Into the Wolves Den I go for Christmas Eve Party...

[coastie]

The in-laws, all Fox news disciples. Wife is wearing her RP shirt, I will be wearing mine and my RP beanie, signs are loaded into the car already.;) Her dad has already been convined n=by me that he will be voting for Rp, just gotta work on the rest of them. "Their" candidate dropped out already(Cain:rolleyes:).


Wish me luck, I'll need it.:o

[z9000]

deleted

[coastie]

Good luck man, I know what it's like. I gave my neocon father a RP constitution yesterday and he said he was voting for RP for my sake.


Yep-my dad came to me and said he and his wife voting for him! 20 year AF 'Nam, First Gulf War, Bosnia/Kosovo vet...

In-laws are all 'Nam vets.


ETA: My dad is not someone who researches on his own or uses the internet for anything other than to buy guns and ammo, so he made this decision purely on what he had seen at the debates.

[jsem]

Good luck :)

[Dorfsmith]

Good luck. I had an early Christmas a couple weeks ago with my wife's family. Same kind of situation. Overall it went well. We gave them autographed Tom Woods books for Christmas.

[rockandrollsouls]

I honestly feel it's bad taste to make a Christmas party politically charged like that. If someone "ambushed" me like that I probably wouldn't support their guy.

[Travlyr]

I honestly feel it's bad taste to make a Christmas party politically charged like that. If someone "ambushed" me like that I probably wouldn't support their guy.

Beware of these Obama supporters: ProBlue33, newbitech, libertarian4321, Kade, Electronicmajji, SeanEdwards,


That's the problem today. Nobody wants to be honest.

BTW.. your signature line is dishonest, inappropriate, and against forum guidelines.

[Philosophy_of_Politics]

Honestly, go for it.

At this rate, we'll be lucky to celebrate Christmas next year. Unless of course, Ron Paul wins.

[InTradePro]

The in-laws, all Fox news disciples. Wife is wearing her RP shirt, I will be wearing mine and my RP beanie, signs are loaded into the car already.;) Her dad has already been convined n=by me that he will be voting for Rp, just gotta work on the rest of them. "Their" candidate dropped out already(Cain:rolleyes:).


Wish me luck, I'll need it.:o

Good sign they where supporting Cain.
Wouldn't be to pushy, nice just to wear the shirt and see if it sparks conversation. No on likes to have anything pushed at them. So be friendly and humble like Dr Paul.

[rockandrollsouls]

It's my personal opinion Christmas is not the appropriate forum to engage in political debate.

Also, fuck yourself. All of those members dropped and supported Obama.


That's the problem today. Nobody wants to be honest.

BTW.. your signature line is dishonest, inappropriate, and against forum guidelines.

[specsaregood]

What a great idea. I'm gonna have to don my RP gear for tonights 7-fish dinner!

[mstrmac1]

Happens every year for me... Except this year I will have a little help.

[sailingaway]

Yeah, I have one of those to go to as well. I'll probably avoid politics, because it gets intense and gives bystanders indigestion, I suspect. They know where I stand, and we all know where my pro-Obama sister stands, regardless of facts.

[jcarcinogen]

Good sign they where supporting Cain.
So be friendly and humble like Dr Paul.

Good advice.

[rockandrollsouls]

Thank you. It's common decency and basic tact to make holidays with the family politics-free. No one's going to your Christmas party to argue about politics. Especially if you're walking into someone's house that isn't your own....it's disrespectful.


Yeah, I have one of those to go to as well. I'll probably avoid politics, because it gets intense and gives bystanders indigestion, I suspect. They know where I stand, and we all know where my pro-Obama sister stands, regardless of facts.

[coastie]

I honestly feel it's bad taste to make a Christmas party politically charged like that. If someone "ambushed" me like that I probably wouldn't support their guy.


Not ambushing anybody there, they are well aware of where I stand, and besides: I'll let them bring him up, someone always does when I wear the shirt.;)

Off I go now, I'll post back results later.


Especially if you're walking into someone's house that isn't your own....it's disrespectful.


