Feeling Down About Ia? Read This!!!

[Djentrify]

UPDATE: 01/04/08 THIS POST MADE IT INTO "THE PAULUNTEER"
http://www.paulunteer.com/ron-paul-supporters-in-their-own-words/feeling-down-about-iowa-read-this/

I first heard about Ron Paul in 2001. I was just starting to get into free market capitalism and paleoconservative thinking. One of the first webzines that I happened upon by accident one day was Lewrockwell.com. After reading a few of Ron Paul's articles I was hooked . Not only was this guy of the same political persuasion as me, but he also held a position in Congress. Maybe my pro market capitalist libertarian views weren't totally insane after all.

In 2004 I signed the Ron Paul for President petition. Old fans of Ron Paul will remember exactly what I'm talking about. Last year when I heard he was running for office, naturally I was over the moon, but as thrilled as I was, I was near positive he would poll around 1% and raise around $20,000. My candidates are never very popular, liberty is just a buzzword these days it seems. I can't tell you what I felt after Ron Paul won the first Fox News debate phone poll, it was the exact opposite of what I felt when a girl told me she thought she might be pregnant one time. Although I didn't get to feel that wonderful feeling of surprise and joy tonight that I felt after the Fox News poll, that doesn't mean that I'm giving up.

As I scan over the posts on this forum, I'm seeing many who seem ready to throw in the towel. I actually read someone who said "If we can't do better than 5th in IA, whats the point in even trying, its just a waste of money and time." I don't vote for a candidate based on whether he is gonna win or not (I leave that up to Giuliani and Clinton supporters to do), and before tonight neither did most of you, I vote for a candidate because that candidate represents what I believe in and I fight for what I believe in until the end even if I know from the begining that I'm gonna lose. This is a matter of principle, if this country is moving in the wrong direction, they're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming. In the end, do you wanna be the guy saying "See, I told you so" or the guy who has to admit "Yeah, you were right"? If I give up now do I even have a right to complain about the state of our country when the next president is elected and we see "politics as usual"? We all know who the candidate of change is in this election, and it ain't Obama or Hillary, all we gotta do now is let their supporters know that.

It's been 15 years since Pat Buchanan ran, and 44 years since Barry Goldwater ran, 15 years since we have had a candidate running in a major party that we can unite behind and 44 years since one won the Republican caucus, and it probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. Think about that for a minute, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ELECTION THAT YOU WILL EVER TRULY CARE ABOUT. This will probably be the only election you ever donate to, or hand out flyers for, or meet others and make friends with those who think like you do. Now is our shot at liberty, now is the time to fight because we'll have the rest of our lives to be apathetic to politics, so lets fight now and complain later. When this is all over I don't wanna look back at this time in my life and say "I wish I would have done more, I wish I wouldn't have left it up to others to fight for what I believe in." Up until now, that's exactly what I've done. I've contributed a measly 50 dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, talked to a few friends and convinced a handful of people, but tonight I'm gonna change that, as of tonight I'm actually gonna get off my ass and fight for what I believe in. If I don't stand up for my principles then who will?

I truly believe that Ron Paul supporters are the brightest bunch in politics, and I know for a fact they're the most passionate. We started off broke, no one new who Ron Paul was, the ones who did called him crazy and laughed at us. Since the end of the summer we've taken a candidate polling at 1% with no money, raised him 20 million dollars in 3 months, broken a world record in single day campaign contributions, and built more websites then all of the other candidates combined. We've even raised him money for a blimp for God's sake, a friggin BLIMP!!! Have any campaign managers with their Harvard MBAs and posh business suits ever thought of that? We've won just about every straw poll, internet poll, and post debate phone survey, and we did all this with NO support from the MSM. Ron Paul and his campaign managers didn't do this, WE DID!!! The next time any one of you think we can't win this thing, I want you to think about that. We had NO HELP FROM ANYONE. We're the most technologically advanced voters in this election and like I said, we're definitely the smartest, all we gotta do now is figure out how to use it to get to our fellow citizens. Can you imagine if we were as organized as the mainstream politicians, we would have blown this thing out of the water already.

