Longtime RP supporter, 1st time poster: GET SOME PERSPECTIVE

[josh24601]

The passion that you are all showing is amazing, I share it. I've been an avid supporter of Ron Paul here in California for almost 10 years (a third of my life), and to see 10% of the Republican party in the first primary election choose him to lead them is amazing. I can name six people that I've already recruited to both donate and vote for RP in our primary, and I'm working on more.

It's a good thing that I had to wait a bit before I was allowed to make my first post, or it would have probably been moderated. As I checked into these forums while the Iowa tallies were being revealed, I saw what amounted to mass hysteria. It was embarrassing to read. Ron Paul supporters have a stigma that until tonight I've always thought was unfair - of being the crazed, reactionary, paranoid and laughable. I also saw reasonable, mature people trying to calm them down, but as always, the screaming people seem to overwhelm the measured ones. I will definitely not be referring any new recruits to the cause to this forum.

To see an 11 page thread giving this an "F" and 6 page thread calling for a new campaign manager, is exactly the stereotype we've been given. The worst, however, are the countless IT WAZ RIGGED threads and comments, reminiscent of the very worst of the Al Gore election hysteria, X Files type crap - and equally laughable. What played out is, within a few percentage points almost down the line, what each candidate was expected to do.

I am going to cry a little bit inside every time I have to read some comment on some article somewhere tomorrow saying that this is a rigged vote. You are embarrassing yourself, all of us, and Ron Paul himself when you say this to others and do irreparable damage to the campaign. TAKE YOUR TINFOIL HATS OFF.

Huckabee won the Bible thumper vote here, something we all knew if we were paying attention was going to happen. Hardly anybody that wins this state becomes president. Romney spent millions of his personal fortune here for months and could not even beat Huck, a candidate most of the core of the party really dislikes. Thompson, McCain and RP all came within 3% of tying each other for third place. And I just came back because I forgot to mention Rudy at all in this - the LA Times political bloggers are already laughing at him for trying to beat on Ron so early in the debates and now getting stomped by him.

Now get a grip on yourselves, honestly. Nobody needs to be fired, I'm thrilled that Ron Paul is a serious contender coming out of this thing. There was no rigging going on, there is not an Illuminati presence in freaking Iowa that is trying to enslave you. I promise.

Please, find a way to stop wailing and screaming about what is a very reasonable outcome to this Iowa caucus - the only mild surprise is that Fred did better than expected, largely because people who can't stand the Rev. Huck, waffle Romney, lib Rudy, etc. see nowhere else to go - those people went to Fred. There is going to be a lot more fluidity in the next few weeks between the candidates, and a strong, confident, rational, consistent message from the RP camp is vital to picking up the people who leave the other candidates. Voters see stability, calmness, and reassurance in Fred - yes, largely because of his acting roles that have these qualities. But guess what, it attracts them, and this kind of conspiracy hysteria repels them. Ignore this at our peril. RPs positions and beliefs are sound and rational, and we need to act in a manner that matches and represents that.

RP and his message are on the upswing, steadily and swiftly, not wildly fluctuating like everyone else. This is good. Huck will not be a factor in this race in a few weeks, and RP still can be.

Also, I've accepted already life after this election if RP doesn't win. What we are building, with measured, consistent, mature intellect and sound reason, is a new voting bloc in America that puts personal liberty and accountability first and foremost in the qualities it values both in a party and in a leader. That would have seemed too good a dream to me even a couple years ago.

I fear for this movement when it shows itself to be so fickle, paranoid, ready to blame aliens from Mars, hacked machines, and God knows what else for every little thing. Our movement is young, but it's time we grow up, because if we do that, regardless of any outcome here, we will be paving the way for a great future for the US.

Prove to me, the MSM, the critics, and yourselves that you are not a bunch of lunatics. We were 3% from third place, and the order we saw tonight is assuredly not going to be the order things end in. Take our very strong showing and use it as a springboard, not a noose. Please, for my sanity if nothing else.

Our passion is our greatest asset and our greatest weakness, it needs to be channeled correctly. Let the nutiness I saw here tonight be an abberation, not the norm.

[Benaiah]

Good post. This forum can be embarrassing at times. I wonder how many people came here for the first time tonight, only to see a bunch of whiners.


