Whither the R3VOLUTION?

[Original_Intent]

Just want to say a few things, not sure what my point is or if I have one.

I have loved Ron Paul for years. About a decade ago I was a fairly active John Bircher. I would go over to Will Christensen's house (National Chairman of the USIAP) a couple of times a month we would organize letter writing campaigns to Congress, fun stuff like that. We were constantly impressed with Ron Paul and his principled stands on issues based on the Constitution.

When I heard that Ron Paul was running for president last spring - it was a dream come true. I have been reading RP's "Freedom Report" for years and it was one of my more anticipated pieces of mail each month. I was so excited to have somone I could vote for with a good conscience. I didn't think he had a chance, mind you, I figured most Americans had their collective heads so far up their collective rear ends, or at best in the sand, that a Ron Paul that actually told the truth would never be a blip on the national radar.

I went to the campaign website and heard about something called "Meetup" and found out there actually was a group of about 40 Ron Paul supporters that were meeting 40 miles away in SLC. They were going to have their first meeting the coming Thursday night. Wow! 40 other people nearby who were excited enough about RP to meet, and this was just a few weeks after he announced his candidacy, and 18 months before the general election? Hope started to flicker.

I am sure many of you know where it went from here - lots of sign making parties and nighttime ninja sign-hanging parties (I did the making, not the hanging). A lot of the older folks (I am 44 myself) did not like the R"3VOL"UTION design and I don't think campaign HQ cared for it much either, but it stuck. Momentum started to build and so did excitment and the ember of hope began to get fanned and flames started to form in the tinder that was our discontent. Great YouTube videos started to show up, some with a lot of talent, some perhaps lacking in talent but all made with a lot of sincere heartfelt concern about the direction the country was headed. We were a motley crew, 9/11 truthers, pro-lifers, pro-choicers, homophobes, gays, racists, people of color, anti-semites and jews all amazingly GETTING ALONG together because we were united in one thing - we wanted to be free. Make that two things, desire for freedom and we were starting to "get mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!"

We were dismissed by the media and we didn't care. A quote by Ghandi was the glue that held us together.

The media said they couldn't take Paul seriously because he did not have the money to be taken seriously.

We looked at each other, figured hey WE know we aren't just a few kid's in their parents basement spamming polls, and so we opened our wallets.

Someone came up with the idea for a money bomb. At first they were just once a week donations to generate interest in fund raising. It was fun.

Someone (who knows who had the original idea at this point, and who cares) to have a mega bomb on November 5th and to tie it in with Guy Fawkes day and also "V for Vendetta". A lot of people said the theme was a problem and after a few weeks the "V for Vendetta" focus was toned down. Some said it would fail, most predicted a few hundred thousand, some predicted maybe a million. A few "kooks" were suggesting multi-millions possibly even 5 or 6 million.

I think most of you here know the history since then...

I guess what prompted me to write all this, is what has happened to the R3VOLUTION? I see a lot of bickering lately (I have participated) I see a lot of distrust amongst ourselves (no idea if it is justified). I have heard it said that some organizations can handle any adversity but success kills them. It seems like that may be happening here....

Any thoughts or ideas on how can WE get back to our revolutionary roots?
Do we need to or has the revolution served its purpose and it is time to move to the next phase? If so what is the next phase, and what do we need to do to transition to it?

[RPFTW!]

I've learned to live with it, I think we are a very independent and opinionated group and we'll just have to get used to the infighting, I know I've gotten in my arguments and will try to be more peaceful, I do believe however that our support of Ron Paul is much stronger and unifying than any argument we can get into here so I wouldn't let it bother you too much.

[FreeTraveler]

I think things have started to calm down some now. We had a number of new people who thought that insistent argument would allow them to take charge of other people's projects or hi-jack other people's efforts. Somebody posted a great open-source correlary that helped them understand that the approach they were using wasn't going to work, and the Blimp project leaders got a lot of information out that helped people understand the plan.

I can see a difference just in the last few hours. We're starting to coalesce again.

[me3]

This is all just my opinion.

The revolution changes with the circumstances.

Dr. Paul is polling now. He is getting interviews now. They have gone from calling him fringe, to a spoiler, to a darkhorse.

CNN likes him. Fox News begrudgingly gives him his due. MSNBC eats crow.

Fund raising is no longer a major issue.

Even the neocon blogs and writers have expended their vitriol.

Libertarianism has received it's biggest boost in publicity in decades.

Yes, success is a (nice) problem, as one great money bomb has turned into a half dozen clone attempts, rather than a natural progression to the next barrier. As one successful online poll bomb, turned into an obsession with every online poll.

That barrier, quite simply is Get Out The Vote.

And I think it is because some people are stuck between what worked before, and what the next step is.

Just my 2 cents.

[Original_Intent]

I agree that we should not get stuck in a rut.

I think after the TeaParty and NewYear's Eve, further money bombs may be pointless until after the Primaries. Even New Year's Eve is going to be more of an "end of Q4 push" than a "bomb". Hopefull at that point the question is going to be "Can we double the Q4 goal?"

I agree, the challenge is GOTV. I just took a solicited poll from Grassfire, they have some interesting trends that bode well for Dr. Paul as of September, I will be interested to see if those trends continue with this latest poll.

We need something innovative for GOTV. I realize a lot of it is just getting out and knocking doors, canvassing. I really wonder what kind of dividends we couls see from an infomercial approach and do we even have time to produce and get something aired, or are we too late in the game for that?