Never before in the history of politics has this ever been done, and Ivy league political science classes will probably be studying what we're doing today for the next 20 years, so lets give them something to read about. At the beginning of the chapter entitled "The Internet, Politics, and the 21st Century" I want the first paragraph to be about what we have done and how we have done it. So lets not morn what happened in Iowa tonight, instead lets be thankful to God for leading us to the first step and for giving us a wakeup call saying "This is it, this is what you say you've been waiting for all of these years, you gonna get up and do something about it or you gonna just watch from the sidelines?" I want all of us tomorrow to examine 1 question, "Am I doing everything that I can do to win this election?" From now on don't work like its Ron Paul running in this election, work like its YOU who's running in this election.

[scoot87]

Donate for the Message!!!!

[margomaps]

I can't tell you what I felt after Ron Paul won the first Fox News debate phone poll, it was the exact opposite of what I felt when a girl told me she thought she might be pregnant one time.

I'm sorry, I didn't even get to finish reading your lengthy post. I had to stop immediately so I could award you BEST POST OF THE NIGHT award. You win! :)

[dspectre]

Good Post.

[libertythor]

Everybody read Djentrify's post in its entirety. I gave it 5 stars!

See! Not all new members are trolls. :D




I first heard about Ron Paul in 2001. I was just starting to get into free market capitalism and paleoconservative thinking. One of the first webzines that I happened upon by accident one day was Lewrockwell.com. After reading a few of Ron Paul's articles I was hooked . Not only was this guy of the same political persuasion as me, but he also held a position in Congress. Maybe my pro market capitalist libertarian views weren't totally insane after all.

In 2004 I signed the Ron Paul for President petition. Old fans of Ron Paul will remember exactly what I'm talking about. Last year when I heard he was running for office, naturally I was over the moon, but as thrilled as I was, I was near positive he would poll around 1% and raise around $20,000. My candidates are never very popular, liberty is just a buzzword these days it seems. I can't tell you what I felt after Ron Paul won the first Fox News debate phone poll, it was the exact opposite of what I felt when a girl told me she thought she might be pregnant one time. Although I didn't get to feel that wonderful feeling of surprise and joy tonight that I felt after the Fox News poll, that doesn't mean that I'm giving up.

As I scan over the posts on this forum, I'm seeing many who seem ready to throw in the towel. I actually read someone who said "If we can't do better than 5th in IA, whats the point in even trying, its just a waste of money and time." I don't vote for a candidate based on whether he is gonna win or not (I leave that up to Giuliani and Clinton supporters to do), and before tonight neither did most of you, I vote for a candidate because that candidate represents what I believe in and I fight for what I believe in until the end even if I know from the begining that I'm gonna lose. This is a matter of principle, if this country is moving in the wrong direction, they're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming. In the end, do you wanna be the guy saying "See, I told you so" or the guy who has to admit "Yeah, you were right"? If I give up now do I even have a right to complain about the state of our country when the next president is elected and we see "politics as usual"? We all know who the candidate of change is in this election, and it ain't Obama or Hillary, all we gotta do now is let their supporters know that.

It's been 15 years since Pat Buchanan ran, and 44 years since Barry Goldwater ran, 15 years since we have had a candidate running in a major party that we can unite behind and 44 years since one won the Republican caucus, and it probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. Think about that for a minute, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ELECTION THAT YOU WILL EVER TRULY CARE ABOUT. This will probably be the only election you ever donate to, or hand out flyers for, or meet others and make friends with those who think like you do. Now is our shot at liberty, now is the time to fight because we'll have the rest of our lives to be apathetic to politics, so lets fight now and complain later. When this is all over I don't wanna look back at this time in my life and say "I wish I would have done more, I wish I wouldn't have left it up to others to fight for what I believe in." Up until now, that's exactly what I've done. I've contributed a measly 50 dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, talked to a few friends and convinced a handful of people, but tonight I'm gonna change that, as of tonight I'm actually gonna get off my ass and fight for what I believe in. If I don't stand up for my principles then who will?

