Get some perspective, people.

[affa]

We just witnessed a tremendous event. The military industrial complex, after years of anti-liberty, pro-war propaganda and disinformation, just launched a multi-prong full scale assault on Ron Paul. They pulled no punches, with both the 'left' and 'right' taking non-stop pot shots for weeks. At the same time, they manufactured a completely paper thin Santorum 'surge', perfectly timed and executed to give those looking for a anti-Romney vote (wink wink) something to do.

This media assault was unlike anything anyone has ever seen in modern political history. This isn't to say there haven't been strong propaganda attacks before; there most certainly have -- but nothing so heavy handed, nothing so coordinated. They overplayed their hand to a ridiculous degree. There will be books written about this election cycle.

Now, they managed to pull out a 'win' in the end. Right? Except they didn't. And they know it. They lost. Because in spite of this massive assault on Ron Paul, we stood firm. We pulled over 20 percent of the vote in Iowa. We were only a couple thousand votes off first and second, in a state of over 3 million people, with only 122k of those people voting (about 4 percent of the population voting). And that's with a full on smear campaign. That's with a manufactured Santorum surge. That's with donations from individuals, not corporations. That's despite ridiculously biased coverage.

Remember what we just witnessed -- 30,000 were convinced to vote for a Candidate with about a week or two of media blitz. These surges were plotted - Bachman to Perry to Cain to Gingrich to Paul to Santorum to hide the only real, honest surge - Ron Paul - in the numbers. They recast our story into their narrative. They are very, very good at this. Advertising (perception manipulation), is, after all, a billion dollar industry. I can already tell you what their next step will be: convince us that we lost. Don't let them.

Get some perspective. Nobody said this was going to be easy. This is huge. We weathered the storm. We took their punches, and we still put forth an excellent showing. We can win this.

Get yer fight on, because we aren't going anywhere.

For thematic support:

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

[akterence]

That video is funny...I never thought I would see F.A. Hayek rapping...

[GunnyFreedom]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to affa again.

[BuddyRey]

I admit...I shed some bitter tears of pure rage and hatred last night against the media and their worthless puppet candidates. But waking up with a clearer head, and reading about all the delegates we won, I think I just might feel more positively amped than ever. We've had a taste of how it would feel to lose the whole race, and I think in the end, it's going to galvanize us go into NH with far more drive and energy, and less complacency.

No matter what happened in Iowa, or what happens in NH onward, this revolution is just getting warmed up!

[Andrew76]

THIS:

"Now, they managed to pull out a 'win' in the end. Right? Except they didn't. And they know it. They lost. Because in spite of this massive assault on Ron Paul, we stood firm. We pulled over 20 percent of the vote in Iowa. We were only a couple thousand votes off first and second, in a state of over 3 million people, with only 122k of those people voting (about 4 percent of the population voting). And that's with a full on smear campaign. That's with a manufactured Santorum surge. That's with donations from individuals, not corporations. That's despite ridiculously biased coverage."

As someone who struggled throught the last election cycle with Ron Paul, this result in Iowa is positively massive. That might be easy to write off as me tryin to make good of a bad situation, but I promise it's not. It's been said a million times, and it will be said a million times more but this is just a battle, not the war. Progress, over the long haul (for Ron Paul, going back the last 30+ years) has been nothing but positive. Slow? Sure, but positive none the less. Make no mistake, things are moving in the right direction. Romney? Santorum? Please.

[ItsTime]

http://www.businessinsider.com/ron-paul-winner-iowa-caucuses-strategy-201201

[Mini-Me]

I was looking for a lolcats image to the effect of, "Perspective: U Haz It." I may have failed, but we did not. :) Perspective is critical, and if you take a step back so you can see yesterday (January 2008) and today (January 2012) at the same time, it should become clear that we have a lot of excitement to look forward to in the coming weeks, months, and years.

[anaconda]

Keep a couple of things in mind:

1) Presidents often didn't win Iowa

2) This year's "winners" had the lowest percentages in the history of the Iowa Caucuses.

[The_Ruffneck]

we just need to come second in iowa and establish ourselves as the most prominent anti romney candidate

[GunnyFreedom]

I was looking for a lolcats image to the effect of, "Perspective: U Haz It." I may have failed, but we did not. :) Perspective is critical, and if you take a step back so you can see yesterday (January 2008) and today (January 2012) at the same time, it should become clear that we have a lot of excitement to look forward to in the coming weeks, months, and years.

