Dary
11-14-2007, 04:33 PM
Ron Paul won the UNF mock convention straw poll today.
The convention was a two day event with the first day consisting of select high school students from around the Jacksonville area having a chance to interact with all of the candidates campaigns. They also attended class like seminars on how the political process is conducted.
The second day consisted of more interaction with the different campaigns and then there were presentations, speeches by representatives and question and answer sessions followed by voting.
I’d say that there were roughly 1000 students in attendance. Students could vote for both democrats and republicans. Today, prior to lunch they voted for their democratic preference and then after lunch they voted for their republican preference.
The Ron Paul table was definitely the most attractive table out of all the candidates. We had buttons, signs, slim jims, trifolds, tee shirts, business cards, constitutions, bumper stickers, revolution banners, the statement of faith, a giant sized Ron Paul mosiac, a giant sized Ron Paul portrait, American flags, Ron Paul coffee cups, and the issues list.
We also had a multi-media presentation in the form of 2 9 inch video monitors hooked into a portable DVD player with a few of the YouTube videos looping. We also had a note book computer parked on the Ron Paul 2008 web site.
During lunch today we made sure that every student stopping by our table left with an official cardboard Ron Paul sign so that they could wave it in the convention.
We had a bull horn that we used very, very sparingly but it was really really effective. Every now and again you’d hear a blast from the bull horn with a positive Ron Paul message going out over it.
I don’t have the official numbers but the results were:
1. Ron Paul
2. Rudy
3. Hucky
1. Obama
2. Hillary
3. Dodd
I don’t mean to be mean when I say this but the other candidate’s displays were really lame. The Fred table had nothing but oval stickers that said Fred 08 and a small Fred sign. That’s it. The Hucky table had some paper signs maybe 4 at most and some copier printed handouts, but that was it. The Romney and Rudy tables were a little bit better in that they had some lit. At most there were 2 representatives at the other candidate’s tables but we had no less then 5 at any given time.
The Rudy table wasn’t even staffed on the first day, and there was no McCain table at all.
The energy level at the Paul table was so high. The other candidate’s representatives spent most of their time at our table talking with us. I definitely sensed a sense of envy from them and maybe even an air of defeat.
When the results were announced the crowd went wild and I still haven’t come down yet.
Ok, Ok, I know that it was only high school students and all, but some of them will be of voting age in November. Hopefully we will get some free press out of this too. I’m watching the news now though I didn’t see any news cameras there, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any and I’m sure we will get a mention in the Times Union tomorrow. We will also be able to pump this up at the next republican executive committee meeting.
The biggest benefit of all though was definitely for the students. They got the opportunity to hear the message of freedom and hopefully this experience will have a positive influence on them in the years to come.
Pics and vids to follow.
The convention was a two day event with the first day consisting of select high school students from around the Jacksonville area having a chance to interact with all of the candidates campaigns. They also attended class like seminars on how the political process is conducted.
The second day consisted of more interaction with the different campaigns and then there were presentations, speeches by representatives and question and answer sessions followed by voting.
I’d say that there were roughly 1000 students in attendance. Students could vote for both democrats and republicans. Today, prior to lunch they voted for their democratic preference and then after lunch they voted for their republican preference.
The Ron Paul table was definitely the most attractive table out of all the candidates. We had buttons, signs, slim jims, trifolds, tee shirts, business cards, constitutions, bumper stickers, revolution banners, the statement of faith, a giant sized Ron Paul mosiac, a giant sized Ron Paul portrait, American flags, Ron Paul coffee cups, and the issues list.
We also had a multi-media presentation in the form of 2 9 inch video monitors hooked into a portable DVD player with a few of the YouTube videos looping. We also had a note book computer parked on the Ron Paul 2008 web site.
During lunch today we made sure that every student stopping by our table left with an official cardboard Ron Paul sign so that they could wave it in the convention.
We had a bull horn that we used very, very sparingly but it was really really effective. Every now and again you’d hear a blast from the bull horn with a positive Ron Paul message going out over it.
I don’t have the official numbers but the results were:
1. Ron Paul
2. Rudy
3. Hucky
1. Obama
2. Hillary
3. Dodd
I don’t mean to be mean when I say this but the other candidate’s displays were really lame. The Fred table had nothing but oval stickers that said Fred 08 and a small Fred sign. That’s it. The Hucky table had some paper signs maybe 4 at most and some copier printed handouts, but that was it. The Romney and Rudy tables were a little bit better in that they had some lit. At most there were 2 representatives at the other candidate’s tables but we had no less then 5 at any given time.
The Rudy table wasn’t even staffed on the first day, and there was no McCain table at all.
The energy level at the Paul table was so high. The other candidate’s representatives spent most of their time at our table talking with us. I definitely sensed a sense of envy from them and maybe even an air of defeat.
When the results were announced the crowd went wild and I still haven’t come down yet.
Ok, Ok, I know that it was only high school students and all, but some of them will be of voting age in November. Hopefully we will get some free press out of this too. I’m watching the news now though I didn’t see any news cameras there, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any and I’m sure we will get a mention in the Times Union tomorrow. We will also be able to pump this up at the next republican executive committee meeting.
The biggest benefit of all though was definitely for the students. They got the opportunity to hear the message of freedom and hopefully this experience will have a positive influence on them in the years to come.
Pics and vids to follow.