I truly believe that Ron Paul supporters are the brightest bunch in politics, and I know for a fact they're the most passionate. We started off broke, no one new who Ron Paul was, the ones who did called him crazy and laughed at us. Since the end of the summer we've taken a candidate polling at 1% with no money, raised him 20 million dollars in 3 months, broken a world record in single day campaign contributions, and built more websites then all of the other candidates combined. We've even raised him money for a blimp for God's sake, a friggin BLIMP!!! Have any campaign managers with their Harvard MBAs and posh business suits ever thought of that? We've won just about every straw poll, internet poll, and post debate phone survey, and we did all this with NO support from the MSM. Ron Paul and his campaign managers didn't do this, WE DID!!! The next time any one of you think we can't win this thing, I want you to think about that. We had NO HELP FROM ANYONE. We're the most technologically advanced voters in this election and like I said, we're definitely the smartest, all we gotta do now is figure out how to use it to get to our fellow citizens. Can you imagine if we were as organized as the mainstream politicians, we would have blown this thing out of the water already.

Never before in the history of politics has this ever been done, and Ivy league political science classes will probably be studying what we're doing today for the next 20 years, so lets give them something to read about. At the beginning of the chapter entitled "The Internet, Politics, and the 21st Century" I want the first paragraph to be about what we have done and how we have done it. So lets not morn what happened in Iowa tonight, instead lets be thankful to God for leading us to the first step and for giving us a wakeup call saying "This is it, this is what you say you've been waiting for all of these years, you gonna get up and do something about it or you gonna just watch from the sidelines?" I want all of us tomorrow to examine 1 question, "Am I doing everything that I can do to win this election?" From now on don't work like its Ron Paul running in this election, work like its YOU who's running in this election.

[yongrel]

+1

[libertythor]

bump

[ccannizzaro]

cliff notes?





:p

[Trigonx]

+1, must READ!!!

[szczebrzeszyn]

+1

[AtomiC]

Great post my man.

We have to be positive and look ahead. We can win this if we work hard.

[colin1]

Thank you, that was inspiring!

[Trigonx]

cliff notes?





:p

Ron Paul's campaign is a one in 50ish years event, only time we will really be this involved in politics so we should fight our hardest all the way to the end and we have the rest of our lives to be apathetic so now is not the time to be apathetic.

[Hudder]

Sticky please. Wow.

[shortna]

+1

[amonasro]

Thank you for this.

[Trigonx]

i think this needs constant bumping or a sticky

[junior_bacon_cheeseburger]

I couldn't have said it better myself. There is NO throwing in of the towel, ever. This is about FREEDOM VS SLAVERY and I will only stop fighting when I am dead. Do not lose heart so easily people, the battle has just begun. GET YOUR GAME FACES ON AND LETS DOUBLE OUR EFFORTS.

[Spirit of '76]

I first heard about Ron Paul in 2001. I was just starting to get into free market capitalism and paleoconservative thinking. One of the first webzines that I happened upon by accident one day was Lewrockwell.com. After reading a few of Ron Paul's articles I was hooked . Not only was this guy of the same political persuasion as me, but he also held a position in Congress. Maybe my pro market capitalist libertarian views weren't totally insane after all.

In 2004 I signed the Ron Paul for President petition. Old fans of Ron Paul will remember exactly what I'm talking about. Last year when I heard he was running for office, naturally I was over the moon, but as thrilled as I was, I was near positive he would poll around 1% and raise around $20,000. My candidates are never very popular, liberty is just a buzzword these days it seems. I can't tell you what I felt after Ron Paul won the first Fox News debate phone poll, it was the exact opposite of what I felt when a girl told me she thought she might be pregnant one time. Although I didn't get to feel that wonderful feeling of surprise and joy tonight that I felt after the Fox News poll, that doesn't mean that I'm giving up.

As I scan over the posts on this forum, I'm seeing many who seem ready to throw in the towel. I actually read someone who said "If we can't do better than 5th in IA, whats the point in even trying, its just a waste of money and time." I don't vote for a candidate based on whether he is gonna win or not (I leave that up to Giuliani and Clinton supporters to do), and before tonight neither did most of you, I vote for a candidate because that candidate represents what I believe in and I fight for what I believe in until the end even if I know from the begining that I'm gonna lose. This is a matter of principle, if this country is moving in the wrong direction, they're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming. In the end, do you wanna be the guy saying "See, I told you so" or the guy who has to admit "Yeah, you were right"? If I give up now do I even have a right to complain about the state of our country when the next president is elected and we see "politics as usual"? We all know who the candidate of change is in this election, and it ain't Obama or Hillary, all we gotta do now is let their supporters know that.