Four weeks ago, none of us expected to do this well in Iowa. I think that we are in a good position.

[Naraku]

There was no rigging going on, there is not an Illuminati presence in freaking Iowa that is trying to enslave you. I promise.

Who says there isn't? Maybe the Illuminati is in all 50 states. Does it interfere in elections? Probably not vote-rigging.

All the same, never underestimate the Illuminati.

[Trigonx]

+999999999999 seriously what I have wanted to post all night about the negative threads tonight.

[liberty_Forever]

There is nothing wrong with demanding an open and fair vote. That said, I believe the caucus tonight was generally accurate, and our support is at 10%.

[LinearChaos]

I am really liking all of these "hey, first time poster here, want to smell my fart?" posts. Tell me how you really feel.

[SophisticatedFarmGirl]

Amen!

People went looney. I channelled my anxiousness into finishing my Michigan letters. They are now sitting in a neat stack waiting to go out tomorrow.

Stay focused on the message, dear supporters.

[botounami]

Wonderful.

I too was astonished at the reactions of various "supporters". It was sad.


All I can do is continue to promote the message of peace and liberty to everyone that I meet. To get 10% in Iowa is quite encouraging!

[liberty_Forever]

I like your analysis. Let's reach out to the mainstream Republican party.


Ron Paul's real strength is the economic issues, on which he is light years ahead.

[angrydragon]

Very good post!

[JMO]

I also get tired of the conspiracy mentality. Everything everyone does is not about Ron Paul, its about sex.

[Xonox]

Somewhere in the midst of the chaos in Iowa we suddenly stopped, took off our tinfoil hats, and America realized Ron Paul was a real candidate

[mkrfctr]

But the aliens from mars did do it!!!!!!one-thousand-one-hundred-and-eleven!!!

[justinc.1089]

I agree with what you're saying about Paul surprising people and doing better than expected, but I disagree with you saying no mistakes were made or anything.

Major changes need to be made in the official campaign staff. They have truly f@##$d up this campaign. They have made small mistakes in Iowa apparently that brought us down from a 3rd-4th place finish to a 5th place finish, and the mistakes in Iowa do not BEGIN to compare to the mistakes being made here in SC.

I don't care if the strategy is to completely ignore SC, which is pure stupidity if thats the plan, but even if it is you still run tv ads here!!!!!

There has not been ONE SINGLE RON PAUL AD ran here!!!

We have got some serious problems somewhere. How were the polls correct when they don't poll dems or 1st-time voters? Was our turnout that much lower that we lost as much votes as we had over the polls?

I mean whats going on?

We were certainly stronger than McCain in Iowa. His own campaign staffperson said they were afraid of Paul in Iowa, not Thompson.

So really what is going on? What are we doing wrong here?

[DRSANGLE]

It was a good night!

Everyone should be proud and realize the positioning of all the candidates.

We are not going away and the status quo and most people when change happens never see it coming.

Realize what is really being attempted here and as an older person I am impressed and encouraged for the first time maybe in my life of what is going on.

If someone was expecting blowing everyone else out of the water, that is not what is going to happen and honestly the position we are in is better than any other candidates because it is not about Ron Paul, he is the messenger, he is being pushed rather than trying to convince people.

I will go to sleep tonight happy and encouraged thanks to all the people that care about themselves enough, their children and this country that are making this possible.

This is doable. The Gallup poll shows 74% Repubs and 69% Demos are undecided.

Enjoy this moment. As Ron Paul and us continue, there is no telling how far the other side will be willing to go. Strength, courage and determination. It was a good night.

[justinc.1089]

Amen!

People went looney. I channelled my anxiousness into finishing my Michigan letters. They are now sitting in a neat stack waiting to go out tomorrow.

Stay focused on the message, dear supporters.

Yeah I just put out 53 signs.

But could you please write SC instead of Michigan? Its infinately more important and we are facing a loss that is even more certain than our loss in Iowa was. Everyone can do the math there for yourselves.

[liberty_Forever]

Thanks DRSANGLE!

[JustBcuz]

The passion that you are all showing is amazing, I share it. I've been an avid supporter of Ron Paul here in California for almost 10 years (a third of my life), and to see 10% of the Republican party in the first primary election choose him to lead them is amazing. I can name six people that I've already recruited to both donate and vote for RP in our primary, and I'm working on more.

