The bar is set, 30000+ people in one place for an RP event.

[EvilEngineer]

This last week, Obama set the bar high using Ophra as a ploy to gather people to his weekend rally. Whether or not these will translate into votes in the primaries is yet to be seen, thankfully it's not a direct threat to Dr. Paul yet. However what it did do was assemble probably the largest political gathering as of yet for this election cycle, though I'm curious about what the record is overall.

Though this does bring the question, can we the RP grassroots that has accomplished events like the 5th of November, the blimp, and soon be the dec 16th fund raiser... host a massive rally that no one can beat?

I'd like to propose to the grassroots, a be all end all rally, hosted in a major city in the following months. For this we will need in attendance 40k+ people to show up, if not more.

The conditions for the city of choice for the rally need to be along the lines of the following:

1. Major city, population 2 million+
2. Availability of a large stadium that can seat 40,000+ people.
3. Major airport accessibility
4. Adequate lodging
5. Massive grassroots presence to help coordinate locally
6. Preferably warm weather environment so as not to discourage people coming out due to the weather.

To this I think a few cities qualify for the event.

Dallas, Texas. (Texas Stadium or American Airline center)
Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Stadium)

Suggested:
Austin, Texas (3 agree so far)
Boston
San Diego
Des Moines
Orlando
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles, Staples Center, LAX +1
Denver

Feel free to add to the list, and propose your feedback.


Additional Proposed ideas:
1. Simultaneous smaller local events in coordination with the mega rally for those who cannot travel.
2. Workshops, Concerts, Grassroots idea proposals
3. Mass canvassing of host city and hitting the streets after the rally.


Edit: Putting together a blog for this idea.
http://RonPaulMegaRally.blogspot.com/

[katao]

Massive New Year's Eve party, to celebrate the year we take back our country! I'd travel across the country for that.

[Man from La Mancha]

Great idea but should we just wait to see what happens with Obama first.IMO

.

[maxmerkel]

having a few supporters at the superbowl would secure us the all time victory. no one will be able to decide with absolute certainty whether they are there for the game or the good dr :D

[Isupportliberty]

San Diego has nice weather all year round :)

[acmegeek]

I think we should approach it differently. Instead of a single place, let's do a nationwide concert/rally all on the same day, in every city and state!

The idea, which I have proposed recently and am trying to get support from the meetup groups for is called Ron Rox.

www.RonRox.com (http://www.RonRox.com)

You can read more there. (not much more since it is still in the very early planning stages)

But imagine 100K or 200K or 500K or even 1M+ people all celebrating and cheering for Dr. Paul in every part of America! And this could also be done in other parts of the world as well.

Let's do it on Sunday, Dec. 30th. This gives us insane media coverage and then a money bomb like no other on the 31st!!!

Thanks to those that have contacted me so far and are passing it along to your meetup groups. Everyone else, please do that. This has a real chance!

Thanks!

[ZenX]

The conditions for the city of choice for the rally need to be along the lines of the following:

1. Major city, population 2 million+
2. Availability of a large stadium that can seat 40,000+ people.
3. Major airport accessability
4. Adaquate lodging
5. Massive grassroots presence to help coordinate locally
6. Preferably warm weather environment so as not to discourage people coming out due to the weather.

To this I think a few cities qualify for the event.

Dallas, Texas. (Texas Stadium or American Airline center)
Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Stadium)

Feel free to add to the list, and propose your feedback.

Wow, for a second there I thought you were nominating our Kyle field. That would be sweet! :)

[PINN4CL3]

Man I love the sounds of this already. It might be best to stay away from either coast though, as that makes the other side have to travel all the way across the country.

[EvilEngineer]

I think we should approach it differently. Instead of a single place, let's do a nationwide concert/rally all on the same day, in every city and state!

The idea, which I have proposed recently and am trying to get support from the meetup groups for is called Ron Rox.

www.RonRox.com (http://www.RonRox.com)

You can read more there. (not much more since it is still in the very early planning stages)

But imagine 100K or 200K or 500K or even 1M+ people all celebrating and cheering for Dr. Paul in every part of America! And this could also be done in other parts of the world as well.

Let's do it on Sunday, Dec. 30th. This gives us insane media coverage and then a money bomb like no other on the 31st!!!

Thanks to those that have contacted me so far and are passing it along to your meetup groups. Everyone else, please do that. This has a real chance!

Thanks!