It's been 15 years since Pat Buchanan ran, and 44 years since Barry Goldwater ran, 15 years since we have had a candidate running in a major party that we can unite behind and 44 years since one won the Republican caucus, and it probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. Think about that for a minute, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ELECTION THAT YOU WILL EVER TRULY CARE ABOUT. This will probably be the only election you ever donate to, or hand out flyers for, or meet others and make friends with those who think like you do. Now is our shot at liberty, now is the time to fight because we'll have the rest of our lives to be apathetic to politics, so lets fight now and complain later. When this is all over I don't wanna look back at this time in my life and say "I wish I would have done more, I wish I wouldn't have left it up to others to fight for what I believe in." Up until now, that's exactly what I've done. I've contributed a measly 50 dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, talked to a few friends and convinced a handful of people, but tonight I'm gonna change that, as of tonight I'm actually gonna get off my ass and fight for what I believe in. If I don't stand up for my principles then who will?

I truly believe that Ron Paul supporters are the brightest bunch in politics, and I know for a fact they're the most passionate. We started off broke, no one new who Ron Paul was, the ones who did called him crazy and laughed at us. Since the end of the summer we've taken a candidate polling at 1% with no money, raised him 20 million dollars in 3 months, broken a world record in single day campaign contributions, and built more websites then all of the other candidates combined. We've even raised him money for a blimp for God's sake, a friggin BLIMP!!! Have any campaign managers with their Harvard MBAs and posh business suits ever thought of that? We've won just about every straw poll, internet poll, and post debate phone survey, and we did all this with NO support from the MSM. Ron Paul and his campaign managers didn't do this, WE DID!!! The next time any one of you think we can't win this thing, I want you to think about that. We had NO HELP FROM ANYONE. We're the most technologically advanced voters in this election and like I said, we're definitely the smartest, all we gotta do now is figure out how to use it to get to our fellow citizens. Can you imagine if we were as organized as the mainstream politicians, we would have blown this thing out of the water already.

Never before in the history of politics has this ever been done, and Ivy league political science classes will probably be studying what we're doing today for the next 20 years, so lets give them something to read about. At the beginning of the chapter entitled "The Internet, Politics, and the 21st Century" I want the first paragraph to be about what we have done and how we have done it. So lets not morn what happened in Iowa tonight, instead lets be thankful to God for leading us to the first step and for giving us a wakeup call saying "This is it, this is what you say you've been waiting for all of these years, you gonna get up and do something about it or you gonna just watch from the sidelines?" I want all of us tomorrow to examine 1 question, "Am I doing everything that I can do to win this election?" From now on don't work like its Ron Paul running in this election, work like its YOU who's running in this election.

Post of the night!

[Trigonx]

Bump

[Xonox]

In the words of the good doctor, "What you, as a generation think, is far more important that the next election" That's not to say we can't win, but even if we lose, remember, its not the candidate we're back as much as it is the MESSAGE! We don't like Dr. Paul because he is charismatic and good looking, we like him because HE IS RIGHT, because WE KNOW HE IS RIGHT, and no matter what, THE REVOLUTION LIVES ON. Seriously, if this campaign goes bad (and I'm not giving up yet), somebody else is going to have to step up and carry our message! And that person is here among us, I know it! That is the REAL MESSAGE. Ron Paul has a shot, be he isn't the last shot, as long as we carry his message in our hearts. Remember that.

[aroberso]

Wonderful. Thank you. Just what I needed to hear.

I second the sticky nomination!!!

[gb13]

+ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000......

[Trigonx]

bump

[davidhperry]

Awesome post, thanks!

[kill the banks]

i've lived too much history to be down ... i see this like you wrote too ... many have to learn how to win ... i see us now at 10 % double digit and virtual statistical tie for 3rd ... huck is not presidential and broke in his 15 minutes of fame ... we know nh can be better and we must get our name out and learn to win as a team wins
get the independents !

kill the banks

[Mikakaze]

Great post, but...


So lets not morn what happened in Iowa tonight, instead lets be thankful to God for leading us to the first step and for giving us a wakeup call...

