Wanted: ideas for guy who wants to donate $100,000 towards RP

[jj111]

I was emailed that a venture capitalist wants ideas as to best way to use $100,000 of his own money to support Ron. Please list some ideas (and links if possible to the ideas).
Thanks.

[Ron LOL]

Give it to me. I'm an engineer. I'll design and build some sparkly signs for distribution to meetup groups :)

[NOLA]

Target Christian Conservatives.

[KewlRonduderules]

Donate to a PAC and put money toward a newspaper ad

[roversaurus]

Get an independently produced commercial for radio or TV and
put it on the air. There are several that already exists.
The ones from Operation New Hampshire are good.

The ad with the music and colored cards is good.

[Stealth4]

can he give us ~$800 for teaparty07 ads? :)

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=37783&highlight=chipin

[walt]

provide legal support for the delegates

[UtahApocalypse]

give some to any of the chip-ins, get ads out all over.

[kylejack]

Advertising seems to be the best way to spend right now. I would recommend running the newspaper ad we built, full page, in major metropolitan areas on either November 21st or on the weekend before December 16th. USA Today is covered already for 11.21.

[Energy]

Support fair elections

Advertising (newspapers, magazines, direct mail) - Focus on early primaries (IA, NH)

Help get endorsements

[Ninja Homer]

Professionally produced high quality DVD. Grassroots can easily handle reproduction/distribution.

[Geronimo]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/FAQ.html) and get more boots on the ground in NH.

[aspiringconstitutionalist]

Have him offer to provide free transportation and lodging to anyone who, from now on, signs up as a delegate to the national convention wherever needed.

Any left over money toward independent advertising for RP.

[freedominnumbers]

I'd recommend running television and radio spots. Monday night football on ESPN and Monday night Raw on USA. We need to figure out a creative commercial to run during Spongebob.

[Mark Rushmore]

Find another 50 grand and buy www.ronpaul.com then forward it to www.RonPaulIsHope.com.

[NewEnd]

provide legal support for the delegates

Or for people threatened with charges/fees over signs.

With a $100,000 lawyer fund as back up, most cities will probably back down. This is a great, and legal idea.

[Lord Xar]

Pick one or two areas and run a ad campaign as such..
For instance, if you wanted to hit Des Monies Iowa, or Flordia, or Los Angeles etc..

So, NC is sorta needing some hammering and perhaps Iowa, or Mabye even Nevada.

Then either go all in with one city, or go two cities. I would consider hitting the big markets so that the buzz flows outwards.

55/35/10

55K into tv ads
35K into radio ads
10K mailers (or phone banks. I have an in at 1.4 Cents per completed call. <-- that is like 750,000 potential voters reached for 10K)

Do this for 2-3 weeks.

[TheConstitutionLives]

I say spread it out to a whole bunch of different things. Don't put all your eggs in the same basket. Diversify! I'm sure he's familiar with that term.

[Copperhed51]

Bribe people in his area to vote for Ron Paul. Tell them he'll give them $100 each if they vote for him in the primaries. Nah, I don't really know the best way...some amazingly extravagant event that tons of people would see would be neat. Like a helicopter hovering over a city with lots of loud speakers and a huge screen underneath it to play Ron Paul youtube videos or something.

[Richandler]

If he's from the Bay Area is he the owner of a company? If so an endorsement would be mighty nice. Also local commercials in Iowa or SC would help out a bit. Even local commercials the Bay Area would be awesome, simply because his name recognition needs to go up around the country as a whole.

[weatherbill]

Buy a gazzillion 18" X 24" signs. Hire 3-4 people to work 8-10 hour days placing them up and down all of america's highways and busy intersections.....RP signs everywhere will get his name on many people's heads big! Either that or, hire some peeps to drive in their cars from mail box to mail box, flering many republican type neighborhood in many cities and towns....
I have the time and I can do it!

Or he can spend it all in california and win the 173 electorial votes of CA for ROn PAul. That would be a huge impact

[Man from La Mancha]

Add it to the USA Today ad and maybe get a discount to run 3 ads. Repetition is the key.



http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/9435/blackwsmallyh7.gif (teaparty07.com)..http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8947/brighton7gs5.gif (teaparty07.com)..copy,paste,linked to teaparty07.com , either one, only 1 million people at $100

[Conza88]

I would say no to money for tv ads and all that.

Love the idea about legal support!!! - Help out the guy with the liberty dollars, if he needs it!

Support the delegates!

[Indy Vidual]

Seed money for a huge weekend music festival (indoor or outdoor depends on location) held in a state with an open primary.

Starring:

Jimmy Vaughn (spelling?) - He is a famous musician and freedom fighter.

Santana (We need the pro-peace votes)

...and many other acts depending on prices and availability.

Please :D

[weatherbill]

TV and radio spot adds are not as effecting IMO as signs everywhere.......... you will get alot more out of signs and flyers on mail boxes than on radio

[hawkeyenick]

use it to bus in romney supporters in iowa...i mean paul supporters in iowa

OR have the anti-war committee here in iowa city (university of iowa) have a freedom fest with live music and pro-paul propaganda!
There aren't enough supporters here, we are hoping to get them in tomorrow at the tail gate with paul, but turnout isn't looking so good with the break starting today.

[LibertyEagle]

Pick one or two areas and run a ad campaign as such..
For instance, if you wanted to hit Des Monies Iowa, or Flordia, or Los Angeles etc..

55/35/10

55K into tv ads
35K into radio ads
10K mailers

Sounds good to me. Is 10K enough for mailers, however? If you're talking about the 12 page booklet that the campaign has, it's about 75 cents each, isn't it? After we pay for that, we still have to pay for the postage. 10K wouldn't even cover a small town.

If I'm right on the costs here, I would suggest to just split it between TV ads and radio ads. But, besides the campaign radio ads, I still haven't heard any that are worth running.

[freedominnumbers]

You've changed my mind. 50K 18x24 signs would probably be the best method.

I will personally hang 100 of em.

[RoamZero]

Tv/Radio advertising seems too expensive to really make an impact with just 100,000 IMO, I may be wrong though. I wonder if a telemarketing campaign in Iowa and NH would do better? Remember a lot of the polls only do landline right? See if we can't get to the same people that polling agencies are getting too.

Another idea would be to do a GIANT church canvas on a Sunday. Pay some people to go out to as many churches as possible in Iowa and NH and as people exit respectfully give out campaign material (geared toward church going crowd, maybe a message to contact religious leaders)

[Mark Rushmore]

Seed money for a huge weekend music festival (indoor or outdoor depends on location) held in a state with an open primary.

Starring:

Jimmy Vaughn (spelling?) - He is a famous musician and freedom fighter.

Santana (We need the pro-peace votes)

...and many other acts depending on prices and availability.

Please :D

Some version or form of this sounds good.

[LibertyEagle]

TV and radio spot adds are not as effecting IMO as signs everywhere.......... you will get alot more out of signs and flyers on mail boxes than on radio

The one bit of advice that Pat Buchanan had for Ron Paul's campaign, was to use a lot of radio. People who listen to talk radio, VOTE. These are the people who are engaged and will vote in the primary.

[ksuguy]

A big ad campaign in movie theatres. With that kind of dough, he could cover hundreds of theatres.

[Avalon]

1. Attack ads in key states that do not mention Ron Paul (or come from a PAC/person that can in any way be associated with Ron Paul).
2. Find grassroots volunteers who you have confidence in and who have sunk lots of their money into the campaign and gift them up to $12k, knowing they'll spend it wisely (as they have before). A few k should buy the granny warriers all the gas and repairs they might need for the next two months.
3. Something to force multiply other efforts. For instance, you could create a custom branded Liber Tea and ship boxes to all major metropolitan meetups for them to distribute all around the city on the 15th and 16th (along with a liberty card, etc). The tea packets should probably be individually sealed with an advertisement for the 16th and RP on the package.
4. Rent some cheap places for NH volunteers to live who've come from out of state to canvass.

