to scale the idea back a bit and consider smaller ads? Then hit as many pubs as we can raise funds for?

A postcard sized ad is better than no ad...

[orenbus]

Oh I should mention if you guys do decide to target a military paper which I think is a great idea considering it would reinforce our base and grow it to people in the military that would agree with Ron Paul on foreign policy then I would say pick "ArmyTimes" newspaper as opposed to S&S.

My brother is in the 101st and I've visited him on a number of forts and have seen ArmyTimes at every one, when he comes home he usually has a ArmyTimes he's reading and I pick it up just to see what types of issues are currently being discussed in the Army.

I don't know of anyone that reads Stars and Stripes and I've never seen a Stars in Strips IRL in front of me.

ArmyTimes is printed by Gannett, and it's chalk full of advertisements from Cars, Colleges and Financial Institutions.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/ArmyTimes_Cover.jpg

Here is a link:
http://www.militarytimes.com/advertise/

[dusman]

I could be incorrect here, but I believe the RevPac is highly focused on developing TV ads. I think that is good for them, but I'm not sure if they have many plans to diversify their efforts beyond that. Any RevPac people mind chiming in here?

[musicmax]

The military donations are a great idea for an ad, but the graph itself on that one is just weird. A circular bar graph...? When people see a circular graph they think pie graph. That graph is counterintuitive.

Yep. At first glance it looks like each piece is 1/3.

Also Ron's name doesn't stand out.

Great content, poor presentation.

[Eric21ND]

This will help us target our ads to the right demographic.

Iowa Population 2010

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac149/desmoinesdem/cb11cn24_ia_totalpop_2010map.jpg


Huckabee counties in blue, Romney in red. Only 200 votes in 61 of the counties would win them

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/IowaCaucusRepublican2008.png


The heaviest red are the most Catholic:

http://images.politico.com/global/iowa%20catholics.jpg

[D.A.S.]

I just finished compiling Ron Paul's numbers by County from the 2008 Iowa Primary (sorted by number of votes for WINNER):

http://i.imgur.com/5en3N.jpg

This can help us identify the trouble spots - specifically, large-population areas where Ron Paul did poorly last election. Aside from RP's percentage and number of votes, I also included the WINNER and his percentage as well as absolute number of votes for the winner. The number of votes for the winner is directly related to the population size.

The winner in RED means a win by 10% or more over the next runner-up; the winner in PURPLE means a win by 20% or more over the next runner-up.

Would it help to compile the same list for NH and SC Primaries from 2008?

[orenbus]

I just finished compiling Ron Paul's numbers by County from the 2008 Iowa Primary:

Damn dude that is pretty pro, talk about getting grassroots on the professional level of an organized campaign.

+rep

[D.A.S.]

Damn dude that is pretty pro, talk about getting grassroots on the professional level of an organized campaign.

+rep

Thanks! I amended the original spreadsheet to sort by the number of WINNER votes. I think this weighs counties by "importance". I'm still trying to see what conclusions to draw from these numbers...

I think we will have to hit top 15 counties in the list where Huckabee won (especially where he won big, where his name is red or purple) with a statement of faith type advertisement on Ron Paul's behalf.

Now, there is an Iowa newspaper search website by County (from Iowa Newspaper Association):

http://inanews.com/about/findaniowanewspaper.php

When we identify the areas we want to advertise in, searching for relevant newspapers in those areas, along with their circulation numbers, frequencies, and contacts are easy enough - courtesy of the above link.

[orenbus]

Thanks! I amended the original spreadsheet to sort by the number of WINNER votes. I think this weighs counties by "importance". I'm still trying to see what conclusions to draw from these numbers...

I think we will have to hit top 15 counties in the list where Huckabee won (especially where he won big, where his name is red or purple) with a statement of faith type advertisement on Ron Paul's behalf.

