RP Campaign - Convince Us that the MLK Money Bomb Won't be a Waste!

[AWF]

A slightly provocative subject heading, but you get the point.

There has been very vigorous, healthy debate across many threads on whether the campaign has been earning an appopriate return on the money we have invested. To wit, there is significant doubt as to the efficacy of the advertisements and the amateurish logistical GOTV skill set displayed.

Can someone at the campaign help sell me, and more importantly all RP donors, on why we should give (not always easily spared) dough to a group of clueless political babes in the woods? (in the eyes of many objective observers)

I write this not in the spirit of being negative, but rather to stimulate a serious dialogue. What has the campaign been spending on? When are 4Q financial data points going to be released? I don't want to know campaign strategic secrets, but are we really competing hard in a serious effort to influence this race? Is RP willing to step on some toes and bring in new faces in senior-level capacities? Is giving money to Lew Moore et. al like giving foreign aid to a profligage tin horn third world dictator? How can we rationalize such a disasterous logistical (again, i stress campaign mechanics, not message/ideas/candidate) effort in NH and Mich?

Are they taking the campaign as seriously as we are?

I would love to be convinced I'm dead wrong about my skepticism. Is there any path toward future upside? I love a rope-a-dope strategy as much as the next guy, but unless the campaign has more tricks up its sleeve or can argue that we are well positioned to gain share in Super Tuesday states that are overlooked by Romney/McCain...well then what can I say???? Should we simply donate to grassroots causes only? Money is finite.......

Best Regards,

AWF

[steph3n]

the GOTV has been fine the grassroots have been amateurish not doing the work!

[dspectre]

Your questions are very loaded to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, I wish the campaign would do more things.

But in all fairness, if there is no official campaign, there is no grassroots.

This is a 50 state fight, not a 5 or 6 state fight.

[Lord Xar]

Another post to deflate the money bomb! wow, I wonder what the motive is NOT one day prior to the money bomb..hmmmmm.. lets all guess.

[pinkmandy]

Disagreeing w/the campaign is one thing. Proposing that people not donate money is INSANITY. I'm not always thrilled w/some actions BUT I do recognize that if I don't put my money on Dr. Paul then we are screwed regardless. We've only had a few primaries, what, 5 states? They are all for media appeal. The money needs to be spent on the MAJORITY, not the MINORITY states. We have a long way to go to win and withholding money now is the kiss of death for the campaign. This is a one shot deal- give the money or lose the opportunity. That simple.

[JustBcuz]

A slightly provocative subject heading, but you get the point.

There has been very vigorous, healthy debate across many threads on whether the campaign has been earning an appopriate return on the money we have invested. To wit, there is significant doubt as to the efficacy of the advertisements and the amateurish logistical GOTV skill set displayed.

Can someone at the campaign help sell me, and more importantly all RP donors, on why we should give (not always easily spared) dough to a group of clueless political babes in the woods? (in the eyes of many objective observers)

I write this not in the spirit of being negative, but rather to stimulate a serious dialogue. What has the campaign been spending on? When are 4Q financial data points going to be released? I don't want to know campaign strategic secrets, but are we really competing hard in a serious effort to influence this race? Is RP willing to step on some toes and bring in new faces in senior-level capacities? Is giving money to Lew Moore et. al like giving foreign aid to a profligage tin horn third world dictator? How can we rationalize such a disasterous logistical (again, i stress campaign mechanics, not message/ideas/candidate) effort in NH and Mich?

Are they taking the campaign as seriously as we are?

I would love to be convinced I'm dead wrong about my skepticism. Is there any path toward future upside? I love a rope-a-dope strategy as much as the next guy, but unless the campaign has more tricks up its sleeve or can argue that we are well positioned to gain share in Super Tuesday states that are overlooked by Romney/McCain...well then what can I say???? Should we simply donate to grassroots causes only? Money is finite.......

Best Regards,

AWF

I've got to say we would never have done anywhere nearly as well as we did in Nevada today without the support of the Ron Paul Campaign official staff. Everyone I've come into contact with has given 110%, and was capable of handling the job at hand.