[Cindy]

I think the infighting grows as you have those with lots of time off the internet campaigning and money vested in this vs those who have just been arm chair supporters making nonsense comments about what not to do, and what not to donate too, to the people who are out there doing and donating the most.


Whatever. With a passionate group this size and this diverse, as well as being independent oriented, it's going to happen.

Most of us have a disdain for authority and things are best here when no one is power or ego tripping.

I agree with the comment about what happens when success starts kicking in. You have more to loose and tensions and fears arise, as well as, more of a powerful force some want to harness control over, and that breeds inner rebelions against the control freaks.

People here now compared 6 months ago, are definetley more active, more hopeful, more passionate, more dedicated and donating more. Nothing neccesary is withering away.

A change in the feel of the bump and groove is to be expected.

I remember back to when it was all about digging articles, voting in on line polls, and commenting to on-line news articles, and being called two spammers living in a mothers basement.

Clearly there has been a huge shift towards massive donation drives, taking it to the streets and the local REC's/ becoming delegates

I mean, Paul supporters have become a media entity and subject all their own to be reported on. We are big news now that is being followed!!!!

They Know we can pull in the money, the presense at the voting boths and will be there for the Primaries. An Iowa news reporter warned the other candidates that if they did not start attacking Paul, they will have to pay people to vote for them because otherwise, Paul supporters will sweep the primaries. He called us names, yet, he also called us dedicated, everywhere and "the" threat to go after!

[tomveil]

I agree that we should not get stuck in a rut.

I think after the TeaParty and NewYear's Eve, further money bombs may be pointless until after the Primaries. Even New Year's Eve is going to be more of an "end of Q4 push" than a "bomb". Hopefull at that point the question is going to be "Can we double the Q4 goal?"

I agree, the challenge is GOTV. I just took a solicited poll from Grassfire, they have some interesting trends that bode well for Dr. Paul as of September, I will be interested to see if those trends continue with this latest poll.

We need something innovative for GOTV. I realize a lot of it is just getting out and knocking doors, canvassing. I really wonder what kind of dividends we couls see from an infomercial approach and do we even have time to produce and get something aired, or are we too late in the game for that?

Long time lurker, first time poster. I agree very strongly with your post here. Once the 2nd big money-bomb hits, the effect of each further one will be lessened. The first woke people up, the second will make them realize it's not a fluke. After that, a steady donation/volunteer effort is the best way to help the campaign.

That being said, I TOTALLY LOVE the idea of local access TV. Surely somebody out there has to be able to put together a high quality DVD (even just from available You Tube videoes) that can be distributed to volunteers. Local access TV is pretty cheap, and with a little effort, you could advertise when/where it will be on. People read about Ron Paul, but when they SEE him and HEAR his ideas, that's when it really sticks. They realize that it REALLY IS possible.

I would suggest getting together a group of people to find out how much an hour-long spot (maybe 3 times a week for a month?) would cost? It seems like it would be very easy for local groups to be able to raise this money themselves, and take charge of their own mini-projects!

[Wendi]

The OP and I are probably about as different as two people can be, but here we are with stories so similar. Watching, waiting, hoping against hope that someday this nation would have that flicker of hope and one last chance to turn things around. Waking up one day and realizing we do have that hope, that hope is Ron Paul 2008, and committing to doing anything and everything possible to make sure this chance doesn't slip away from us.

Let me tell you all another story, one that I am sure you know but many of us seem to have forgotten. In the nineties, there was a freedom movement in this nation. It was a movement of true patriots, people who were willing to risk anything and everything for one cause, the cause of freedom. But there was no leadership, there was no unifying force. There was division and there were power struggles and eventually the entire movement collapsed beneath its own weight.

Fifteen years were wasted and so much more damage was done to this nation and the principals of freedom that we hold dear. It seemed the spark of hope had been extinguished and I wondered if I would ever in my lifetime see another chance. Now we're back, and we're stronger than ever, and we have a *real* chance because we have leadership, and a unifying force.

There will be struggles, there will be disagreements. But we absolutely cannot let this become division and strife. We absolutely must learn to set aside the things that don't really matter and get our act together and concentrate on winning. Because that is really all that does matter. Without that, we have nothing.

I'm not going to settle for nothing. I'm not going to sit back and watch this whole thing fall apart. Again. That is not an option.

Stand with me, will you? Black and white, rich and poor, republican and democrat, jew and christian and muslim and athiest, whatever you identify with. Stand up, and take off the labels. We are patriots, and we are united. Right?

Good.

Now go paint some signs. Go hand out some push cards. Go talk to your neighbor or maybe that guy that's always standing by the newsstand. Ask your teacher, your bus driver, your boss... if they've heard of Ron Paul. Share the picture, the dream, the hope of freedom with everyone you see. And get them on board.

Tell them where the polls are, and when they need to vote. Offer to give them a ride, or help them find one. Make sure they're registered to vote, and with the correct party if required in your state. Find out if they're willing to place a sign in their yard - and buy it for them if they can't afford it.

Pick up the phone and call a friend, or just call someone in the phone book. Email people you know, post on message boards, stand on street corners. Give money if you can, give time if you can't. Everything we do is a step in the right direction. Anything that works for you, works. That's what counts.

To borrow the slogan from Nike - JUST DO IT!

:D