Why is national not forking over $$$?

[susano]

Please, nobody jump me. Hear me out.

There are so many groups just desparate money - to run TV, newspaper, radio ads. I fully understand the need to get it done. I'm in Michigan (a state we could have won) and we had no TV or personal appearances. This cost us the state.

I, like many others, have given to national. Unfortunately, I'm out of work and broke. If I had known that they wouldn't be forth coming to pay for media, I wouldn't have sent it. I have nothing more to send to anyone. Why the hell aren't they funding advertisements???

[curtis119]

Be patient. He has publicly said that he is waiting for the other candidates to run out of money and make fools of themselves THEN he attacks and wins Super Tuesday. Look up how he won his House seat and how he keeps it with a 70+% approval rating. This plan of waiting until the end is Classic Paul.

Think about it. He has raised a total of 29 Million and has only spent about 5-6 of it. One of the TV networks let it slip that he bought HUGE blocks of national air time and the campaign won't comment on it.

:cool:

[apc3161]

Nobody knows....

[David805]

Reno businessman Mitch Lau so believes Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the right man to lead America that he has spent -- by his own account -- $130,000 to bolster the Republican's efforts to win the Nevada Caucus.

Not content to contribute the legal limit of $4,600 to Paul's presidential campaign, Lau has invested his personal wealth into building a one-man operation in Northern Nevada.

Since the summer, Lau has bought $11,000 worth of air time on local cable television, run full-page ads in the alternative weekly newspaper, paid for a network of billboards and made sure Paul had a presence on Northern Nevada radio stations.

"I feel like Ron Paul and his message is really our last hope for freedom," Lau said.

Campaign finance laws allow individuals to spend as much as they want in support of a candidate as long as their efforts are completely separate from the candidate's campaign.

But Federal Election Commission regulations do require individuals to publicly report their expenses once they spend more than $250 in an election year.

Grassroots support

Paul's anti-establishment, libertarian candidacy has attracted grassroots support from lots of people with different ideologies. The result is a network of fervent people who, like Lau, have made substantial personal investments in the campaign outside of normal volunteer channels.

Television commercials aired by Lau, for example, were produced by a 35-year-old video editor in Hancock, Wis., who started his own political action committee to help Paul.

Chris Rye said his ads have played in at least eight states across the country, largely through efforts of people unconnected with the Paul campaign who bought air time.

And with the New Hampshire primary now over, dozens of volunteers organized by a 29-year-old software engineer who quit his job to get Paul elected are expected to flood into Nevada for the Jan. 19 effort.

"I raised over $60,000 from 3,000 people, and that's the source of funding we've been using in New Hampshire," said Vijay Boyapati, who left his job with Google to build the organization. "We still have some money left over, and that's what we are going to use in Nevada."

First foray into politics

Lau is president of a Reno-based credit card processing business that handles millions of dollars of transactions for clients nationwide. But he said his true vocation is a stress management clinic for Iraqi war vets.

Lau said this is his first foray into federal campaign finance. He started by setting up a political nonprofit organization called Nevadans for America as a way to pool contributions for an independent campaign.

The nonprofit's name is listed on his billboards and television advertisements.

But he didn't want to deal with the FEC reporting requirements on PACs or political nonprofits, so he decided to spend only his own money, thinking that would free him from FEC rules.

He said he was surprised to learn the FEC also requires individuals who spend more than $10,000 in support or opposition of a candidate to publicly report their expenses within 48 hours.

Another quarterly report is required if expenses don't reach $10,000.

State fertile for donors

In the past, Nevada has attracted monied candidates who spend their fortunes on themselves and the state has long been a fertile ground for large-sum political donors.

But it's unusual for individuals to spend heavily on outside campaign activities, said Eric Herzik, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno and a Republican.

"Ron Paul is something of a phenomenon," he said. "The devotion is amazing."

But Herzik said they likely will end up disappointed in the end. While Paul has garnered devoted support, many of his views are still considered to be on the political fringe.

