How much did the meetup groups help Dean?

[paulitics]

I read somewhere that Dean had over 100,000 ground troops, yet he still managed to lose badly to Kerry. Dean was leading in the polls for months until actually the day of the primaries when he proceeded to lose. I would imagine the meetup groups were most active right before the election, yet he lost all of his lead. The Dean Scream didn't happen until after he lost (Iowa I think it was).
We need to reflect on this. What happened ? Was it lack of organization, lack of professionalism? Or was the problem with Dean himself and his personality?

The similirities are striking. 2 antiwar candidates with no name recognition, become overnight superstars on the web and take it to the mainstream to shake up the establishment. What did the Dean campaign do wrong, that cost him the primary election? What did he do right to garner so much mainstream media attention? Did the mainstream media turn on him right before the election?

I was disinterested entirely in politics back than so I have no memory to draw on. Thank you.

[DeadheadForPaul]

I read somewhere that Dean had over 100,000 ground troops, yet he still managed to lose badly to Kerry. Dean was leading in the polls for months until actually the day of the primaries when he proceeded to lose. I would imagine the meetup groups were most active right before the election, yet he lost all of his lead. The Dean Scream didn't happen until after he lost (Iowa I think it was).
We need to reflect on this. What happened ? Was it lack of organization, lack of professionalism? Or was the problem with Dean himself and his personality?

The similirities are striking. 2 antiwar candidates with no name recognition, become overnight superstars on the web and take it to the mainstream to shake up the establishment. What did the Dean campaign do wrong, that cost him the primary election? What did he do right to garner so much mainstream media attention? Did the mainstream media turn on him right before the election?

I was disinterested entirely in politics back than so I have no memory to draw on. Thank you.

I'm glad you brought this up because I was actually a member of the Dean movement and experienced this first hand. The problem with Dean's campaign is that most outsiders heard from the media that everyone in his camp were a bunch of hippie college kids. A lot of people may only hear 1 thing about a candidate before voting so image is everything. That's why Fox News labeling Ron Paul as a "9/11 Truther" or claiming that he said we "invited" the attacks is so potentially dangerous for our movement

I remember that some candidate or group ran ads in Iowa saying that Dean was a latte-drinking Vermont liberal who received money from Hollywood. Iowans are very average, middle-of-the-road Americans, and they don't like out of the mainstream candidates. That is why it is important for US to define Ron Paul rather than the media. As you can tell, most people still do not know who Ron Paul is. They need to meet a nice person and connect that supporter with Paul. I was honestly shocked when Dean lost but I soon realized that his base was too radical for Iowa

When you meet people on the street, make sure to ask them what issues are important to them. You dont want to talk about gun rights if the person is a liberal. Say "what issues are important to you" then change your approach according to that person. If they want us out of the war, state that Ron Paul voted against it to begin with and that he is the only candidate calling for us to get out.

Connect with them and try to be as "normal" as possible. I know it's hard for some of us lol who are so excited about Paul but act in a calm, rational manner and be friendly!

[beermotor]

A follow up to that is, you really need to be self aware. Are you a hippy weirdo? I mean that's cool, I can totally dig it, but Joe and Jane Iowa probably cannot. You need to be aware of your speaking limitations, too ... lots of us are computer nerds, with loads of boardwarrior skillz, but probably not the best to be talking to folks face to face, or even on the phone.

Encourage your friends with talents to put them to use in particular areas, and be aware of what your own talents are. You may be the gregarious salesman who can talk to anyone. In fact, one of my closest friends, who studied under Rothbard and helped me grow my libertarian anarcho-capitalist spirit, is such a person. Encourage those people to spread the word verbally. Everyone can play a role. Nobody should be turned away. But, at the same time, no one can be everything. Just be self aware of what you're good at, and what you're not.