[PeacePlan]

Rent 30 or 40 billboards in Iowa and New Hampshire..

[Trassin]

Ads that target Christian Conservatives and Social Security recipients.

[ifthenwouldi]

Target Christian Conservatives.

Agreed, but how?

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

Donate to the Granny Warriors! (http://www.grannywarriors.com/)

Donate to the Ron Paul Riders! (http://www.ronpaulriders.com/help.html)

Take care of all the Chipins and PACs (http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html)

Donate to Ron Paul Nevada (http://nevada4ronpaul.com/)

Best ideas I think. These guys know what their doing.

http://www.grannywarriors.com/newbanner.jpg
http://www.grannywarriors.com/capitolfront.jpg

These people work hard!

[Lord Xar]

Remember, 100K is alot but it is not alot to advertise on a national level.

You cannot spread it too thin else the effectiveness would be minimal.

Concentrate. You have 100K. Where are you gonna drive that pin home?

I would pick between 2 states that needs either the most help OR has the potential to be big for Ron.

I say... Either Nevada, SC or Iowa.

I would ixnay on the mailers and put the 10K into phone banks.

ala.

55K t.v. ads
35K radio ads
10K phone banks (1.4cents per completed call)

You could flip the radio/tv depending on pricing and the market.

[Ninja Homer]

200,000 12-page bio books
http://www.ronpaul2008store.com/servlet/Detail?no=44

Distribute them in key areas via meetup groups.

[Ozwest]

Produce quality dvd's and direct mail them to targeted groups in early primary states.

[Richandler]

Let me just add that signs will not have a huge impact. People need to see Pauls face and be able to recognize him if they saw him on TV. We need face exposure!

[DealzOnWheelz]

You could do 200,000 anonymous cash donations of $50....


LOL

[NewEnd]

Let me just add that signs will not have a huge impact. People need to see Pauls face and be able to recognize him if they saw him on TV. We need face exposure!


:rolleyes:

[82ndVET4RP]

Buy ads in CA to give Rudy a run for his money. California would bring big delegates and it loves freedom freindly ideas. ie..... Medical marijuana. That topic would bring out the young voters.

[DealzOnWheelz]

Let me just add that signs will not have a huge impact. People need to see Pauls face and be able to recognize him if they saw him on TV. We need face exposure!

They have yard signs with Rons face on it

[Mark Rushmore]

Start a "Liberty Brewing" themed microbrewery and pump out Ron Paul named beers. Ron Paul Constitution Ale, Ron Paul Peacetime Porter, Ron Paul Liberty Stout (these names are merely designed to be illustrative of a concept ;)). You could perpetuate it over the long term as it's a legit. business, all the hardworking volunteers can enjoy the fruits of the investment ;), it gets his name out there, and I'm SURE it's good for at least some cable news coverage.

[SeanEdwards]

I'd suggest underwriting a crash effort to get Ron Paul supporters integrated into the republican party as delegates. I think the rules for doing this are obscure, and people could use help in making this happen.

[mmarcman22]

You might want to ask Ron Paul himself to avoid any legal issues in the future.

[Tidewise]

Best idea so far.


You might want to ask Ron Paul himself to avoid any legal issues in the future.

Hi mmarman22, welcome to the forums. However, please refrain from cowering from "legal issues" that you don't understand. Read the first amendment and be empowered.

[Matt]

Mosaic ad, full page color, New York Times

[kylejack]

No television, let the campaign handle that. Too pricy for 100K.

[max]

LEVERAGE!!!!


Use the 100K for yet another FULL PAGE ad in USA Today... EXPLICITLY promoting the Boston Tea Party..and pushing teaparty07.com..


great exposure and raises money at same time....

$100,000 turns into 1,000,000 + + +

[Leslie Webb]

Contribute to Operation Live Free or Die

[jesshwarren]

American Family Radio. This is a group that needs to hear the Ron Paul news QUICK!!!!

Run Ron Paul Adds.

[Starks]

I was emailed that a venture capitalist wants ideas as to best way to use $100,000 of his own money to support Ron. Please list some ideas (and links if possible to the ideas).
Thanks.

Distribute the wealth and allow people to donate it by proxy. </Socialism>

[Ninja Homer]

Best idea so far.

It's a good idea, but first there needs to be video produced to run on the infomercial. Yes, there are some grassroots DVD's, but so far I haven't seen any that would be usable on TV. They can't have any copyrighted material on them such as CNN or Fox logos. Also, I haven't seen any that use DVD quality footage, and you usually need better than DVD quality to run on TV.

[mmarcman22]

Lot's of viewing audience for those two events!

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

Donate to the Granny Warriors! (http://www.grannywarriors.com/)

Donate to the Ron Paul Riders! (http://www.ronpaulriders.com/help.html)

Take care of all the Chipins and PACs (http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html)

Donate to Ron Paul Nevada (http://nevada4ronpaul.com/)

Best ideas I think. These guys know what their doing.

[terryp]

Donate yard signs, someone said they were looking for an RV for Dr. Paul to
travel in.

[born2drv]

Let him $2300 in $50 gold coins to Paul ;)

$2300 in $50 Gold Eagles = 46 coins, or $800/oz x 46=$36,800

Donate the other $63k to PACs

[Menthol Patch]

What about spending the money to hold a massive rally somewhere on Dec. 16th?

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

Donate to the Granny Warriors! (http://www.grannywarriors.com/)

Donate to the Ron Paul Riders! (http://www.ronpaulriders.com/help.html)

Take care of all the Chipins and PACs (http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html)

Donate to Ron Paul Nevada (http://nevada4ronpaul.com/)

Best ideas I think. These guys know what their doing.

[Nathan Hale]

I was emailed that a venture capitalist wants ideas as to best way to use $100,000 of his own money to support Ron. Please list some ideas (and links if possible to the ideas).
Thanks.

The Ron Paul Graphs site lists several dozen chipins to fund independent Ron Paul promotions around the country. He can give his $2,300 to the campaign (plus $2,300 for his spouse), and then max out every RP chipin he can find.

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

The guy gave up his Google job to do this. Its the least we can do do is support him in getting Ron Paul the win in NH.
Its one of the most important primaries in the election.

[ClayTrainor]

i'd say he should buy as much advertising as he can, in niche's that we have yet to tap into... like videogames for example.

In Xbox Live for xbox360 they always have ads for bands, and games and whatnot on the screen... i imagine a Ron Paul ad would get ALOT of attention on there... and that's just one example of thousands we can take advantage of!

[born2drv]

What about spending the money to hold a massive rally somewhere on Dec. 16th?

That's not a bad idea either.

Shoot with a $100,000 you could get really creative. A massive Billboard ad buy in NH all over the place would be really cool.

You could also do targeted mailings.... like a booklet about Ron Paul to every small business owner in NH, IA, etc... or a booklet to every elderly registered republican talking about what conservatives used to be all about, how ron paul will stop spending and protect social security for the retired while letting young people opt out, etc.

[82ndVET4RP]

i'd say he should buy as much advertising as he can, in niche's that we have yet to tap into... like videogames for example.

In Xbox Live for xbox360 they always have ads for bands, and games and whatnot on the screen... i imagine a Ron Paul ad would get ALOT of attention on there... and that's just one example of thousands we can take advantage of!


Have the ad linked to a Ron Paul video. That would get a ton of views.

[francisco]

Purchase massive numbers of yard signs and make them available in quantity to meetup groups at half cost. Latter point is essential--meetup supporters must pay something themselves to have a stake in the operation.

Get the yard signs legally placed on every supporters' home and on private land adjoining highways across the land. Make it impossible for anyone to have not heard about Ron Paul!

