Let's tell the campaign what Ron Paul's strengths are

[Thunderbolt]

Since the campaign doesn't seem to know what Ron Paul's strengths are, I thought we should tell them. If you saw that insane infomercial they put out in Iowa, you would know they seem to think that pandering to Huckabee's crowd will bring them votes: it won't it will only strengthen Huckabee. (Huck's crowd are big on abortion and religion).

We cannot win unless we push the Ron Paul that WE all fell in love with. So, I thought I would start this thread for two reasons, to remind us all why we are working so hard for this man, and to let the campaign know what is so special about Ron Paul.

Please finish this sentence: I became a Ron Paul supporter because....


For me, it was because I had not seen a politician write about liberty and freedom the way Ron Paul does. I thought our country was lost forever and he gave me a hope I had long lost. I once again believed that the country I was taught about in grade school, the great land of America could be restored. My two biggest issues are 1. I don't want to be stolen from anymore, I am broke and losing ground fast. and 2. I want my privacy and the government's nose out of my business. (I am also pro-choice and an atheist, so my least important issues are abortion and religion, in fact, that stuff is what I dislike the most about Ron Paul.)


If we can keep this thread going, I would like to sum it all up and send it to the campaign, along with the entire thread. It might help them to know what brings people to Ron Paul. If so, perhaps they can play that up for the coming elections.

[Thunderbolt]

Anyone?

[einjun]

because he is
1) the most (only?) honest politician I have ever seen.
2) truly truly cares about people and the country
3) an intellectual who has researched issues at a philosophical level and knows what each issue means for the citizens
4) has woken a lot of people up from slumber/ignorance and made them see THE TRUTH

[Ron LOL]

I became a Ron Paul supporter because he was the first politician I'd ever seen give arguments that were ACADEMICALLY REASONABLE.

[danda]

http://ronpaulrally.org <--------- 2300 "I support Ron Paul because..." statements, with photos.

[wisconsinite]

He voted against the PATRIOT Act.

[Myerz]

The only who can honestly swear to uphold the constitution......no other candidate can do that. Sure, they can put the hand on the book....and lie their ass off. Not Ron Paul!

Seriously...use the Constitution as a check list........then ask all of them....Do you agree with that? You do? Then why did you vote that way or then why did you say that?

Not one of them would ace it.......except Ron Paul!

Like an electrician..............the Constitution is his Code Book!

[RonPaulVolunteer]

He's a born-again Christian that understand this nation is NOT to be run as a Christian nation nor a Theocracy.

[BeFranklin]

Big +1 on patriot act and torture. He wants monetary reform.

I said this a week ago. I do think the campaign is out of touch with actually Ron Paul himself and us. Ron Paul probably hasn't been keeping abreast of his issues page, but they aren't the same sound as himself! Is "no taxes on tips" really a main issue?

As we move forward, we need the message. Its the message people want to hear. Ron Paul needs to funnel money back to people who think more like him. Rapid growth is probably the problem.

[ForTheRevolution]

I chose to support Ron Paul because every single one of his decisions are made from the Constitution and not his personal beliefs.

I chose to support Ron Paul because our country is in HUGE trouble whether we like to admit it or not, and HUGE reform is needed if we are going to survive. Many Americans still need to be shown the truth.

I chose to support Ron Paul because he is the only candidate that understands the POWER is supposed to be in the PEOPLE'S hands, not government officials.

I chose to support Ron Paul because he is the only candidate that will fix our broken economy, through a sound monetary policy and a free market society.

I chose to support Ron Paul because he is the first to admit the movement isn't about him. It is the people speaking though him to the rest of the world.

A government of the people. By the people. And for the people. (<rant> not for fucking fame...</rant>)

[Oneironaut07]

One of Ron Paul's biggest strengths which could swing many voters who don't yet know him is his staunch opposition to the drug war...If you know anyone who is a druggie at all, or even does any form of currently illegal substance occasionally stress this point....if we want to win NH and other states we need to start recruiting potheads in droves, and in the case of pro-democrat potheads, make sure you try to diminish paul's strong pro-life stance they will be turned off esp. women.
if you make paul's campaign a crusade soly for the purpose of ending the drug war you could recruit many politically apathetic, democratic, and independents
this tactic could boost his popularity twofold easily we need to be more aggressive with it
i am not a druggie but i know a lot of druggies at my school UC-Santa Cruz and hordes of them are flocking to paul
i have converted at least 40 potheads to vote for him and given maybe up to a hundred a favorable opinion of him

[Thunderbolt]

This is really interesting. Let's keep it up. This is about as far from what the campaign is promoting as one can possibly get. Please, if you see this, answer the question:

I support Ron Paul because...

