Paul got 16.93% in Hillsdale County.

[Cindy]

I'm curious to know if there is a meetup group there.

[Eponym_mi]

Hillsdale rocked! Great job all!

[RollOn2day]

Hillsdale Rules!!

Let us know what you did!

[Molly1]

Great Job, Michigan!!!!!:D

[Melissa]

yes they do have a meetup there and that is what most dont get they will sit in here for 3 days bitching about something the polls, HQ, the grassroots any thing but realizing the real reason is people dont know his name


this town wrote their papers talked to people they did a great job but we have to get his name out so what state is up next we need to figure that out and help

[Cindy]

Anyone here from Hillsadale County that can explain this success? They doubled the second best county for Paul.

[Melissa]

I contacted some of the members to see if they could come in but have not received a response but I am telling you I was in Michigan 3 times canvassing and people do not know who he is that is our problem go door to door

[TTB]

Probably because of:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/

"Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent, coeducational, residential, liberal arts college with a student body of about 1,300. Its four-year curriculum leads to the bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree, and it is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.


Hillsdale’s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations."

[dagnybell]

Probably because of:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/

"Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent, coeducational, residential, liberal arts college with a student body of about 1,300. Its four-year curriculum leads to the bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree, and it is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.


Hillsdale’s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations."

I'm sure that's it. Hillsdale College is the only university in the country that has NEVER accepted any federal funding. They also refuse to play by the federal government's rules as it relates to admissions and tracking info on their students. They are also one of the few universities in the country that has mandatory courses on the constitution.

[Cindy]

Probably because of:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/

"Founded in 1844, Hillsdale College is an independent, coeducational, residential, liberal arts college with a student body of about 1,300. Its four-year curriculum leads to the bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree, and it is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.


Hillsdale’s educational mission rests upon two principles: academic excellence and institutional independence. The College does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations."


I bet that explains it. Thank you !

[Trigonx]

Overall, southeast MI had a larger RP support than west MI and most of north MI.

I wonder where the radio ads by HQ were at? were they targeted in southeast MI which explains the larger support?

[Mental Dribble]

I'm sure that's it. Hillsdale College is the only university in the country that has NEVER accepted any federal funding. They also refuse to play by the federal government's rules as it relates to admissions and tracking info on their students. They are also one of the few universities in the country that has mandatory courses on the constitution.

ewww i wish i had known about that palce... i would have gone there!

[Rob]

Hillsdale College is one of the VERY few American colleges with a predominants libertarian faculty.

They're so libertarian that they teach AUSTRIAN economics as the basis for economics majors. I know because I'm good friends with someone who transferred from there.

[Winston]

Awesome job fellow freedom lovers!

:D

[raystone]

Anyone here from Hillsadale County that can explain this success? They doubled the second best county for Paul.


Must be someone here that personally worked grassroots in Hillsdale that can share their strategy for success ?? Who wants to assume anything ?

[GeneralFreeman]

ah! definitely because of hillsdale college. that makes so much sense. yeah i wish i had known about that place a few years ago too.

[RobS]

Overall, southeast MI had a larger RP support than west MI and most of north MI.

I wonder where the radio ads by HQ were at? were they targeted in southeast MI which explains the larger support?

West Michigan is very "evangelical" and super GOP. VERY hard to overcome the most well oiled GOP county in the nation (Ottawa).

[Jeff King]

Hi Cindy:

I'm the county coordinator from Hillsdale Michigan and I'll try and address some of your questions.

I'll address the Hillsdale College issue.

Folks are putting too much weight here, and I'll stick my neck out and suggest our numbers would have been better with a traditional public college. Hillsdale College has a distinct NeoCon orientation. Romney spoke at their commencement last spring. We got lots of good support from many of the economic professors, but leadership at the college clearly leans towards the NeoCons. Now the students, they have a 100 person facebook group and we got 5 to 8 students who helped at our rally and I understand a few worked the polls. But also understand most of them are from out of state, and didn't vote here. Our voter drive there I don't think netted anyone.

Also, looking at the numbers, while the college district was up, it by no means was limited to that.


Ron Paul placed 3rd in Ward 1 and Ward 2 of Hillsdale, where the college is. But he placed 1st in Woodbridge township and 2nd in Camden, both about as far away from the college as you can be. Also 3rd in Litchfield and Reading, again not close to the college.

So what I am saying is I don't think you need a "Hillsdale College" to succeed.

[Cindy]

I'll take your word for it as i was asking to hear from someone from that county.