[Cindy]

All towards infomercials in Iowa.

and or Or, mass mailing of RP DVDs to registered Republicans in Iowa.

People who hear and see him speak at length on the issues seem to be the most easily converted. I think it is mostly because, when you hear Ron from Ron, you can see he is not a phoney or stupid. He is genuine and brilliant and it comes through pretty readily when he is given some time to speak at length on the issues.

We need him to come in the top 3 in Iowa!!! Dump it into Iowa whatever you advise him to do with it.

[born2drv]

and or Or, mass mailing of RP DVDs to registered Republicans in Iowa.


Very good idea as well.... especially for people aged 40+ who may not use the internet as much.

[ClayTrainor]

Very good idea as well.... especially for people aged 40+ who may not use the internet as much.

yes, i like that idea alot as well... anything that spreads the message is good.

100k can do alot of good for this campaign, and who is this guy? i wanna thank him for putting such a large chunk of change up for our man!

[Bradley in DC]

I know of an underfunded think tank with the people who could spell out how Dr. Paul's agenda would actually work in the real world and why we'd be better off implementing it if only we had the resources to do it.

[mmarcman22]

Use thee money to raise additional money to do bigger advertising

[hawkeyenick]

Operation live free or die needs money + chipins is the correct answer

plus, im sure you can donate for your kids and other relatives to the max as well

[DrNoZone]

Fund some people to go out and gather signatures in those states we're struggling for ballot access!

[DrNoZone]

Give some of it as a donation to LewRockwell.com who has been a HUGE support for Ron Paul. Last weekend alone they had 4 SOLID articles about Paul; and there's usually 1-2 on any given day of the week coming from them. They gave up their tax exempt status specifically so they could support Ron Paul for Prez.

[DrNoZone]

Buy up a bunch of those really nice 12 page color booklets introducing Paul that just went on sale at the campaign store and mail them to voters in NH and IA.

[BrianH]

A friend of mine was called by someone with a similar question. I suggested have them have friends fill out all the chipins at Ronpaulgraphs.com for starters. Some more are listed here: http://www.ronpaulinternational.com/

Iowa really needs ramping up with PR now and I suggest supporting projects the meetup groups have going.

[Paulitician]

I don't know, but it should be used primarily for these states: Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada. In that order.

[Alopederii]

I like the music festival idea, or infomercial.

What about flyovers at major sporting events between now and the primaries? It seemed to get good local news coverage. I'm not sure what the cost was, but you could probably buy a nice amount of flyovers for that money.

Maybe even throw in a flyover at one of Rudy's outdoor events.... I know that would be a waste, but it would be a fun waste! :D

[francisco]

I say spread it out to a whole bunch of different things. Don't put all your eggs in the same basket. Diversify! I'm sure he's familiar with that term.

Andrew Carnegie (founder of US Steel) said "put your your eggs all in one basket...and then Watch That Basket!"

Well known principle of warfare: concentration of force.

For $100K, I'd rather see a focused dedicated effort.

[James R]

I was emailed that a venture capitalist wants ideas as to best way to use $100,000 of his own money to support Ron. Please list some ideas (and links if possible to the ideas).
Thanks.


Have a get-the-word out event every Saturday until the funds are exhausted. Once a week, any meetup-group who wants can have a temporary worker that helps for up to four hours handing out Ron Paul information door-to-door, at a public place, college, library, etc. The catch is that the meetup group must match the donation so that they get two temp workers to help on that day. They can be hired using several of the big National temp firms like Manpower, Office Team, or Randstad. Meetup groups are required to match the donation so that they get two workers helping them. The worker is only allowed to help one time unless no others are available to make sure that we get the temp agencies them self to spread the word to many different employees.

If done correctly, 3,300 people would be well trained on Ron Paul. Most of these 3,300 will end up being Ron Paul supporters themself, and be sure to tell their friends/family. I think in-person impressions are far more valuable than conventional advertising which is why this is my favorite suggestion. This could also be done on a smaller scale, such as putting $30,000 on this idea and other money into other ideas.

The numbers: 4 hours of labor would cost $60. ($10 per hour for the worker, $5 per hour for the temp service). The meetups have to match the $60, so therefore $200,000 is spent to tell about 200,000 people in person about Ron Paul and hand them information on him in person. But the effect will be much greater because of the 3,300 who will for several weeks/months be Ron Paul experts in the time leading up to the primaries who can tell their friends/family about him. I don't think there is any way any other form of advertising could compete for this in terms of effectiveness per dollar spent. And on top of that it will inspire hundreds of meetup groups to provide hundreds of thousands of people (excluding the paid help) with Ron Paul information who otherwise would have not received any information.


Other ideas:
1. Contest format: Hold an advertising contest. The winners get their idea implimented. For example: 1st place gets a 50,000 budget. 2nd Place gets a 20,000 budget, and 3rd place gets a 10,000 budget. Honorary mentions split the remaining money.
2. Cherry-pick smaller exceptionally good deals in advertising. Try to advertise in areas that are already being advertised.
3. Spend the entire sum on one Ron Paul infomercial.

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

The guy gave up his Google job to do this. Its the least we can do do is support him in getting Ron Paul the win in NH.
Its one of the most important primaries in the election.

[Jmaths117]

Some form of advertising in Iowa, we are lacking there.

[piotr1]

Spend the money in New Hampshire to make sure we win the primary there!
Consider getting a billboard or something in NH.
Look into voting fraud, see if they might need support. Go Ron Paul!!

[Man from La Mancha]

Add it to the USA Today ad and maybe get a discount to run 3 ads. Repetition is the key.



http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/9435/blackwsmallyh7.gif (teaparty07.com)..http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8947/brighton7gs5.gif (teaparty07.com)..copy,paste,linked to teaparty07.com , either one, only 1 million people at $100


I still feel the money should be used in promoting the TeaParty and Ron at the same time and by going in on the present ad and some us contributing more we can get several USA today runs. Thus much more money for Ron.


.

[thegearbox]

Ron Paul needs money, but he needs votes more. I would give the money to a local shelter for the holidays. I know Paul needs the money, but we will take care of that. If you truly want to make a difference, go around to churches and give 1,000 each, then hand them a flyer and say it's from the grass roots campaign for Ron Paul.

[jake]

Seed money for a huge weekend music festival (indoor or outdoor depends on location) held in a state with an open primary.

Starring:

Jimmy Vaughn (spelling?) - He is a famous musician and freedom fighter.

Santana (We need the pro-peace votes)

...and many other acts depending on prices and availability.

Please :D

love this idea. LOVE it.!

[AdamT]

First go to http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html and finish off all the ChipIns. Then go to each of the PACs on the top of the page and donate the max $5000 to each.

Get billboards put up around key primary states.

One could blow through $100k pretty quick doing this, and the money would be put to very good use.

[bbachtung]

VERY IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON IOWA:

Host a giant festival / party geared toward college students set to begin one hour after voting at the caucuses in Iowa is over -- provide buses that will pick up at various caucus houses in the big college towns (the party is open to all who show up at Republican caucuses to support RP).

AND / OR

Offer $10,000 "scholarships" to the ten college students who get the most eligible caucus goers to show up and vote for Ron Paul on Iowa caucus night.

[Paul4Prez]

I would say a full-page ad in the New York Times. That becomes a media story in itself, and gets multiplied many times over.

The other option would be a national TV ad. You probably couldn't run it many times for $100K, but with the campaign targeting the early primary states, a national spot would be encouraging to supporters and strengthen the message that Ron Paul is a serious contender.

[foofighter20x]

Professionally produced high quality DVD. Grassroots can easily handle reproduction/distribution.

Why? That's just a waste...

Go to www.RonPaulDVD.com and get one of those...