The question would be is which would garner more media attention. Multiple smaller groups or one extremely large group. Personally I think having one large venue where an army of supporters can show up and be seen, is what we need. Right now they think we are just scattered all over the place, and partially they might be right we are nationwide. However, giving the media one event to be at and cover might be the more effective approach, especially if Dr. Paul could attend the mega rally him self.

The image of a stadium packed to the brim with Ron Paul supporters would send a clear message to the media... we are legion.

This event could be put together with a few days of grassroots workshops, fundraisers, concerts, etc.

[gpickett00]

Spreading it out sounds like a good idea but it won't get nearly the media attention or be as exciting as a huge rally. Boston would probably work. Orlando could work as well. Someone needs to make a website and get people to pledge to a location. The first thing is to get a venue, which might be really hard.

[EvilEngineer]

Man I love the sounds of this already. It might be best to stay away from either coast though, as that makes the other side have to travel all the way across the country.

Kind of why I proposed Dallas, tickets from the coast to Dallas are roughly $300 by air, and it's in the middle with adequate infrastructure to support a massive gathering. On the other hand coast-to-coast tickets get very pricey.

[PINN4CL3]

Kind of why I proposed Dallas, tickets from the coast to Dallas are roughly $300 by air, and it's in the middle with adequate infrastructure to support a massive gathering. On the other hand coast-to-coast tickets get very pricey.

Not only that, but it's Ron's congressional backyard, and the weather's decent. I'd be down for Dallas, coming from Michigan.

[DirtMcGirt]

good idea with live video broadcasts at each site with a speech from Dr. Paul...

[twister5400]

i forget the date, but they have already gotten the permit and what not to do a big rally on the steps of the capitol building in atlanta...

the deal is, if we can get enough people there, we can get ron paul there...

at least this is what i was told at my meetup tonight... i'll find out the date, but i believe it is sometime in the middle of january...

i think this would be a great place for a large rally... we'd just have to get it set up now, and start broadcasting... maybe some newspaper ads the weeks before, and some radio ads.. i mean, they have the money...

[acmegeek]

Agreed that that many people in one place would be powerful. Would be great to do this.

I also think that having thousands of simultaneous events just everywhere would have a great impact on the people in the communities. And show that we are literally everywhere.

So both are good. Although the multiple smaller groups, if coordinated by each meetup group could far exceed by the total number of people involved.

I guess it would depend on what kind of buzz could be generated in anticipation of any event. The related costs of travelling would limit too many people from attending an event across the country, but something close by would be easier to go to.

Or, how about this, make it a combined event! Have a main event somewhere, and the hundreds or thousands of local events.

I still like the name Ron Rox if we involved music.

Do you like that idea? On a single day, thousands of smaller events with hundreds of thousands of participants, as well as a single huge event with 75,000 passionate and devoted supporters! There's no way that anyone in the country could miss that.

The media would be simply overwhelmed. :)

[EvilEngineer]

What about one major event, broadcast via the web, and multiple smaller events receiving the feed at their local level? Possibly some webcam feeds back to the main event as well from smaller events showing their support too.

[voisine]

Sorry for the downer, but the point of this would be to get media coverage for RP. Why not instead get 40,000 to spend a day canvasing their neighborhoods. You could reach several million doors with voter registration cards, literature and a personal face to face. Much more effective use of resources. A big rally would be a blast, but not as big a blast as RP winning the nomination.

[Matthew Zak]

January 14th, 1783: American congress ratifies peace treaty (Treaty of Paris) between US and UK

...to commemorate the peace treaty that was signed after the Revolution.

That would give Supporters around the country time to save up and plan ahead, to some degree.

Falls on a Monday.

[EvilEngineer]

Sorry for the downer, but the point of this would be to get media coverage for RP. Why not instead get 40,000 to spend a day canvasing their neighborhoods. You could reach several million doors with voter registration cards, literature and a personal face to face. Much more effective use of resources. A big rally would be a blast, but not as big a blast as RP winning the nomination.

Rallies are meant to gather the current supporters and energize them, give them new ideas and prepare them for what is to come. Think of 40,000 people gathering in Dallas holding a rally and then spreading out and hitting the streets of Dallas in one mass canvassing of a city. You could still hit millions of people in one day, and it would be huge...

[Razmear]

Suggested for no particular reason:
Washington DC, At the Mall, Christmas Eve.
Also the RonPaulRider should be arriving at about the same time.

eb

[EvilEngineer]

Suggested for no particular reason:
Washington DC, At the Mall, Christmas Eve.
Also the RonPaulRider should be arriving at about the same time.

eb

Sadly, DC is not a very friendly place to gather for a Rally... the capitol cops are pricks on a power trip. Not to mention that it has the problem of being hard to get to for people on the west coast.