[Thunderbolt]

Oh, come on. If we can't even get 50 people to answer this question in order to help the campaign move forward then forget it all. Are you all so lazy and apathetic that you won't spend one minute to answer this question in order to help Ron Paul win the next state? If so, then I think I know why he came in 5th. 70 people read this thread an only 12 response including mine?

[passerby]

I support Ron Paul for the following reasons, and in this order:

- Anti-war
- Limited federal government / civil liberties
- RP strikes me as a very honest and personable guy
- State rights / strict interpretation of the constitution

This is also what's so different about Ron Paul. Other candidates share his views on other matters, but he stands out on these issues. I think RP's campaign should stick to what he's good at and what makes him stand out. His support will be diluted if he starts sounding like other candidates.

[Thunderbolt]

Excellent. Thank you passerby. I agree whole heartedly. That is exactly what I am looking for. Something short, sweet, simple that we can tell the campaign.

[Thunderbolt]

bump. I have to say I am getting very discouraged. Less than 10% will even answer this question to help him win in the future?

[Thunderbolt]

Hey, you reading this. ANSWER please.

[dvictr]

has PRACTICAL solutions to major problems (health care, economy).. and has consistency in the major issues (abortion, gun laws, taxes, spending)

i approve of the campaign's strategy of emphasizing more moderate and central issues . GO GET EM!

[trispear]

Initially AND in order:
Getting our troops home.
Cutting the budget.
His record on taxes.
His personal life shows him to be an upstanding person.
Not a corporate bought shill.

After learning more and becoming part of the "base":
Getting the federal government out of my life.
Killing the income tax and inflation tax.
Cutting federal government's size.

[passerby]

No problem. It's a good idea for a thread. It'll help people here and elsewhere focus as we grow, so the movement doesn't dissolve under it's own weight (and cacophony).

I'm a person recently cured of my political apathy by Dr. Paul. It's tough to distill Dr. Paul's complex and comprehensive political model into a few issues for me, and this list probably doesn't make immediate sense (eg, how can you separate limited fed gov't from state rights?), but I don't think most people remember more than three soundbites. People have busy lives, so I don't blame them - it's just the way things are.

If you only have three shots, then it's best to say things that make you stand-out, so people remember. The listener will impute other issues from hearing that he's republican (rightly or wrongly). Just my thoughts, though.

[Thunderbolt]

Makes sense passerby. I agree, we should try to find the top three or six things about Ron Paul and then have commercials that focus on three things each. Perhaps the second group of three could be used rarely and the first group used over and over.

Hopefully, from these posts, we will find out what those items are. I agree. No sense saying he is for lower taxes because they all say that. You are just wasting valuable air time.

[ronpaul4pres]

The BEST way to tell Ron Paul why you like him is by NOT posting it on these forums - sign up here, instead:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/join/

[me3]

Let's tell the campaign what Ron Paul's strengths are
Let's focus on recruiting and registering voters.

There isn't time too micromanage the campaign from the grassroots forum.

We have to get out and perform.

I will have at least two new voters by Monday. Anyone want to match me on that commitment?

[passerby]

Don't want to duplicate post, but I thought this would be relevant for this thread as well. The other thread was discussing if RP should focus more on evangelicals.

----------

Ron Paul is republican. This alone, in the eyes of many, is enough to lay out his positions on issues that evangelicals seem to care about. RP will gain nothing by trying to out-Huckster the Huckster. Going in that direction will take time and energy, and will not be particularly fruitful exercise. RP doesn't flout his religion b/c he's too much of a Christian to do that, and this is not what RP is good at.

What RP is good at and what makes him distinctive among republicans is his credible stances against wars and against a large federal government. No one can compete with him on these issues.

I don't think anyone here should ignore evangelical votes, but it will be very difficult to change RP into an 'evangelical candidate'. Also, people have enough of those to choose from. We should stick to what we're best at rather than expend our limited energy on remaking RP in the Huckster's image.

[Thunderbolt]

me3 - Why are you against figuring out the best way to market Ron Paul in the future? Do you really think I am incapable of typing a few sentences on this board, sending a report to the campaign AND going door to door all day tomorrow to put as many slim jims on doors as I can? Why dump all over this thread? We are trying to fix something that is obviously wrong. And I usually get 2 new supporters an hour, so I think I can match your challenge.

The grass roots is more in touch with Ron Paul than his own campaign is. They are run by a bunch of amateurs, most of them young enough to be my grandchild. If you don't think wisdom comes with age, then you are very young indeed.