Now, there is an Iowa newspaper search website by County (from Iowa Newspaper Association):

http://inanews.com/about/findaniowanewspaper.php

When we identify the areas we want to advertise in, searching for relevant newspapers in those areas, along with their circulation numbers, frequencies, and contacts are easy enough - courtesy of the above link.

You know what I'm thinking, is at the very least this data could be used by the grassroots to focus and take over one county at a time. Ron Paul supporters are also potential volunteers if it was me in Iowa I would be Jefferson (36%) and Osceola (26%) right now that could be a foothold to Iowa, if you can get the majority of the county to start supporting Ron Paul through just blanketing that county with ads, signs, volunteers out in events in that county you could turn over Ron Paul supporters into Ron Paul volunteers and activists and then do the same thing with the new reinforcement one county at a time.

Especially since there isn't as many hard core volunteers to start with you have to pick your battles but if NH for example starts winning counties one at a time a momentum could spread at a local level. This is something really the official campaign should be doing I would think, I mean there could be an argument that it's too early to start the mailers and door to door canvassing just yet but its never to early to recruit more volunteers.

[D.A.S.]

You know what I'm thinking, is at the very least this data could be used by the grassroots to focus and take over one county at a time. Ron Paul supporters are also potential volunteers if it was me in Iowa I would be Jefferson (36%) and Osceola (26%) right now that could be a foothold to Iowa, if you can get the majority of the county to start supporting Ron Paul through just blanketing that county with ads, signs, volunteers out in events in that county you could turn over Ron Paul supporters into Ron Paul volunteers and activists and then do the same thing with the new reinforcement one county at a time.

Especially since there isn't as many hard core volunteers to start with you have to pick your battles but if NH for example starts winning counties one at a time a momentum could spread at a local level. This is something really the official campaign should be doing I would think, I mean there could be an argument that it's too early to start the mailers and door to door canvassing just yet but its never to early to recruit more volunteers.

I agree with those sentiments!

Hm, this makes me think the following: Maybe we could run a couple of simple "call to action" ads in the 3-4 counties in Iowa where Ron Paul did his best... Maybe we could encourage those people to volunteer for grassroots action or something - encourage them to spread the word with signage, etc. Maybe this is a totally stupid idea, but I'm building it onto your idea of taking a foothold in one or two counties and expanding. We need boots-on-the-ground volunteer for that, though, preferable IA residents!

The counties that are candidates from the above list are: Jefferson (!!), Davis, Pocahontas, Allamakee, Van Buren, and Osceola.

[Tarzan]

The counties that are candidates from the above list are: Jefferson (!!), Davis, Pocahontas, Allamakee, Van Buren, and Osceola.

To make it a test to check the results I would suggest a couple of non-catholic counties in which RP did not do well. You would get an idea if the ads were making an impact and in what areas.

There is an Iowa newspaper association: http://www.inanews.com/index.php They have a listing of their members plus other Iowa Newspapers... both daily and weekly complete with contact information. You can also search by county: http://www.inanews.com/searchcriteria/bycounty.php?mod=About&action=County

They have done a remarkable job in making this stuff easier to access. Plus, they work with a group that can place ads across multiple papers if you go after a broader target market: http://www.inanews.com/advertisers/advertisers.php



fyi... Army Times is part of the Military Times publishing group (Gannett)

[orenbus]

I agree with those sentiments!

Hm, this makes me think the following: Maybe we could run a couple of simple "call to action" ads in the 3-4 counties in Iowa where Ron Paul did his best... Maybe we could encourage those people to volunteer for grassroots action or something - encourage them to spread the word with signage, etc. Maybe this is a totally stupid idea, but I'm building it onto your idea of taking a foothold in one or two counties and expanding. We need boots-on-the-ground volunteer for that, though, preferable IA residents!

The counties that are candidates from the above list are: Jefferson (!!), Davis, Pocahontas, Allamakee, Van Buren, and Osceola.

Yes you are exactly right I mean if we think about it 80%+ of the people in this country are fed up with the government to the point where we see spontaneous protests happening through Tea Parties and OWS (of course only later to be co-opted, but that's a separate story). As Ron Paul would put it "they are sick and tired of what they are getting."

