Need help on Twitter re "Ron Paul has no chance of winning"

[ibaghdadi]

BTO is generating interest on Twitter and I've been posting regular updates to my 8K+ followers. They're a mixed bag.

Of course, as impressed as they are, the reply always comes back: "He has no chance of winning."

I'm sure this has been discussed here ad nauseum, but I need a tweet-sized reply. A single tweet. Perhaps with a link, but not necessarily so.

[sailingaway]

Tell them the most recent Harris poll had him beating Obama. Unless, of course, they prefer Romney, the only other candidate to beat him.... http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/Harris-poll-Romney-RonPaul/2011/09/27/id/412375

[AJ187]

This is speculation, conjecture, opinion and nothing more. No basis in logic, reason or fact. Start with that.

[tribute_13]

He has a better chance than Perry and Bachmann.

[KramerDSP]

"Ron Paul has defeated an incumbent in three different elections. He has been elected 11 times as a Congressman. He crushes Obama with the Independents. Besides, wasn't Obama unelectable?"

[WIRP]

Quit playing defense. Go on the offensive. Come up with a new meme to attack the mentality of voting for some schmuck.

"No candidate besides Ron Paul has any chance of fixing the economy."

This sentence groups everyone else as being incompetent. It portrays Ron Paul as the only hope. It focuses on the #1 issue, the economy.

"Not voting for Ron Paul, is voting to continue the recession."

[trey4sports]

only way we can prove ron can win......is to win, and Iowa is a damn good place to start.

[ctiger2]

Ron Paul is the only one who has a chance of beating Obama. Checkout the independents. The more people find out the truth about him, the more they like him. If the MSM would get behind him with the lavish praise he truly deserves he'd beat Obama 60/40.

[speciallyblend]

only way we can prove ron can win......is to win, and Iowa is a damn good place to start.

we must win iowa or place a strong 2nd , perfer we win iowa:)

[cucucachu0000]

i just heard this quote i dont know who said it or if this is the right wording but i love it. "at first a revolution seems impossible untill it happens, then it was inevitable"

[rideurlightning]

"Ron Paul has defeated an incumbent in three different elections. He has been elected 11 times as a Congressman. He crushes Obama with the Independents. Besides, wasn't Obama unelectable?"

I like this response.

[RDM]

Twitter:


“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” ~Mahatma Gandhi~

[ibaghdadi]

Ron Paul does get a lot of respect among my followers. The main reason why someone would say "he can't win" is because they believe an anti-establishment figure just won't be "allowed" to run the establishment. It's kinda like saying "they" (the power that be) will never allow such a man to reach the White House.

So basically it's not that he's "unelectable", it's that some mysterious forces will conspire to make sure he just won't win.

Response?

[ScrambleLight]

Tell them: "Well if you agree with him and don't vote for him... YOU... are the mysterious force." "if there really is an establishment that won't let him win... then they obviously have someone in mind... why even bother to vote in the first place"

[bolidew]

OP they mean the chance of winning GOP primary or winning the General election?

[Paulitical Correctness]

The perceived power of the individual has diminished.

[KCIndy]

Numbers DO count. Even The Powers That Be can't fight the tide. If enough people are willing to defy the "conventional wisdom" we really CAN win.

As Franklin said, "If we don't hang together, we'll ceertainly hang separately."

[trey4sports]

Ron Paul does get a lot of respect among my followers. The main reason why someone would say "he can't win" is because they believe an anti-establishment figure just won't be "allowed" to run the establishment. It's kinda like saying "they" (the power that be) will never allow such a man to reach the White House.

So basically it's not that he's "unelectable", it's that some mysterious forces will conspire to make sure he just won't win.

Response?


Honestly, it is probably a belief you cannot change. The only way you can convince them is if you actually start winning caucuses and primaries. Just hope there are enough people who believe he CAN win.

[sailingaway]

Ron Paul does get a lot of respect among my followers. The main reason why someone would say "he can't win" is because they believe an anti-establishment figure just won't be "allowed" to run the establishment. It's kinda like saying "they" (the power that be) will never allow such a man to reach the White House.

So basically it's not that he's "unelectable", it's that some mysterious forces will conspire to make sure he just won't win.

Response?

My response is unprintable.

What are they planning to do, roll over, neck bared, and let it happen?

Ron Paul is a once in a lifetime candidate. If ever there were time to resist those mysterious forces it is now, with this candidate.

[hazek]

Ask if Hitler, Stalin and Jefferson were running for president and the media constantly repeated that Jefferson can't win, would he also vote for either Hitler or Stalin?

[ibaghdadi]

OP they mean the chance of winning GOP primary or winning the General election?

Election. They can see him winning the GOP but just can't see him in the White House.