...as much as I love Ron Paul, I'm not sure that we should start referring to him as God. ;]

[Gadsdenfly]

Thanks for the great post! I voted for Ron Paul in 1988 and I couldn't agree more with you! I too was cynical having voted for the less then 1%er every election. I too became so elated last summer when things really began to take off. Let's not give in! This is a long term fight not some popularity contest that ends with some small state straw poll!

[blakjak]

inspiring...

[thomj76]

Statistical Breakdown

54% of people angry with Bush Administration voted for Paul

29% of Independents voted for Paul

21% Voters aged 17-29 voted for Paul

We won Jefferson County. Picked up a couple of delegates.

On to New Hampshire.

[RPForPeace]

Excellent post!!!!!!:)

[RonPaulFTW08]

..Think about that for a minute, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ELECTION THAT YOU WILL EVER TRULY CARE ABOUT. This will probably be the only election you ever donate to, or hand out flyers for, or meet others and make friends with those who think like you do. Now is our shot at liberty, now is the time to fight because we'll have the rest of our lives to be apathetic to politics, so lets fight now and complain later. When this is all over I don't wanna look back at this time in my life and say "I wish I would have done more, I wish I wouldn't have left it up to others to fight for what I believe in." Up until now, that's exactly what I've done.

Agreed. This is the first time I have voted in a long while, and the very first time I really knew about who I am voting for and why. First time I have EVER donated money to any political cause.

Talk to 1 or 2 more friends and family members and have them do the same and so on. I know it's not easy - a lot of my friends and family automatically reject any notion of politics or anything with the word Paul in it. But trust me many are changing. One of my friends has never ever voted before and told me at first that I am wasting my time and that my vote will never count. 2 days later his myspace said "I'm voting for the first time in my life because of Ron Paul".

Let the message continue to spread and spread and spread until Freedom and Liberty is a reality!

[slantedview]

cliff notes?





:p
LOL

i actually read the post and i liked it. here here :)

[Sey.Naci]

Ah, heck, you got me crying. So inspirational!

Now where's the tissue ... :o

[gpickett00]

Up until now, that's exactly what I've done. I've contributed a measly 50 dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, talked to a few friends and convinced a handful of people, but tonight I'm gonna change that, as of tonight I'm actually gonna get off my ass and fight for what I believe in. If I don't stand up for my principles then who will?


Such a good point. I am in the same boat. Though I am not in the kind of position to donate a lot of money, I need to start talking about Ron Paul a lot more around my friends. I also think something important that needs to go away about this movement is the conspirators. Every little thing that happens people contrive some kind of conspiracy. I happens so quickly and it really needs to settle down. I know that we have a tough time competing with the media trying to ignore us but come on.

I was also thinking of, who will be the next candidate to represent the Ron Paul Revolution? I am only 20 years old, but listening to Ron Paul speak and educating myself on every possible aspect of libertarianism really gets me motivated to run for some kind of office in the future.

Good luck all, and goodnight.

[Hangly Man]

Actually this is the first election I ever cared about. I sure hope it's not the last.

Actually, let's all make sure that it isn't.

[linusPAULing]

Great post!

We have 4 days to send off 470,000 letters to MI residents. Let's figure out how to get that done! 100,000 meetup members should be enough.

We also need to come to a consensus on the next big money raising event, or RP won't have any money after Super Tuesday. We're averaging $33K a day this week. Time is getting very short now.

I'm also thinking about distributing at least a hundred flyers a day in my community until Super Tuesday.

Onward hoe!

[nc4rp]

+1

/salute

[angrydragon]

WooT!

[Montana Patriot]

I would vote this post as best by a new member ever;)

[Djentrify]

Great post, but...



...as much as I love Ron Paul, I'm not sure that we should start referring to him as God. ;]

I wasn't referring to Ron Paul as God, I think you read that sentence wrong.

[FreeTraveler]

cliff notes?


:p

Pull your **** out of your *** and take the time to read this one... it's important!!!

**** = glasses
*** = pocket

[FreeTraveler]

Statistical Breakdown

54% of people angry with Bush Administration voted for Paul

29% of Independents voted for Paul

21% Voters aged 17-29 voted for Paul



THIS IS YOUR PRIMARY TARGET. If someone likes Bush, is a hardcore democrat, or is over 30, and you don't get IMMEDIATE positive feedback that they are at least listening, MOVE ON to somebody in one of these groups that will be a much easier sell.