A devout Libertarian, Paul believes in ending the "welfare state," including Social Security, federally backed college loans and government spending on health care. He wants to end America's military deployments in Iraq and most other countries. And he wants to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve Board, returning America to the gold standard.

Most political observers give him little chance of succeeding.

"They are going to spend all this money, but they are going to be disillusioned," Herzik said. "This might sound cynical, but the system is bigger than one person."

Lau said his money won't be wasted, even if Paul doesn't win the nomination.

"If you look at it now, he's got an uphill battle because the powers that be are against him," Lau said. "But by putting his name out there, maybe people will start hearing his message. Even if he isn't elected, just the fact that people might wake up is worth it."

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:CfkNvV4Vy08J:news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20080112/NEWS/801120346/1002+Ron+paul+bought+Airtime&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

It was in the cach.. No idea why they removed the story

[Derek Johnson]

Just take care of your precinct...have you been in the local nursing home yet?

Will you?

[animator]

Be patient. He has publicly said that he is waiting for the other candidates to run out of money and make fools of themselves THEN he attacks and wins Super Tuesday. Look up how he won his House seat and how he keeps it with a 70+% approval rating. This plan of waiting until the end is Classic Paul.

Think about it. He has raised a total of 29 Million and has only spent about 5-6 of it. One of the TV networks let it slip that he bought HUGE blocks of national air time and the campaign won't comment on it.

:cool:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/money/gop.html

[Feelgood]

Animator, have you seen anything more recent? Thats dated form September last year. VERY old news, and doesnt come close to showing whats going on now. :(

[susano]

Just take care of your precinct...have you been in the local nursing home yet?

Will you?

I canvassed, I sign waved, and I skipped the party (it was primary night here in MI) and I monitored the closing of my precinct and the Diebold machine tally.

[susano]

Be patient. He has publicly said that he is waiting for the other candidates to run out of money and make fools of themselves THEN he attacks and wins Super Tuesday. Look up how he won his House seat and how he keeps it with a 70+% approval rating. This plan of waiting until the end is Classic Paul.

Think about it. He has raised a total of 29 Million and has only spent about 5-6 of it. One of the TV networks let it slip that he bought HUGE blocks of national air time and the campaign won't comment on it.

:cool:

:)

[animator]

Animator, have you seen anything more recent? Thats dated form September last year. VERY old news, and doesnt come close to showing whats going on now. :(

Sorry, I realize based on the numbers they show for Dr. Paul that it's old info, but that's all I could find. At one point I saw something that showed Romney in debt by millions, but I can't find it now...

[austin356]

money is being spent but not smartly.


A caveman could go into the grocery store with money, but not come out with a very good cart.

[austin356]

spent about 5-6 of it.

Wrong by 2-3-400%.

We are WELL LESS than $14 mil in the bank.

[Taco John]

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/money/gop.html



Too bad they won't update that with the real numbers.

[robo1415]

We should have been running ads that STRUCK right at the heart of the Three Stooges running ahead of us!....ALSO,we should be emphasizing the shaky economy and what appears to be ahead of us...and the need for REAL CHANGE!

[susano]

We should have been running ads that STRUCK right at the heart of the Three Stooges running ahead of us!....ALSO,we should be emphasizing the shaky economy and what appears to be ahead of us...and the need for REAL CHANGE!

OMG. You hit on something! How about an ad with the three of them AS the Three Stooges?! Romney is Mo, McCain is Curly and the Huckster is Larry, lol! I know someone could do it with a computer, and old Three Stooges film. They could be fixing the economy and screwing it all up, along with everything else. Done right, it could win an award. Would have to be a real pro job.

[tommyzDad]

This the man?
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/845/members/4915983/

[Dave Pedersen]

I bet HQ doesn't have 10 million cash on hand and the idea of buying huge blocks of air time is a very expensive way to put millions of people to sleep.