Thanks for the advice on how to handle my own family.:rolleyes:

[lx43]

Be brave my friend! lol

[surf]

politics and x-mas shouldn't really go together if there is any potential confrontation... but i plan on returning from mother's house with a few precinct caucus delegates for RP (perhaps as many as 6, and when you consider that each delegate can be the equivalent of 150 - 250 votes or more....) - and they all voted proudly for Obama - except for the one that voted for McWar.

merry christmas everyone.

[ghengis86]

The holidays are a great time to talk politics!! Just keep it light-hearted, smile and be humble and not condescending. Just drop mini truth bombs.

"I see your man Ron Paul is leading in Iowa. Too bad he's too old/will never win/has crazy foreign policy/etc."

"yeah, grandpa I saw that too. It's nice that conservatives have finally identified the one candidate that didn't support TARP/wants to bring our troops home to protect America's borders/wants to audit the fed/has been married 50+ years to the same women/is an Air Force veteran/gets the mist money from the military/etc/etc.

He's catching on, I'm telling ya!"

Just let the other people bring it up, they always do (at least with me). Keep it light and DO NOT try to argue; point out facts and leave it at that. It's great to see people trying to justify what they heard on Fox or from Rush when you point out the truth ("Iran wants to kill Jews? Then why do t they start with the 30,000 in their country, who can worship in synagogues, observe traditions and even get a seat in their version of parliament? Don't get me wrong, it ain't the holy land, but they aren't being massacred")

I just deflect and point out facts until the other person changes the subject. It usually only takes a few truth bombs before their mind enters Bad Command or File Name territory!

Good luck, keep it light, have fun and most of all remember that we're all on this planet together!

[Wickwire]

I ate dinner with the in-laws last night, both Fox News regurgitaters. I avoided the topic of politics for most of the meal, but, toward the end, my wife just couldn't help herself. She brought up Ron Paul, which triggered a stream of Fox News talking points from my father-in-law. First the newsletters, then "I like a lot of what he says, but shutting down all of our military bases and being an isolationist is just crazy", followed by, and this one was new to me, "he also has an enormous ego".

We were eating with them in order to reveal the name of our first child, so I didn't want to ruin the evening by schooling my father-in-law. However, I couldn't let the isolationist thing go. I said, "Based on Fox News' definition of isolationist, anyone who isn't bombing other countries and setting up military bases around the world is an isolationist nation. Ron Paul's policy is one of nonintervention.(you guys know the rest of that point...) Once I was finished, crickets... I followed up with, "Would you consider Canada to be isolationist? Switzerland?" There was a long pause and then, "Well, those newsletters really raise some questions." I set him straight on that as well. The "having a huge ego" line wasn't worth my time. If someone is so ill-informed that they think Ron Paul has a huge ego, then I've got better things to do.

The good news is that, as devoted as they are to their Fox News masters, both of my in-laws said that they would vote for Ron Paul if he won the Republican nomination. It bothers me though that the Fox News disciples seem more interested in being viewed as part of the "in crowd" than being informed. I thought that ended in high school, but my in-laws are 50+ years old. Now that they are supporting their 4th candidate in about as many months, you would think that they would start to question Fox News a little bit, but, sadly, they are as devoted as ever. Ron Paul definitely has more patience for people like this than I do.

[Eric21ND]

I honestly feel it's bad taste to make a Christmas party politically charged like that. If someone "ambushed" me like that I probably wouldn't support their guy.
Noted. Now move along.

[airborne373]

Needless to say, "Peace on Earth" will not be a priority for many self proclaimed Christians this Christmas. Now just who is waging a War on Christmas?

[Adrock]

The in-laws, all Fox news disciples. Wife is wearing her RP shirt, I will be wearing mine and my RP beanie, signs are loaded into the car already.;) Her dad has already been convined n=by me that he will be voting for Rp, just gotta work on the rest of them. "Their" candidate dropped out already(Cain:rolleyes:).


Wish me luck, I'll need it.:o

A thought on how to address the "newsletters" issue if they bring it up. If they were Cain supporters they probably liked that he was an outsider. Many old Cain supporters I know were generally pissed on how the media and the establishment treated him. Explaining the issue and then talking about how the establishment is trying to tear down Paul because he is an outsider may be a good position. Through in a sympathetic line on how they really treated Cain unfairly.