[Matthew Zak]

January 8th, in History:

1790: George Washington delivers first "State of the Union" address

1918: President Wilson outlines his4 points for peace after WWI

[Benaiah]

January 8th is when Paul is going to win New Hampshire, too.

[Pride]

As someone else suggested, something along the lines of "Ron Rox" would be good. It would be great to get some kind of concert going, it would definitely draw more people.

[DZE]

Austin,Tx


Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (formerly just Memorial Stadium and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, is home to the University of Texas Longhorn football team. The current official stadium capacity is 85,123,[1] the largest football venue in the state of Texas,[2] the largest in the Big 12 Conference,[3] and among the largest on-campus stadium in the NCAA.

[OferNave]

Yes, I'm a party pooper. :)

As much fun as I think it would be, and though I do think it would get publicity, I can't help but think that 40k people spending that day (and the travel money, and the travel time) canvassing or writing letters or doing other tasks that directly reach people and translate to votes would be much more effective than just jamming them all in one place as a stunt.

[rpfreedom08]

It would be pretty neat if we could do that. I can see the headlines now. "30,000 Ron Paul supporters show up without the face recognition of oprah!" If you look at most of the coverage of that show most went there because they are oprah fans. People are rediculous. They're going to be voting obama just because she said too. My god our country is dumber than a box of rocks.

[kylejack]

Jefferson Memorial. No alternatives, no compromise.

[CelestialRender]

I'm hoping the Tea Party, in Boston, will be very very large. But I haven't heard anything yet about expected numbers.

[Pete Kay]

I want to suggest Charlotte, NC. It's the biggest city in between DC and Atlanta with about 2 million in the entire metropolitan area. It's on the South Carolina border so that's fits well with the upcoming SC primaries. There are several stadiums for rent. The weather here is very moderate. It's currently in the 70s though it'll probably drop soon. There's many indoor stadiums that are available though.

If we want to draw a huge crowd then we are going to need more than just Dr. Paul there. We are going to have line up some other big names as well.

[Avalon]

New year's day in Iowa. In addition to getting very important media attention at the most important time, we can also be put to use and many can hang around for the third (giving rides to caucus goers etc).

[John of Des Moines]

May I suggest a New Year's Eve Party here in Des Moines, Iowa? The caucuses will be three days afterward so supporters could come early and/or stay late help get Iowans to caucus for Paul. Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis are all within easy driving distance and Des Moines is centrally located to the coasts, and has direct flights from many cities including New York, Atlanta, Dallas and Vegas. The Well Fargo Stadium should be available with 20,000 seats and another 10,000 available across in Hy-Vee Convention Hall. Dr. Paul will be in Iowa near that time so getting him to come shouldn't be a problem.

Avalon you beat me to it. Doh!

[Lucid American]

Des Moines is a good idea in theory, but given the weather and logistics, I'm not sure it's the most conducive to this kind of turnout.

(Being biased) I personally think Atlanta is a great choice. Both Delta and AirTran are based in Atlanta, so there are deals to be had, from anywhere. It is a very high profile city, with very moderate weather, great infrastructure for huge gatherings (everything from Olympics to Super Bowls to Freaknik). It was also the center of the Civil Rights movement.

I think if you're looking for a place with everything you're looking for, Atlanta fits the bill as well as anywhere.

Plus, like someone said earlier, the permits are already in place for a rally on the steps of the state capitol.

[John of Des Moines]

Des Moines is a good idea in theory, but given the weather and logistics, I'm not sure it's the most conducive to this kind of turnout.

(Being biased) I personally think Atlanta is a great choice. Both Delta and AirTran are based in Atlanta, so there are deals to be had, from anywhere. It is a very high profile city, with very moderate weather, great infrastructure for huge gatherings (everything from Olympics to Super Bowls to Freaknik). It was also the center of the Civil Rights movement.

I think if you're looking for a place with everything you're looking for, Atlanta fits the bill as well as anywhere.

Plus, like someone said earlier, the permits are already in place for a rally on the steps of the state capitol.