60 or 90 second ads should be as long as they ever get. It is much more cost effective to part out that cash into several approaches. Newspapers billboards radio television and more of everything in as many different ways as imaginable. What one approach fails to reach another one will. Huge blocks of air time is classic bamboozlment just like Ross Perot did. Utterly dumb.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

That is what our money will do in the hands of HQ if they indeed buy "huge blocks of air time" and waste it on 30 minute infomercials.

[chowdy]

Does anyone have the figures for cash on hand and what was spent and whatnot?

Anyway, you guys need to learn to calm down and have faith in Ron Paul. You guys are willing to put your faith in his ability to lead the nation, but not in his ability to lead a political campaign? The man's jumped parties, quit politics and returned, and has been elected over and over again! I think maybe he knows a little bit more about this shit than we do. Just maybe.

[robo1415]

But it is WAY past the time to ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!

[TheEvilDetector]

Does anyone have the figures for cash on hand and what was spent and whatnot?

Anyway, you guys need to learn to calm down and have faith in Ron Paul. You guys are willing to put your faith in his ability to lead the nation, but not in his ability to lead a political campaign? The man's jumped parties, quit politics and returned, and has been elected over and over again! I think maybe he knows a little bit more about this shit than we do. Just maybe.

Ron Paul IS NOT leading the national campaign.

WE ARE and THAT IS THE POINT.

95% of the responsibility for the effort and the results is with US, not HIM!

PS. Running a national campaign is very much different to running a very local one.

[stewie3128]

Sorry, I realize based on the numbers they show for Dr. Paul that it's old info, but that's all I could find. At one point I saw something that showed Romney in debt by millions, but I can't find it now...

That "debt" is money he "loaned" his campaign from his own checkbook.

[stewie3128]

Does anyone have the figures for cash on hand and what was spent and whatnot?

Anyway, you guys need to learn to calm down and have faith in Ron Paul. You guys are willing to put your faith in his ability to lead the nation, but not in his ability to lead a political campaign? The man's jumped parties, quit politics and returned, and has been elected over and over again! I think maybe he knows a little bit more about this shit than we do. Just maybe.

The deadline for filing isn't until Jan 30. All the other campaigns are waiting to file because they had a horrible Q4 while Paul's campaign raised nearly $20 million. They didn't want that news dampening their early primary numbers.

The FEC won't be releasing those numbers until early Feb, but we might get public announcements from the individual campaigns in the days before then.

[curtis119]

I bet HQ doesn't have 10 million cash on hand and the idea of buying huge blocks of air time is a very expensive way to put millions of people to sleep.

60 or 90 second ads should be as long as they ever get. It is much more cost effective to part out that cash into several approaches. Newspapers billboards radio television and more of everything in as many different ways as imaginable. What one approach fails to reach another one will. Huge blocks of air time is classic bamboozlment just like Ross Perot did. Utterly dumb.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

That is what our money will do in the hands of HQ if they indeed buy "huge blocks of air time" and waste it on 30 minute infomercials.

I meant he bought a huge block of ad time at a discount. That means he will have lots of little 30-60 second ads but he got them at a discount because he bought them as a block. Sort of like buying bulk at the super market.

[Thomas Paine]

If Ron Paul had placed third in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Michigan, then he would be well on his way toward raising an additional $23 Million by Super Tuesday.

[Gadsdenfly]

If they plan on hitting the national airwaves in a ad blitz for Super Tuesday I sure hope they produce some better commercials because the ones they have so far are the suck.

[shadowhooch]

Be patient. He has publicly said that he is waiting for the other candidates to run out of money and make fools of themselves THEN he attacks and wins Super Tuesday. Look up how he won his House seat and how he keeps it with a 70+% approval rating. This plan of waiting until the end is Classic Paul.

Think about it. He has raised a total of 29 Million and has only spent about 5-6 of it. One of the TV networks let it slip that he bought HUGE blocks of national air time and the campaign won't comment on it.