[rockandrollsouls]

Funny how the only thing you say in this thread is a quote to my post. Don't have anything to contribute aside from starting an argument with me? :rolleyes:

Christmas and politics don't mix. I know I don't want to remember one of my Christmas' as an argument with family members over politics, and most of them don't want that, either.


Noted. Now move along.

[Brian4Liberty]

At the Obama/Maddow dominated Party, we all agree about how bad the GOP establishment is. At the neo-con/Newt party, we talk about the Democrats. Then you can point out at each party were Ron Paul overlaps them... ;)

[icon124]

bought a few Liberty Defined books for the older relatives who still get all of their news from the television LOL

I have already converted most of the family...working on the older folks tonight and tomorrow with gifts.

I start with the freedom and liberty stuff...make them agree...and then go into which candidates support it

[TomtheTinker]

The christmas eve wolves den..I relate to that. Tis the season.

[KCIndy]

The in-laws, all Fox news disciples. Wife is wearing her RP shirt, I will be wearing mine and my RP beanie, signs are loaded into the car already.;) Her dad has already been convined n=by me that he will be voting for Rp, just gotta work on the rest of them. "Their" candidate dropped out already(Cain:rolleyes:).


Wish me luck, I'll need it.:o


Good luck, Coastie!

Hang in there, and don't let the fussing ruin the dessert! :D

[bizz]

Im also heading into the neocon jungle for Christmas. The good news is most of my family were big Cain supporters and hate Mittens. So there is hope for them jumping on the RP train.

[69360]

Just a little data. Ron polls 13% nationally now., If every RP supporter converted just one family member over Christmas, Ron would have 26% nationally and take the lead in national polls. That's how easily this could snowball.

[shadowhooch]

I honestly feel it's bad taste to make a Christmas party politically charged like that. If someone "ambushed" me like that I probably wouldn't support their guy.

You think that is innappropriate? I distributed Ron Paul stuff to my family at the end of a funeral reception.
Ron Paul is like diahrea....I just can't hold it back.:D

[Karsten]

I hear you. For me it's the liberal wolves den.

[DealzOnWheelz]

ROTMFFLMAO^

[Brian4Liberty]

You think that is innappropriate? I distributed Ron Paul stuff to my family at the end of a funeral reception.
Ron Paul is like diahrea....I just can't hold it back.:D

Lol, better watch out, Google may quote you on their news page!

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Good luck celebrating Christmas without liberty. Every day is a day to spread the message, and especially to family and friends. No one wants to be bothered with partisan shit, which is something to avoid, but the message, the ideas, the philosophy needs to spread at every moment in every day. You think Thomas Paine took a day off? Patrick Henry? No.

[GeorgiaAvenger]

Step 1: Convert them to Fox business

[Brian4Liberty]

Step 1: Convert them to Fox business

That really has helped in some cases!

[coastie]

He shoots...he SCORES.

8 more votes for Ron Paul in Florida!!!!!!!!!

They brought it up because of my shirt, like I said.4 were already on the wagon, after my father in law and I got through with them, everyone is now down for the cause.



WOOOOOHOOOOOO

[Liber Team]

Family is important, don't sacrifice them for Ron Paul

[coastie]

Family is important, don't sacrifice them for Ron Paul

You must not have read the post above you.

I was actually surprised there 4 already voting for him(I had no idea). Everyone was in agreement the country will be screwed without him.

I wasn't remotely worried about anything going "bad", but was pleasantly surprised it went so damn well. Well, I'm off again, although this time the house I am going to will be FULL(20+) of Ron Paul peeps.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

my entire family is voting for Ron Paul :) Last year and this year. They usually don't vote but, "if it makes you feel better." :D

[jsem]

YEHHHHHH

[rockandrollsouls]

Nice to see someone in agreement with me. Leave the politics alone for one day of the 365...family is important. Take the day to enjoy their company instead of preaching to them. Do that on New Years or something.


Family is important, don't sacrifice them for Ron Paul

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Nice to see someone in agreement with me. Leave the politics alone for one day of the 365...family is important. Take the day to enjoy their company instead of preaching to them. Do that on New Years or something.