Any town which the Weather Channel hurries through the local weather to cover local traffic conditions :eek: is, in my opinion, just a wee bit too congested for an important event such as this. :rolleyes: They said Obama got 18,000 to the Hy-Vee Convention Hall so Des Moines can handle large crowds without needing to fight through traffic for two hours just to get near the parking lot. :cool: Second, being locally biased as well, my question is how does an event in Atlanta get people out to the Iowa caucuses for Dr. Paul? :confused: Now, I think any event, anywhere that we, the grassroots, can put together to outdraw the Double O Show of Smoke and Mirrors is a great idea. :D However, count out many here in Iowa because we've got other things going on here for the caucus. :( Sorry.

[Avalon]

Des Moines is a good idea in theory, but given the weather and logistics, I'm not sure it's the most conducive to this kind of turnout. That'll make it all the more impressive/newsworthy! The reality of the matter is that Ron Paul's chances depend on NH and Iowa and good results in Iowa will (greatly) improve results in NH. If he doesn't do really well in these states I really doubt you'll get much turnout afterwards. It's a good idea to plan for super tuesday but let's keep the horde focused on the prize. If things go well we can have other, larger gatherings.

[Pete Kay]

Ahem...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Skylinecharlotte2.jpg

Charlotte, NC. The biggest city in the Carolinas and it's smack dab in the middle of both states, right on the border. This would have to happen after the New Hampshire primaries and we have to work under the assumption that Ron paul has already won New Hampshire. It would be a good event heading into the S. Carolina primaries.

[haaaylee]

austin, tx

we already have the largest meetup group here.
located centrally, and has warm weather.

[hasan]

somewhere south like austin or dallas. i suggest this because a lot of bowl games are down south especially in texas and a lot of college students will be traveling for them around new years eve

[banjojambo9]

Thank You for this important message we need to get it out to more people

[OferNave]

I'm still against this idea because I think it's a poor return on the investment (40k man-days just to make a point?), but if you insist on going forward, then I suggest you start with the map of meetup members and pick the point with the largest concentration of members within a day's drive so they waste as little time/money on this as possible. Think logistics, not symbolism or weather. We are the symbol, and we will brave any weather.

[Elwar]

RonPaulooza

[BlutStein]

My vote is for Dallas. Its a major city, its close to the middle of the country so its easy for everyone to travel to and its in Texas where Ron Paul is from.

That and I live 30 miles to the north and would be able to make it. :) But focus on my other points. ha

[Lucid American]

We are the symbol, and we will brave any weather

If that's the case, then Des Moines would be it.

I was thinking cheap plane tix.

[Forefall]

Orlando :)

[Fyretrohl]

Well, I will offer a second option, since it was used as a 'close to Iowa' vote. How about KC itself? It IS the Heartland. And, there are some decent sized arenas here.

[EvilEngineer]

bump

[hillertexas]

http://www.ronpaulapalooza.com/
http://www.ronpaulapalooza.com/ronpaulapalooza.jpg
http://www.ronpaulapalooza.com/bands.jpghttp://www.ronpaulapalooza.com/RP%20Peace.jpghttp://www.ronpaulapalooza.com/girlpaulapalooza.jpg

[Janet0116]

I'm still against this idea because I think it's a poor return on the investment (40k man-days just to make a point?), but if you insist on going forward, then I suggest you start with the map of meetup members and pick the point with the largest concentration of members within a day's drive so they waste as little time/money on this as possible. Think logistics, not symbolism or weather. We are the symbol, and we will brave any weather.

QFCS
(quoted for common sense) :cool:

[xRedfoxx]

I vote for Iowa! That is where the media attention is. We should have a huge rally there on a weekend...where we can get in and then get out. New years Eve timeframe??? December 30th?

[EvilEngineer]

Sadly the time frame for this is going to be after the initial primaries, closer toward super Tuesday Feb 5th. Mainly due to scheduling constraints of securing a venue, speakers, bands, and Dr. Paul.

[Fields]

austin, tx

we already have the largest meetup group here.
located centrally, and has warm weather.

Even though I'm in Los Angeles. I think Austin sounds pretty enticing.

[caradeporra]

Houston...one of the largest cities in the U.S. stadium (houston texans). Ron Paul's home!

Austin, Dallas/Ft.worth and arkansas, louisiana are all nearby. Big airport with lots of traffic!

And austin is one of the largest meetups, if not the largest!

[Bryan]

MY $0.02-

. First choice would be to coordinate it with a week long canvassing effort that makes sense on the time frame. Charlotte, NC as Pete suggests may be good.

. After that, equally split on a choice for weather/logistics or symbolism. Austin would be good, better weather than Dallas (which can has messy snow :p), has 6th Street, 1000+ in meet-up, and the Straw Poll was in Dallas. Austin is closer to Houston too (2.5 hours vs. 4+) which is his district.