In fact a few are suggesting that if he wins the GOP ticket, the GOP itself may somehow "mutiny".

Some of them may be just being argumentative, but a few of them honestly want him to win but think that such a possibility is just "too good to be true", and hence they can go back to their indifference & apathy.

[curtissthompson]

Ron Paul does get a lot of respect among my followers. The main reason why someone would say "he can't win" is because they believe an anti-establishment figure just won't be "allowed" to run the establishment. It's kinda like saying "they" (the power that be) will never allow such a man to reach the White House.

So basically it's not that he's "unelectable", it's that some mysterious forces will conspire to make sure he just won't win.

Response?

Tell them that that opinion is a self-fulfilling prophecy (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy) that is propagated and perpetuated by the political and media establishment in order to condition voters' behavior and get them to submit to a sense of learned helplessness (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Learned_helplessness) (see: Glenn Greenwald distinguishes Apathy from Learned Helplessness in the American electorate on Bill Moyers Journal (http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2009/10/web_exclusive_glenn_greenwald.html)) that prevents them from ever supporting a candidate that challenges the status quo.

Also, I suggest sharing a video on Twitter like this one of a GOP Strategist saying "Ron Paul could win the GOP nomination." (https://twitter.com/#!/curtissthompson/status/125361521537724417)

[moreliberty]

The establishment can stop him, unless we rally behind him. I honestly believe once we win the primary, we will see Dr. Paul become a very popular man. He is absolutly putting his life on the line for all of us, standing up to the establishment. Least we can do is stand behind him.

[curtissthompson]

Election. They can see him winning the GOP but just can't see him in the White House.

In fact a few are suggesting that if he wins the GOP ticket, the GOP itself may somehow "mutiny".

Some of them may be just being argumentative, but a few of them honestly want him to win but think that such a possibility is just "too good to be true", and hence they can go back to their indifference & apathy.

I must say the neocons in the GOP establishment may well prefer Obama to Ron Paul (in spite of their rhetoric) because Obama has continued the WORST policies of the Bush administration (Corporate Welfare, Bailouts, Indefinite Detention, Extraordinary Rendition, Loss of Civil Liberties & Due Process, etc., etc., etc.), so I can't say it would surprise me to see the GOP try to sabotage Ron Paul if he wins the nomination.

But don't confuse their position as Apathetic or Indifferent, what they are experiencing is Learned Helplessness. It's not that they don't care (apathy), it's that they don't believe there is anything they can do to succeed (learned helplessness).

Learned Helplessness: A condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression

[moreliberty]

[QUOTE=curtissthompson;3671341]I must say the neocons in the GOP establishment may well prefer Obama to Ron Paul (in spite of their rhetoric) because Obama has continued the WORST policies of the Bush administration (Corporate Welfare, Bailouts, Indefinite Detention, Extraordinary Rendition, Loss of Civil Liberties & Due Process, etc., etc., etc.), so I can't say it would surprise me to see the GOP try to sabotage Ron Paul if he wins the nomination.

It would surprise me. I doubt mainstream media could convince people(esp the tea party) obama is better, not now. If Dr. Paul gets the primary nomination, they are screwed, lol.

[MJU1983]

It's such a stupid "argument". Unless those people work for the Psychic Friends Network or are privy to some vast conspiracy that we are unaware of, I don't think they can say that statement with a straight face.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?317312-How-do-you-respond-to-the-statement-quot-Ron-Paul-can-t-win-quot&highlight=1996


Here is another thread on this topic:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?313516-How-To-Counter-The-quot-He-Can-t-Win-quot-Argument

Here is what I posted:

It's a dumb argument so I'd try to find out what they really mean or if they are just regurgitating some talking points they heard on TV or talk radio.

The reason it's a dumb argument is because:

1- He has won more elections than everyone else currently running.
2- He's been elected to Congress 11 times.
3- He was the first Republican to ever win in his TX district.
4- He's in a better position than John McCain was this time in 2007.
5- He's receiving more than 2x the military donations to his campaign as all other GOP candidates combined, even beating President Obama in military donations.
6- He's won the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Straw Poll two years in a row, he won the 2011 RLC (Republican Leadership Conference) Straw Poll (lost 2010 by 1 vote), he was 2nd in Ames Straw Poll (lost by less than 1%), he won the NH Straw Poll, he was 2nd in the Georgia Straw Poll (lost by 1%), he won the California GOP Straw Poll, and he wins every debate based on audience applause and post debate polls.

The media is pushing Romney and Perry. The people are pushing Ron Paul. ;)

I remember people posting this (http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/shrewd-run-for-congress?CSAuthResp=1315184825%3An312vk9jbph69vnbk oudevhup5%3ACSUserId|CSGroupId%3Aapproved%3A0D8150 8814110CDC9153E768E0636D40&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1) article about Ron's 1996 run.