We all want to knnow what the grass roots were doing there that lead to your great success in the state, garnering Paul 16% of the vote.

Please share and Thank you for all your work there.

[Jeff King]

OK, now to answer your specific question

We really don't have a meetup. 383 covers Jackson/Lenawee/Hillsdale, but is mostly Jackson traffic. We where cheap when we started, and just got a yahoo group, "hillsdale_for_ron_paul". 22 members, and a number of folks don't have e-mail.

As to the reasons I think we did better, it boils down to one thing:

We didn't wait around for national. Now, we didn't dis them, but realized they where focused on the metro areas. We know best what would work in our area. We ran our own radio ads, we ran our own newspaper ads. Worked the reporters. I'm attaching a partial list of some of our press

Now, things we didn't do. No canvassing. No phone calls. Nobody was that interested and as my wife told me, how do you feel when some people you don't know come up to the door? Now, I'm not going to say it was on purpose, just no body was that interested. It might work other places and who knows?

Not only did the group write letters to the editor, we recruited people to write them (we got a great guest opinion from a Hillsdale economics professor to counter another one written in support of Romney).

Sigsn, that was a big thing here. This map is quite out of date:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107725838171169300932.00043d98c01b7ee692507&z=11&om=1

but we had all the sign locations mapped out. We got 4 8x10 signs on US12, including one in downtown Jonesville. Another in Camden, south of Hillsdale and in Osseo. 4x2's where setup as "yard signs".

Another big thing was slim jims. We had everyone in our group make sure they had some in their coat pocket at all times. Diners where a big thing. We mist have been stocking 10-15 of them. Big in that people want something to read while they eat, and there is that slim jim.

The other big thing was the organization was flat. Alex from the college would help, Pete ran the meetup group, Cary worked the church parking lots on Sunday, Dan and Marv did the flea markets, etc etc. We approached this as a war. When we had a front page feature article on our group... we didn't sit back, but assumed the enemy would be writing L2E (they never did though... it got so bad the paper did a editorial saying it was a one man race in Hillsdale!).

Our motto was "all politics are local" and every time someone wanted to hobnob to Detroit or Ann Arbor, we would always say "how does that help us in Hillsdale"? I don't think we where selfish, but staying focused might have been a big part of it.

Oh, save one regular, everyone was over 30. Quite a fe of us where card carrying Republicans, including myself. One fellow was a state republican district leader.

Oh, and we did actively discourage the conspiracy people in our group, and if you are a county leader you know what I am talking about.

I hope that helps.






A few feature stories with Hillsdale MI Ron Paul content:

http://hillsdale.net/stories/121507/news_20071215017.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010408/news_20080104017.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/111007/news_20071110011.shtml
http://www.hillsdale.net/stories/011008/opinion_20080110007.shtml <<Look at this one
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010708/news_20080107019.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010508/news_20080105007.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/news_20080109018.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122807/opinion_20071228005.shtml

A few letters to the editor:

http://hillsdale.net/stories/011008/opinion_20080110006.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/opinion_20080109007.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/opinion_20080109008.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/121407/opinion_20071214014.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122107/opinion_20071221111.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/011108/opinion_20080111012.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122407/opinion_20071224004.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/011108/opinion_20080111011.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/052107/opinion_20070521009.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/081406/opinion_20060814005.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122107/opinion_20071221111.shtml
http://www.hillsdale.net/stories/121707/opinion_20071217008.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/110207/opinion_20071102007.shtml

[Jeff King]

http://www.aerodata.net/HDN-mockup-1.jpg

[Jeff King]

http://www.aerodata.net/HillsdaleForRonPaulRealRepublican16kps.mp3

[Jeff King]

And our version of "meetup"

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hillsdale_For_Ron_Paul/

[Jeff King]

Oh, I keep remembering more and more. Alot of our supporters hung out on the local newspaper message board:

http://my.hillsdale.net/forum/4

which is a forum to discuss local news.

[Cindy]

Jeff, that is great info and helps many of us a lot.

I want to copy and paste that post of yours in the winning Florida forum tomorrow.

I was pleasantly surprised as I am more of a get tons of signs out and slim Jims in all of the coffee shops and write letters to the local papers editors myself. None of mine have been printed yet, but I have easily left 1,000 Slim Jims and DVDs in places where people are looking for something to read and have put out over 120 signs in my area.

You have me feeling good about what I have been working on. I'm not a door to door person myself nor do I like it when people come to mine.

Nice to see you ran the Founding Fathers Ad as well!!! Focus is KEY, with anything!!!

Great job!!!

[Proemio]

If ever some recipe should be sticky, that whole post would be it.