Jefferson Memorial would be great for symbolism.

One issue with being too close to Super Tuesday is that we'd want people home voting too. :)

[Voluntaryist]

LOS ANGELES 2nd biggest city in the country and FULL of Ron Paul supporters!

[Wickwire]

I vote for Dallas or Austin. Houston is a terrible city to visit with horrendous traffic, toll roads, angry people, etc. You are also far more likely to be rained on in Houston.

If it's in Austin("Live Music Captial of the World"), you are far more likely to attract some musical talent that will help draw people to the event. Austin is about 3 hrs from Dallas, about 2 hours from College Station(Texas A&M University), and about 3 hours from Houston. The weather is some of the best in the nation. There are many more reasons, but you get the idea.

[Paul.Bearer.of.Injustice]

Best bet is to pick a huge delegate state with a realistic chance of winning - like CA or TX. FL is a risky bet and NY is going to Guiliani. RP needs to win CA and TX.

Best bang for the buck is LA, I think. Texas would work well also.

[OferNave]

Sadly the time frame for this is going to be after the initial primaries, closer toward super Tuesday Feb 5th. Mainly due to scheduling constraints of securing a venue, speakers, bands, and Dr. Paul.

That makes sense, but brings up another point (yes I'm pooping everywhere, but I promise never to repeat the same criticism twice). By then we will have either done great in Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida, in which case the need for this event is lessed, or we will have sucked, in which case it would be futile (I expect the former!). There's a small range between great and sucked that would make this event be useful for awareness-raising purposes.

[OferNave]

And austin is one of the largest meetups, if not the largest!

Correct. Austin is (and has been as long as I can remember) the largest meetup group of all, currently exceeding one thousand members. It boggles the mind, especially considering they are far from the largest city. They rock.

[OferNave]

Best bet is to pick a huge delegate state with a realistic chance of winning - like CA or TX. FL is a risky bet and NY is going to Guiliani. RP needs to win CA and TX.

I don't have any numbers, but what I've heard is that NY *hates* Giuliani, and that the NY meetups have been rocking the state and strongly believe they've owned it.

[jj111]

If you are going to do this, why not do it in an early primary state? How about Iowa? Follow it up by a week of boots on the ground canvassing and campaigning?

[disciple]

If you are going to do this, why not do it in an early primary state? How about Iowa? Follow it up by a week of boots on the ground canvassing and campaigning?


That makes sense.

[Bryan]

We could alway crash the "Ron Paul's Christmas Vacation in Iowa" student event. :)
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/calendar.php?do=getinfo&day=2007-12-26&e=77&c=1
Arrival date is Thursday, Dec. 27
Departure date is Friday, Jan. 4

Do a week of canvassing (students will already be doing that too) and Dr. Paul will be in town so he could more likely be available for a rally. I'd say have it at the end of the week so part of the canvassing could be to get others to the rally.

I've already spent one week canvassing Iowa, why not another? :)

[MyKillK]

Las Vegas

[dude58677]

Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, Rose Bowl Stadium, Lambeu Field, Fenway Park, etc.

[kotetu]

Los Angeles, Staples Center, LAX


History

Staples Center opened on October 17, 1999, and immediately won recognition, becoming a two-time winner of the Pollstar-CIC Arena of the Year award. It has gained fame as the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, and the Los Angeles Avengers of the AFL. It is the only arena that is home to five professional sports franchises.

Hosting more than 250 events and nearly 4 million visitors a year, Staples Center has been a premier venue for high-profile sports and entertainment events as well as events of national and international distinction. Since its opening day, Staples Center has hosted the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the 2002 NHL All-Star game, the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, the 2004 Pacific Ten Conference Basketball Championships, the WTA Tour Championships from 2002 to 2005, the first ever Latin Grammy Awards in 2000, the annual Grammy Awards since 2000 with the exception of 2003, the Pacific Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament since 2002, the Summer X Games indoor competitions since 2003, the UFC 60 pay per view event, as well as numerous Concerts and HBO Championship Boxing matches. In addition to hosting the attendance record setting WrestleMania 21 in 2005, Staples Center has also hosted WWE Unforgiven in 2002, WWE Judgment Day in 2004, and WWE No Way Out in 2007 as well as other WWE events.

It has held numerous concerts by artists such as Cher, Shakira, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Beyonce, Destiny's Child, Barbra Streisand, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, The Eagles, Keith Urban, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Spice Girls, and many others.