For those of you that want to help Ron Paul, will you please explain what it was about Ron Paul that drew you to him? If it drew you, it will probably draw others. So far, I haven't seen one person say his stance on abortion and that is what they led with in Iowa. All of the Republicans are against abortions, so how does focusing on that make Ron Paul any different? It doesn't. And he is not anti-abortion enough for a lot of people, so how is making that the number one issue logical? Obviously, the campaign needs some guidance. First timers usually do.

So, I ask again:
For those of you that want to help Ron Paul, will you please explain what it was about Ron Paul that drew you to him?

[passerby]

Sorry for the duplicate post again, but thought this would be worthwhile...


Mark, sorry that I didn't read the thread more carefully.

I think there are issues that you can use for offense in a campaign, and other you can better use for defense. Offense requires more time and energy, while defense requires less, just like war.

It's easier for RP to go on the offense with issues that are distinctive for him. He has NO competition in the issues of anti-war and drastically smaller federal government. RP's own distinction makes his efforts on these fronts very time/energy efficient. People flock to the message without having to fight others for them.

Evangelical issues should be kept ready, but should be used for defensive purposes. You can try taking away RP voters with such issues, but you're not going to be very successful. He already has a record that does not require much time & energy to defend. Likewise, you can try to get other supporters with these issues, but you already have competition, so it'll be more difficult.

Given the limited amounts of time and energy that this campaign has, I think it would be the best use of resources to focus on issues where going on the offensive is easiest, while defending ourselves as needed. Of course, if you can get lots of mileage for your particular audience with an evangelical message, by all means go for it - you're getting a good yield for the amount of time/energy expended. However, this will be uncharacteristic when there is competition on the issue.

Despite RP's popularity and notoriety in the internet and some quarters of society, he's still not well known in much of America. A campaign trying to get RP noticed focusing on evangelical matters will be very difficult with so many competitors. A campaign based on his other positions will be easier, in my opinion. Again, I think it's about getting the biggest supporter 'bang' for the time/energy 'buck'. What I call offense issues are most efficient for getting new supporters, while defense issues are absolutely necessary and most efficient for retaining the flock, in my opinion.

[hazek]

I'm from Europe so maybe this doesn't count but:

I support Ron Paul because of his record which shows us that he will stick to the law no matter what, which correct me if I'm wrong is suppose to protect people and not the politician.

I support Ron because of his understanding of the effect of poor/wrong policies around the world and domestically and how they (effects) are all connected with each other. And I also support his Ideas of fixing the current and wrong policies.

Basically I think I support him of his work as a congressman. I'm confident that if you can manage to explain the reasons why he votes the way he votes and his philosophy about how everything in the world works, you can convert anyone. Everything else is just a bonus. :D

[Corydoras]

I support Ron Paul because of his opposition to the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, the Real ID Act, and HIPAA, and his support for the restoration of habeas corpus, the original Posse Comitatus Act, and the original Insurrection Act.

That's it. For me, it is that simple.

[Dave Pedersen]

The title of this thread is very unsettling and it is very apt. The campaign does not understand Ron Paul's appeal. To think this thread is here on this sight.. that it needs to be here and it is a good thread.. disturbs me. Is the campaign really that bad? Maybe it really is. I don't know anything about measuring the effectiveness of a campaign organization but it seems to me they should have a conduit of communication open to us. Even the blimp recognizes this need. It is only normal. This HQ is not normal.

Anyway.. to answer the question I support Ron Paul because he supports the constitution. Can you get the significance of the constitution into 20 seconds of advertising? No. But I think they fail to break it down into digestible portions which retain the clarity of vision America needs to see in Ron Paul's candidacy.

HQ needs to project Dr. Paul's vision with clarity within the time constraints of television.

No easy task but it must be done.

I think they need to produce 2 minute advertisements. Or some of us can make them if HQ agrees to air them.

2 minutes gets past the wasted "I approve this message" message and the brain lag/synchronization etc. and time enough to SAY something meaningful.

[Thunderbolt]

bump

[idiom]

He is a Christian with integrity. He is pretty darn smart. He has tremendous courage and tenacity.

[Thunderbolt]

bump
Can we get today's folks to answer the question:

I support Ron Paul because...

[Janet0116]

The War, stupid.

[Thunderbolt]

Hey folks, we need to get people to answer this so we can guide the campaign...

[passerby]

bump

I think many threads touch upon this topic, but I think organizing testimonials on single thread is most effective. Already gave my opinion, but Janet0116 makes the point much clearer:


The War, stupid.