[Austin]

provide legal support for the delegates

Yes, this would be wonderful. Although I hope you also meant to include financial support as well, because I don't think I will have enough money for the delegate fee, let alone the fee to join the party.

I already have my application filled out, just waiting for the first day I can turn it in...

[Ninja Homer]

Why? That's just a waste...

Go to www.RonPaulDVD.com and get one of those...

I strongly disagree.

I don't think a person could spend $100,000 to get a professionally produced video of Ron Paul done without violating some FEC regulations, but I'll explain why I think the campaign needs this anyway.

The potential uses of professionally produced video:

Infomercials. So far there isn't anything that can be used as an infomercial, and a lot of people like the idea of running them, because it takes more than a 30 or 60 second ad to get Ron Paul's ideas across.
Sell DVD's from the campaign store. They would probably make their money back on any production costs in a week, and anything beyond that would be profit.
Grassroots duplication of DVD's. DVD-R's are cheap, and anybody with a burner could make as many copies as they want.
Grassroots distribution of DVD's. It's easy to hand out DVD's, and most people who receive them will watch them. They are also pretty cheap to mail.
Show the DVD at home parties. Just invite people over, pop in the DVD, and get them signed up for meetups and/or take donations afterwards.
Grassroots custom DVD's. If we had high quality video to work with, it would be easy to make custom DVD's for specific events or areas.
TV commercials. Right now, it is VERY hard to find any non-copyrighted high quality video footage to work with to make airable TV commercials.
Discounted or even free DVD duplication. People in the past have said that they can duplicate (press) DVD's at a highly discounted rate, possibly even free, but they couldn't do it if the DVD had any copyrighted footage in it.


RonPaulDVD.com has a nicely formatted DVD, but its uses are very limited. It is basically 5 1/2 hours of YouTube or YouTube quality videos on one DVD. It's really great for Ron Paul supporters, but not so great for somebody who has never heard of Ron Paul.

What I want is a 45-60 minute video of Ron Paul, maybe behind a desk or in a chair in front of a fireplace. It would start out with introducing Ron Paul and his family briefly, then go over Ron Paul's bio, then maybe 15 minutes of Ron Paul explaining very candidly what the the most important issues are for him and what he plans to do to change them, then have somebody ask Ron Paul some questions on different issues for a while, then conclude with asking the viewer for their support and telling them what they can do to help.

Can you imagine the impact of a video like that? I can, which is why I think we need it so badly.

[AceNZ]

If it was my money, I would want to leverage it. Enabling other supporters who have time but not enough money could be a very effective approach. I would also stay away from areas that the campaign is focused on, like TV and radio.

How about this: send $5000 to the 4 largest meetups in each of the first 5 primary states (20 meetups total), and let them spend it in the optimal way for their area.

[Lord Xar]

or you could run 5 weeks of full page ads in the Des Moines Tribune..... each ad on a satu/sun - for highest viewership.

Each week focuses on an aspect of Ron Paul...
Ie.. Immigration, anti-war, sound money etc....

You will have about 25K left after this... a ton of radio ads on religious stations and music stations... OR tv ads.

[MsDoodahs]

Infomercial, because it has the capacity to reach the demographic we are NOT reaching: older voters who aren't online.

These voters need to hear Ron's positions explained to them.

[Elijah]

Something VIRAL and something in New Hampshire and Iowa. That's it.

Change your thinking.

Now what that is I don't know but it should be as VIRAL as possible.



.

[hatefalseweight]

Contact a veterans against the war group and send them to Iowa and New Hampshire ... contact that Vijay guy who's getting the 1000 people together for New Hampshire volunteering ... but I think Iowa is the best spot ... we need to beat one of the neocons down there at least, but maybe we can still do ok in NH with a 6th place in Iowa

[Elijah]

I strongly disagree.

I don't think a person could spend $100,000 to get a professionally produced video of Ron Paul done without violating some FEC regulations, but I'll explain why I think the campaign needs this anyway.

The potential uses of professionally produced video:

Infomercials. So far there isn't anything that can be used as an infomercial, and a lot of people like the idea of running them, because it takes more than a 30 or 60 second ad to get Ron Paul's ideas across.
Sell DVD's from the campaign store. They would probably make their money back on any production costs in a week, and anything beyond that would be profit.
Grassroots duplication of DVD's. DVD-R's are cheap, and anybody with a burner could make as many copies as they want.
Grassroots distribution of DVD's. It's easy to hand out DVD's, and most people who receive them will watch them. They are also pretty cheap to mail.
Show the DVD at home parties. Just invite people over, pop in the DVD, and get them signed up for meetups and/or take donations afterwards.
Grassroots custom DVD's. If we had high quality video to work with, it would be easy to make custom DVD's for specific events or areas.
TV commercials. Right now, it is VERY hard to find any non-copyrighted high quality video footage to work with to make airable TV commercials.
Discounted or even free DVD duplication. People in the past have said that they can duplicate (press) DVD's at a highly discounted rate, possibly even free, but they couldn't do it if the DVD had any copyrighted footage in it.


RonPaulDVD.com has a nicely formatted DVD, but its uses are very limited. It is basically 5 1/2 hours of YouTube or YouTube quality videos on one DVD. It's really great for Ron Paul supporters, but not so great for somebody who has never heard of Ron Paul.

What I want is a 45-60 minute video of Ron Paul, maybe behind a desk or in a chair in front of a fireplace. It would start out with introducing Ron Paul and his family briefly, then go over Ron Paul's bio, then maybe 15 minutes of Ron Paul explaining very candidly what the the most important issues are for him and what he plans to do to change them, then have somebody ask Ron Paul some questions on different issues for a while, then conclude with asking the viewer for their support and telling them what they can do to help.

Can you imagine the impact of a video like that? I can, which is why I think we need it so badly.

My thoughts exactly! The DVD'S available are very low quality.

[sroll2237]

Lots of ideas here:

http://www.ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html

[lastnymleft]

It should be spent on a Wall Street Journal ad, based on personal endorsements from Finance guys.

Both the USA Today, and Wall Street Journal have a circulation of about 2 Million. The New York Times has only about 1M (though it reaches a disproportionately high proportion of influential people).

llepard should really have bought a WSJ ad, instead of the USA Today ad. The USA Today ad should have been bought by the low-end grassroots people. Then, on the bottom of the ad, it could have had "This ad has been paid for by 5235 grassroots supporters of Ron Paul chipping-in".

The WSJ needs someone with money (hence llepard would have been good for it, but this new guy would be good, too) to front up, and contribute not just their money, but their NAME. Other money-people need to think that, "hey, here's a Harvard graduate (eg llepard) backing Ron Paul, therefore Ron Paul can't be *that* kooky".


"Hi, I'm John Citizen, Managing Partner at Such & Such Venture Capital. [Photo of him] And here's why I support Ron Paul:

...
Focus on finance/economy/money aspects of RP's campaign.
...
Some quotes from various other MONEY/FINANCE guys that support either RP, or his policies, with photos of each of them beside their statements.
...

etcetera."

Money guys need to know that it is OK to back RP, and the best way to do that is via personal endorsement. Everything these guys do is via their own trust network. They may not know *that* guy, but they'll know someone that worked with him, or studied with him, or similar.

Having the Big End of town on board will make things a LOT easier. Apart from the obvious education and voter grabbing aspects, as with the USA Today ad, with Money on board, the MSM won't poo-poo his ideas any more, he'll get more airtime, and the campaign donations will start rolling in from the big end of town, and they'll all be $2300 ones, making for a far greater ROI than anywhere else. They only have one vote, but if they can carry the burden of 23 average donors, why not grab them?

[Austin]

1) Focus on advertising in early primary states

2) Provide financial support for those aiming to be delegates, as they are the key to winning.

[CurtisLow]

Do a mass mailing in N.H. and Iowa with all RP slim jims.