Especially these parts:

We didn't wait around for national...
and

...
The other big thing was the organization was flat. Alex from the college would help, Pete ran the meetup group, Cary worked the church parking lots on Sunday, Dan and Marv did the flea markets, etc etc. We approached this as a war. When we had a front page feature article on our group... we didn't sit back, but assumed the enemy would be writing L2E (they never did though... it got so bad the paper did a editorial saying it was a one man race in Hillsdale!).
...

It's the applied "Leaderless Resistance" principle (http://www.nolajbs.net/forum/index.php?topic=2453.0) in a nut shell. Not only do we have a demonstration of the concept's validity, I would bet that this was one of the most energized and positive assembly of INDIVIDUALS anywhere so far - having a great time doing an above-average, fabulous job.

Must have been a blast. I would have loved to be part of it...http://www.ronpaulforums.com/gfx_RedWhiteBlue/icons/icon14.gif

[TonySutton]

I am a precinct leader in Ohio and all of this is new to me. When you speak of leaving slim jims where people can read them. Where are you actually putting them? Do you need to discuss this with the manager of the business? Are the slim jims just laying out flat on a counter?

I want to do this right. My county in Ohio is just getting organized and I think this would be effective in our small towns and certain business districts.

[raystone]

bump

[raystone]

We ran our own radio ads, we ran our own newspaper ads


Did you do some fundraising for this ? Use your own money ? .....

By the way, Jeff, incredible work there ! Not only did you almost triple the state average voting percentage, your group was personally responsible for creating dialogue and conversation among hundreds of U.S. citizens on foreign policy, the fed, limited government. Conversations and education that wouldn't have otherwise taken place. Can you remember any particular AHA! moments from some of your newly enlightened neighbors there in Hillsdale county ?

[brumans]

Nice job Hillsdale.

Lapeer County did well too (13.08%), and there was no advertising here besides yard signs and what not.

[crazyfacedjenkins]

OK, now to answer your specific question

We really don't have a meetup. 383 covers Jackson/Lenawee/Hillsdale, but is mostly Jackson traffic. We where cheap when we started, and just got a yahoo group, "hillsdale_for_ron_paul". 22 members, and a number of folks don't have e-mail.

As to the reasons I think we did better, it boils down to one thing:

We didn't wait around for national. Now, we didn't dis them, but realized they where focused on the metro areas. We know best what would work in our area. We ran our own radio ads, we ran our own newspaper ads. Worked the reporters. I'm attaching a partial list of some of our press

Now, things we didn't do. No canvassing. No phone calls. Nobody was that interested and as my wife told me, how do you feel when some people you don't know come up to the door? Now, I'm not going to say it was on purpose, just no body was that interested. It might work other places and who knows?

Not only did the group write letters to the editor, we recruited people to write them (we got a great guest opinion from a Hillsdale economics professor to counter another one written in support of Romney).

Sigsn, that was a big thing here. This map is quite out of date:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107725838171169300932.00043d98c01b7ee692507&z=11&om=1

but we had all the sign locations mapped out. We got 4 8x10 signs on US12, including one in downtown Jonesville. Another in Camden, south of Hillsdale and in Osseo. 4x2's where setup as "yard signs".

Another big thing was slim jims. We had everyone in our group make sure they had some in their coat pocket at all times. Diners where a big thing. We mist have been stocking 10-15 of them. Big in that people want something to read while they eat, and there is that slim jim.

The other big thing was the organization was flat. Alex from the college would help, Pete ran the meetup group, Cary worked the church parking lots on Sunday, Dan and Marv did the flea markets, etc etc. We approached this as a war. When we had a front page feature article on our group... we didn't sit back, but assumed the enemy would be writing L2E (they never did though... it got so bad the paper did a editorial saying it was a one man race in Hillsdale!).

Our motto was "all politics are local" and every time someone wanted to hobnob to Detroit or Ann Arbor, we would always say "how does that help us in Hillsdale"? I don't think we where selfish, but staying focused might have been a big part of it.

Oh, save one regular, everyone was over 30. Quite a fe of us where card carrying Republicans, including myself. One fellow was a state republican district leader.

Oh, and we did actively discourage the conspiracy people in our group, and if you are a county leader you know what I am talking about.

I hope that helps.