Why should a subject be shunned? If you feel passionate about something and not merely hostile / partisan, then why should you not broach something so important to you, to your family? If you cannot share these passions, knowledge, and considerations to your family, then there is a major problem. In early American life politics and philosophy was something to be talked about, debated, and held to a very high esteem to be discussed with family, friends, congregations, and strangers. It was and is a spirit sorely missing in our time. Too trepid, intimidated, or made to feel like it has no place, though it is the most important subject one can talk and discuss. Without LIBERTY and FREEDOM there is no family unit, there is no peace, and there is no civilization all things dear and near.

Evangelize and bring forth information, knowledge, courtious and rational debate. It is healthy and very badly needed.

[Eric21ND]

bought a few Liberty Defined books for the older relatives who still get all of their news from the television LOL

I have already converted most of the family...working on the older folks tonight and tomorrow with gifts.

I start with the freedom and liberty stuff...make them agree...and then go into which candidates support it
I like how you think.

[nbhadja]

I have converted my entire family to ron paul voters (total of 3 others). But also I have converted my friend and her mother (possible more of her family), my best friend and his dad (probably his mom as well), another friend, another friend and his brother his mom and his dad, and also i have just started targeting others so it should add to the list including one chinese friend of mine. All of them are FLorida citizens. I have a few out of state ones I will convert as well mainly cousins and their spouses.

Also I have a friend I am mad at and I might let her off the hook if she agrees to vote Ron Paul in the Florida primary.

[coastie]

Nice to see someone in agreement with me. Leave the politics alone for one day of the 365...family is important. Take the day to enjoy their company instead of preaching to them. Do that on New Years or something.


...and that's obviously the only reason you posted in here, gimme a break. Did you not read that I came out of the deal with 4 more supporters(and cemented the 4 already on the fence), therefore blowing your cowardly suggestion out of the water?

Go start your own thread on why everyone should shut the fuck up on Christmas...The government isn't taking a break in trying to destroy our freedoms, why should we?

[coastie]

Why should a subject be shunned? If you feel passionate about something and not merely hostile / partisan, then why should you not broach something so important to you, to your family? If you cannot share these passions, knowledge, and considerations to your family, then there is a major problem. In early American life politics and philosophy was something to be talked about, debated, and held to a very high esteem to be discussed with family, friends, congregations, and strangers. It was and is a spirit sorely missing in our time. Too trepid, intimidated, or made to feel like it has no place, though it is the most important subject one can talk and discuss. Without LIBERTY and FREEDOM there is no family unit, there is no peace, and there is no civilization all things dear and near.

Evangelize and bring forth information, knowledge, courtious and rational debate. It is healthy and very badly needed.

+1000 thank you.

[speciallyblend]

+1000 thank you.

awesome news.

[KCIndy]

He shoots...he SCORES.

8 more votes for Ron Paul in Florida!!!!!!!!!

They brought it up because of my shirt, like I said.4 were already on the wagon, after my father in law and I got through with them, everyone is now down for the cause.



WOOOOOHOOOOOO


Fantastic job, man!! :D

You deserve more +Reps than we can give you here!

[nbhadja]

I have found that the older people are much more set in their ways and harder to convert. I just target the younger people. Often times the children will then convert their parents.

[JK/SEA]

My daughter is visting her fiance's family this weekend, and she just texted asking if Ron Paul is a socialist. Obviously she's discussing politics with his family and someone must have asked or stated he was...my answer..hell no!...geez...give me strength.

[dskalkowski]

My daughter is visting her fiance's family this weekend, and she just texted asking if Ron Paul is a socialist. Obviously she's discussing politics with his family and someone must have asked or stated he was...my answer..hell no!...geez...give me strength.

LOL, I would have said the same thing!

[Revolution9]

Funny how the only thing you say in this thread is a quote to my post.

Why use more words than needed?

Rev9

[Oklahoman]

I bought my entire neo-con family Ron Paul authored books for Christmas.....no joke.