[paulitics]

I'm glad you brought this up because I was actually a member of the Dean movement and experienced this first hand. The problem with Dean's campaign is that most outsiders heard from the media that everyone in his camp were a bunch of hippie college kids. A lot of people may only hear 1 thing about a candidate before voting so image is everything. That's why Fox News labeling Ron Paul as a "9/11 Truther" or claiming that he said we "invited" the attacks is so potentially dangerous for our movement

I remember that some candidate or group ran ads in Iowa saying that Dean was a latte-drinking Vermont liberal who received money from Hollywood. Iowans are very average, middle-of-the-road Americans, and they don't like out of the mainstream candidates. That is why it is important for US to define Ron Paul rather than the media. As you can tell, most people still do not know who Ron Paul is. They need to meet a nice person and connect that supporter with Paul. I was honestly shocked when Dean lost but I soon realized that his base was too radical for Iowa

When you meet people on the street, make sure to ask them what issues are important to them. You dont want to talk about gun rights if the person is a liberal. Say "what issues are important to you" then change your approach according to that person. If they want us out of the war, state that Ron Paul voted against it to begin with and that he is the only candidate calling for us to get out.

Connect with them and try to be as "normal" as possible. I know it's hard for some of us lol who are so excited about Paul but act in a calm, rational manner and be friendly!

Are you a member of a RP group? And do the members resemble the Deaniacs in age , attitude, or appearance? who would you say are more professional?

[DeadheadForPaul]

Are you a member of a RP group? And do the members resemble the Deaniacs in age , attitude, or appearance? who would you say are more professional?

I am attending my first RP meetup in a few days. However, I have seen meetup groups on youtube, and they are a better representation of the overall American population than the Deaniacs.

90% of Dean's base were college kids who did not show up at the polls.

We are FAR more professional than Dean's base was as well. I attribute this to our diversity and the message of Paul. I think a lot of Deaniacs like myself were just willing to support anyone opposed to the War in Iraq.

The Ron Paul supporters are far more hardcore!

[cujothekitten]

I'm glad you brought this up because I was actually a member of the Dean movement and experienced this first hand.

I wasn't on the internet nearly as much back then nor was I paying attention to the elections but I remember liking Dean and thinking he was going to win... until the yell. As a person that was completely out of it back then I can tell you that it wasn't the followers that turned people off. I thought he was fine once I started seeing him in the news.

He reminded me of Edwards now... I didn't see him, or his fans, as fringe.

[DeadheadForPaul]

I wasn't on the internet nearly as much back then nor was I paying attention to the elections but I remember liking Dean and thinking he was going to win... until the yell. As a person that was completely out of it back then I can tell you that it wasn't the followers that turned people off. I thought he was fine once I started seeing him in the news.

He reminded me of Edwards now... I didn't see him, or his fans, as fringe.

The commercial that I mentioned above which ran in Iowa really connected with a lot of Iowans. Dean was seen as a "Hollywood liberal" despite the fact that he balanced budgets and had an A rating from the NRA. It was truly amazing that he dropped down to third in the primaries. Also, I still never got what the big deal was with the "Dean Scream". Yeah, he looked kind of goofy but so what. Talk about the media jumping on something and over-using it

[damijin]

@any deaniacs in this thread:

How did the Dean movement find and reach out to supporters on the web? Was it a college movement that shared URLs?


The reason I ask is because Web 2.0( the buzz word for the recent advancements in the web which makes sites like MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube, and MeetUp possible) is too recent to have played a major role in the Dean online campaign. These services were either non-existent or in their infantile stages in 2003, so I've always wondered, how exactly did "100,000 ground troops" find each other?

I suppose the Media was more in favor of Dean at the time than it is of Paul now, which could actually be a good thing. Iowan voters have a strong history of not giving a damn what the Media says, or even out-right rejecting it. That could mean we have the best of both worlds ;)

[Birdlady]

I always thought they stole the primary election votes from Dean and that he actually won in many states. The cover story was that his support online didn't go and vote, but that's not true from the little research I have done.

[TexMac]

Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, literally wrote the book on this subject.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything (http://www.amazon.com/Revolution-Will-Not-Televised-Everything/dp/0060761555)

There's a lot of info on the web, as well. Here's a recommended link:

The Tripping Point (http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2004/02/12/point_trippi.html)

[DeadheadForPaul]

@any deaniacs in this thread:

How did the Dean movement find and reach out to supporters on the web? Was it a college movement that shared URLs?


The reason I ask is because Web 2.0( the buzz word for the recent advancements in the web which makes sites like MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube, and MeetUp possible) is too recent to have played a major role in the Dean online campaign. These services were either non-existent or in their infantile stages in 2003, so I've always wondered, how exactly did "100,000 ground troops" find each other?