That doesn't mean people outside these demographics can't be converted... it just means they will take more time than usual.

For example, since I'm 55, I'll still be working a lot of the over-30 possibles, but I'll drop the Bush lovers and hardcore Democrats like a hot potato and move on.

[RonPaulFTFW]

Donating won't win anything.

It's obvious that giving money to the campaign is a bad idea because they spend it on the wrong types of ads.

Get out the vote instead.

[hope4future]

This post gives me hope! I also believe our energy gives Ron Paul energy and he's working so hard and putting in so many hours for this. We need to keep up the good work

[acptulsa]

I voted for Dr. Paul in 1988. It felt like pissing in the wind.
This Iowa caucus was a primary in a red state where the flock was trying to anoint their shepherd. Their main focus was rejecting the idea that they would or could follow a Mormon. Forty-seven years after a Catholic was first able to storm the White House, it seems alien to us forward-thinkers and so, so sad, but it's true.
Nonetheless, you hard-working Iowans slammed the big, bad machine-made front runner from but two months ago. In fact, I think you sent Giuliani home for good. And this in the Republican primary--in a red state--trying to fire up a group known for their stubbornness and their herd mentality!
Now the eyes of the nation turn to New Hampshire where the Republican base is a lot less interested in trying to turn the nation into a theocracy and a lot more interested in trying to find someone in the Republican field who still gives a damn about fiscal responsibility.
And what does Iowa do for the New Hampshire contest? Take a hard, clear-eyed look. The Republicans tend to be pretty darn pragmatic. They know where their base is, and how much they need it.
The flock has rejected the rich Mormon. This leaves the rube from Hope, Arkansas, who is following in many, many ways the footsteps of Bill Clinton. His record in terms of fiscal responsibility is abysmal, his grasp on foreign policy is laughable, and at this time in history no crossover voter is going to jump on that. And the victory-minded, more clear-eyed Republicans will know this.
Giuliani may have, like Romney, something of a home-field advantage in New England, but he has been repudiated even more--indeed, much more--thoroughly than Romney. He's pretty much toast, I think. Do you have reason to think otherwise?
That leaves the Republicans of New Hampshire a war hawk who will appeal to those who are willing to trade liberty for safety (and there are a lot of those, unfortunately), but will neither appeal to the truly fiscally responsible nor to the libertarians, and another second-rate actor who has none of the conservative credentials and little of the energizing charisma of Reagan, but is in fact trying to win by default.
The Democrats, meanwhile, are so enthralled by the pundits' predictions that disgust with the current administration guarantees them the White House this round that they are shooting the moon, and fighting over whether a woman notorious for alienating the middle of the road or a man of mixed race who is hot with the young because he looks about thirteen years old best represents the new boundaries they want to break through. And while I don't mind at all breaking down walls, it has been my experience that it is no way to guarantee an electoral win in this country.
The flock is pushing the boundaries. The liberals are pushing the boundaries. McCain is pushing the war. The party bases are pushing their envelopes. The mainstream of the American public are about to discover the joys of feeling disenfranchised.
This makes our libertarian look more middle of the road than ever.
I've been shouting about our Constitution since before many of you were born. You can joke about when the thirteen year olds on the 'net will come of voting age all you want, but you have built a surprisingly solid house on just such a foundation as that. That's the way we've had to think for years. But you have done more than that--much more! You have put our Constitution-lover as close as any G.O.P. candidate in the race right now right in the mainstream! And oh, my yes you have gotten the MSM's attention!
Don't you dare give up on me now. It may look dark to you now, but I've never seen this cause so close to the dawn!

[Tom29]

Blimp. :)

[charger]

Did any of you watch tv last night? Did the voters in Iowa look like they were representative of you and your state. To me they look like mostly uninformed Social Security recipients and farmers.
Dr. Paul is against farm subsidies and he wants to change Social Security.
The older people do not like change. They are afraid of change. They will flock like sheep to support the status quo.
All we can do is put up the good fight. Hopefully we can get the word out against all odds and win this thing.
At least you will have the peace of mind when everything comes tumbling down in this country to know that you tried to change the course.
I don't think Iowa voters are representative of most of the voters in the US.

[Seabhacre]

Great Post! Inspiring! Sticky, please!