People are ready to do something with what is happening around them, they are just waiting for some method to the madness some organization and productivity towards coming up with a solution, now more than ever.

Grassroots Volunteers springing up from IA residents and local early state residents is exactly what is needed, most of us on this forum can only do so much from our home states (it's understandable to a certain degree, we have jobs and families), but coordinating something in terms of a Call To Action targeting key counties so that the grassroots can flourish in those states may just be what is needed right now and something we can help to promote, organize and fund through the power of the internets. :)

The best part is targeting counties that already have support, it will be easy to find some locals that are already volunteers and ready to help lead the charge with our backing.

[D.A.S.]

To make it a test to check the results I would suggest a couple of non-catholic counties in which RP did not do well. You would get an idea if the ads were making an impact and in what areas.

Good suggestion... But how would we test before and after? Are you suggesting doing our own poll of the county?


There is an Iowa newspaper association: http://www.inanews.com/index.php They have a listing of their members plus other Iowa Newspapers... both daily and weekly complete with contact information. You can also search by county: http://www.inanews.com/searchcriteria/bycounty.php?mod=About&action=County

They have done a remarkable job in making this stuff easier to access. Plus, they work with a group that can place ads across multiple papers if you go after a broader target market: http://www.inanews.com/advertisers/advertisers.php

fyi... Army Times is part of the Military Times publishing group (Gannett)

I discovered that INA website a few posts above -- it is an excellent resource in Iowa!

I also don't want to discount the idea proposed by you earlier in this thread about Stars and Stripes and also by orenbus regarding Army Times - I think those are excellent ideas. I think we will need to choose either one approach or the other: (1) pick a military publication and run a small insert or a 1/4- to 1/2-page advertisement, or (2) choose a few smaller Iowa-specific newspapers based on county we want to target and go with that approach.

Can we have a few people weigh in on whether (1) or (2) would be a smarter approach? I fear we would be crunched pretty seriously for funding to make (1) happen, while (2) may be more achievable and more directly relevant to early-state targets as a Call to Action, as orenbus and I stipulated above.

[orenbus]

Good suggestion... But how would we test before and after? Are you suggesting doing our own poll of the county?



I discovered that INA website a few posts above -- it is an excellent resource in Iowa!

Also, I don't want to discount the idea proposed by you earlier in this thread about Stars and Stripes and also by orenbus regarding Army Times - I think those are excellent ideas. I think we will need to choose either one approach of the other: (1) pick a military publication and run a small insert or a 1/4- to 1/2-page advertisement, or (2) choose a few smaller Iowa-specific newspapers based on county we want to target and go with that approach.

Can we have a few people weigh in on whether (1) or (2) would be a smarter approach? I fear we would be crunched pretty seriously for funding to make (1) happen, while (2) may be more achievable and more directly relevant to early-state targets.

I think we should at the very least if not full ads in the Iowa papers, we should just put in a simple small "help wanted" post in the classifieds in the local papers lol. I'm sure we have some creative writers that would be able to do wonders with a help wanted; "Your country needs your help, we are in troubled times, it's time for you to stand up and help Ron Paul get elected, etc.!"

Help wanted "End the War!" (well not sure for Iowa, maybe for NH)

Help wanted "End the Bailouts!"

Help wanted "Help the economy, your country needs your help join us XXX Date to meet other like minded individuals and volunteer for Ron Paul 2012"

etc. You get the idea.

While they are looking for a job and are frustrated with the economy we give them a way to help.

[dusman]

I think we should at the very least if not full ads in the Iowa papers, we should just put in a simple small "help wanted" post in the classifieds in the local papers lol. I'm sure we have some creative writers that would be able to do wonders with a help wanted; "Your country needs your help, we are in troubled times, it's time for you to stand up and help Ron Paul get elected, etc.!"