Meetup has been around since 2002. Howard Dean's campaign supporters were really the first group of people to harnass the power of the internet for a campaign and use MeetUp to unite. Dean's campaign website was also a way that people networked. Dean For America created a real grassroots buzz much in the same way that Paul's has spread - though now there are a larger number of internet-saavy people with even greater tools (Youtube, Facebook, etc). That's why Paul could have even more supporters than Dean. Dean's movement was very small and exploded into the #1 campaign - to the extent that everyone thought he would be nominee. He went from a guy with mininal support to #1...sadly, Iowa was turned off by him

[klamath]

At the last election the majority of the Americans still supported the war in Iraq. I kind of had to support it because I was on my way over there and wanted to feel I was doing the right thing as I really didn't have a choice.
As I had other things on my mind I didn't follow the election as close as I normally do. When did Dean start to come up in the poles?

[DeadheadForPaul]

At the last election the majority of the Americans still supported the war in Iraq. I kind of had to support it because I was on my way over there and wanted to feel I was doing the right thing as I really didn't have a choice.
As I had other things on my mind I didn't follow the election as close as I normally do. When did Dean start to come up in the poles?

Thank you for serving our country. I can't imagine what it is like to head over to a war zone but I do know that it takes courage

Here is a brief overview of how the Dean campaign went down. Just add 4 years in order to compare it to Paul's:

May 2002 - Almost two years before the Iowa Caucus, Dean hoped the early start would give him some much needed name recognition. As a governor of a small state, Dean was not well-known outside of the region.

April 2003: Democratic fund-raising totals for the first quarter of 2003 were reported. John Edwards raised $7.4 million, John Kerry raised $7.0 million, Dick Gephardt raised $3.5 million, Joe Lieberman raised $3.0 million, Howard Dean raised $2.6 million, Bob Graham raised $1.1 million, and Dennis Kucinich and Carol Moseley Braun raised less than $1 million each, so Dean was basically in the same position as Paul.

June 2003 - Howard Dean aired the first television advertising of the 2004 campaign, spending more than $300,000. During that time, he formally announced his run for president, filing to form a presidential election campaign with the FEC. Later that month, liberal advocacy website MoveOn held the first ever online Democratic "primary", which lasted just over 48 hours. It was an unofficial and nonbinding affair, but with important symbolic and financial value. Of 317,647 votes, Howard Dean received 44%, Dennis Kucinich 24%, and John Kerry 16%. Had any candidate received 50% of the vote, the candidate would have received MoveOn's endorsement and financial support. Instead, MoveOn supported all the candidates

July 2003 - In July, the Democratic fund-raising numbers for the second quarter of 2003 were reported and announced. Howard Dean surprised many raising $7.5 million, John Kerry raised $6 million, while John Edwards and Joseph Lieberman raised roughly $5 million each. Dean's strength as a fund-raiser was attributed mainly to his innovative embrace of the Internet for campaigning. The majority of his donations came from individual Dean supporters, who came to be known as Deanites, or, more commonly, Deaniacs. His campaign's innovative use of the Internet helped to build a strongly supportive grassroots constituency, much of which remained intensely loyal to him long after the end of his candidacy.
If you want more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Democratic_primary

Fall 2003 - By autumn of 2003, Dean had become the apparent front-runner for the Democratic nomination, performing strongly in most polls.

To sum up...he went from a nobody with 2 million in the bank to front-runner in 5 months from the spring to the fall!

[DeadheadForPaul]

On the Iowa caucus: Leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean was a strong front-runner, fueled by an official endorsement from Al Gore in December 2003, and bolstered by other key endorsements, such as Bill Bradley and Tom Harkin. Even opponent Carol Moseley Braun endorsed Dean after she dropped out of the race, having been soundly defeated by Dean in the Washington, D.C., primary.

On January 19, 2004, the Iowa caucuses yielded unexpectedly strong results for John Kerry, who earned 38%, and John Edwards, who took 32%. Former front-runner Howard Dean slipped to 18% and third place


Nothing is certain and the Iowans' votes are up for grabs!