Not exactly what you were asking for but...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-372Wqm0OVDc/Tv0_S17VGLI/AAAAAAAAGT0/msH7NNDeNNE/w347/8ecde210jw1dojctvs9rcg.gif

[Liberty Shark]

I think everyone needs to understand that this time around with the proportional delegate distribution, Dr. Paul probably got as many delegates in Iowa last night as he would have even if he got 1st place. Of course 1st place would have been the best situation, but remember its really about delegates. Also, the media microscope and scrutiny should shift to Santorum and Romney. Gingrich will likely go ballistic crazy against Romney for the next week leading into NH, and also Santorum will be battling with Romney. This could leave an opening for Dr. Paul to win in NH, or at least place a strong second. And that's even more delegates.
I think this contest is far from over, and I see no less of a chance of Dr. Paul winning today than I did yesterday. Remember, if Dr. Paul did win Iowa in terms of votes, the media would have really gone on the attack, along with the other candidates for the entire week leading into NH. Perhaps a week of the media going back to ignoring Dr. Paul will actually be a positive instead of the non-stop attacks and smears. Remember, this time around it is about delegates. Later in this race there will be more caucuses which Dr. Paul could get very large victories and thereby run-up the score in terms of delegates. As long as a good proportion of delegates are won in unfavorable states, such as Florida, and then run-up the score in favorable places such as Idaho, Montana, Dakotas, in order to make up the difference then this is still winnable.
And then don't forget about the two wild-card states - Texas and California. I think Dr. Paul could do VERY well in Texas, and that is a delegate treasure chest. This thing is far from over, and very winnable.

[LawnWake]

Delegates are important, but what's more important are future delegates. The media built up our Iowa win for a month, then in the last two weeks smeared us into oblivion and started pushing Santorum through an inaccurate poll. And if Palin wasn't obvious enough; gay hating, racist, murderous theocratic dictators just aren't gonna win you general elections, no matter what most of the GOP's actual voters like to believe.

This is why Iowa win would've mattered. It's about creating the perception that we can win a state, because once we've created the perception, the reality that Ron Paul has a chance to win more states and the general would be seen as a 'reality'.

Our third place finish here only solidified the media created perception that people already have; Ron Paul's got great groundgame and organization and a passionate, young fanbase, but not enough to actually win. Sure he's within striking distance of Romney and Santorum, but he didn't win, period.

Negative rep me all you want for being a negative Nancy, I don't care. But this wasn't just about delegates, this was 75% a marketing device. And not coming in first is gonna lose us votes in primaries and lose us future delegates.

I'm not saying it's over, but this was huge setback.

[CaptainAmerica]

we just witnessed a revolution.

RON PAUL TOOK 48 PERCENT OF THE INDEPENDENT VOTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BuddyRey]

This deserves a bump!

[bunklocoempire]

Although it'd be way cool to come in 1st, I'm starting to think coming in 2nd & 37/64ths with 76% of the left-handed vote in counties

with 2 or more seafood restaurants with 3 or more combo platters listed on the right side of the menus

would've been ideal....
















It's a joke. :) Love those 'independent' stats!! Woot! Thank you Dr. Paul!!!

[dante]

I think everyone needs to understand that this time around with the proportional delegate distribution, Dr. Paul probably got as many delegates in Iowa last night as he would have even if he got 1st place. Of course 1st place would have been the best situation, but remember its really about delegates. Also, the media microscope and scrutiny should shift to Santorum and Romney. Gingrich will likely go ballistic crazy against Romney for the next week leading into NH, and also Santorum will be battling with Romney. This could leave an opening for Dr. Paul to win in NH, or at least place a strong second. And that's even more delegates.
I think this contest is far from over, and I see no less of a chance of Dr. Paul winning today than I did yesterday. Remember, if Dr. Paul did win Iowa in terms of votes, the media would have really gone on the attack, along with the other candidates for the entire week leading into NH. Perhaps a week of the media going back to ignoring Dr. Paul will actually be a positive instead of the non-stop attacks and smears. Remember, this time around it is about delegates. Later in this race there will be more caucuses which Dr. Paul could get very large victories and thereby run-up the score in terms of delegates. As long as a good proportion of delegates are won in unfavorable states, such as Florida, and then run-up the score in favorable places such as Idaho, Montana, Dakotas, in order to make up the difference then this is still winnable.
And then don't forget about the two wild-card states - Texas and California. I think Dr. Paul could do VERY well in Texas, and that is a delegate treasure chest. This thing is far from over, and very winnable.