It's a good thing that I had to wait a bit before I was allowed to make my first post, or it would have probably been moderated. As I checked into these forums while the Iowa tallies were being revealed, I saw what amounted to mass hysteria. It was embarrassing to read. Ron Paul supporters have a stigma that until tonight I've always thought was unfair - of being the crazed, reactionary, paranoid and laughable. I also saw reasonable, mature people trying to calm them down, but as always, the screaming people seem to overwhelm the measured ones. I will definitely not be referring any new recruits to the cause to this forum.

To see an 11 page thread giving this an "F" and 6 page thread calling for a new campaign manager, is exactly the stereotype we've been given. The worst, however, are the countless IT WAZ RIGGED threads and comments, reminiscent of the very worst of the Al Gore election hysteria, X Files type crap - and equally laughable. What played out is, within a few percentage points almost down the line, what each candidate was expected to do.

I am going to cry a little bit inside every time I have to read some comment on some article somewhere tomorrow saying that this is a rigged vote. You are embarrassing yourself, all of us, and Ron Paul himself when you say this to others and do irreparable damage to the campaign. TAKE YOUR TINFOIL HATS OFF.

Huckabee won the Bible thumper vote here, something we all knew if we were paying attention was going to happen. Hardly anybody that wins this state becomes president. Romney spent millions of his personal fortune here for months and could not even beat Huck, a candidate most of the core of the party really dislikes. Thompson, McCain and RP all came within 3% of tying each other for third place. And I just came back because I forgot to mention Rudy at all in this - the LA Times political bloggers are already laughing at him for trying to beat on Ron so early in the debates and now getting stomped by him.

Now get a grip on yourselves, honestly. Nobody needs to be fired, I'm thrilled that Ron Paul is a serious contender coming out of this thing. There was no rigging going on, there is not an Illuminati presence in freaking Iowa that is trying to enslave you. I promise.

Please, find a way to stop wailing and screaming about what is a very reasonable outcome to this Iowa caucus - the only mild surprise is that Fred did better than expected, largely because people who can't stand the Rev. Huck, waffle Romney, lib Rudy, etc. see nowhere else to go - those people went to Fred. There is going to be a lot more fluidity in the next few weeks between the candidates, and a strong, confident, rational, consistent message from the RP camp is vital to picking up the people who leave the other candidates. Voters see stability, calmness, and reassurance in Fred - yes, largely because of his acting roles that have these qualities. But guess what, it attracts them, and this kind of conspiracy hysteria repels them. Ignore this at our peril. RPs positions and beliefs are sound and rational, and we need to act in a manner that matches and represents that.

RP and his message are on the upswing, steadily and swiftly, not wildly fluctuating like everyone else. This is good. Huck will not be a factor in this race in a few weeks, and RP still can be.

Also, I've accepted already life after this election if RP doesn't win. What we are building, with measured, consistent, mature intellect and sound reason, is a new voting bloc in America that puts personal liberty and accountability first and foremost in the qualities it values both in a party and in a leader. That would have seemed too good a dream to me even a couple years ago.

I fear for this movement when it shows itself to be so fickle, paranoid, ready to blame aliens from Mars, hacked machines, and God knows what else for every little thing. Our movement is young, but it's time we grow up, because if we do that, regardless of any outcome here, we will be paving the way for a great future for the US.

Prove to me, the MSM, the critics, and yourselves that you are not a bunch of lunatics. We were 3% from third place, and the order we saw tonight is assuredly not going to be the order things end in. Take our very strong showing and use it as a springboard, not a noose. Please, for my sanity if nothing else.

Our passion is our greatest asset and our greatest weakness, it needs to be channeled correctly. Let the nutiness I saw here tonight be an abberation, not the norm.

What took you so long to sign up? ;)

[josh24601]

Somewhere in the midst of the chaos in Iowa we suddenly stopped, took off our tinfoil hats, and America realized Ron Paul was a real candidate

Amen. The underdog mentality worked in the beginning, but it's time to confront the fact that we're in the major leagues now and it's time to act like it.

Glad to see people agree, and in fairness maybe I was too harsh, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't spamming refresh on about 4 different pages.

I have a lot of hope in what this movement can become even beyond this election, and growing pains are expected. But we gotta grow up really quick now, and I think we're up to it.