Help wanted "End the War!" (well not sure for Iowa, maybe for NH)

Help wanted "End the Bailouts!"

Help wanted "Help the economy, your country needs your help join us XXX Date to meet other like minded individuals and volunteer for Ron Paul 2012"

etc. You get the idea.

While they are looking for a job and are frustrated with the economy we give them a way to help.

I actually like this idea. It's super cheap anyways. If you must get into every paper.. this would be the way to go. Then run larger ad runs in more prominent papers.

[orenbus]

I actually like this idea. It's super cheap anyways. If you must get into every paper.. this would be the way to go. Then run larger ad runs in more prominent papers.

Yea I feel like there are a number of avenues that are cheap and we can approach from a grassroots stand point that official campaigns would never consider because they are defined by how much money they get and how large the projects are with the money they spend. Some political paid operative working for Romney that is getting paid 150,000+ a percentage on the ad buys isn't going to look for low cost under the radar type of guerilla advertising. We can fly under the radar and still be effective while keeping costs low. It may not be traditional, but it could be creative and get eyeballs on the message. Something the Ron Paul Revolution signs taught us in 2007. :)

[Tarzan]

Good suggestion... But how would we test before and after? Are you suggesting doing our own poll of the county?

Polling would not be the way to go. Instead give them an incentive to which they respond. I don't have a perfect idea yet, but something like these: Visit this website for a free newsletter, visit a website for a free e-book, visit a website to receive a free DVD about restoring america, write us for your free bumper sticker... something like that. You notice I used the word FREE!!! :)

Something to encourage them to take some sort of action... you then track who took that action. Make sure to have them provide the source (which paper) or their county so you can get an accurate reflection.


Can we have a few people weigh in on whether (1) or (2) would be a smarter approach? I fear we would be crunched pretty seriously for funding to make (1) happen, while (2) may be more achievable and more directly relevant to early-state targets as a Call to Action, as orenbus and I stipulated above.

Time is very short for getting reservations in for the Veteran's Day Money Bomb... if that would be a target (I think it should be included in the piece). This is something that would be better handled by a PAC or the campaign. We already know the RPAC story... it would be good if the campaign were to handle this. It is comparatively cheap for the results I believe they would achieve (votes AND donations). Again, I have had very little luck getting any response from the campaign either. Trying to do this at this late date as a grassroots project would probably be unwise.

[orenbus]

It is comparatively cheap for the results I believe they would achieve (votes AND donations). Again, I have had very little luck getting any response from the campaign either. Trying to do this at this late date as a grassroots project would probably be unwise.

Sometimes it's good for the campaign to lead, but other times they are not the best positioned to lead efforts in a short turn around or in a specific area of marketing with goals that would not normally show up on the radar of a traditional campaign strategy. The idea for the Fifth of November, December 16, Black This Out, Ron Paul Revolution, I mean you know this game, we can go on and on and on, lol. Honestly I mean I'm not going to dis the campaign cause there is a lot of talented people that work for Ron Paul directly, but some of the best initiatives seem to come from Grassroots and there is a reason why. Little to no red tape, signs offs or bureaucracy, we are the best example of a free market of ideas and at times our turn around is a lot faster than what the campaign can do, this is no exaggeration.

True that sometimes we need to let the Campaign take the lead on specific activities cause they are the best positioned to organize, manage and execute it for example Phone From Home, TV Media, Door to Door canvassing. But as they are so wrapped up with day to day operations they are going to be limited to what projects they can take on and that's where we come in.

If you take a look at this list:
http://www.p2012.org/candidates/paulorg.html

You'll see maybe a dozen or so people that are directly responsible at one point down the line with marketing. They are paid employees that put in most likely I would think on average 10-12 hour days, for the guys in key positions probably closer to 20. Now let's think about the number of people that visit this forum or are an extension of the Ron Paul grassroots, we don't need to sit on the sidelines when opportunity reveals itself to us, we can get in the game and bring about constructive solutions to real challenges in a very short time.