Exactly. Newt will attack Romney all week. Bachmann and Perry will attack Santorum. Paul will continue to grow his support. If Paul can finish 2nd in NH and SC the anti-Romney voters will come to him from Newt / Santorum.

[pacelli]

Not exactly what you were asking for but...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-372Wqm0OVDc/Tv0_S17VGLI/AAAAAAAAGT0/msH7NNDeNNE/w347/8ecde210jw1dojctvs9rcg.gif

I love it.

[affa]

This is why Iowa win would've mattered. It's about creating the perception that we can win a state, because once we've created the perception, the reality that Ron Paul has a chance to win more states and the general would be seen as a 'reality'.

Our third place finish here only solidified the media created perception that people already have; Ron Paul's got great groundgame and organization and a passionate, young fanbase, but not enough to actually win. Sure he's within striking distance of Romney and Santorum, but he didn't win, period.

I'm not saying it's over, but this was huge setback.

No.

Here's what you're missing: no matter WHAT happened last night, the media had a gameplan for it. If Ron Paul won Iowa, then Iowa didn't count. Do you see how fast that entire meme went down the memory hole? They'd much prefer we disperse, and that's why I can almost guarantee the next push will be to try to sell us that he lost and can't recover - they'll circle their horses round the 'top two', then vet and destroy Santorum, and serve up Romney for defeat.

But now that we're in a comfortable third, the media has accidentally dug itself a little hole - they can't talk too much about Ron Paul, or else it means he did well and is still in the game. But let me tell you something -- if they couldn't shake us with the best produced and most foul smelling smear campaign in modern political history... they aren't going to shake us with some negativity or by attempting to ignore us. Heck, I don't even like Palin but I'll give her credit where credit is due - her little 'don't marginalize Ron Paul supporters' speech is dead on - she recognizes this isn't over.

In fact, nothing is further from the truth. We are in this to win this.

Give it a few days for people to settle down, and the only people that think a few thousand votes in Iowa matter are those that are so tuned into the mainstream media message that breaking them free will be next to impossible anyway. Anyone on the fence about Paul sees a strong third and understands that means he's an option. And Santorum isn't lasting, which means we're still sitting pretty.

[RDM]

AFFA...I wish I could give you double Rep for two great posts. You are 1,000% right in your analysis. I was trying to figure out a way to make the same post but you did it for me and much better than I could write it.

[DonovanJames]

...But now that we're in a comfortable third, the media has accidentally dug itself a little hole - they can't talk too much about Ron Paul, or else it means he did well and is still in the game. "

This. We can atleast be out of the eye of the MSM scrutiny for a little while until the debates on Saturday where the obvious intellect of Dr. Paul radiates. Alot of people saw his post count speech last night on CNN it was full to its entirety and probably the longest he's been able to talk on MSM without being interupted for the last month.. combined.. The closing statements were very strong and I think resonated with alot of people. But that might be through my dreamy dumblove eyes.

New Hampshire is independant. Santorum will be exposed and Ron Paul won't have to lift a finger to do this. Newt has a vandetta with ole Mittens at this point aswell.

With this being said

WHEN'S THE NEXT HISTORY MAKING MONEY BOMB

[FreeTraveler]

+Rep. Well said.

[Ekrub]

Thank you. In another thread I pointed out how the doom and gloom after the Ames straw poll was unfounded, and how a second place finish and a media blackout brought a ton of exposure to Ron. Winning Iowa would have been great, but our showing gives me hope. Regardless of whether or not Ron wins the election, we are winning the true battle for the hearts and minds. I still think we can win this thing though. Santorum doesn't have the power to go forward and is the second weakest candidate to go up vs Paul and Romney. This is going to be a long drawn out battle and I for one welcome that fight. Liberty isn't going to be won in one election and anybody telling themselves that is the case is kidding themselves. I will continue with a positive attitude going forward and Ibthink we should all do the same. Ron had sacrificed too much for us to hang our heads because we lost a single state by 3000 votes.