[all J's in IL for RP]

The question is, why were all the nuts that are constantly haranguing the Ron Paul community about massive vote rigging and such still here on the forums tonight and not in Iowa addressing their concerns? Seems we've alot of people about who would rather indulge in the emotional self-stroking of being able to say "I told you so." Ever hear of a self-reinforcing fantasy?

I missed all the threads you mentioned. I was in Iowa.

[Craig_R]

This lunatic says screw your sanity, this is the internet, are you new to the internet as well?

people are screwy, get used to it

[WRellim]

I also get tired of the conspiracy mentality. Everything everyone does is not about Ron Paul, its about sex.

:eek:

Thanks. I needed the laugh!

Mind if I quote you the next time someone spouts a "conspiracy theory"?
:cool:

[josh24601]

I agree with what you're saying about Paul surprising people and doing better than expected, but I disagree with you saying no mistakes were made or anything.

Major changes need to be made in the official campaign staff. They have truly f@##$d up this campaign. They have made small mistakes in Iowa apparently that brought us down from a 3rd-4th place finish to a 5th place finish, and the mistakes in Iowa do not BEGIN to compare to the mistakes being made here in SC.

I don't care if the strategy is to completely ignore SC, which is pure stupidity if thats the plan, but even if it is you still run tv ads here!!!!!

There has not been ONE SINGLE RON PAUL AD ran here!!!

We have got some serious problems somewhere. How were the polls correct when they don't poll dems or 1st-time voters? Was our turnout that much lower that we lost as much votes as we had over the polls?

I mean whats going on?

We were certainly stronger than McCain in Iowa. His own campaign staffperson said they were afraid of Paul in Iowa, not Thompson.

So really what is going on? What are we doing wrong here?

I never said no mistakes were made. I said to untwist your collective panties. Do you think Romney is screaming and yelling that he dumped millions of dollars to get beat by an ex-preacher? (Ok maybe). Or Rudy having panic attacks that he edged out Duncan Hunter? Is McCain thrilled about having to say that it's win NW or quit?

The way to react to setbacks - perceived or real - is not panic, not indignation. That's all I'm saying. We're better and smarter than that.

[derdy]

Welcome to the forums!

With all due respect, while some of the emotions may run deep for some people, maybe some are crazed, who knows, but we're up against some very big and powerful people/corporations/organizations etc.

It's very possible that the mass hysteria and negativity was caused and/or exploited by some outside sources with ill intent for the campaign. We're a soft target, open to the public, and definitely susceptible to social engineering.



Think about it. How many threads did you see people go completely overboard and absolutely negative before ALL precincts had even reported?

I saw people QUITTING these forums because of Dr. Paul having low numbers! How ridiculous is that? Is characteristic of a REAL suppoter? I think not.

Not only that, but with so much traffic on these forums sometimes the initial flood of 1st responses to an OP's post can bury a troll's first response as well. I had to report a troll tonight who had posted probably 10 negative and obnoxious posts and glossed over by others before he was banned.

We are in a battle for our country and ideas. Nationalism vs. globalism and most of our leaders are globalists so it's helpful to understand to understand the psy-op war that is being waged against us.

Here's the US strategy for fighting Psy-Ops on the Internet from Donald Rumsfeld.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm

Here's the DoD report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_01_06_psyops.pdf

[eric_cartman]

good post... i agree that this thing probably wasn't rigged, and that the results were legitimate ... but you don't really believe that Bush won the 2000 and 2004 elections do you? clearly Gore won Florida (mainly because black voters were disenfranchised) and Kerry won Ohio (electronic voting machine fraud). So even though these results appear to be legitimate, it's not like election fraud hasn't happened in the past, and it's not like it wont happen again in the future.

[hells_unicorn]

Welcome to the forum, unfortunately we have a very large collection of trolls and novices on here, they represent a sizable and noisy minority on here.

[josh24601]

Welcome to the forums!

With all due respect, while some of the emotions may run deep for some people, maybe some are crazed, who knows, but we're up against some very big and powerful people/corporations/organizations etc.

It's very possible that the mass hysteria and negativity was caused and/or exploited by some outside sources with ill intent for the campaign. We're a soft target, open to the public, and definitely susceptible to social engineering.