Ron Paul himself said in 2007 that it really is the grassroots that was driving the 2007 campaign and he was basically going along for the ride and was lucky to be a part of it. Of course 2007 wasn't the ideal because the official campaign I think everyone can agree now was not prepared for the money and numbers of supporters. But as our support base grows and more dynamic and new ideas come forward there is only so much the official campaign can process at once, when we see an opportunity if it looks good to most of us on the forum we need to run with it.

Or as Path Buchanan would put it "All the forces of the old order are going to rally against us. The establishment is coming together, you can hear them right now. The fax machines and phones are buzzing in Washington D.C. We’ve got to get together, somebody’s got to get out and take on this guy, we gotta have one guy take him on. But I’ll tell you what we don’t have time, we need the troops we need the troops we need the troops But I’m telling the folks out in the country. They’re going to come after this campaign with everything they’ve got. Do not wait for orders from headquarters, mount up everybody and ride to the sound of the guns. "

[Tarzan]

fyi... one trick technique we would occasionally use was to create a display ad that looked like a regular article. You still have to make sure they know it is paid advertising to be legal... but, with the right headline and article content you can often get a very good response rate.

Off the top of my head... something like this:
RON PAUL IS A RADICAL!
Ron Paul, the conservative Republican Presidential candidate from Texas, has long been considered a radical for his views on the Economy, Foreign Policy and Family Values. Here are some of his radical beliefs:

Ron Paul want you to Stop Paying the IRS.
With his economic policy of... yadda³

Ron Paul wants to stop giving your Taxes to Foreign Governments
With his foreign policy of... yadda³

Ron Paul wants to End the Wars
To build a stronger National Defense and end the Foreign Wars by... yadda³

Ron Paul wants to End Corporate Bailouts
To restore the American Economy and make jobs plentiful again... yadda³

Synopsis: It is clear to see Ron Paul is a Radical... just like Thomas Jefferson, Washington and the brave men who founded America. yadda³

Vote for Ron Paul

To learn more about Restoring American visit this website for your FREE stuff. www.WhyDidn'tWeVoteForHimLastTime.com

[Tarzan]

Do not wait for orders from headquarters, mount up everybody and ride to the sound of the guns. "

That's what they guy leading the Light Brigade said. :)

I do hear ya... but some of these initiatives, because of scale and the FEC rules, can be pretty sticky. Even getting funding for papers in IA and/or NH. That's why I agree and think we should proceed... but, I would REALLY like to see the Veterans Day thing presented to military personnel... both for their votes and donations. Because of the timing and money considerations, a PAC or the campaign would be the safest route for that specific project.

Regardless... let's see what we can do on local papers!

[D.A.S.]

I think we should at the very least if not full ads in the Iowa papers, we should just put in a simple small "help wanted" post in the classifieds in the local papers lol. I'm sure we have some creative writers that would be able to do wonders with a help wanted; "Your country needs your help, we are in troubled times, it's time for you to stand up and help Ron Paul get elected, etc.!"

Help wanted "End the War!" (well not sure for Iowa, maybe for NH)

Help wanted "End the Bailouts!"

Help wanted "Help the economy, your country needs your help join us XXX Date to meet other like minded individuals and volunteer for Ron Paul 2012"

etc. You get the idea.

While they are looking for a job and are frustrated with the economy we give them a way to help.

We could get started with the HELP WANTED ads!

Now we need to flesh that idea out a little bit... We do need some quantitative measure of progress from doing this, and we definitely want to remain in touch with the willing volunteers!

Something like... "Want to help elect Ron Paul the next President of the United States but unsure how to make a difference? Now is your chance to help put our country back on the right track by volunteering a little bit of your time to help with some simple campaigning efforts in Iowa. Your fellow grassroots activists want to help you make this happen by providing you with the materials you will need, such as bumper stickers, magnets, slimjims, and yard signs. To get involved, please write to ___________________ or call ________________."