Please keep in mind the caucus location changes, fake phone calls with incorrect caucus times, and caucus rule changes we've had to deal with for the last week. The campaign people were on top of all of these things, as they happened.

And the GOTV they provided us here was far from amateurish.

I've griped, a bit, about the ads. They could be better. Ah well.

$20 M isn't that much when you're thinking about trying to win 20 states on Super Tuesday.

Cough the $$$ on Monday. It's worth it.

[BeFranklin]

Another post to deflate the money bomb! wow, I wonder what the motive is NOT one day prior to the money bomb..hmmmmm.. lets all guess.

Hmm, and only a few posts too..

[crusader]

I smell a troll, let the thread die!

[Roadrcr]

2nd in NV .. I would say we right on track

[voytechs]

Mods, where are you!!!



A slightly provocative subject heading, but you get the point.

There has been very vigorous, healthy debate across many threads on whether the campaign has been earning an appopriate return on the money we have invested. To wit, there is significant doubt as to the efficacy of the advertisements and the amateurish logistical GOTV skill set displayed.

Can someone at the campaign help sell me, and more importantly all RP donors, on why we should give (not always easily spared) dough to a group of clueless political babes in the woods? (in the eyes of many objective observers)

I write this not in the spirit of being negative, but rather to stimulate a serious dialogue. What has the campaign been spending on? When are 4Q financial data points going to be released? I don't want to know campaign strategic secrets, but are we really competing hard in a serious effort to influence this race? Is RP willing to step on some toes and bring in new faces in senior-level capacities? Is giving money to Lew Moore et. al like giving foreign aid to a profligage tin horn third world dictator? How can we rationalize such a disasterous logistical (again, i stress campaign mechanics, not message/ideas/candidate) effort in NH and Mich?

Are they taking the campaign as seriously as we are?

I would love to be convinced I'm dead wrong about my skepticism. Is there any path toward future upside? I love a rope-a-dope strategy as much as the next guy, but unless the campaign has more tricks up its sleeve or can argue that we are well positioned to gain share in Super Tuesday states that are overlooked by Romney/McCain...well then what can I say???? Should we simply donate to grassroots causes only? Money is finite.......

Best Regards,

AWF

[hopeforamerica]

Reported! Get the F out of here!

[Cindy]

The media has been trying to break us, get us to get discouraged and give up.

By breaking our old record, it will show the media that we are united and strong and can not be broken.

If it fails, and they know about it because Paul told them about it on CNN, they will think we have given up on Paul , the message and the rEVOLution.

We need to show them that we are only just getting started with the movement.

[Cyclone]

HE CAME IN SECOND IN NEVADA! They must be doing something right. They still have money, all others are broke.

If you fail Ron Paul by not donating, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

[AWF]

I guess I didn't appreciate how negatively my message came across before submitting in the late hours here.

Anyway, although I just got a barrage of punches thrown at me, I'm very glad to hear your feisty and upbeat attitude. I guess I should have framed the decision as whether to 1) give to the national campaign or 2) give to certain non-campaign grassroots (e.g. blimp, sponsor volunteers, etc.) efforts. No donating is not an attrative alternative.

Nevada was a nice breakthrough, but again, I've heard throughout this board and elsewhere about the Iowa canvassing/call lists that were deleted with no back-ups, the lack of any experienced Mich hierarchy, the fact that NH voter targets were developed at the last minute..the lack of supplies from HQ when requested.

We've raised more money than anyone else last quarter, and by extension should have had more money in the bank as of 12/31/07 than anyone else, except Romney with his personal fortune. Yet we didn't really do a big spend in any of the early states unlike other candidates, and we're still down to $8 mil? These are the kinds of questions that needle at me. Hopefully the explanation lies in large amounts of pre-paid ads.

I meant my post as a serious one, however loaded it may have seemed. So I'm glad that you're more positive than I am, that's good to hear. You've pushed me toward donating again this Monday.

[JustBcuz]

I guess I didn't appreciate how negatively my message came across before submitting in the late hours here.