[ddforronpaul]

No way am I feeling down. I couldn't have said it better. I am more motivated to get the word out. I will be going door to door in my neighborhood, I have been giving out the tip tax fliers to every restaurant in my town. Our family has donated over 500.00 to the campaign, and will continue to do so every pay day. Don't tell me that one state decides it all!!!

[usmcZ]

You know, I was being positive all through last night (to all the nay-sayers and doomsday predictions flooding the forums), and I am still satisfied with Iowa, I think we will definitely have some much better turnouts in other cities, especially "younger" ones (more tech savvy, more Paul supporters on the ground)... but this message totally reinvigorated me. Thank you for this!


With the right amount of emotion, publically spoken, this would be a powerful message.

+1 for sticky.

[Frossty]

+1

[stevedasbach]

Must read!

We need to stick with Dr. Paul and give the campaign our best effort. Even if Dr. Paul isn't elected President, our efforts will lay the foundation for more people in Congress like Dr. Paul, and a future President who shares our views.

[ronpaulfollower999]

+1

[acptulsa]

Why doesn't someone fix this site so five stars makes a good message sticky?

[wisconsinite]

excellent post. thaks for sharing.

[AgentOrange]

Thank you for renewaing my hope! +10

[LBennett76]

Did any of you watch tv last night? Did the voters in Iowa look like they were representative of you and your state. To me they look like mostly uninformed Social Security recipients and farmers.
Dr. Paul is against farm subsidies and he wants to change Social Security.
The older people do not like change. They are afraid of change. They will flock like sheep to support the status quo.
All we can do is put up the good fight. Hopefully we can get the word out against all odds and win this thing.
At least you will have the peace of mind when everything comes tumbling down in this country to know that you tried to change the course.
I don't think Iowa voters are representative of most of the voters in the US.

I have to say when they first started showing the precincts, there was this Democratic one with like 20 people in a house. Edwards Precinct captain was announced and this older bearded guy in overalls walked in from another room. ... I burst into laughter! That's when I realized that okay, maybe this state isn't really representative of the rest of the US. There were a few other people in the room in overalls too. Not to knock farmers, I live in a farming town. But it gave me a good hearty chuckle.

To the OP, fabulous job! You definitely lifted my spirits and reminded me that THIS is it! NOW is the time!
Thank you.

[-lotus-]

I first heard about Ron Paul in 2001. I was just starting to get into free market capitalism and paleoconservative thinking. One of the first webzines that I happened upon by accident one day was Lewrockwell.com. After reading a few of Ron Paul's articles I was hooked . Not only was this guy of the same political persuasion as me, but he also held a position in Congress. Maybe my pro market capitalist libertarian views weren't totally insane after all.

In 2004 I signed the Ron Paul for President petition. Old fans of Ron Paul will remember exactly what I'm talking about. Last year when I heard he was running for office, naturally I was over the moon, but as thrilled as I was, I was near positive he would poll around 1% and raise around $20,000. My candidates are never very popular, liberty is just a buzzword these days it seems. I can't tell you what I felt after Ron Paul won the first Fox News debate phone poll, it was the exact opposite of what I felt when a girl told me she thought she might be pregnant one time. Although I didn't get to feel that wonderful feeling of surprise and joy tonight that I felt after the Fox News poll, that doesn't mean that I'm giving up.

As I scan over the posts on this forum, I'm seeing many who seem ready to throw in the towel. I actually read someone who said "If we can't do better than 5th in IA, whats the point in even trying, its just a waste of money and time." I don't vote for a candidate based on whether he is gonna win or not (I leave that up to Giuliani and Clinton supporters to do), and before tonight neither did most of you, I vote for a candidate because that candidate represents what I believe in and I fight for what I believe in until the end even if I know from the begining that I'm gonna lose. This is a matter of principle, if this country is moving in the wrong direction, they're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming. In the end, do you wanna be the guy saying "See, I told you so" or the guy who has to admit "Yeah, you were right"? If I give up now do I even have a right to complain about the state of our country when the next president is elected and we see "politics as usual"? We all know who the candidate of change is in this election, and it ain't Obama or Hillary, all we gotta do now is let their supporters know that.