[GeorgiaAvenger]

I wonder how many of them ran a story about him winning the VVS straw poll.

[D.A.S.]

Here is the data for the "friendliest" precincts (Ron Paul got 14% and above) in 2008 New Hampshire Primary:

http://i.imgur.com/aKlkY.jpg

Again, the table is sorted by WINNER vote counts in descending order, which essentially gives a precinct its "importance" ranking. WINNER in pink means winning by 20% or above over 2nd place; WINNER in red means winning by 10% or above over 2nd place.

Curiously, most of these friendly precincts come from Grafton County of NH.

[D.A.S.]

Finally, here is the data for the 2008 South Carolina Primary by county, sorted by number of votes taken by a winner of each county:

http://i.imgur.com/H2QzU.jpg

Read 'em and weep - not much support in South Carolina to count on from 2008. Advertising in SC clearly will be necessary, and since Huckabee has taken a lot of counties there in 2008, the message will need to be similar to Iowa: Support the Troops and Statement of Faith. South Carolina is very very important to prop up in time for the Primary 2012, clearly, so perhaps we could do something to mobilize supporters and drop some modest ads in local papers.

[Paul Fan]

Does each county carry the same weight, or is the vote just totalled? (sorry for my lack of knowledge)

[orenbus]

Here is the data for the "friendliest" precincts (Ron Paul got 14% and above) in 2008 New Hampshire Primary:

http://i.imgur.com/aKlkY.jpg

Again, the table is sorted by WINNER vote counts in descending order, which essentially gives a precinct its "importance" ranking. WINNER in pink means winning by 20% or above over 2nd place; WINNER in red means winning by 10% or above over 2nd place.

Curiously, most of these friendly precincts come from Grafton County of NH.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Map_of_New_Hampshire_highlighting_Grafton_County.s vg/110px-Map_of_New_Hampshire_highlighting_Grafton_County.s vg.png

The county is the home of Dartmouth College and Plymouth State University.

Progressive Farmer rated Grafton County fourth in its list of the "Best Places to Live in Rural America" in 2006, citing low unemployment (despite slow economic growth), a favorable cost of living, and the presence of White Mountain National Forest, the state's only national forest.

There are 38 towns and one city in Grafton County.

[D.A.S.]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Map_of_New_Hampshire_highlighting_Grafton_County.s vg/110px-Map_of_New_Hampshire_highlighting_Grafton_County.s vg.png

The county is the home of Dartmouth College and Plymouth State University.

Progressive Farmer rated Grafton County fourth in its list of the "Best Places to Live in Rural America" in 2006, citing low unemployment (despite slow economic growth), a favorable cost of living, and the presence of White Mountain National Forest, the state's only national forest.

There are 38 towns and one city in Grafton County.

So we have friends right in the central part of the state - this is very good, strategically speaking.

What I've been thinking about is: what do we need more, a "Call to Action" type ad you proposed or an ad educating people on parts of Ron's platform?

In terms of Call to Action, what is the current status of volunteers in Iowa and NH? Doesn't a decent base of those already exist via Facebook groups like "New Hampshire for Paul 2012" that we could reach out to? Who would we direct as a contact in Call to Action ads, so we could track progress of volunteers and are able to get supplies to them?

[D.A.S.]

What I've been thinking about is: what do we need more, a "Call to Action" type ad you proposed or an ad educating people on parts of Ron's platform.

In terms of Call to Action, what is the current status of volunteers in Iowa and NH? Doesn't a decent base of those already exist via Facebook groups like "New Hampshire for Paul 2012" that we could reach out to? Who would we direct as a contact in Call to Action ads, so we could track progress of volunteers and are able to get supplies to them?

Any opinions on THIS ^^^^ ??

More people really need to join a discussion here. We keep fretting over polls, but THIS is how we can HELP on the local level. I believe this is a very important initiative, so I am hoping more people are aboard for this than we've seen chime in so far.

[IDefendThePlatform]

So we have friends right in the central part of the state - this is very good, strategically speaking.