[Suzu]

Produce quality dvd's and direct mail them to targeted groups in early primary states.

IMO this is the best idea, provided the DVDs are good ones - and I have yet to see a truly good one.

[wisconsinite]

The 2 best ideas I think are:

1) Full page ad in a nationally distributed newspaper, such as the Wall Street Journal or NY Times.

or

2) Multiple full page ads run in one or more major Iowa newspapers spread out over a couple weeks, emphasising his positions on National Defense and Taxes. + radio spots placed during talk shows that get a lot of Christian listeners.

[literatim]

An advertisement is a bunch of gun and hunting magazines as was suggested in this thread (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=38258).

[leonster]

The 2 best ideas I think are:

1) Full page ad in a nationally distributed newspaper, such as the Wall Street Journal or NY Times.

or

2) Multiple full page ads run in one or more major Iowa newspapers spread out over a couple weeks, emphasising his positions on National Defense and Taxes. + radio spots placed during talk shows that get a lot of Christian listeners.

I like the idea in another thread about gun magazines, too. As a lifelong Republican, trust me--guns are a big issue for rural Republicans (Iowa... New Hampshire.... pretty rural, you know). That, and a big-name endorsement in the Wall Street Journal, would be my two choices.

[Ozwest]

Get the 30 second picture card commercial with the CCR music to air.

[Eric21ND]

VERY IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON IOWA:

Host a giant festival / party geared toward college students set to begin one hour after voting at the caucuses in Iowa is over -- provide buses that will pick up at various caucus houses in the big college towns (the party is open to all who show up at Republican caucuses to support RP).

AND / OR

Offer $10,000 "scholarships" to the ten college students who get the most eligible caucus goers to show up and vote for Ron Paul on Iowa caucus night.

Yes great ideas here! :) We need to plan some Ron Paul caucus parties. Give away some door prizes as a little added effort to get people out there. Pour this into Iowa. Someone said you could have 4-5 such places set up around the state. You would get so many people out with a concentrated effort. This wouldn't even cost that much. We could give away some TVs for dorm rooms, mp3 players, anything. I like the idea of offering a "scholarship" as well. These are really awesome ideas.

I would go all in for Iowa and some chip in efforts.

[Eric21ND]

This entire thread has a great ideas, it's tough to choose only a few. I think we REALLY need to buck up our effort in Iowa like pronto. I also like the idea of running ads in Iowa's big papers highlighting Ron Paul's stances on issues. Especially immigration!

My meetup group might carter a bus down there to help campaign, but we're lacking materials at the moment.

[parocks]

I strongly disagree.

I don't think a person could spend $100,000 to get a professionally produced video of Ron Paul done without violating some FEC regulations, but I'll explain why I think the campaign needs this anyway.

The potential uses of professionally produced video:

Infomercials. So far there isn't anything that can be used as an infomercial, and a lot of people like the idea of running them, because it takes more than a 30 or 60 second ad to get Ron Paul's ideas across.
Sell DVD's from the campaign store. They would probably make their money back on any production costs in a week, and anything beyond that would be profit.
Grassroots duplication of DVD's. DVD-R's are cheap, and anybody with a burner could make as many copies as they want.
Grassroots distribution of DVD's. It's easy to hand out DVD's, and most people who receive them will watch them. They are also pretty cheap to mail.
Show the DVD at home parties. Just invite people over, pop in the DVD, and get them signed up for meetups and/or take donations afterwards.
Grassroots custom DVD's. If we had high quality video to work with, it would be easy to make custom DVD's for specific events or areas.
TV commercials. Right now, it is VERY hard to find any non-copyrighted high quality video footage to work with to make airable TV commercials.
Discounted or even free DVD duplication. People in the past have said that they can duplicate (press) DVD's at a highly discounted rate, possibly even free, but they couldn't do it if the DVD had any copyrighted footage in it.


RonPaulDVD.com has a nicely formatted DVD, but its uses are very limited. It is basically 5 1/2 hours of YouTube or YouTube quality videos on one DVD. It's really great for Ron Paul supporters, but not so great for somebody who has never heard of Ron Paul.

What I want is a 45-60 minute video of Ron Paul, maybe behind a desk or in a chair in front of a fireplace. It would start out with introducing Ron Paul and his family briefly, then go over Ron Paul's bio, then maybe 15 minutes of Ron Paul explaining very candidly what the the most important issues are for him and what he plans to do to change them, then have somebody ask Ron Paul some questions on different issues for a while, then conclude with asking the viewer for their support and telling them what they can do to help.

Can you imagine the impact of a video like that? I can, which is why I think we need it so badly.



We need a DVD. Slick DVDs cost like 50 cents to manufacture in bulk. That's 200k DVDs. The canvassers in NH should always be handing out DVDs.

[Voice]

We need some lawyers.

[Cal Mabus]

If an individual has maxed out at $2300.00 / $4600.00 (married) and has another $100,000 to donate, should he spend it on promoting a candidate, that would violate FEC donation rules and would have to be reported and recored by the campaign as a donation. My question is, what happens when some one has donated more than the maximum? Does the campaign have to give it back? Are they fined? 20 lashes and media coverage? Does the GOP take it?

So as the max is set as it is, and giving it to other individuals to donate is even disallowed. The only real legal way to utilize it is to find various PACs that can then donate it directly to the campaign or put it to good use for their local campaigning plans, or a combination of both. But how could a person donating... say $5,000 to 20 PACs be assured the money would be used as intended? this would have to be a trust issue I guess? But I'm sure the donater could work closely with the particular PACs chosen to ensure money is spent properly.

I would ask for all PACs for Ron Paul to list themselves on a PAC page here in the forums and contact info. Then contact them and see how you could work with them.

If Media coverage is the most important thing right now, I would select PACs whom could most effect the states with the most electoral votes. If these states are too large to really get good coverage then perhaps targeting all the smaller states would be wiser. I think I read it takes 290 votes to win the nomination, correct me if wrong. Thanks. I would start with the electoral vote. Then work my way forward starting with the early primaries 1st.

You would need to decide where to focus 1st, then what medium, or combination of media. Discuss this with PACs as a group.

We have gotten a couple of TV news reports so far here in Springfield Illinois, Not so much for RP but for we are doing to promote RP by breaking sign ordinances with over sized signs. Yet even this would not have been reported on had not the city pursued issuing citations, of which the media knew about their actions before we ever received notices. But I must say, there was not to much notice of the TV evening news reports... untill this last uproar by the city to proceed with legal proceedings and the local news paper plastered our Ron Paul signs on the front page of our local news paper...WOW the whole city know knows about, perhaps not RP's campaign message yet, but certainly about the signs and the messages they present which is getting people to look into RP more seriously. The buzz from the paper article spawned into 2 more TV stations to report.... now on a 1st amendment issue and possible suit against the city for civil liberty violations against free speech & expression and Supreme Court case law for signage on personal property being upheld by the constitution... And the media loves to show off the signs. Finally free advertising and Central Illinois is taking notice.

We have a billboard sized sign 8' tall x 16' wide the city also hates not mention over-sized banners they are picking on. Find an unconstitutional city ordinance to break. Get free coverage, then spend the money with them later. (My choice at this point - Newspapers)

We are particularly finding out rural communities are still dead to RP. But a couple of dozen small revolution signs on their main streets light poles and a few stacks of slim jims at the local bars are getting distributed. These small towns get revolutionized in one day... every on knows everyone. Remember they are still at the "Who is Ron Paul" stage.

Here in Illinois, Chicago & surrounding county Dems have always been a problem for downstate Illinois. Win Chicago and we win the state.

Good Luck!

[RTsquared]

(Not sure whether this should go in the Gun Magazine thread or the $100K thread, so I'm going to post it in both places)

Thinking a little outside the box here...I do not believe the NRA has officially endorsed a candidate, have they?