A shrewd run for Congress - National GOP united against Ron Paul in '96 (http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/shrewd-run-for-congress?CSAuthResp=1315184825%3An312vk9jbph69vnbk oudevhup5%3ACSUserId|CSGroupId%3Aapproved%3A0D8150 8814110CDC9153E768E0636D40&CSUserId=94&CSGroupId=1)


While Ron Paul mostly has been depicted in the media as a political oddity whose following is limited to libertarians and bloggers, Paul's past shows he knows how to win tough campaigns - even when he has to fight his own party's power brokers, as he did to win a congressional seat in 1996.
...
He visited the state's Republican congressmen in Washington to discuss his plans before announcing his candidacy. The Texas delegation could have decided to help Paul with valuable financial support and endorsements.

Paul said in an interview that he thought they'd be happy to have another Republican in the delegation, but that's not what happened. "I didn't think they were going to do what they did," he said.

What they did, to hear Paul tell the story, was to recruit Greg Laughlin, the incumbent Democrat, to run as a Republican.
...
Both Texas senators endorsed Laughlin in the primary, as did Gingrich, who was then the House speaker. Both George Bushes campaigned for Laughlin.

Covered here:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?312788-A-shrewd-run-for-Congress-National-GOP-united-against-Ron-Paul-in-96

http://www.dailypaul.com/41120/a-shrewd-run-for-congress-gop-united-against-ron-paul-in-96-too

The doctor obviously WON.... ;)

[curtissthompson]

And make no mistake our societies institutions have been fashioned in such a way as to prohibit truly independent thought and people with iconoclastic views that challenge the status quo from achieving success. This is in evidence in our media (see: What Makes The Mainstream Media Mainstream by Noam Chomsky (http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199710--.htm), Paragraph 14 quoted below), in our political parties (ballot access requirements, etc.), in our government (abusing procedural rules like Filibusters to prevent real change, etc.), in our education system (excluding anything negative about U.S. Foreign Policy from textbooks and lectures in K-12 Education) and in the workplace (saying and doing things you don't agree with in order to be successful, and get a raise or promotion).


When you critique the media and you say, look, here is what Anthony Lewis or somebody else is writing, they get very angry. They say, quite correctly, "nobody ever tells me what to write. I write anything I like. All this business about pressures and constraints is nonsense because I’m never under any pressure." Which is completely true, but the point is that they wouldn’t be there unless they had already demonstrated that nobody has to tell them what to write because they are going say the right thing. If they had started off at the Metro desk, or something, and had pursued the wrong kind of stories, they never would have made it to the positions where they can now say anything they like. The same is mostly true of university faculty in the more ideological disciplines. They have been through the socialization system.

[Anti Federalist]

we must win iowa or place a strong 2nd , perfer we win iowa:)

Yes, MUST.

A win in Iowa is the only way that a first place or strong second place finish in NH will possible.

A poor showing in Iowa will result in a piss poor NH finish and game over.

[ibaghdadi]

NOW, after a chain of retweets, a lot are getting to learn that Ron Paul is proposing cutting all foreign aid, including aid to Israel, all the way to zero.

So the replies I'm getting are more like: Wow, we like this guy, but now we're SURE he can't win, because "everyone knows" that candidates who go up against the Jewish lobby don't make it the White House.

I actually told one of them that Ron Paul got in the last 24 hours alone more donors than Perry / more cash than Cain got in a quarter. His reply? "Oh, bless your heart. You actually think he can win."

:confused:

[mczerone]

NOW, after a chain of retweets, a lot are getting to learn that Ron Paul is proposing cutting all foreign aid, including aid to Israel, all the way to zero.

So the replies I'm getting are more like: Wow, we like this guy, but now we're SURE he can't win, because "everyone knows" that candidates who go up against the Jewish lobby don't make it the White House.

I actually told one of them that Ron Paul got in the last 24 hours alone more donors than Perry / more cash than Cain got in a quarter. His reply? "Oh, bless your heart. You actually think he can win."

:confused:

It's not about picking the "winner". If I wanted to play that game, I'd go throw some money on Romney on Intrade.

It's about being honest with yourself, and showing the establishment that Ron is the ONLY candidate that comes close to reflecting our beliefs about what D.C. Should be doing.

Besides, the only thing preventing Ron from winning is popular support - and try as they might, the establishment doesn't hold the monopoly on people's minds anymore.

[wgadget]

Ron Paul needs to make an ANTI-CYNICAL, PRO-OPTIMISTIC-FOR-AMERICA commercial...a la Ronald Reagan.

The antidote to political apathy/depression=voting for President Ron Paul.