What I've been thinking about is: what do we need more, a "Call to Action" type ad you proposed or an ad educating people on parts of Ron's platform?

In terms of Call to Action, what is the current status of volunteers in Iowa and NH? Doesn't a decent base of those already exist via Facebook groups like "New Hampshire for Paul 2012" that we could reach out to? Who would we direct as a contact in Call to Action ads, so we could track progress of volunteers and are able to get supplies to them?

Here's shemdogg's list of NH groups:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294356-Active-Ron-Paul-groups-in-NH&highlight=hampshire+groups

I (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294356-Active-Ron-Paul-groups-in-NH&highlight=hampshire+groups) think it would be great to be able to put the URL for each local group in any local ad so that people who see it (and have facebook) can join up and get involved. To do that the admins of the pages/groups would need to setup the page/group email list with an easy-to-remember name so that it shows up in the URL like these:

http://www.facebook.com/RP2012NH
http://www.facebook.com/groups/NewHampshireForRonPaul2012/


(http://www.facebook.com/groups/NewHampshireForRonPaul2012/)

[IDefendThePlatform]

Here's some local active Iowa groups, most of which are adminned by official campaign staff:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ronpaulwaterloo/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ronpauldesmoines/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SEIowaForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/iowacity4ronpaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/CBForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/DubuqueForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SWIowaForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/nwiowa4ronpaul/

[RPSupporter305]

Maybe I'm not noticing it but how do you guys view the campaigning in Florida? I must admit I was somewhat disappointed when he didn't speak at the straw poll and having Cain win it....and all the media attention Cain got from it. Or maybe I'm just being naive as many have mentioned that Cain has a huge following in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, but I still think Ron should have attended. I know that the Florida primary was moved after the straw poll, though, so I do understand the campaign's point of view and perhaps not giving it as much importance...

[D.A.S.]

Here's some local active Iowa groups, most of which are adminned by official campaign staff:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ronpaulwaterloo/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/ronpauldesmoines/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SEIowaForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/iowacity4ronpaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/CBForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/DubuqueForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SWIowaForPaul/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/nwiowa4ronpaul/


Here's shemdogg's list of NH groups:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294356-Active-Ron-Paul-groups-in-NH&highlight=hampshire+groups

I (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294356-Active-Ron-Paul-groups-in-NH&highlight=hampshire+groups) think it would be great to be able to put the URL for each local group in any local ad so that people who see it (and have facebook) can join up and get involved. To do that the admins of the pages/groups would need to setup the page/group email list with an easy-to-remember name so that it shows up in the URL like these:

http://www.facebook.com/RP2012NH
http://www.facebook.com/groups/NewHampshireForRonPaul2012/


(http://www.facebook.com/groups/NewHampshireForRonPaul2012/)

Oh yeaaaa that's the info I was looking for. It would be great to promise people some FREE campaign supplies in the ads, like yard signs and bumper stickers and lapels and stuff. There are bound to be some willing people, but we will likely need to provide them some supplies in order to get them to come out of hiding.

I'll get cracking on collecting the contact info for local newspapers and then start contacting them for advertising rates, so we know what we're dealing with.

Keep that great info coming!

[D.A.S.]

Maybe I'm not noticing it but how do you guys view the campaigning in Florida? I must admit I was somewhat disappointed when he didn't speak at the straw poll and having Cain win it....and all the media attention Cain got from it. Or maybe I'm just being naive as many have mentioned that Cain has a huge following in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, but I still think Ron should have attended. I know that the Florida primary was moved after the straw poll, though, so I do understand the campaign's point of view and perhaps not giving it as much importance...

Florida is a tough sell, and it's the establishment stronghold. We're likely to let that sleeping dog lie and focus the firepower on the first 3-4 states (IA, NH, SC, NV). If we do well there, we will get good momentum to build on for later contests.