Think about it. How many threads did you see people go completely overboard and absolutely negative before ALL precincts had even reported?

I saw people QUITTING these forums because of Dr. Paul having low numbers! How ridiculous is that? Is characteristic of a REAL suppoter? I think not.

Not only that, but with so much traffic on these forums sometimes the initial flood of 1st responses to an OP's post can bury a troll's first response as well. I had to report a troll tonight who had posted probably 10 negative and obnoxious posts and glossed over by others before he was banned.

We are in a battle for our country and ideas. Nationalism vs. globalism and most of our leaders are globalists so it's helpful to understand to understand the psy-op war that is being waged against us.

Here's the US strategy for fighting Psy-Ops on the Internet from Donald Rumsfeld.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm

Here's the DoD report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_01_06_psyops.pdf

I admire your enthusiasm and I share it, but we should be careful not to become Rumsfelds in the process of fighting him.

[-lotus-]

good post. i agree completely that Paul did better than could have been seriously expected. This is definitely only the beginning.

[josh24601]

good post... i agree that this thing probably wasn't rigged, and that the results were legitimate ... but you don't really believe that Bush won the 2000 and 2004 elections do you? clearly Gore won Florida (mainly because black voters were disenfranchised) and Kerry won Ohio (electronic voting machine fraud). So even though these results appear to be legitimate, it's not like election fraud hasn't happened in the past, and it's not like it wont happen again in the future.

Again.... you win no support for Paul and you diminish his credibilty when you even bring something like that up, especially when you are trying to win REPUBLICANS to the cause. The guy who voted for Fred Thompson will not change his vote to Ron Paul because of your compelling case for Al Gore or John Kerry.

I only feel compelled to say this to you because I want to give the campaign every chance it can get, and stuff like this harms it.

[iratus]

Absolutely great post!! Sure, I was slightly disappointed we didn't place or show, but that sentiment has quickly evaporated. Actually, I am more motivated than ever. Dr Paul's performance in Iowa is, in my opinion, exceptional! Just look at the margin. Visualize in your mind for a second-- 10,000 brothers (and sisters) in arms deep in enemy territory put up their best fight and did damn good. Thank you to all Iowans!!

I am still holding out hope that we're the silent majority (that is, we rational ones), and that this very vocal minority will come to their senses by tomorrow morning. We need unity, solidarity, and, at least at this point, sobriety. Attacks towards the campaign and Iowan caucus-goers only serve to spread dissent in the ranks and decrease morale, undermining the very movement we are fighting for. Let's stick with the real positive: we exceeded expectations. We are no longer fringe supporters.

Stick to your guns people. Channel your emotions into productive activities. If Iowa gets you down, go out there and make sure your state does better! Remember, we knew this would be a hard fight and unlike most other candidates we've still got money in the bank!

[derdy]

And actually, now that I read the OP's whole post....

To say that we wear tinfoil hats due to our concern about the legitimacy of an election is absurd!

Counting the votes is the most crucial point of any election and there WAS vote rigging in 2000 and 2004.

Vote counting transparency = no tin foil hats

[derdy]

I admire your enthusiasm and I share it, but we should be careful not to become Rumsfelds in the process of fighting him.

I'm not susceptible to that type of corruption nor was I encouraging it.

[Paulitician]

I agree a lot with what you said.

However, I must disagree about the campaign not needing to fire people. Some of the campaign is just completely incompetent. Instead of seasoned professionals, Ron Paul has his loyal friends running the show. That is just stupid if you ask me. Loyal friends are great, but we need people who actually have experience running a PRESIDENTIAL campaign, and winning. Anyway, yesterday wasn't all that horrible. We did get 10k, but it could have been so much better. Ron was saying he was going to disprove the polls and pundits, but instead he just proved them to be absolutely correct. I'm sure all of us thought they weren't polling all our support, and that we'd have huge voter enthusiams/turn out. That was hardly the case. Ron Paul better start rising in the polls, and he can only do that by targeting the right demograpic (Republicans over 40 years old) and by emphasizing specific parts of the message.

[eric_cartman]

Again.... you win no support for Paul and you diminish his credibilty when you even bring something like that up, especially when you are trying to win REPUBLICANS to the cause. The guy who voted for Fred Thompson will not change his vote to Ron Paul because of your compelling case for Al Gore or John Kerry.