If they haven't, and they have provided their membership list to another candidate (that's the ONLY reason I can imagine I got a Fred08 2A Advisory Council mailer), then they should be required to provide their membership list to any candidate that requests it...right?

I think Gun Owner slim jim mailouts to NRA members in early primary states could be extremely effective.

Thoughts?

[LibertyEagle]

First go to http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html and finish off all the ChipIns. Then go to each of the PACs on the top of the page and donate the max $5000 to each.

Get billboards put up around key primary states.

One could blow through $100k pretty quick doing this, and the money would be put to very good use.

Not all of these Chipins have been verified, have they? For all we know, someone just set one up and is pocketing the money.

If the people are known, that is another thing entirely. That is not the case however, with all of those Chip-ins.

[LibertyEagle]

I think Gun Owner slim jim mailouts to NRA members in early primary states could be extremely effective.

Thoughts?

That's a good idea, if we could get the mailing list cheaply. Gun Owners' of America too.

[LibertyEagle]

If an individual has maxed out at $2300.00 / $4600.00 (married) and has another $100,000 to donate, should he spend it on promoting a candidate, that would violate FEC donation rules and would have to be reported and recored by the campaign as a donation. My question is, what happens when some one has donated more than the maximum? Does the campaign have to give it back? Are they fined? 20 lashes and media coverage? Does the GOP take it?

So as the max is set as it is, and giving it to other individuals to donate is even disallowed. The only real legal way to utilize it is to find various PACs that can then donate it directly to the campaign or put it to good use for their local campaigning plans, or a combination of both. But how could a person donating... say $5,000 to 20 PACs be assured the money would be used as intended? this would have to be a trust issue I guess? But I'm sure the donater could work closely with the particular PACs chosen to ensure money is spent properly.



The first paragraph doesn't make any sense to me. No, it's not against FEC regs to spend more than $2300. The $2300 pertains to how much you can donate directly to the campaign. You can choose to spend any amount you want, over that, in grassroots activities.

Now, here is something I do not know. Could this person legally, by themselves, use this money to put up billboards in several key states? Would they need a PAC to do that, if they were funding them by themselves?

Personally, I think it would be great if the person would spend a big chunk of this money, strategically putting up Ron Paul billboards in some of the early primary states. Possibly even including some of the Super Tuesday states, who know little to nothing about Ron Paul now.

[LibertyEagle]

If an individual has maxed out at $2300.00 / $4600.00 (married) and has another $100,000 to donate, should he spend it on promoting a candidate, that would violate FEC donation rules and would have to be reported and recored by the campaign as a donation. My question is, what happens when some one has donated more than the maximum? Does the campaign have to give it back? Are they fined? 20 lashes and media coverage? Does the GOP take it?

So as the max is set as it is, and giving it to other individuals to donate is even disallowed. The only real legal way to utilize it is to find various PACs that can then donate it directly to the campaign or put it to good use for their local campaigning plans, or a combination of both. But how could a person donating... say $5,000 to 20 PACs be assured the money would be used as intended? this would have to be a trust issue I guess? But I'm sure the donater could work closely with the particular PACs chosen to ensure money is spent properly.



The first paragraph doesn't make any sense to me. No, it's not against FEC regs to spend more than $2300. The $2300 pertains to how much you can donate directly to the campaign. You can choose to spend any amount you want, over that, in grassroots activities.

Now, here is something I do not know. Could this person legally, by themselves, use this money to put up billboards in several key states? Would they need a PAC to do that, if they were funding them by themselves?

Personally, I think it would be great if the person would spend a big chunk of this money, strategically putting up Ron Paul billboards in some of the early primary states. Possibly even including some of the Super Tuesday states, who know little to nothing about Ron Paul now.


http://www.ronpaulkc.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/ronme-002cropped.jpg

[RTsquared]

That's a good idea, if we could get the mailing list cheaply. Gun Owners' of America too.

This just may be my perception, and have no basis whatsoever in reality, but I have the idea that the average GOA member is more attuned to the 2A qualifications of Presidential candidates than the average NRA member. It seems to me GOA members (generally) either belong to the NRA or did at one time, then realized that the NRA wasn't doing enough to stop gun control. You have to be pretty politically astute to know about the GOA, whereas everyone's heard of the NRA, and they are the "leading brand" in defending the 2A. Sending a Slim Jim to the GOA membership probably will not convert a lot of voters, but may increase donations. Slim Jims to NRA membership will have a greater impact on the Republican base IMO.

Of course, the NRA might not be so cooperative, or the price may be exorbitant.

[DrNoZone]

Get the 30 second picture card commercial with the CCR music to air.

Lame. That commercial is SOOO not effective. It's cool, no doubt, but not effective.

[DrNoZone]

Does anyone know the status of this? Is this person real? Are they really going to put 100k into supporting Paul? Just curious.

[JMann]

Iowa and New Hampshire push polling. Not negative towards other candidates but pro-Paul.

[hazek]

It should be spent on a Wall Street Journal ad, based on personal endorsements from Finance guys.

Both the USA Today, and Wall Street Journal have a circulation of about 2 Million. The New York Times has only about 1M (though it reaches a disproportionately high proportion of influential people).

The WSJ needs someone with money (hence llepard would have been good for it, but this new guy would be good, too) to front up, and contribute not just their money, but their NAME. Other money-people need to think that, "hey, here's a Harvard graduate (eg llepard) backing Ron Paul, therefore Ron Paul can't be *that* kooky".


"Hi, I'm John Citizen, Managing Partner at Such & Such Venture Capital. [Photo of him] And here's why I support Ron Paul:

...
Focus on finance/economy/money aspects of RP's campaign.
...
Some quotes from various other MONEY/FINANCE guys that support either RP, or his policies, with photos of each of them beside their statements.
...

etcetera."

Money guys need to know that it is OK to back RP, and the best way to do that is via personal endorsement. Everything these guys do is via their own trust network. They may not know *that* guy, but they'll know someone that worked with him, or studied with him, or similar.

Having the Big End of town on board will make things a LOT easier. Apart from the obvious education and voter grabbing aspects, as with the USA Today ad, with Money on board, the MSM won't poo-poo his ideas any more, he'll get more airtime, and the campaign donations will start rolling in from the big end of town, and they'll all be $2300 ones, making for a far greater ROI than anywhere else. They only have one vote, but if they can carry the burden of 23 average donors, why not grab them?

I couldn't agree more.

[DjLoTi]

Then either go all in with one city, or go two cities. I would consider hitting the big markets so that the buzz flows outwards.

55/35/10

55K into tv ads
35K into radio ads
10K mailers (or phone banks. I have an in at 1.4 Cents per completed call. <-- that is like 750,000 potential voters reached for 10K)

Do this for 2-3 weeks.

i like this one

[Ozwest]

Lame. That commercial is SOOO not effective. It's cool, no doubt, but not effective.

Mmmm. Many others on this forum, a clear majority, would say that commercial is very effective and not "lame."

[dircha]

Obviously someone with this kind of money to give should contact a lawyer to understand his options.

But it is my understanding that individual funding of electioneering communications in support of a candidate but not coordinated with the official campaign are unrestricted so long as they are not within 30 days of a primary or caucus, or 60 days of a general election.

I believe there is case law allowing electioneering communications endorsing legislation that happen to mention candidates within these time periods, but not outright endorsements of the candidate in the approaching campaign contest.

In other words, if this gentleman is interested in spending 100k on anything endorsing Ron Paul, I believe he has only a few short weeks to do this before we reach the restricted 30 day timeframe before the primaries. He should contact his lawyer immediately and review his options.

[fletcher]

TV ads or 12 page mailers in Iowa or NH.

[Korey Kaczynski]

Find out the demographics of the area he wants to advertise to, and use issues people there care about.