[paulitics]

At the last election the majority of the Americans still supported the war in Iraq. I kind of had to support it because I was on my way over there and wanted to feel I was doing the right thing as I really didn't have a choice.
As I had other things on my mind I didn't follow the election as close as I normally do. When did Dean start to come up in the poles?


I'm not sure when he came up in the poles but I do know he got a head start, and was making waves early in 2003. His online support and grass roots movement was ahead of Paul's by about 3 months.

[Akus]

Hey, DeadheadforPaul, what about Kerry meetups, didn't he also had a very strong grassroots movement that even included some republicans?

[Akus]

Thank you for serving our country. I can't imagine what it is like to head over to a war zone but I do know that it takes courage

Here is a brief overview of how the Dean campaign went down. Just add 4 years in order to compare it to Paul's:

May 2002 - Almost two years before the Iowa Caucus, Dean hoped the early start would give him some much needed name recognition. As a governor of a small state, Dean was not well-known outside of the region.

April 2003: Democratic fund-raising totals for the first quarter of 2003 were reported. John Edwards raised $7.4 million, John Kerry raised $7.0 million, Dick Gephardt raised $3.5 million, Joe Lieberman raised $3.0 million, Howard Dean raised $2.6 million, Bob Graham raised $1.1 million, and Dennis Kucinich and Carol Moseley Braun raised less than $1 million each, so Dean was basically in the same position as Paul.

June 2003 - Howard Dean aired the first television advertising of the 2004 campaign, spending more than $300,000. . . .

Ok, stop.

Right there!!!
If being on TV costs this little $$, why isnt RP buying some air time. Guliani is all over TV, why isn't Paul.

One more thing, how did Dean politically die and are there way to make sure the same doesnt' happen to Ron Paul?

[paulitics]

On the Iowa caucus: Leading up to the Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean was a strong front-runner, fueled by an official endorsement from Al Gore in December 2003, and bolstered by other key endorsements, such as Bill Bradley and Tom Harkin. Even opponent Carol Moseley Braun endorsed Dean after she dropped out of the race, having been soundly defeated by Dean in the Washington, D.C., primary.

On January 19, 2004, the Iowa caucuses yielded unexpectedly strong results for John Kerry, who earned 38%, and John Edwards, who took 32%. Former front-runner Howard Dean slipped to 18% and third place

I still don't understand how Kerry and Edwards came out of nowhere to kick the frontrunner's butt that day. Obviously they are both very much inside the circle. Kerry seemd like the chosen one, but not by the people. He just wasn't likeable and came across as an elitist know it all. I think everyone was shocked, which lead to the infamous scream, but, I digress.

Did the local newspapers smear his campaign perhaps the days before the caucus leaving kerry unscathed?

[RonPaulGetsIt]

This Dean parallel is interesting and should be explored fully so as to capitalize on strengths and avoid any potential main stream media traps. I'd like to hear more from those Dean supporters from 2003-2004. I see the similarities in the anti-war stance, but I don't remember much about his political views. I never cared enough about politics before I discovered Ron Paul. I suppose I was beginning to sense the process by which corporate media promote and discuss a half dozen capidates from both parties "battling" issues when in reality all are in favor of an ever larger and more powerful government and don't really care who wins as long as its one of their guys.

What was Dean's allure to his supporters? Is it similar to Ron Paul's? My excitement about Ron Paul is because of his message of hope to stop the encroachment of our civil liberties in its tracks and to return our country back to protecting our individual freedoms. I imagine that Ron Paul's message about small government will resonate with most people and they will be as interested as we are here on this forum. Am I mistaking my excitement for Ron Paul as simply that of anyone who gets involved emotionally with a candidate? I'm not trying to be negative, but are we like Dean's followers? If he had 100,000 foot soldiers shouldn't we have 1,000,000 or more because of his flawless record and ideals. Yes his following is growing but it should be growing a lot faster.

[DeadheadForPaul]

Hey, DeadheadforPaul, what about Kerry meetups, didn't he also had a very strong grassroots movement that even included some republicans?

