The new message should be: "You can without the IRS."

[Mortikhi]

Cant afford your mortgage? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy your kid new shoes? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy that PS3? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy a plasma TV? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy a house? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy a car? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford college? You can without the IRS.
Cant buy that cool leather jacket? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford cable? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford heating oil? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford gasoline? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford going to Disneyland? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford to go on a cruise? You can without the IRS.
Cant afford to go see Europe? You can without the IRS.
The boss gave you a 3% raise when cost of living went up 5%? Give yourself a 30% raise! You can without the IRS.
A/C needs repaired but you cant afford it? You can without the IRS.

This is the message that needs to be sent! The economy is 70% consumerism. The message needs to be WHAT YOU CAN BUY YOURSELF WHEN THERE IS NO IRS!

[Mortikhi]

since this is almost off the first page, I guess playing to people's consumerism isn't viable...?

[werdd]

no because people that actually understand huckabee think its a good idea to get rid of the IRS and have a 30% sales tax.

[shadowhooch]

Yeah, unfortunately I do agree that Ron Paul just needs to focus on one message. That message should be "I will end the Income Tax and replace it with nothing. I am the strongest for our economy. I am for Americans First!" Done. Just keep it simple.

If people want to know how, simply say he is the only one with a concrete plan to actually cut spending by stopping by 500 billion dollars wasted overseas.

Done. That's all people need to hear. And get that phrase out there so the shallow voters can latch on.

Ron Paul: America First!

[life_is_good]

I like it! The shirts and bumper stickers I got are the IRS ones - along the lines of - "Keep your whole paycheck" and "Ron Paul is the taxpayer's best friend." Money talks, and who wouldn't like a 30-40% raise. I think that will reach those who don't care about politics. It's not politics; it's their $$$$. They may vote to keep their $$.

So whadya think, put it on a shirt, run it in the paper? I'd buy the shirt, but prolly couldn't afford to run an ad.

[slydecix]

I think the IRS/taxes is just a bullet point - a small part of the bigger picture. I think you're on the right track though. The good doctor needs ONE message. In media training, this is called a message box. (Good info here: http://www.greenmediatoolshed.org/training/TargetAudienceMessage/DevelopYourMessage.adp)

Call it whatever you want, but it's basically a singular message that is the purpose and reason for everything else you talk about. Not three messages, not two messages, one message.

To me (and you guys touched on it), this core message could just be the ECONOMY. Think about this this way:

- policing the world costs a lot of money, and fed's printing more to fund it, which weakens the dollar and the ECONOMY
- without the IRS, we'd all have more of our hard-earned money on hand, which we'd reinvest into the ECONOMY
- if the ECONOMY is in shambles, how is the country going to be able to afford to fund healthcare programs?
- and if the ECONOMY fails, illegal immigration won't be an issue because nobody will want to come into the country!!!

And obviously, Dr. Paul's enthusiasm about monetary policy and Austrian Economics fits in naturally here. Some of my phrasing/wording isn't exactly right, but you get the idea.

If I recall correctly, many polls show that the economy is the single biggest issue for voters, and yet nobody's except Ron Paul is spending much time on it (aside from the usual "tax cuts for the middle class!" talk).