The arena

There are a total of 12 locker and dressing rooms, including team-specific locker rooms for the Lakers, Clippers, and Kings. There are a series of meeting rooms in the arena, including the Bank of America conference area on the suite level and additional rooms in the attached, three-story office tower. There are extensive hospitality facilities, including a restaurant and club space on the suite level at one end of the arena, overlooking the arena floor.

Spectator amenities include a full-service ticket window, 1,200 television monitors throughout the facility, 23 refreshment stands spread among the arena's five concourses, as well as the Fox Sports SkyBox restaurant on the main plaza, the Royal Room on main concourse, the Arena Club and Grand Reserve Club above the premier seating level, and the outdoor City View Grille, offering a look at the downtown skyline. There is also a TeamLA store on the plaza level, accessible from outside the arena, and offers a complete array of apparel and merchandise for the arena's resident teams and top events. Event presentation is augmented by a $2 million specialty lighting package, a $1.5 million Bose sound system, a Mitsubishi eight-sided, center-court scoreboard and videoboard, as well as a fascia board along the upper seating level, provided by Daktronics.

Staples Center seats up to 20,000 for concerts, 18,997 for basketball, and 18,118 for hockey and arena football. Two-thirds of the arena's seating, including 2,500 club seats, are in the lower bowl, and there are 160 luxury suites, including 15 event suites, on three levels between the lower and upper bowls. The arena's attendance record is held by WWE WrestleMania 21 with a crowd of 20,193 set on April 3, 2005.

Special Events/Meeting Room Services Hotline
(213) 763-7767



To this I think a few cities qualify for the event.

Dallas, Texas. (Texas Stadium or American Airline center)
Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Stadium)

Suggested:
Austin, Texas (3 agree so far)
Boston
San Diego
Des Moines
Orlando
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Feel free to add to the list, and propose your feedback.

[EvilEngineer]

added: Los Angeles, Staples Center, LAX to main list on 1st post

[kushaze]

Lets hold it in South Carolina at the same stadium as Oprabama had their event.

[Cali4RonPaul]

Staples center.

[atilla]

willie nelson pothead/paulhead concert and fundraiser in austin. 30,000 tickets * $100 = $3,000,000

[Original_Intent]

Sorry for the downer, but the point of this would be to get media coverage for RP. Why not instead get 40,000 to spend a day canvasing their neighborhoods. You could reach several million doors with voter registration cards, literature and a personal face to face. Much more effective use of resources. A big rally would be a blast, but not as big a blast as RP winning the nomination.

EVERY thing can be converted into "but we could knock on x doors and pay for Y slimjims".

Door to door is hugely effective, no question, but we can not and should not limit ourselves to that. Different activities serve different purposes.

A show of our strength and Ron Paul's true popularity is going to keep some of those doors from getting slammed in your face.

[mconder]

I would like to suggest Denver, as it is the most geographically centralized.

[Libertarian]

30,000 is very doable I think.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/twane217/Meet-UpGroupsCompared.gif

[Mahkato]

Sorry to be a party pooper, but this is a very expensive idea for a campaign stunt. If 40,000 people spend an average of $250 to get there, spend the night, and get home, you've just blown $10 million dollars.

[hasan]

Sorry to be a party pooper, but this is a very expensive idea for a campaign stunt. If 40,000 people spend an average of $250 to get there, spend the night, and get home, you've just blown $10 million dollars.

im assuming that you would rather have the money donated to the teaparty but it doesn't work that way. ppl are ready to donate a fixed amount to the teaparty and even if they dont travel to the gathering i can assure you the money saved will not go to the teaparty or otherwise. there are different ways of raising awareness and this is one heck of a good way. lets organize this, set a date, and a schedule of events.

[jake]

im assuming that you would rather have the money donated to the teaparty but it doesn't work that way. ppl are ready to donate a fixed amount to the teaparty and even if they dont travel to the gathering i can assure you the money saved will not go to the teaparty or otherwise. there are different ways of raising awareness and this is one heck of a good way. lets organize this, set a date, and a schedule of events.

this is a correct analysis

[EvilEngineer]

added: denver to the list

[powertothepeople]

we should gather in d.c. In front of the Washington monument like in Forrest Gump

[Revolution9]

having a few supporters at the superbowl would secure us the all time victory. no one will be able to decide with absolute certainty whether they are there for the game or the good dr :D


The effing goddamned Supra Bowel wherein betachimps become alphachimps??!!??. These people..not potsmokers...but <jocks>armchair quarterbacks</jocks> are THE couch potatoes of America. Sure they are good with spouting jingoistic slogans and a pitting team versus team mentality but that don't make a voter worth a hoot and a holler.