I've already handed out over a dozen copies of "Revolution: A Manifesto"

:)

[Crickett]

You think that is innappropriate? I distributed Ron Paul stuff to my family at the end of a funeral reception.
Ron Paul is like diahrea....I just can't hold it back.:D

hahahah..I loved how good intentioned people were telling the OP how to handle his own family. I am sure your family is advising each other on handling you. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
WT stand for your beliefs..Of course, I have never been known for my tact, either..

[Crickett]

Kudos, Coastie..I hope it sticks! They need videos! :)

[coastie]

Kudos, Coastie..I hope it sticks! They need videos! :)

It stuck, there's another thread on it.;)

[affa]

It's my personal opinion Christmas is not the appropriate forum to engage in political debate.

Not all families are like yours.

[Emmitt2222]

It can be quite the touchy subject, but if you see an opportunity, I think it should be taken. I wore my RP hoodie to a Christmas dinner party at a neighbor's house. My mom groaned before we left the house and I just laughed. It ended up that it elicited a whole bunch of responses and became a great conversation piece. Mostly people who seemed to like his ideas.

At Christmas Eve stuff tonight, somehow it came up with my Dad and he started to become very upset almost immediately so we dropped it quickly and changed the subject. Some of my other relatives talked about it a little bit and I feel like I planted some seeds and now they are more aware of a few things. Although my sister and mom are on board, I am working to get them 100% committed to the cause and we had long conversations during car rides today that I think did wonders.

We should never throw blanket statements around that you should never talk politics at holidays or that RP should be talked about all the time. There are times and places for everything and if you see any opportunity to spread the Liberty message without stepping on toes, I say go for it!

I wasn't able to convert the masses like coastie (way to go!), but I am getting better at delivering the message myself and am planting the seeds that I hope will flourish. Keep on working wonders people!

[muh_roads]

I have the opposite problem. My family are huge flaming liberals. They agree with Ron on a lot of stuff. I've pretty much got them worked down to greatly considering Paul if he won the nomination. They really don't want to participate in the caucuses. The pro-life thing really bothers them and they don't want to be around "those type of people". But they do hate Obama enough that Paul would probably be their choice in a general election.

[specsaregood]

So I walked in this evening wearing my RP shirt into the room with the inlaws. And the first thing my Uncle in law says is, "they sure are giving your boy a hard time with that racist stuff, you'd think they'd lay off since there is a black racist in the white house."

Not much more discussion after that except all of them saying they'd vote for RP over Romney...

[Michigan11]

So I walked in this evening wearing my RP shirt into the room with the inlaws. And the first thing my Uncle in law says is, "they sure are giving your boy a hard time with that racist stuff, you'd think they'd lay off since there is a black racist in the white house."

Not much more discussion after that except all of them saying they'd vote for RP over Romney...


I hear ya, I was talking to some repub freinds that were as I call them On the Fence, and they were talking about the Iowa Governor, and were making jokes, like "nothing to see here folks". Man I tell you what, we are right where we want to be right now.

[KingRobbStark]

Showing off confidence will go a long way in converting others to the cause. Confidence is key. People will listen to someone who appears to be certain in what he is saying.

[kusok]

Going in armed with the Constitution and Ron Paulness is a walk in the park. Nobody stands a chance in any sort of a debate or an argument. Converted 4 people today. Easily. A Romney supporter was stunned that Mittens dodged draft twice and spent Vietnam war in a French palace, he asked me if Ron Paul served... I answered, in detail. Sold!

Next I had 2 democrats who like Hilary... A quick chat on key issues, and they were scratching their heads and asking about Ron Paul.

The only drawback I noticed is that media smear is definitely getting thru, people don't believe it, but they heard it, so I do support the effort to get something organized out there on TV and/or radio to counter it. Most people simply have ZERO objective detailed info on Ron Paul and facts, THAT is why people don't support him more. For this reason I also support the brochure. I think that NET will be positive, I know we will lose some veterans, blah blah blah, but fact is, most people don't know ANYTHING about Ron paul other then what CNN tells them, and once people get some basics down, they become Ron paul supporters in my experience with a 100% success ratio. So far nobody I showed a brochure to disagreed with anything, everyone was surprised and interested once they started reading.

[Sweman]

We were eating with them in order to reveal the name of our first child, so I didn't want to ruin the evening by schooling my father-in-law.
His name shall be Ernest! :)