I only feel compelled to say this to you because I want to give the campaign every chance it can get, and stuff like this harms it.

i agree that it might diminish his credibility... but it is true none the less. it's not like there are people on these forums who are on the fence about voting for ron paul. once you're a ron paul supporter, you don't ever change your mind and vote for giuliani or something? i wouldn't worry about a random person coming on these forums, reading some random response, then deciding not to vote for ron paul. there's nothing that could be posted in these forums that could turn these people away... forum people are hardcore ron paul supporters. ya... if the official campaign started crying about election fraud, that might not help things (though i think any publicity is good publicity) ... but election fraud is real... it's not some "conspiracy" ... and the ron paul rEVOLution needs to be on the lookout. it looks like the results in Iowa may have been legitimate, but these are issues that we need to be mindful of in the future.

[josh24601]

I gotta get sleep, but I'm very nervous about this impulse within the RP community to call for centralized authoritarian direction at the first sign of panic.

This campaign is about personal liberty and individual accountability. The nanny state will not fix our education problems and a nanny campaign will not yield a 20% surge. Stop looking to a Great Leader to make everything okay.

Dr. Paul purposely has a decentralized type of campaign because the market (us) will always be more powerful and effective than any one group of people.

Channel your angst into positive tangible action and, if everybody else follows the message they seem to be supporting and does likewise, you'll see what you want come better, faster and more efficient than if you leave it up to some group of people in a room somewhere.

That's the great thing about a free market and personal accountability, or didn't you see the Youtube?

[Paulitician]

We not asking for a nanny campaign or a centralized campaign, we're asking for a competent campaign that can do the job well.

[free.alive]

I'm glad this was the first post I read today after watching the results come in.

People, just a little bit better here, a little better there, a little more here and there as well, and we could have swayed those who went to Thompson and achieved the coveted third place.

Iowa campaign and volunteers - phenomenal job. The odds are against us (understatement of the year) and we're surging slowly and measuredly.

We all want to win first in every state. But we'll be in this thing until the convention, and that plus the grassroots brushfire is going to make us the strongest, and the campaign that wins.

Also, aren't these figures similar to the Iowa straw poll? Well, if straw polls are ant indicator...

[Troyhand]

Although the idea of free-market thinking and decentralized action is what attracted me to the movement (no big brother looking over me), I'm beginning to feel as though some of us are not really experienced or confident yet with this approach to totally trust in it. It's like the nanny state that hovers over us has still conditioned us a bit, no matter how hard we tried to resist it.
I think there are many in the movement that still need a guide or mentor to lead them toward a proper course of action. Someone to give them confidence that they're heading in the right direction.
That's the correction I think the campaign needs to make. They need to communicate with us more often as to what we should be doing, as well as listen to what we have to say.
If they had a spokesman who worked specifically with the internet forums, reading our suggestions, sending us updates through emails or video podcasts, giving us their opinions and listening to ours, I think we would feel much more energized and confident that everybody is on the same track - the track leading to victory.
I'm not too keen on the idea of the forum having a committee to represent us because we are all so different in philosophies and backgrounds that I doubt we would come to an acceptable consensus on who would be on such a committee.
But dealing with the communication issue is very important. I think a lot of us feel as though the campaign is not listening to us enough and are missing some good ideas or issues that many here feel are important to address. And I for one would feel a hell of a lot better if someone from the campaign would let us in on what they are doing and what they think we should be doing. The campaign needs a forum spokesman.

[NJ Carlos]

Great thread and very encouraging. I, too, get very disappointed when I see conspiracy theorists rant and rave on Digg and YouTube, completely painting a negative picture of Paul's support. We are, imho, very competent and rational, and I personally don't subscribe to any conspiracies in such early primaries. I think Paul placed fairly and reasonably; a great showing that he indeed has a base that can affect the race. Note there was only a roughly ~5k difference between 3/4 and 5th. Instead of turning potential voters AWAY on social networks with irrational conspiracy theories, why not communicate logic and reason? Why not let people know there is more to Paul than the candidate they support and perhaps entertain his positions?