Anyway, although I just got a barrage of punches thrown at me, I'm very glad to hear your feisty and upbeat attitude. I guess I should have framed the decision as whether to 1) give to the national campaign or 2) give to certain non-campaign grassroots (e.g. blimp, sponsor volunteers, etc.) efforts. No donating is not an attrative alternative.

Nevada was a nice breakthrough, but again, I've heard throughout this board and elsewhere about the Iowa canvassing/call lists that were deleted with no back-ups, the lack of any experienced Mich hierarchy, the fact that NH voter targets were developed at the last minute..the lack of supplies from HQ when requested.

We've raised more money than anyone else last quarter, and by extension should have had more money in the bank as of 12/31/07 than anyone else, except Romney with his personal fortune. Yet we didn't really do a big spend in any of the early states unlike other candidates, and we're still down to $8 mil? These are the kinds of questions that needle at me. Hopefully the explanation lies in large amounts of pre-paid ads.

I meant my post as a serious one, however loaded it may have seemed. So I'm glad that you're more positive than I am, that's good to hear. You've pushed me toward donating again this Monday.

I say again, this time more clearly;

HAD WE NOT HAD THE OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN PRESENCE WE HAD IN NEVADA WE WOULD NOT HAVE FINISHED 2ND.

Or, the short version.

THE CAMPAIGN STAFF SAVED OUR ASSES IN NEVADA.

We had kick ass grassroots organization in NV, and that's a big reason we did well here. But when the GOP started changing rules, and the fake phone calls started coming in, and when the wrong caucus locations got sent out; having the Ron Paul Campaign staff on location is what kept those situations from becoming catastrophic. Not to mention all of the TV, radio, & newspaper advertising they did here. Plus the GOTV they provided was outstanding.

GIVE THEM THE $$$$ DIG DEEP!!!!!

[amonasro]

I guess I didn't appreciate how negatively my message came across before submitting in the late hours here.

Anyway, although I just got a barrage of punches thrown at me, I'm very glad to hear your feisty and upbeat attitude. I guess I should have framed the decision as whether to 1) give to the national campaign or 2) give to certain non-campaign grassroots (e.g. blimp, sponsor volunteers, etc.) efforts. No donating is not an attrative alternative.

Nevada was a nice breakthrough, but again, I've heard throughout this board and elsewhere about the Iowa canvassing/call lists that were deleted with no back-ups, the lack of any experienced Mich hierarchy, the fact that NH voter targets were developed at the last minute..the lack of supplies from HQ when requested.

We've raised more money than anyone else last quarter, and by extension should have had more money in the bank as of 12/31/07 than anyone else, except Romney with his personal fortune. Yet we didn't really do a big spend in any of the early states unlike other candidates, and we're still down to $8 mil? These are the kinds of questions that needle at me. Hopefully the explanation lies in large amounts of pre-paid ads.

I meant my post as a serious one, however loaded it may have seemed. So I'm glad that you're more positive than I am, that's good to hear. You've pushed me toward donating again this Monday.

Hi AWF, welcome to the forums.

I think the campaign's mistakes or negative aspects (however you would define those) are played up on this board and cause unnecessary criticism towards HQ. We tend to dwell and over-analyze things if you haven't guessed :)

Ron is a saavy, experienced politician. If you read his writings and/or books you will quickly figure out how intelligent he is. His ability to predict events is almost prophetic--I would think he has a working knowledge of how the political machine works and how to manipulate it to his advantage. I have no doubts that he has a plan to win and we are already beginning to see it. 2nd in Nevada anyone? You can be sure he has a few things up his sleeve, why else would he ask for 23 million more?

Running a national campaign is EXPENSIVE. We're talking serious cash to build, coordinate, and maintain a multi-state infrastructure, not to mention all the multi-state radio, print and TV advertising. People crying over HQ mismanaging things and yelling "where did our 8 million go? Waaahhh I haven't seen any ads yet!!!" are living in some kind of hole, possibly a hole where they've never followed an election or run a business before.

If nothing else, believe this: If we don't inject some serious funds, his campaign is going to fizzle out very quickly and he'll burn through his remaining cash in a month. Then wave bye bye to the nomination. We need the campaign and the campaign needs us! I'm going all out for MLK, I don't know about you.