[DrNoZone]

Mmmm. Many others on this forum, a clear majority, would say that commercial is very effective and not "lame."

That's fine; my opinion isn't formed democratically...I don't care how many support it, I don't.

[vertesc]

Advertising - Citizen-made TV spot for RP in NH and/or Iowa

[amakris]

1) Rent out a high school swimming pool.
2) Buy a ton of crates marked "Halliburton", "Black Water", or "Plutocracy"
3) Hire a large professional acting group all dressd up in colonial gear ($200/head x 200 people)
4) Call the media
5) Re-enact the Boston Tea Party in the pool.

Total cost = $50,000

[Cleaner44]

I am concerned about fraud in the vote counting. It will not do Ron Paul any good if 70% of the population votes for him and then the vote counts come in showing him with 9%. We must be vigilant against vote fraud and money will help this cause.

Please visit www.thetruth247.com and help in Operation Vote Watch for Ron Paul.

[traviskicks]

I was emailed that a venture capitalist wants ideas as to best way to use $100,000 of his own money to support Ron. Please list some ideas (and links if possible to the ideas).
Thanks.

A mobile animated display going up and down the Las Vegas strip after dark 7 days a week! 20 foot long and 13 ft high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYb2OelYS5o

I'm not sure what the cost is, but if he's interested in this idea i can find out.

We are also interested in purchasing some solar powered lights for the 3 story signs on I15 so they will be lit up at night.

[VoteRonPaul2008]

we are trying to get Ron Paul an ad that will air during the superbowl... it may cost up to 2.5 million dollars I believe.. but he can certainly help us with it! :)

[Elijah]

DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s , DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s, DVD's, DVD's, DVD,s, DVD,s ,

[Elijah]

A mobile animated display going up and down the Las Vegas strip after dark 7 days a week! 20 foot long and 13 ft high.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYb2OelYS5o

I'm not sure what the cost is, but if he's interested in this idea i can find out.

We are also interested in purchasing some solar powered lights for the 3 story signs on I15 so they will be lit up at night.

THAT IS A AWESOME IDEA!!!!!

[Elijah]

1) Rent out a high school swimming pool.
2) Buy a ton of crates marked "Halliburton", "Black Water", or "Plutocracy"
3) Hire a large professional acting group all dressd up in colonial gear ($200/head x 200 people)
4) Call the media
5) Re-enact the Boston Tea Party in the pool.

Total cost = $50,000


LOVE IT!!!

[Leslie Webb]

The first paragraph doesn't make any sense to me. No, it's not against FEC regs to spend more than $2300. The $2300 pertains to how much you can donate directly to the campaign. You can choose to spend any amount you want, over that, in grassroots activities.

Now, here is something I do not know. Could this person legally, by themselves, use this money to put up billboards in several key states? Would they need a PAC to do that, if they were funding them by themselves?

Personally, I think it would be great if the person would spend a big chunk of this money, strategically putting up Ron Paul billboards in some of the early primary states. Possibly even including some of the Super Tuesday states, who know little to nothing about Ron Paul now.


http://www.ronpaulkc.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/ronme-002cropped.jpg


Agreed. There is a billboard in downtown Manchester that people on another thread have discussed as ideal for a Ron Paul sign. Cost is $800 or so per month. Plaster billboards all over the largest cities in Iowa and New Hampshire.

[Leslie Webb]

Lots of good ideas and lots of crazy ones :)

Here are some of mine:

1. Use the $100,000 to help organize the volunteer movement to make a larger impact in NH, Iowa, SC, and NV. Without those states we lose.

2. Give 50% of it to Operation NH - Use the other 50% to run a fundraising event for Dr. Paul that will generate even more than the $100,000

3. Run a full page ad in the NY Times Sunday Edition

My favorite..... because its off the wall and 100k won't make or break the election but you should have some fun with it!!!

4. Rent a Blimp plastered with RP to fly over Iowa or SC for a few days. You'll also get some free media from this.

These are great ideas. I wonder about the NY Times ad though. It's a big paper on Sunday, ad might get lost in the shuffle, and a NY ad would not directly affect the early primary states. Contributing to Operation Live Free or Die, other volunteer movements, would be great. I think the he blimp would roll people over, but it is dicey predicting how the media are going to cover us. Maybe Ron Paul could ride in the blimp to go to a rally or a debate.

Overall, I think the most effective use of the money would be for volunteer movements, some really good TV ads, and billboards.

[Elijah]

I am concerned about fraud in the vote counting. It will not do Ron Paul any good if 70% of the population votes for him and then the vote counts come in showing him with 9%. We must be vigilant against vote fraud and money will help this cause.

Please visit www.thetruth247.com and help in Operation Vote Watch for Ron Paul.


This was great, I watched both videos!! This guy with the 100K should give this guy what he needs!

[Elijah]

Ron Paul BLIMP!!!! It could be the first of it's kind ever!!!!

http://www.lightships.com/


Awesome and VERY VERY VIRAL!

Edit - I would have it say "Google Ron Paul"

Edit - http://www.lightships.com/BLIMPFlyer.pdf

[LibertyEagle]

If Ron Paul showed up at the CNN Debate in a Ron Paul Blimp it would be freaking amazing!

Uh... May I ask how old you are?

[greves]

I really like the supporting the delegates idea. A lot of younger people would be delegates I'd imagine, but can't afford flights around the country to vote. If you guarantee them travel costs, $100,000 could pay for a few hundred delegates I'd think!

[Elijah]

Uh... May I ask how old you are?


Doesn't matter, it would be viral. The keyword here is Viral, Viral and Viral.


Media won't cover it unless its viral.

[ItsTime]

TALK TO A LAYWER

Make sure he does not f-up with the FEC regs.

[anotherone]

Iowa and New Hampshire push polling. Not negative towards other candidates but pro-Paul.

I like that. If well designed, push-polling can actually make people think about the issues and support Ron.

Concentration on Iowa is my preference, but any primary state would be great.

The newspaper ads are also a good idea, as are radio ads which target Christians.

[John of Des Moines]

I like that. If well designed, push-polling can actually make people think about the issues and support Ron.

Concentration on Iowa is my preference, but any primary state would be great.

The newspaper ads are also a good idea, as are radio ads which target Christians.

Exactly.

[Elijah]

Ron Paul BLIMP!!!! It could be the first of it's kind ever!!!!

http://www.lightships.com/

I started a new thread for the blimp idea.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=432648&posted=1#post432648

[dircha]

A blimp?! You want Ron Paul to arrive at the debate by descending from a blimp?!

Should he wear a cape too? Maybe a spandex suit with some foam etched muscles stitched in so he looks absolutely ripped? :)

Seriously though, we need to focus on increasing our support among people over 30, over 45 in fact. These are the people most likely to participate in their state primary or caucus.

A blimp ain't the way to do it.

[newmedia4ron]

Donate to Operation Live Free or Die (http://www.operationlivefreeordie.com/donate.html)

Donate to the Granny Warriors! (http://www.grannywarriors.com/)

Donate to the Ron Paul Riders! (http://www.ronpaulriders.com/help.html)

Take care of all the Chipins and PACs (http://ronpaulgraphs.com/chipin.html)

Donate to Ron Paul Nevada (http://nevada4ronpaul.com/)

Best ideas I think. These guys know what their doing.

[RonPaulStreetTeam]

TV commercials?
Magazine ads?

get in Playboy!

[SeanEdwards]

A blimp with frickin lasers on it.

[adwads]

Put that good ad with the sliding cards on television in IOWA, where we need to do better.

[Syren123]

Television ads.

