realist
01-03-2008, 11:29 PM
It is what must happen if we want to succeed! If this offends some - sorry- but I'm as entitled to my opinion as you are to yours. I'm extemely upset with myself.
Cheerleading, , crying foul, and positive thinking are not what we need right now. Some of us downplayed folks with legitimate concerns who were only looking to further this campaign. Tonight ,they were proven right and many cheerleaders were proven wrong.
I'm not happy about what happened tonight! Truth be told, I'm pissed! I'm not looking for, nor do I need freindly reassurance or back pats - I have plenty of motivation and drive. What I don't have is results for my investments. I've also lost credibilty with countless people that I have swayed into believing that the polls are skewed and that we DO have a chance despite all hurdles. Much of what many have worked for has been lost today, and the road forward will be that much harder becuase of this. I'm not sugar coating this becuase if we really want to win, we need to make the most of every single opportunity because thats how winners achieve their goals. Minimizing a squandered opportunity (even a rather small one) brings us closer to defeat - not victory. If that's what most would like to do, then perhaps I've chosen poorly.
We need to wake up, face facts and get organized. I'm not laying blame! I'm taking some myself becuase many times I wanted to post that we're cheering too much, working real hard but NOT FOCUSED OR WORKING SMART!! Here's what I beleive to be self evident, problematic and in need of correction.
1) The polls and the "old media" were more right than we were about Iowa. It is now a fact we must deal with!
2) Given that their track record is better than ours , we should recognize that crying foul or conspiracy will not help us- and will likely hurt us.
3) Whatever we did in Iowa- did NOT work ! Meaning - we out financed (monitarily, via canvassing and via exposure) every candidate except Romney, yet we only outscored the two that hardly campaigned at all!
4) As Dr. Paul say's- if he treats a patient and they don't improve, the treatment needs to change.
5) I, like many, have theories about why this happened, but we need more reliable opinions and a better overall understanding of "why" so we don't step in that pothole again.
6) It is my belief (opinion only) that the factors that most effected our success may have been- A - Lack of guidance (timely and overall) from HQ regarding priorities for Iowa B- Insufficient co-ordination between HQ and grassroots regarding campagning, advertising, canvassing etc.. C - failure to understand what motivates and turns off the target audience.
7) I have no idea if the official campaign staff is competant or not- I need to believe they are since I'm supporting their boss and thus his judgement is all I can question. I've always had some reservations about Dr. Pauls hands-off mentality regarding no co-ordination with the grassroots and it's spontaneous success. What may work for fundraising may not work on large blocks of the voting public. And, if that happens long enough, even funding will die down. I believe the solution is at least in part- leadership. Dr. Paul needs to lead, focus and unite this campaign towards a common goal of victory, much like he will need to do with this country. I don't believe that this campaign or country will correct itself spontaneously and if that is his intented course , I must respectfully submit that failure here would be for the best on both fronts.
Cheerleading, , crying foul, and positive thinking are not what we need right now. Some of us downplayed folks with legitimate concerns who were only looking to further this campaign. Tonight ,they were proven right and many cheerleaders were proven wrong.
I'm not happy about what happened tonight! Truth be told, I'm pissed! I'm not looking for, nor do I need freindly reassurance or back pats - I have plenty of motivation and drive. What I don't have is results for my investments. I've also lost credibilty with countless people that I have swayed into believing that the polls are skewed and that we DO have a chance despite all hurdles. Much of what many have worked for has been lost today, and the road forward will be that much harder becuase of this. I'm not sugar coating this becuase if we really want to win, we need to make the most of every single opportunity because thats how winners achieve their goals. Minimizing a squandered opportunity (even a rather small one) brings us closer to defeat - not victory. If that's what most would like to do, then perhaps I've chosen poorly.
We need to wake up, face facts and get organized. I'm not laying blame! I'm taking some myself becuase many times I wanted to post that we're cheering too much, working real hard but NOT FOCUSED OR WORKING SMART!! Here's what I beleive to be self evident, problematic and in need of correction.
1) The polls and the "old media" were more right than we were about Iowa. It is now a fact we must deal with!
2) Given that their track record is better than ours , we should recognize that crying foul or conspiracy will not help us- and will likely hurt us.
3) Whatever we did in Iowa- did NOT work ! Meaning - we out financed (monitarily, via canvassing and via exposure) every candidate except Romney, yet we only outscored the two that hardly campaigned at all!
4) As Dr. Paul say's- if he treats a patient and they don't improve, the treatment needs to change.
5) I, like many, have theories about why this happened, but we need more reliable opinions and a better overall understanding of "why" so we don't step in that pothole again.
6) It is my belief (opinion only) that the factors that most effected our success may have been- A - Lack of guidance (timely and overall) from HQ regarding priorities for Iowa B- Insufficient co-ordination between HQ and grassroots regarding campagning, advertising, canvassing etc.. C - failure to understand what motivates and turns off the target audience.
7) I have no idea if the official campaign staff is competant or not- I need to believe they are since I'm supporting their boss and thus his judgement is all I can question. I've always had some reservations about Dr. Pauls hands-off mentality regarding no co-ordination with the grassroots and it's spontaneous success. What may work for fundraising may not work on large blocks of the voting public. And, if that happens long enough, even funding will die down. I believe the solution is at least in part- leadership. Dr. Paul needs to lead, focus and unite this campaign towards a common goal of victory, much like he will need to do with this country. I don't believe that this campaign or country will correct itself spontaneously and if that is his intented course , I must respectfully submit that failure here would be for the best on both fronts.