TheGrinch
02-20-2012, 06:26 PM
Mods can move if they feel this isn't relevant to directly relevant to grassroots (or maybe it can stay here for others to post their stories of conversions?). But I just had to share 2 RP conversions recently that I never expected.
First, for years I've gone back and forth with my brother, and the disagreement was similar to that we face from many conservative-minded voters: foreign policy. In his mind, the threat of terrorism was very real, whereas I've long taken a view, of which I don't have to explain my government mistrust to most of you.
Even jsut a few weeks ago after he'd agreed to throw his soft support behind Dr. Paul (for domestic budgetary reasons), we still argued about Syria, where he still seemed to take the view that we should be the world's policemen, even as we're broke.
But from the seeds that have been planted with all of these discussions, evidently he did the research and the light bulb finally went on. He has now agreed to go with me to meet-ups, delegate meetings, rallies, and do whatever he can, and seems to understand the stakes here. It's been so truly unexpected that I'm filled with joy he was open-minded enough to form his own opinion, when he was far tougher to crack than even my parents.
Next, last night I got to see a friend of mine who just got back from serving 7 months in Afghanistan. I mean, if my brother was "pro-military", he certainly takes it to another level. If you'd tried to talk to him about Paul even a year ago, he would have laughed in your face. So I asked him, "Are things getting any better over there?", to which he replied they're probably never going to get better. Then came the suggestion I expected to be shot down: "then vote for Ron Paul", I said.
He didn't seem taken aback by the question at all (an indication to me that he'd been educated about him, not something this guy was known for, as I know from the term papers in college he paid me to write for him), and said that he agreed with 90% of what Paul says, and also that he thinks Iran and Israel just need to dook it out themselves, so I really don't believe FP was one of things he disagreed with him on. So in other words, another person imn the military that doesn't see any point in us being over there.
We stopped there as I didn't want to bug my old friend about politics when he just got back from a warzone, but the fact that he was as open about about a guy he never would have thought of voting for in the past, is just one more indication that we're winning.
We do still face a tough road ahead at winning hearts and minds, and quickly with primaries looming. It may be impossible to help those see who don't want to see, but make no mistake, we're winning, and with every one it's someone that much less likely to go back to the establishment hacks.
The moral of the story here being that support can pop up out of the most unlikely places, so don't ever feel like someone's a lost cause. They'll see when they're ready to see, but if you find common ground first and plant the seed for the parts they don't immediately agree with, they just might surprise you one day...
First, for years I've gone back and forth with my brother, and the disagreement was similar to that we face from many conservative-minded voters: foreign policy. In his mind, the threat of terrorism was very real, whereas I've long taken a view, of which I don't have to explain my government mistrust to most of you.
Even jsut a few weeks ago after he'd agreed to throw his soft support behind Dr. Paul (for domestic budgetary reasons), we still argued about Syria, where he still seemed to take the view that we should be the world's policemen, even as we're broke.
But from the seeds that have been planted with all of these discussions, evidently he did the research and the light bulb finally went on. He has now agreed to go with me to meet-ups, delegate meetings, rallies, and do whatever he can, and seems to understand the stakes here. It's been so truly unexpected that I'm filled with joy he was open-minded enough to form his own opinion, when he was far tougher to crack than even my parents.
Next, last night I got to see a friend of mine who just got back from serving 7 months in Afghanistan. I mean, if my brother was "pro-military", he certainly takes it to another level. If you'd tried to talk to him about Paul even a year ago, he would have laughed in your face. So I asked him, "Are things getting any better over there?", to which he replied they're probably never going to get better. Then came the suggestion I expected to be shot down: "then vote for Ron Paul", I said.
He didn't seem taken aback by the question at all (an indication to me that he'd been educated about him, not something this guy was known for, as I know from the term papers in college he paid me to write for him), and said that he agreed with 90% of what Paul says, and also that he thinks Iran and Israel just need to dook it out themselves, so I really don't believe FP was one of things he disagreed with him on. So in other words, another person imn the military that doesn't see any point in us being over there.
We stopped there as I didn't want to bug my old friend about politics when he just got back from a warzone, but the fact that he was as open about about a guy he never would have thought of voting for in the past, is just one more indication that we're winning.
We do still face a tough road ahead at winning hearts and minds, and quickly with primaries looming. It may be impossible to help those see who don't want to see, but make no mistake, we're winning, and with every one it's someone that much less likely to go back to the establishment hacks.
The moral of the story here being that support can pop up out of the most unlikely places, so don't ever feel like someone's a lost cause. They'll see when they're ready to see, but if you find common ground first and plant the seed for the parts they don't immediately agree with, they just might surprise you one day...