Randy

[McLane2007]

im assuming that you would rather have the money donated to the teaparty but it doesn't work that way. ppl are ready to donate a fixed amount to the teaparty and even if they dont travel to the gathering i can assure you the money saved will not go to the teaparty or otherwise. there are different ways of raising awareness and this is one heck of a good way. lets organize this, set a date, and a schedule of events.

I think it would be great but we are having trouble getting 1,000 people to New Hampshire, how realistic is it to get 40,000 people some place else? I for one am way to broke to fly anywhere. Just my opinion but this close to the primaries I think our main focus should be on making sure all the independents, democrats, and libertarians are registered republican so they can vote in closed primary states.

[dude58677]

How about we have the rally at the United Center (home of the Chicago Bulls) and then Ray Clay introduces him while the song "Siruis-Parson Project" is being played?:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc11-pt_X6g&feature=related

[linusPAULing]

I think New Orleans should become the postercity for everything that's wrong with the current government, and what area of the country most seriously needs it's freedom back.

RP would allow LA to keep their taxes and he'd bring back their guard.

Thus, I think holding a large rally there, perhaps complete with a blimp, and a message of liberating NO would be a good choice.

[OferNave]

EVERY thing can be converted into "but we could knock on x doors and pay for Y slimjims".

Door to door is hugely effective, no question, but we can not and should not limit ourselves to that. Different activities serve different purposes.

A show of our strength and Ron Paul's true popularity is going to keep some of those doors from getting slammed in your face.

Yes, but in my defense, I don't try to deter every project with this argument. This is actually the first time. I support the rallys, the money bombs, the blimps, the sign waves, the letter writing campaign, etc... I judge each idea on it's own merits. I have judged this one accordingly, and hence, for the first time, am using the 'our time is better spent elsewhere' argument, because this time I feel it is true.

[mavtek]

DFW would be by far the most economical as far as flights are concerned. Venues are pretty decent as well. AAC would be far too costly, but we have Reunion Arena that is relatively dirt cheap, or our convention centers which can seat in excess of 20,000.

Chicago has cheap flights and a hell of a meetup group.

[acmegeek]

OK, again, I do understand the potential benefits of a huge single gathering, but with the holidays and travel burdens, I know I couldn't go to Texas. I'm sure that others with families would have budgetary and time limitations as well.

But... I could surely go to a gathering in my home town, (Tucson), or even Phoenix.

So please, seriously consider the concept of a nationwide concert where a specific day is set aside and promoted and in all cities there are concert(s) with the same theme, freedom and hope.

Seriously, with the number of meetup groups it wouldn't be that hard to distribute the effort if enough people got onboard.

If would be some significant Saturday or Sunday in January, timed right before some other event to ramp things up. Ideally I'd like to see it happen on Dec 30th, but that may be just too optimistic.

I do have some support building through some meetup groups, so please let me know if you can or will at least mention the concept to your group. Just have them go to:

www.RonRox.com (http://www.RonRox.com)

Thanks!

[EvilEngineer]

OK, again, I do understand the potential benefits of a huge single gathering, but with the holidays and travel burdens, I know I couldn't go to Texas. I'm sure that others with families would have budgetary and time limitations as well.

But... I could surely go to a gathering in my home town, (Tucson), or even Phoenix.

So please, seriously consider the concept of a nationwide concert where a specific day is set aside and promoted and in all cities there are concert(s) with the same theme, freedom and hope.

Seriously, with the number of meetup groups it wouldn't be that hard to distribute the effort if enough people got onboard.

If would be some significant Saturday or Sunday in January, timed right before some other event to ramp things up. Ideally I'd like to see it happen on Dec 30th, but that may be just too optimistic.

I do have some support building through some meetup groups, so please let me know if you can or will at least mention the concept to your group. Just have them go to:

www.RonRox.com (http://www.RonRox.com)

Thanks!

As I stated earlier, this would be roughly slate for right before super Tuesday. So the holidays will be well over by then.

[Cali4RonPaul]

Correct. Austin is (and has been as long as I can remember) the largest meetup group of all, currently exceeding one thousand members. It boggles the mind, especially considering they are far from the largest city. They rock.