Most people thought that Kerry's campaign was done and his meetup groups were a joke. He campaigned HARD in Iowa in the last weeks before the primary. I remember looking at the clips on the tv about Kerry and smirking because it looked like some rich guy with no support base. It honestly shocked people that John Kerry was #1. Whatever magic Kerry worked, I gotta give him props because that was incredible. Someone should really be talking to the Kerry supporters/campaign staff

[klamath]

Thanks for the info. From the looks of it Dean had a step up on us at this point in the game. I guess we have to work harder. It doesn't mean things will unfold the same way. I was just reading how Dean lost a double digit lead in the last month but in that pole it was susposed to be Clark. For some reason I though that Dean had won the New Hampshire Primary but I guess I was mistaking him with Buccanan in '96.

[DeadheadForPaul]

Ok, stop.

Right there!!!
If being on TV costs this little $$, why isnt RP buying some air time. Guliani is all over TV, why isn't Paul.

One more thing, how did Dean politically die and are there way to make sure the same doesnt' happen to Ron Paul?

Until the Iowa primary results, Dean was basically a "sure thing". Getting 3rd and then the Dean Scream ended his campaign

One thing John Kerry did was to spend A TON of his own money in Iowa on commercials and on paid campaigners. By taking Iowa, he secured New Hampshire!

"On January 27 Kerry triumphed again, earning first place in New Hampshire. As late as one week before the first votes were cast in Iowa's caucuses, Dean had enjoyed a 30% lead in New Hampshire opinion polls ; accordingly, this loss represented another major setback to Dean's campaign."

[DeadheadForPaul]

Things we can learn from the Dean Campaign and How Ours is Similar:


Similarities

* Dean began his bid for President as a "long shot" candidate. ABC News ranked him eighth out of 12 in a list of potential presidential contenders in May of 2002.

* The majority of his donations came from individual Dean supporters sounding familar?

* Dean began his campaign by championing grassroots fundraising as a way to fight special interests. However, his opposition to the U.S. plan to invade Iraq (and his forceful criticism of Democrats in Congress who voted to authorize the use of force) quickly eclipsed other issues. By challenging the war in Iraq at a time when mainstream Democratic leaders were either neutral or cautiously supportive, Dean positioned himself to appeal to his party's activist base (much like how Ron Paul is challenging the Republican base)

* Dean was often quoted as saying that he represented "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party". (Ron Paul represents the Republican Wing of the Republican Party!!!) His message resonated among frustrated Democratic primary voters who felt that their party hadn't done enough to oppose the policies of the Republicans. Thus, Dean also succeeded in differentiating himself from his primary opponents.

What We can learn from the Failures/Successes of Dean

*His supporters organized real-world meetings, participated in online forums, donated money online, canvassed for advertising ideas, and distributed political talking points. In terms of money, publicity and activism, Dean therefore quickly staked out a leadership position in the field of candidates. In this way, he was able to bypass existing party and activist infrastructure and built his own online network of supporters. In terms of traditional "ground troops", however, Dean remained at a disadvantage. Dean adopted a coffee shop strategy to visit grassroot activists in all 99 Iowa counties, but he lacked the campaign infrastructure to get voters to the polls that his opponents had.

* While presidential campaigns have traditionally obtained finance by tapping wealthy, established political donors, Dean's funds came largely in small donations over the Internet; the average overall donation size was just under $80

This method of fundraising offered several important advantages over traditional fundraising, in addition to the inherent media interest in what was then a novelty. First, raising money on the Internet was relatively inexpensive, compared to conventional methods such as events, telemarketing, and direct mail campaigns. Secondly, as donors on average contributed far less than the legal limit ($2,000 per individual), the campaign could continue to resolicit them throughout the election season.

Dean's director of grassroots fundraising, Larry Biddle, came up with the idea of the popular fundraising "bat", an image of a cartoon baseball player and bat which appeared on the site every time the campaign launched a fundraising challenge. The bat encouraged Web site visitors to contribute money immediately through their credit cards. This would lead to the bat filling up like a thermometer with the red color indicating the total funds. The site often took suggestions from the netroots on their blog. One of these suggestions led to one of the campaigns biggest accomplishments — an image of Dean eating a turkey sandwich encouraged supporters to donate $250,000 in three days to match a big-donor dinner by Vice President Dick Cheney. The online contributions from that day matched what Cheney made from his fundraiser.[14]

The Paul 2008 website needs something like the Dean bat seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Deansbat.jpg

In November 2003, after a much-publicized online vote among his followers, Dean became the first Democrat to forgo federal matching funds (and the spending limits that go with them) since the system was established in 1974.

