inibo
07-24-2007, 12:19 PM
After my recent flabbergastedness at David Boaz of the Cato Institute saying there were no Goldwater Republicans in the Republican party whereat I was sorely tempted to walk down the street to Cato and voice my displeasure, I have since came to my senses and realized that neither David Boaz nor Cato will have anything to do with electing Ron Paul--at best they will be busy trying to explain it all in hindsight. I also realized I work in Imperial City, one block up from K Street.
Having seen four of my friends who had never registered as a Republican in their life promise to do just that--so they could vote for Dr. Paul in the Pennsylvania primaries, also having seen a gazillion posts online about Democrats, Libertarians and Independents switching affiliation, it occurs to me this may be the sleeper number: a remarkable increase in people registering Republican--especially after the GOP getting trounced last year. The important thing about that is the rank and file GOP staff, the people who do the on the ground day to day thankless tasks are going to notice this. I doubt they will be looking a gift horse in the mouth. In fact I'm betting many of them would be anxious to hitch themselves to it instead.
I decided to test my thesis. I work right around the corner from the DC Republican Committee HQ--that is to say the local folks who have the unenviable task of trying to get folks elected to city government in the city that elected Marion Barry.
I stopped in today at lunch time.
They seemed surprised to have someone just walk in off the street. I introduced myself and said I'd like to have information about changing my party affiliation to Republican and I'd like to write them a check. They woman I talked to--I didn't get her name, I will--was very friendly. I told her I was already supporting a Republican candidate and I wanted to be sure any money I donated to the local party would not go toward my $2,300.00 limit. She said it had nothing to do with contributions to candidates. She got me a form to fill out. I made a bit of a joke about how that office must be one of the loneliest place on earth sometimes. She looked at me with a sort of wistful expression then dutifully began touting how they have local committee meetings on a regular basis and such, but I couldn't help feeling a bit sad for her.
Finally she asked me who I was supporting.
"Ron Paul," I said. She looked a bit crestfallen. "I sincerely believe that if the Republicans nominate anyone else they will get decimated in 2008."
She kind of put on a brave smile, but I suspect this was not the first time that idea had passed through her mind. I told her about the MeetUp last week where we raised almost $2,500.00 for Dr. Paul. I told her I would guess that at least half of the people there were new Republicans. I also told her about my camping trip last week where my four friends committed to registering Republican for the first time.
She told me that their conference room was available for modest cost if we needed the space. I didn't tell her it was way too small. (Did I mention the DCRC HQ is a sad little place?) She told me the Executive Director was there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and she suggested I stop by some time and introduce myself.
Count on it.
Am I the only one who can sense a tsunami coming?
Having seen four of my friends who had never registered as a Republican in their life promise to do just that--so they could vote for Dr. Paul in the Pennsylvania primaries, also having seen a gazillion posts online about Democrats, Libertarians and Independents switching affiliation, it occurs to me this may be the sleeper number: a remarkable increase in people registering Republican--especially after the GOP getting trounced last year. The important thing about that is the rank and file GOP staff, the people who do the on the ground day to day thankless tasks are going to notice this. I doubt they will be looking a gift horse in the mouth. In fact I'm betting many of them would be anxious to hitch themselves to it instead.
I decided to test my thesis. I work right around the corner from the DC Republican Committee HQ--that is to say the local folks who have the unenviable task of trying to get folks elected to city government in the city that elected Marion Barry.
I stopped in today at lunch time.
They seemed surprised to have someone just walk in off the street. I introduced myself and said I'd like to have information about changing my party affiliation to Republican and I'd like to write them a check. They woman I talked to--I didn't get her name, I will--was very friendly. I told her I was already supporting a Republican candidate and I wanted to be sure any money I donated to the local party would not go toward my $2,300.00 limit. She said it had nothing to do with contributions to candidates. She got me a form to fill out. I made a bit of a joke about how that office must be one of the loneliest place on earth sometimes. She looked at me with a sort of wistful expression then dutifully began touting how they have local committee meetings on a regular basis and such, but I couldn't help feeling a bit sad for her.
Finally she asked me who I was supporting.
"Ron Paul," I said. She looked a bit crestfallen. "I sincerely believe that if the Republicans nominate anyone else they will get decimated in 2008."
She kind of put on a brave smile, but I suspect this was not the first time that idea had passed through her mind. I told her about the MeetUp last week where we raised almost $2,500.00 for Dr. Paul. I told her I would guess that at least half of the people there were new Republicans. I also told her about my camping trip last week where my four friends committed to registering Republican for the first time.
She told me that their conference room was available for modest cost if we needed the space. I didn't tell her it was way too small. (Did I mention the DCRC HQ is a sad little place?) She told me the Executive Director was there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and she suggested I stop by some time and introduce myself.
Count on it.
Am I the only one who can sense a tsunami coming?