It's been 15 years since Pat Buchanan ran, and 44 years since Barry Goldwater ran, 15 years since we have had a candidate running in a major party that we can unite behind and 44 years since one won the Republican caucus, and it probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. Think about that for a minute, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST ELECTION THAT YOU WILL EVER TRULY CARE ABOUT. This will probably be the only election you ever donate to, or hand out flyers for, or meet others and make friends with those who think like you do. Now is our shot at liberty, now is the time to fight because we'll have the rest of our lives to be apathetic to politics, so lets fight now and complain later. When this is all over I don't wanna look back at this time in my life and say "I wish I would have done more, I wish I wouldn't have left it up to others to fight for what I believe in." Up until now, that's exactly what I've done. I've contributed a measly 50 dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, talked to a few friends and convinced a handful of people, but tonight I'm gonna change that, as of tonight I'm actually gonna get off my ass and fight for what I believe in. If I don't stand up for my principles then who will?

I truly believe that Ron Paul supporters are the brightest bunch in politics, and I know for a fact they're the most passionate. We started off broke, no one new who Ron Paul was, the ones who did called him crazy and laughed at us. Since the end of the summer we've taken a candidate polling at 1% with no money, raised him 20 million dollars in 3 months, broken a world record in single day campaign contributions, and built more websites then all of the other candidates combined. We've even raised him money for a blimp for God's sake, a friggin BLIMP!!! Have any campaign managers with their Harvard MBAs and posh business suits ever thought of that? We've won just about every straw poll, internet poll, and post debate phone survey, and we did all this with NO support from the MSM. Ron Paul and his campaign managers didn't do this, WE DID!!! The next time any one of you think we can't win this thing, I want you to think about that. We had NO HELP FROM ANYONE. We're the most technologically advanced voters in this election and like I said, we're definitely the smartest, all we gotta do now is figure out how to use it to get to our fellow citizens. Can you imagine if we were as organized as the mainstream politicians, we would have blown this thing out of the water already.

Never before in the history of politics has this ever been done, and Ivy league political science classes will probably be studying what we're doing today for the next 20 years, so lets give them something to read about. At the beginning of the chapter entitled "The Internet, Politics, and the 21st Century" I want the first paragraph to be about what we have done and how we have done it. So lets not morn what happened in Iowa tonight, instead lets be thankful to God for leading us to the first step and for giving us a wakeup call saying "This is it, this is what you say you've been waiting for all of these years, you gonna get up and do something about it or you gonna just watch from the sidelines?" I want all of us tomorrow to examine 1 question, "Am I doing everything that I can do to win this election?" From now on don't work like its Ron Paul running in this election, work like its YOU who's running in this election.

Thanks for this post. My strength and resolve is replenished. Lets get back to work!

[acptulsa]

blimp

[Voluntaryist]

Why doesn't someone fix this site so five stars makes a good message sticky?

Cause there are too many kickass people in here with too many kickass posts and if all the 5-star posts got stickied then it would be 3 pages of stickies before the regular posts got listed ;)

[exformation]

good post

[SDMF]

A+ read ... im right there with ya! all the way!!

[bucfish]

The Time is now. No need to wait for the campaign's permission WE have wonderful creative GRASSROOTS projects to get behind. REMEBER WE ARE THE GRASSROOTS campaign. Time to Step up and Let's win this thing!!!

[acptulsa]

Too many kickass people here with too many kickass posts. Good point!

I'm still going to bump this one, though.

[acptulsa]

And please remember that next up, if I remember right, is the "live free or die" state. If that doesn't give you hope, what will?

[Bumnah]

great post.

let's keep at it!

[Djentrify]

Cause there are too many kickass people in here with too many kickass posts and if all the 5-star posts got stickied then it would be 3 pages of stickies before the regular posts got listed ;)

Yeah, there are a lot of dedicated people around here with a ton of good threads, I can't keep off this board

[Djentrify]

Had to post this, my article made The Paulunteer

http://www.paulunteer.com/ron-paul-supporters-in-their-own-words/feeling-down-about-iowa-read-this/

[fedup100]

+10

[Thomas Paine]

Here is a video of all the whiners and quitters after last night's Iowa Caucus results:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh0qD0aA2bY

[graystar]

Here is a video of all the whiners and quitters after last night's Iowa Caucus results:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh0qD0aA2bY

Brilliant!