That maybe so, however when you calculate Los Angeles and all its surrounding cities our meetup group totals are in the thousands. We are just divided by proximity.. but all groups in the county and surrounding areas are relatively close.. If anyone has visited our neck of the woods, its one big urban sprawl.. The first meetup group in the country and best known hails from Pasadena.

[ksuguy]

I like one of the cities in Texas. It's centrally located, lots of venues big enough. Shouldn't be too cold, and it's closer to Ron's home district. I would definitely drive down from Kansas for an event like this. Vegas would also be a wonderful choice if we could get a stadium. Lots of stuff to do out there, great weather, and very cheap airfares from almost anywhere in the country, and it is within driving distance of the west coast and Arizona.

[acmegeek]

OK, I guess I missed that. I'm with you then to have a major event, and then smaller remote/local events in each meetup city that would both show the event on screens and then have live local bands perform.

I'll do what I can and if you want to use the name/domain "Ron Rox" / ronrox.com for this, I'm all for it. I am a professional web developer, so I can handle that part of things.

EE, PM me if you want to discuss more. I'd like to help make this huge!

[fightfortruth]

This last week, Obama set the bar high using Ophra as a ploy to gather people to his weekend rally. Whether or not these will translate into votes in the primaries is yet to be seen, thankfully it's not a direct threat to Dr. Paul yet. However what it did do was assemble probably the largest political gathering as of yet for this election cycle, though I'm curious about what the record is overall.

Though this does bring the question, can we the RP grassroots that has accomplished events like the 5th of November, the blimp, and soon be the dec 16th fund raiser... host a massive rally that no one can beat?

I'd like to propose to the grassroots, a be all end all rally, hosted in a major city in the following months. For this we will need in attendance 40k+ people to show up, if not more.

The conditions for the city of choice for the rally need to be along the lines of the following:

1. Major city, population 2 million+
2. Availability of a large stadium that can seat 40,000+ people.
3. Major airport accessibility
4. Adequate lodging
5. Massive grassroots presence to help coordinate locally
6. Preferably warm weather environment so as not to discourage people coming out due to the weather.

To this I think a few cities qualify for the event.

Dallas, Texas. (Texas Stadium or American Airline center)
Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Stadium)

Suggested:
Austin, Texas (3 agree so far)
Boston
San Diego
Des Moines
Orlando
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles, Staples Center, LAX +1
Denver

Feel free to add to the list, and propose your feedback.


Additional Proposed ideas:
1. Simultaneous smaller local events in coordination with the mega rally for those who cannot travel.
2. Workshops, Concerts, Grassroots idea proposals
3. Mass canvassing of host city and hitting the streets after the rally.


Edit: Putting together a blog for this idea.
http://RonPaulMegaRally.blogspot.com/


have a poll on here to see where people woul dwant to have a massive rally. I think it needs to be 10,000+ in my opnion. i don't know if 40,000 is realistic. People are spending their money on tickets to NH and IA right now, plus the money bomb. People are going to be pretty stretched for cash.

[EvilEngineer]

have a poll on here to see where people woul dwant to have a massive rally. I think it needs to be 10,000+ in my opnion. i don't know if 40,000 is realistic. People are spending their money on tickets to NH and IA right now, plus the money bomb. People are going to be pretty stretched for cash.

I'm looking for a few more ideas for cities and then will turn this into a poll. This will also be after IA and NH have concluded, so conflicts with them and fund raising for them will be over by the time this becomes a reality.

[OferNave]

OK, again, I do understand the potential benefits of a huge single gathering, but with the holidays and travel burdens, I know I couldn't go to Texas. I'm sure that others with families would have budgetary and time limitations as well.

But... I could surely go to a gathering in my home town, (Tucson), or even Phoenix.

So please, seriously consider the concept of a nationwide concert where a specific day is set aside and promoted and in all cities there are concert(s) with the same theme, freedom and hope.

Seriously, with the number of meetup groups it wouldn't be that hard to distribute the effort if enough people got onboard.

If would be some significant Saturday or Sunday in January, timed right before some other event to ramp things up. Ideally I'd like to see it happen on Dec 30th, but that may be just too optimistic.

I do have some support building through some meetup groups, so please let me know if you can or will at least mention the concept to your group. Just have them go to:

www.RonRox.com (http://www.RonRox.com)

Thanks!

Yes - I like the RonRox idea much better. For one, we don't waste time and money travling to a single place. For another, 10-100 times more people can participate, and we can drag regular folks to the events instead of just Ron Paul supporters. And lastly, I find the idea of simultaneous concerts all around the country much more exciting than cramming a bunch of people into a stadium.