:cool:

If this was true, I don't see the point of keeping it a secret. What can the other candidates do about it if they have no money? Wouldn't it be smart to disclose that information to energize the campaign and its supporters?

The only thing coming from this supposed "secrecy" is that the grassroots are getting completely demoralized by poor showing after poor showing with no indication from the campaign that they are aiming at SOMETHING.....ANYTHING.

People who I have "converted" to vote for Ron Paul on February 5th are calling me up saying....."he's not doing so well is he?". All I can tell them is "wait and see, he'll do well in New Hampshire. Nope. Well, wait and see for Nevada." But "wait and see" only goes so far with people. Top that with the fact that he gets ZERO coverage for the media and you have a recipe for disaster.

If there is a strategy, it needs to come out quickly. The only other explanation is that they have no strategy (which seems more and more likely the case).

[Quick]

Based on what Jesse said today on Alex Jones, they only have 8 million left in the bank.

[Brother Butch]

Based on what Jesse said today on Alex Jones, they only have 8 million left in the bank.

I would bet that the money that's been spent, is well spent. Ron himself is pretty thrifty and historically gets a lot of bang for the buck.

I trust him with my money way more than I'd trust anyone in this forum with it. Lots of reactionary rhetoric and pinging off the walls in this forum. Sometimes I read this forum and all I can think is "manic deppressive".

Ron has much more stability than many in this group. We could all take a lesson from him.

He's down to 8 mil? All the more reason to donate. Are you going to wait until he's broke and then blame HQ?

[Mesogen]

I meant he bought a huge block of ad time at a discount. That means he will have lots of little 30-60 second ads but he got them at a discount because he bought them as a block. Sort of like buying bulk at the super market.

I hope they stop selling the product they've been selling and start selling a product people will buy.

So far the commercials I've seen and heard are selling a 72 year old soft-spoken man.

What they need to start selling is liberty. But they also need to stop targeting Republicans. Face it, what's left of them don't like Paul's message or him. It scares them.

The campaign needs to start selling to independents that are fed up with the lack of freedom in their lives. The ads need to bring up corporatism and how there's a corporate stranglehold on America. Point out that this is not a free market nor is it a free country. Point out that this is what leads to war, inflation, and debt. Etc.

[hells_unicorn]

Please, nobody jump me. Hear me out.

There are so many groups just desparate money - to run TV, newspaper, radio ads. I fully understand the need to get it done. I'm in Michigan (a state we could have won) and we had no TV or personal appearances. This cost us the state.

I, like many others, have given to national. Unfortunately, I'm out of work and broke. If I had known that they wouldn't be forth coming to pay for media, I wouldn't have sent it. I have nothing more to send to anyone. Why the hell aren't they funding advertisements???

I beg to differ with your sentiments regarding Michigan, Ron Paul has gained much money, but he is in no position to do battle with a human ATM machine in his home state. Ron Paul has to choose his battles, and Michigan was a state that we needed a decent showing in, and we got it. Ron Paul's fund raising has been amazing, but it has not been infinite, which is close to the amount of money that Romney is capable of unleashing.

This contest is about delegates, and there are no delegates for 2nd place in Michigan, which is why Paul didn't go there. It would have been a waste and he was right not to go. I know it sounds harsh, but your state decided to move it's primary up to this ridiculously early date, so this is what happens.

[JohnnyWrath]

Ron Paul is the most frugal congressman you are going to find. They are not wasting what we have given them.

Romney and McCain had Michigan completely sewn up, and nobody else was going to get even a single delegate...votes don't matter...delegates do. 3rd place after spending millions would have been a complete waste and would not have gained a single delegate.

We have not donated enough money to allow the official campaign to go wild with ads in every state.... if Ron Paul had the 100 million Billary and Obama have, I am sure there would have been more ads in Michigan...20 million doesn't go far spread out over 50 states....they need more money.