A few feature stories with Hillsdale MI Ron Paul content:

http://hillsdale.net/stories/121507/news_20071215017.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010408/news_20080104017.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/111007/news_20071110011.shtml
http://www.hillsdale.net/stories/011008/opinion_20080110007.shtml <<Look at this one
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010708/news_20080107019.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010508/news_20080105007.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/news_20080109018.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122807/opinion_20071228005.shtml

A few letters to the editor:

http://hillsdale.net/stories/011008/opinion_20080110006.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/opinion_20080109007.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/010908/opinion_20080109008.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/121407/opinion_20071214014.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122107/opinion_20071221111.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/011108/opinion_20080111012.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122407/opinion_20071224004.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/011108/opinion_20080111011.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/052107/opinion_20070521009.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/081406/opinion_20060814005.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/122107/opinion_20071221111.shtml
http://www.hillsdale.net/stories/121707/opinion_20071217008.shtml
http://hillsdale.net/stories/110207/opinion_20071102007.shtml

Good job, I'll use this information. I've been trying to work with the advise of townships who did well in Iowa, New Hampshire and now Michigan. I will forward this to my meetup.

[Jeff King]

Hi Tony:


When you speak of leaving slim jims where people can read them. Where are you actually putting them? Do you need to discuss this with the manager of the business? Are the slim jims just laying out flat on a counter?

Generally near the cash register or if other lit is out, near that. You want people who are searching out something to read, to be able to find them.

At least half of the places they are at we had permission from the manager, and in a few of those, they even keep large stock, and restocked the counter.

Oh, one important thing, in particular if you have Romney supporters nearby. We noticed one of our Coffee Shops, that was near the courthouse, would go through too many slimjims. They where getting brushed in the garbage, on purpose, by some unknown hacks. With the help of the manager, we relocated them away from the garbage can to a place that was still prime, but real visible from the clerks location. It seemed to work, as immediately the numbers going out went down, then started gradually climbing up. I think the last week they went through 50 pieces.

Now, as to the ones that don't give permission. We didn't have any of those, which is not to say they said yes, but when we saw it getting kicked up the chain of command, we terminated the discussion before they could say "no". If they had other lit out, we waited a day, and discretely planted it among it. It all stuck. I'm not saying this is totally ethical, but our feeling was it is better to say you are sorry then ask permission. Another thing that helped was asking permission while paying the bill. In other words, buy something, don't just pop your head in. We also had the advantage of alot of family run businesses, who didn't need to kick it up to upper management.


I want to do this right. My county in Ohio is just getting organized and I think this would be effective in our small towns and certain business districts.

I think it is a highly effective use of resources. People don't like stuff pushed on them, they like to come to you, which this technique does. Again, I am not being critical of the in the face canvassing, maybe we would have won the county, but we didn't have the resources. I'm just saying what we did seemed to work.

I'll be doing some debriefs I hope with some of our folks in the southern part of the county (Indiana/Ohio boarder area) and try and prepare a report as to the 1st place landslide win in Wheatland twp as well as the 2nd in the village of Camden.

-Jeff

[snaFU]

Would anyone here recommend applying to Hillsdale college if you are looking for a strong libertarian leaning economics faculty? Also I read a lot of the students
are nostalgic for Ronald Reagan....big turnoff imo.

[leipo]

Great job, Jeff. This info is very valuable.

[Carole]

I read that Hillsdale is a home school community and has an excellent college and takes no support from the government.

[freedom-maniac]

Anyone here from Hillsadale County that can explain this success? They doubled the second best county for Paul.

That was the county that had the city that elected the 18 year old mayor a few years ago.

[Rob]

Thanks for sharing your ideas. The local paper ads seem to be a common trend. I hope people are paying attention. I'll send this info to nationals but they don't often listen to me, or many other members of the Michigan campaign. Does anyone have a link to the thread about Jefferson County Iowa where the local paper ads were run and we won?

[jacmicwag]

Yes, the local paper ads may be a big factor. Here in Houston we have neighborhood weekly papers that get delivered free to everyone in the neighborhood. May have to look into placing ads in those papers.

Great job Michigan and Hillsdale!

[QWE]

man, just read the wiki on Hillsdale College: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsdale_College
we need more schools like that!

[CountryboyRonPaul]

man, just read the wiki on Hillsdale College: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsdale_College
we need more schools like that!

Wow, the owner of Blackwater is an alumni.

that's kinda cool :p

[snaFU]

Wow, the owner of Blackwater is an alumni.

that's kinda cool :p

mkay...

[hatefalseweight]

Hillsdale and Auburn are the only 2 places that teach austrian economics in the whole country

[snaFU]

Hillsdale and Auburn are the only 2 places that teach austrian economics in the whole country

Well GMU has some Economics professors which are from Austrian backgrounds and are fairly Libertarian.