Iowa is absolutely within reach of winning, and I am speaking as a realist about this. New Hampshire has a good shot for a strong second, although I'm hoping that something will happen by NH primary that will propel us into first place or a statistical tie for first - not totally out of reach but will take a lot of hard work. South Carolina is a very tough one.

[RPSupporter305]

Florida is a tough sell, and it's the establishment stronghold. We're likely to let that sleeping dog lie and focus the firepower on the first 3-4 states (IA, NH, SC, NV). If we do well there, we will get good momentum to build on for later contests.

Iowa is absolutely within reach of winning, and I am speaking as a realist about this. New Hampshire has a good shot for a strong second, although I'm hoping that something will happen by NH primary that will propel us into first place or a statistical tie for first - not totally out of reach but will take a lot of hard work. South Carolina is a very tough one.Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense. I only brought it up because I'm in South Florida. I will vote in the primaries regardless.

[D.A.S.]

Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense. I only brought it up because I'm in South Florida. I will vote in the primaries regardless.

Well I'll say this -- we need ya! X 100,000!!! Whatever help we can get in early states, we can use it all. For things like putting up signs, getting meet-ups together, etc.

There certainly are grassroots efforts in Florida - I believe you can connect to those via Facebook... I'll have to check on that. Stay tuned :-)

[D.A.S.]

How about Iowa State Daily? (http://iowastatedaily.com/)

Some info from a writer for them posted in another thread here:


For the record, the Iowa State Daily has the readership of Iowa State University, which has an attendance of approximately 30,000 students. On top of that is the thousands of employees (administrators, professors, grounds keepers, janitors, etc), many of whom also read the paper. The ISU Daily also has a subscription service that serves oodles more people with print copies all across the state and nation. Furthermore, the ISU Daily is on racks all across the city of Ames, where Iowa State University is located. God knows how many residents of our host town read the paper. Our readership very well could be 50,000 people in print, and as pointed out, gazillions online now, haha.

In short, the Daily reaches far, far more readers than the average small town paper. Furthermore, it services a predominately young demographic who appear to be very receptive to libertarian philosophy. I'm not saying the Iowa State Daily is important (that's for you to judge). I'm only saying that it's not exactly unimportant.


I'm not even sure if they run ads, but if the caucus date is set to a date while college is out of session, it may be a good way to remind them to register to vote. Can't imagine it would be that expensive either. Btw, they are writing an excellent series of articles on Ron. First part here. (http://iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_010be5ec-eadb-11e0-a7a2-001cc4c03286.html)

Sorry I overlooked that post -- excellent idea, indeed. Could you perhaps work on the writing for this ad, while I try to reach out to the newspapers and find out how much it costs?

[bluesc]

Sorry I overlooked that post -- excellent idea, indeed. Could you perhaps work on the writing for this ad, while I try to reach out to the newspapers and find out how much it costs?

I would have no idea what to write :p

We have some guys around here that are great at that. If it's decided that's what we want to do, we could open a thread asking people to come up with some ideas.

I'll get you the contact info for the editor-in-chief, it was posted somewhere.

[bluesc]

Email: editor@iowastatedaily.com -- be sure to mention how great the recent articles on Ron are!

[IDefendThePlatform]

Bump

[D.A.S.]

Thanks for the bump!

Currently, we are here with "organize the Iowa college kids for Ron Paul" initiative, which is also a very important project:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?322413-Want-to-communicate-to-Iowa-State-Ron-Paul-kids-Let-s-run-a-newspaper-ad!

And we figured out the platform for tracking responses to our ads, which will carry over to putting together the ads I was discussing in this particular thread. So it's all one project with a spin-off right now.

[arkana]

1. My version:
http://i.imgur.com/gsvZw.jpg

2. pauliticalfan's version:
http://i.imgur.com/GRufN.jpg

If we can get these updated after the 3rd quarter AND provide a link proving the graph everyone should post this on their facebook walls. This, in my opinion, is the most powerful ad we can use. It shuts up Neocons and Obama supporters alike!