[Akus]

lacked the campaign infrastructure to get voters to the polls that his opponents had....
What does that mean?

[BillyBeer]

Most people thought that Kerry's campaign was done and his meetup groups were a joke. He campaigned HARD in Iowa in the last weeks before the primary. I remember looking at the clips on the tv about Kerry and smirking because it looked like some rich guy with no support base. It honestly shocked people that John Kerry was #1. Whatever magic Kerry worked, I gotta give him props because that was incredible. Someone should really be talking to the Kerry supporters/campaign staff

It was the same magic Joe Trippi used to win Iowa in 84 with the Fritz Blitzers for Mondale.

Just turn out Democrats who vote early and often.

[BillyBeer]

What does that mean?

Paid and experienced operatives on the ground familiar with the Iowa Caucus

[DeadheadForPaul]

What does that mean?

It means that he did not have the campaign staff to let supporters know how to rally the troops. There needs to be leadership from a campaign. Individuals can only do so much...there needs to be a united effort from campaign headquarters if you want to win an election

[Akus]

So deadhead and billybeer, is Dean's problem that of Ron Paul's?...

And what are your solutions to counter it?

[RonPaulCult]

Iowa is a crazy place and it screws up our elections. The people of Iowa are bought by the powerful in this country. Dean was never going to win Iowa.

The scream made sure he wasn't going to win anywhere else.

I watched the scream live.

The mics were turned up way louder than they should have been for television. People there did not think it was anything odd. I've read that the audio feed was pooled to all of the stations (meaning the SAME audio feed was going out over CNN, FNC, MSNBC, etc.)

Then the media played it 24 hours a day for the next 3 weeks.

A tiny clip can ruin any man or woman in politics.

I fully expect the media to find a "dean scream" moment and play it on a constant loop IF Ron Paul goes high enough in the polls.

It's just one of the ways elections are unfair and forced on us.

Call me a conspiricy nut. I wasn't for Dean but I knew it was going to happen before it happened. My friends remember me saying it.

[DeadheadForPaul]

So deadhead and billybeer, is Dean's problem that of Ron Paul's?...

And what are your solutions to counter it?

I think that aspect is out of our hands and in the campaign's hands. We are responsible for name recognition and donations...converting one voter at a time when Paul cannot be everywhere at once. While Paul is converting those in NYC or Nevada or Iowa, I hope to convert someone here in Atlanta

[BillyBeer]

So deadhead and billybeer, is Dean's problem that of Ron Paul's?...

And what are your solutions to counter it?

I think the problems are very similar.

My solution: Avoid Iowa for the most part.

Run a token campaign and try to get about 10 percent of the vote there.

But concentrate on New Hampshire.

New Hampshire is historically Libertarian, I mean that state is almost tailor made for Ron Pauls message. Iowa is not. Iowa is tailor made for machine politicians like Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. The results of the New Hampshire Primary and Iowa Caucus back this up.

Many insurgent campaigns (and the Paul campaign is definitely insurgent) have received enormous boosts from New Hampshire. Pat Buchanan, John McCain, Gene McCarthy, Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, none of these candidates were front runners yet they all won or did better than expected in New Hampshire.

I think Ron Paul can win New Hampshire and get a ton of momentum for the nomination if he focuses his attention there rather than Iowa.

[DeadheadForPaul]

I think the problems are very similar.

My solution: Avoid Iowa for the most part.

Run a token campaign and try to get about 10 percent of the vote there.

But concentrate on New Hampshire.

New Hampshire is historically Libertarian, I mean that state is almost tailor made for Ron Pauls message. Iowa is not. Iowa is tailor made for machine politicians like Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. The results of the New Hampshire Primary and Iowa Caucus back this up.

Many insurgent campaigns (and the Paul campaign is definitely insurgent) have received enormous boosts from New Hampshire. Pat Buchanan, John McCain, Gene McCarthy, Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, none of these candidates were front runners yet they all won or did better than expected in New Hampshire.

I think Ron Paul can win New Hampshire and get a ton of momentum for the nomination if he focuses his attention there rather than Iowa.