[georgiaboy]

+rep, absolutely nailed it. huge, huge, moment for this campaign and the movement. top tier.

can't say that we're basement dwelling internet spammers anymore. we're legit. and a huge chunk of the voting electorate. and growing with or without the media's support.

Gird up!


St. Crispen's Day Speech
William Shakespeare, 1599

Enter the KING

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

[hueylong]

Yes. Real. Good. Stuff.

[anaconda]

I think everyone needs to understand that this time around with the proportional delegate distribution, Dr. Paul probably got as many delegates in Iowa last night as he would have even if he got 1st place. Of course 1st place would have been the best situation, but remember its really about delegates. Also, the media microscope and scrutiny should shift to Santorum and Romney. Gingrich will likely go ballistic crazy against Romney for the next week leading into NH, and also Santorum will be battling with Romney. This could leave an opening for Dr. Paul to win in NH, or at least place a strong second. And that's even more delegates.
I think this contest is far from over, and I see no less of a chance of Dr. Paul winning today than I did yesterday. Remember, if Dr. Paul did win Iowa in terms of votes, the media would have really gone on the attack, along with the other candidates for the entire week leading into NH. Perhaps a week of the media going back to ignoring Dr. Paul will actually be a positive instead of the non-stop attacks and smears. Remember, this time around it is about delegates. Later in this race there will be more caucuses which Dr. Paul could get very large victories and thereby run-up the score in terms of delegates. As long as a good proportion of delegates are won in unfavorable states, such as Florida, and then run-up the score in favorable places such as Idaho, Montana, Dakotas, in order to make up the difference then this is still winnable.
And then don't forget about the two wild-card states - Texas and California. I think Dr. Paul could do VERY well in Texas, and that is a delegate treasure chest. This thing is far from over, and very winnable.

It occurs to me that Dr. Paul's close finish to the "winner" last night will work for him much in the same way that the Iowa Straw Poll did. Since he didn't "win" he will not catch all the flak or be ignored. And any credibility given to Mittens & Frothy also accrues to Dr. Paul implicitly, since he was within 3% of the "winners." This may indeed have been the best result.

[twomp]

Thank you. In another thread I pointed out how the doom and gloom after the Ames straw poll was unfounded, and how a second place finish and a media blackout brought a ton of exposure to Ron. Winning Iowa would have been great, but our showing gives me hope. Regardless of whether or not Ron wins the election, we are winning the true battle for the hearts and minds. I still think we can win this thing though. Santorum doesn't have the power to go forward and is the second weakest candidate to go up vs Paul and Romney. This is going to be a long drawn out battle and I for one welcome that fight. Liberty isn't going to be won in one election and anybody telling themselves that is the case is kidding themselves. I will continue with a positive attitude going forward and Ibthink we should all do the same. Ron had sacrificed too much for us to hang our heads because we lost a single state by 3000 votes.

You hit the nail on the head sir. I am here because of Jon Stewart's reporting on DR. Paul and being ignored after a second place finish. I have since convinced my family (4 members) and some of my friends (3) to vote for Dr. Paul here in the blue state of California. All I had to do was show them that video and the media bias sold them. I still have more work to do as most people around me don't care too much for politics at the moment. His second place finish was a blessing in disguise.

[affa]

That video is funny...I never thought I would see F.A. Hayek rapping...

welcome to the internetz.

[pacelli]

When the gator opens its mouth, the cat is not afraid. There is ONLY an attack instinct. Gator opens mouth--> Cat attacks.

Think about it.

I think it is time to go out and buy some more ammunition (metaphorically speaking of course).

[NC Liberty]

+ rep

[TheOnlyJustCause4505]

Nice post.

I was pissed last night, but I woke up today with this very same attitude. Romney really does have a ceiling. He could not even get more votes than in 2008 and there is no Huckabee and he is the frontrunner according to the MSM. Santorum is a joke and an independent repellant. Newt can be taken down as we've seen and he is starting to make an a** out of himself Bachman style.

We're on the right track and Im pleased with essentially a 3-way tie with all of the obstacles you listed.