[Lance C Roseman]

As a Canadian, I'm buying T-shirts for American altnews sources who seem to be in favour of Ron Paul. They can then sell them off or give them away to their readers (such as at rumormillnews) at a discount because I'm buying them wholesale. $100,000.00 (about $93,000.00 CDN!) will buy a whole lot of advertising via word of mouth, which is better than TV in my opinion. Not having TV for well over 20 years...tis the devils teat that dastardly device. I benefit by having my 'say', the altnews sites take their 'bite' and the rest goes to Ron Paul, twice, as the purchasers most likely have not donated to the fullest extent within USAN (united statesian) law.
It seems to me that it is better to talk face to face with someone wearing a T-shirt, tan to be spoon fed the drivvle that ends up on TV.

[austin356]

Donate yard signs, someone said they were looking for an RV for Dr. Paul to
travel in.


What about spending the money to hold a massive rally somewhere on Dec. 16th?


The level of ignorance in these posts of campaign finance laws is quite amazing.

Not only is this illegal but more than likely both Dr. Paul and the donor could be put in jail.

[Elijah]

The level of ignorance in these posts of campaign finance laws is quite amazing.

Not only is this illegal but more than likely both Dr. Paul and the donor could be put in jail.


Some of us are political virgins and are just throwing ideas out. Thanks for letting us know!

[rfbz]

Buy $100,000 worth of Ron Paul t-shirts (with his positions listed of course) and hand them out to everyone in sight? Hey free t-shirt, here ya go

[fj45lvr]

have him buy a ton of yard signs which people and groups could then call up and recieve via UPS.

A large ad in various newspapers around the country to advertise LIBERTY and PAUL for the teaparty in Dec. would be great too.

[austin356]

Full page Ads on December 17th in all the premier papers in SC, NH, IA, NV, MI, WY, and FL. December 17th is no question the top day due to the pre-existing media coverage that will be present during that day, it would be stupid to try to advertise the tea party if ads are to be run in those states. Excluding FL they comprise of something like 3-4 % of the population.

[Corydoras]

It should be spent on a Wall Street Journal ad, based on personal endorsements from Finance guys.

Both the USA Today, and Wall Street Journal have a circulation of about 2 Million. The New York Times has only about 1M (though it reaches a disproportionately high proportion of influential people).

llepard should really have bought a WSJ ad, instead of the USA Today ad. The USA Today ad should have been bought by the low-end grassroots people. Then, on the bottom of the ad, it could have had "This ad has been paid for by 5235 grassroots supporters of Ron Paul chipping-in".

The WSJ needs someone with money (hence llepard would have been good for it, but this new guy would be good, too) to front up, and contribute not just their money, but their NAME. Other money-people need to think that, "hey, here's a Harvard graduate (eg llepard) backing Ron Paul, therefore Ron Paul can't be *that* kooky".


"Hi, I'm John Citizen, Managing Partner at Such & Such Venture Capital. [Photo of him] And here's why I support Ron Paul:

...
Focus on finance/economy/money aspects of RP's campaign.
...
Some quotes from various other MONEY/FINANCE guys that support either RP, or his policies, with photos of each of them beside their statements.
...

etcetera."

Money guys need to know that it is OK to back RP, and the best way to do that is via personal endorsement. Everything these guys do is via their own trust network. They may not know *that* guy, but they'll know someone that worked with him, or studied with him, or similar.

Having the Big End of town on board will make things a LOT easier. Apart from the obvious education and voter grabbing aspects, as with the USA Today ad, with Money on board, the MSM won't poo-poo his ideas any more, he'll get more airtime, and the campaign donations will start rolling in from the big end of town, and they'll all be $2300 ones, making for a far greater ROI than anywhere else. They only have one vote, but if they can carry the burden of 23 average donors, why not grab them?

I was thinking the same thing. I'm quoting it in its entirety because there are so many ideas in this thread that I wanted to say I agree precisely with this.

[The Plan]

Putting an ad in the wall street journal is an ok idea but we need to think of the big picture here.
We would be better served by putting ads during the nightly news on all the networks. The primaries are important but we need to reach everybody we can with the least effort and that is going to be on the networks. People in all the primary states would see them at the same time.
I also like the idea of somebody producing an infomercial so his complete viewpoint could get out there. That could be done pretty well for $100,000 with the technology available. I'm a music producer and audio engineer by trade and i would be willing to mix down the audio for it free of charge.

[Tarzan]

Rent 30 or 40 billboards in Iowa and New Hampshire..

YES... this is the answer!!! We still need NAME RECOGNITION!!! Billboards can be a remarkable tool. They work 24 hours a day and never get tired. We need lots of billboards in the early primary states. I would recommend ALL of the first primary states including South Carolina.

Cover the high traffic areas and rent them at least through the primaries. I would be happy to donate the artwork or assist with graphics. Yes, they are pricey but I believe they will prove remarkably effective to the cause... winning in the primaries and making voters aware of Ron Paul.

The theme should be generic. We need to raise NAME RECOGNITION for Ron Paul. Now is NOT a good time to focus on single issues. Also, the issues can be complex and should not be attempted as you can easily alienate a part of the voting populace. Here are some GENERIC ideas:
Ron Paul Billboards (http://ronpaulideas.com/billboards.htm)

(Yard signs are a good idea... but they need to be put in yards by the home owner. While well intentioned the signs often end up on telephone poles or in other areas in which it is illegal to post them.)

[dircha]

Putting an ad in the wall street journal is an ok idea but we need to think of the big picture here.
We would be better served by putting ads during the nightly news on all the networks. The primaries are important but we need to reach everybody we can with the least effort and that is going to be on the networks. People in all the primary states would see them at the same time.
I also like the idea of somebody producing an infomercial so his complete viewpoint could get out there. That could be done pretty well for $100,000 with the technology available. I'm a music producer and audio engineer by trade and i would be willing to mix down the audio for it free of charge.

How much do primetime commercial spots cost on national broadcast networks?

Do you think this is more cost effective than targeting states individually based on the proximity to their primary or caucus?

I remember reading that the Romney campaign had tried this approach, but went back to state-targeting because it was more cost effective.

[Tarzan]

How much do primetime commercial spots cost on national broadcast networks?
Do you think this is more cost effective than targeting states individually based on the proximity to their primary or caucus?

Spots vary wildly depending on when they are aired. They can also be targeted a number of ways... by market, etc. The worse case is something like the Super Bowl... about 2.5 million for 30 seconds.

And, no... they are not effective for the current goals we need to achieve. And, yes... we need to target the primary states. If RP does well in the primaries we could have an unstoppable steamroller!!!

We need to pound at people for Name Recognition. All RP supporters need to wear RP shirts every chance they have... put signs in their yards (keep it legal)... carry campaign literature with them... go to the official site and watch the grassroots training videos (learn how to talk to prospects).

Yard Signs are great... Billboards are great... Tshirt are great (walking/talking billboards)... car signs are good... we need something to get RPs name in front of every prospect on an ongoing basis... we need to win that war!

TV and radio spots last 30 seconds are are gone... was anyone watching?
Newspaper and Magazines are read and discarded... did anyone see the Ad?
The Internet is great and should be used... how do we reach the non-user?

We need persistant marketing items to win the Name Recognition war. Media buys are great but they are costly and I don't think they will achieve our goals.

[RoamZero]

Another idea:

With 100,000 you could probably buy 30,000-50,000 Ron Paul labeled 64mb USB drives that could hold a promotional vid and a web page with links to other youtube vids.

http://www.ipromo.com/?fuseaction=subcategory.main&categoryid=1&gclid=CN2257rL6I8CFUaPOAodSSAZMg

Ship these out to meetup groups and I'm sure people would take them whole heartedly, who wouldnt want a usb drive they could use and re-use?

[The Plan]

If you're going for cost effective billboards are probably the best idea. In Michigan where i'm at you are going to need to place them strategicly at least around the Detroit area to make them have the most impact.
I still think the infomercial idea is a good one though.

[happyphilter]

RON PAUL BLIMP!

/thread (sorry guys had to say it)