But Iowa is before NH, right? If Ron Paul gets stomped in Iowa then it will affect NH. Dean was leading by 30% in NH until he lost Iowa...then he lost NH

[BillyBeer]

Iowa is a crazy place and it screws up our elections. The people of Iowa are bought by the powerful in this country. Dean was never going to win Iowa.



Exactly, the Paul campaign should run a skeleton operation there and focus on New Hampshire. Let Romney waste his money on Iowa, we will be waiting for him in his own backyard where we will crush him and his hollow message.

[BillyBeer]

But Iowa is before NH, right? If Ron Paul gets stomped in Iowa then it will affect NH. Dean was leading by 30% in NH until he lost Iowa...then he lost NH

No, you are missing my point.

Ron Paul should put it out there that he isnt focused on winning in Iowa.

This is what McCain did in 2000. He knew the Caucus voters would break big for Bush so he marshaled all his resources on New Hampshire and destroyed Bush there.

If not for dirty tricks by Karl Rove in South Carolina (Cindy McCain a pill popper, McCain has darky children, McCain hates veterans, McCain hates Confederate flag) we would be in the Second term of the McCain Presidency.

[Man from La Mancha]

I read somewhere that Dean had over 100,000 ground troops, yet he still managed to lose badly to Kerry. Dean was leading in the polls for months until actually the day of the primaries when he proceeded to lose. I would imagine the meetup groups were most active right before the election, yet he lost all of his lead. The Dean Scream didn't happen until after he lost (Iowa I think it was).
We need to reflect on this. What happened ? Was it lack of organization, lack of professionalism? Or was the problem with Dean himself and his personality?

The similirities are striking. 2 antiwar candidates with no name recognition, become overnight superstars on the web and take it to the mainstream to shake up the establishment. What did the Dean campaign do wrong, that cost him the primary election? What did he do right to garner so much mainstream media attention? Did the mainstream media turn on him right before the election?

I was disinterested entirely in politics back than so I have no memory to draw on. Thank you.

It was probably vote fraud. Something I keep saying that vote fraud has to be the Ron Pauls and supporters # one priority or Paul won't be elected. Duhhh. It should be the most discussed subject on these boards.


Dean's director of grassroots fundraising, Larry Biddle, came up with the idea of the popular fundraising "bat", an image of a cartoon baseball player and bat which appeared on the site every time the campaign launched a fundraising challenge. The bat encouraged Web site visitors to contribute money immediately through their credit cards. This would lead to the bat filling up like a thermometer with the red color indicating the total funds. The site often took suggestions from the netroots on their blog. One of these suggestions led to one of the campaigns biggest accomplishments — an image of Dean eating a turkey sandwich encouraged supporters to donate $250,000 in three days to match a big-donor dinner by Vice President Dick Cheney. The online contributions from that day matched what Cheney made from his fundraiser.[14]


And something else I keep saying that main headquarters has to have a Thermometer graph telling how much is being raised.

Forgive me if seem like I know it all. I just feel extremely that these are very important.

[torchbearer]

Can we volunteer to be ron paul observers at our polling stations?

[DeadheadForPaul]

And something else I keep saying that main headquarters has to have a Thermometer graph telling how much is being raised.
.

Exactly. I hope they use one because it will really drive the campaign

[Man from La Mancha]

Unless you can inspect the vote count, what does it matter? All machines can be rigged. Stalin said it doesn't count who votes it's who counts the vote that matters.

[klamath]

I tend to agree that New Hamshire is the state to concentrate on. The caucus system in Iowa is very party org. stacked. 1980 Bush won over Reagan but Reagan came back to win in New Hampshire. There are a lot of new dynamics because the primary season is really condensed now.

[njandrewg]

you also gotta remember that Dean was running for the Dems, he had to convert a much larger base to get his votes. The republican party is in shambles, and the pro-war vote is diluted. We can definetly win this thing, just gotta get active.

Each person you convert today, will be worth 1000 by the time the primaries roll around. This is assuming, that each converted person will go on to convert 10 more people, who in turn will convert 10 others, who will in turn convert the next 10. Only 3 degrees of 10, and you have 1000 voters.

Thats why its much more important to be active now, because the impact will be much higher in the future