I must, however, agree with some that the campaign staff has been very unproductive. Paul himself has stressed they are having a hard time finding ways to spend the money. Granted, they most likely had a hard time landing air time in Iowa, but there are MANY ways to spend that money. For one, you could be setting up more headquarters across key and early primary states. They could hire more staff (perhaps to move orders quicker -- I've been waiting almost 2 weeks for my order of Ron Paul merchandise). They could be getting more radio and TV ad rotation. They could be hiring individuals to canvass neighborhoods for, if anything, placing fliers in mailboxes. I think they are handling this campaign in a very "hands-off" manner. Their mentality is very laissez-faire in nature. Paul also claims he feels grateful to be a part of the revolution; but, is he and his staff as active as they should be? Are they capitalizing on this grassroots support or just hoping it does all the work for them? A 5th place finish in NH would confirm all the doubt that has been circulating in the media. I pray they have been doing more campaign work there because, frankly, not being able to keep pace with Thompson isn't promising. I also feel that cheering his triumph over Giuliani is misplaced enthusiasm: Giuliani pulled out of Iowa long ago! It was simply not a priority.

But I digress; what's important to keep in mind is that we as a group need to convey calm and sensible logic. Spread this message to others you see crossing the line and leaving a bad impression of our revolution in the eyes of potential converts/voters.

[BrettCates]

I agree with what you're saying about Paul surprising people and doing better than expected, but I disagree with you saying no mistakes were made or anything.

Major changes need to be made in the official campaign staff. They have truly f@##$d up this campaign. They have made small mistakes in Iowa apparently that brought us down from a 3rd-4th place finish to a 5th place finish, and the mistakes in Iowa do not BEGIN to compare to the mistakes being made here in SC.

I don't care if the strategy is to completely ignore SC, which is pure stupidity if thats the plan, but even if it is you still run tv ads here!!!!!

There has not been ONE SINGLE RON PAUL AD ran here!!!

We have got some serious problems somewhere. How were the polls correct when they don't poll dems or 1st-time voters? Was our turnout that much lower that we lost as much votes as we had over the polls?

I mean whats going on?

We were certainly stronger than McCain in Iowa. His own campaign staffperson said they were afraid of Paul in Iowa, not Thompson.

So really what is going on? What are we doing wrong here?





We're not looking at the big picture here. Ron Paul just earned two delegates!!!!

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#IA


REPUBLICAN CAUCUSES January 03, 2008
Race

Status

Candidate

Votes

%

Del*

Precincts
Iowa
Updated 10:05 p.m. EDT, Jan 3, 2008


County Results

Entrance Poll


Huckabee

39,814

34%

17

95%
reporting

Romney

29,405

25%

12

Thompson

15,521

13%

3

McCain

15,248

13%

3

Paul

11,598

10%

2

Giuliani

4,013

4%

0

Hunter

515

1%

0

• Del* - The delegate column shows the most recent estimated number of pledged delegates from this state

[JohnnyWrath]

Ron Paul has won more straw polls than any GOP running, but we did poorly in the Iowa straw poll as well...5th place then as well. In many other states, Ron Paul has been #1 in straw polls, but NOT in Iowa, so this should not be a surprise.

Over 60% of caucus goers were self proclaimed evangelical Christians.

Ames, Iowa straw poll results
8/11/2007

5th place

9.1%

ALL STRAW POLLS (http://www.ronpaul2008.com/straw-poll-results/)

TRY TO LOOK AHEAD TO THE BIG PICTURE...next stop....New Hampshire.

Strafford County, NH straw poll results
8/18/2007
1st place
72.2% of the votes

Manchester, NH Straw Poll
9/16/2007
1st place
65.0% of the votes

[Trance Dance Master]

Who says there isn't? Maybe the Illuminati is in all 50 states. Does it interfere in elections? Probably not vote-rigging.

All the same, never underestimate the Illuminati.

I joined the Illuminati a few years ago. Good people.

[josh24601]

Bump because there is no conspiracy, no vote fraud, no Illuminati, nobody needs to be fired, your hair is not on fire, the world isn't about to end, etc.

I've gotten a lot of positive response which is very encouraging, I'm glad I'm not alone in trying to establish some calm, reason, intelligence and perspective in this movement (at least the internet forum wing of it).

Things are good in this campaign and this movement. Relax, keep spreading the word. If you look and act like you are paranoid loonies in the middle of a forest fire, that's exactly the image you will project to the very people that you want to join up. And that's not good, is it?