Ron Paul Blimp a Big Success

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Without it, Paul would have lost to Giuliani in South Carolina yesterday!

South Carolina, 94.73% of the votes counted:

Ron Paul: 15,534 Votes
Rudy Giuliani: 8,935 Votes

http://www.politico.com/scprimaries/scmap-popup.html

Keep it flyin': http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/

[gecko42]

Amen, Paul beats Guiliani again! Now who's the first tier candidate? :D

[Thomas Paine]

We don't really know that the blimp was responsible for attracting the number of votes for Ron Paul that constituted the margin of victory over Ghouliani. Furthermore, who is to say that the campaign could not have used the donations for the blimp for a direct mail campaign at targeted likely Ron Paul supporters and independents that would have resulted in Ron Paul beating Ghouliani anyway. There is an opportunity cost for funding the blimp and the blimp has frankly outlived its newsworthiness and is draining funds away from financing the campaign's GOTV efforts on the ground. It's time to ground the blimp. Period. End of story.

[szczebrzeszyn]

Without it, Paul would have lost to Giuliani in South Carolina yesterday!
And how do you know that? I won't say, that Blimp in SC was a failure, but the SC result was very bad - the lowest % so far? Trying to defend the blimp in the way you do is a joke. If Ron would have lost to Giuliani, you'd say, that without a blimp he'd have lost to Hunter?

[gecko42]

Look at the media thread. The blimp just got a TON of major media recently (like CNN, MSNBC, etc). It has hardly become boring to the media. The blimp generates over $6 of media for every dollar spent. Fuji doubled their market share when they started using a blimp in 1984 and they still use it today it's so effective.

I notice that the haters only come out when the blimp is getting cash. You were nowhere to be seen for weeks. If you don't like the blimp then put down your laptop and go out canvassing instead!

[Primbs]

We have the nice map at politico. Can we trace the blimp route and compare it to county vote totals? It will be an inexact science, especially because the blimp got lots of media as well.

Maybe there is correlation between, TV, radio and newspaper and blimp sightings and votes for Ron Paul.

http://www.politico.com/scprimaries/scmap-popup.html

http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/MapFull.php

http://www.ronpaulblimp.com/blog/archives/category/schedule

[mdevour]

...who is to say that the campaign could not have used the donations for the blimp for a direct mail campaign ... the blimp has frankly outlived its newsworthiness and is draining funds away from financing the campaign's GOTV efforts on the ground...

We keep hearing this argument.

Excuse me?

The entire blimp budget to date represents only 3% of 4th quarter fundraising!!

The fact that funding for everything has dried up since the last money bomb represents a much bigger issue than the blimp.

Aggressive advocacy for strangling the blimp will only strangle the blimp. It won't solve the real problem.

For Liberty,

Mike D.

[Ilhaguru]

We don't really know that the blimp was responsible for attracting the number of votes for Ron Paul that constituted the margin of victory over Ghouliani. Furthermore, who is to say that the campaign could not have used the donations for the blimp for a direct mail campaign at targeted likely Ron Paul supporters and independents that would have resulted in Ron Paul beating Ghouliani anyway. There is an opportunity cost for funding the blimp and the blimp has frankly outlived its newsworthiness and is draining funds away from financing the campaign's GOTV efforts on the ground. It's time to ground the blimp. Period. End of story.

I don't think political mail would be better. . . TV ads, full-page ads on local newspapers a la USA Today, then ok.

The blimp is a huge Ron Paul sign like the thousands around the country, except it is a lot more interesting and turns almost every head around it.

[pacelli]

Trying to defend the blimp in the way you do is a joke. If Ron would have lost to Giuliani, you'd say, that without a blimp he'd have lost to Hunter?

Look, we all know that there are what has been termed 'blimp trolls' that suddenly popped up 2-3 days before the last fundraising drive. These people vigorously defend the blimp and defy logical debate of the free market. They very rarely post in non-blimp related threads and seem to be more passionate about the blimp rather than ron paul's campaign. This doesn't apply to everyone who loves the blimp, but the 'blimp trolls' seem to create a division. They're part of the free market as well. I've got a running list of unofficial blimp promotional volunteers, and refer to it often when reading threads about the blimp.

The blimp was a huge success. Now we're told that SC is not a valid representation of its influence on voters because SC is a war-hungry state. We're told that Florida will be a much more accurate predictor because it has spent more time there. No problem, I'll wait and see. The blimp trolls need to realize that when they attack others on the forum, it makes the entire blimp operation look bad. They should all take a look at how respectfully the blimpette tailors her responses to legitimate inquiries.

[newyearsrevolution08]

If it actually works then great but where do you find the exit poll question on "did the ron paul blimp sway your vote?" I just wish there was a way to honestly see what it did. I assume it is getting a ton of air time in the cities it flies and by air time i mean advertising.

I was just shooting for national coverage of the blimp OR a HUGE spike in the votes in the counties and cities it did infact fly in. How do we really check the results of the blimp BESIDES using the same old "its only 3% of the campaign funds raised" or "according to recent studies this is generating about 1.39 million dollars in advertising".

I know it is a cheap method ie the 400k or whatever it has been so far to get to the people BUT is it actually turning into VOTES? If it is and there is a way to realize how large of a help this is then by all means keep flying BUT please actually show a result instead of comparing the main campaing dollars raised vs the blimp cost BECAUSE the main campaign showed proof of the ad dollars at work so far and to me that is why I have been tossing down money to the main campaign 100% instead of a 80% campaing 20% blimp as has been talked about in december.

Not trying to downplay the blimp at all, I advertise it on all my sites as well. I just want to make sure that the blimp is actually turning out the votes.

Also on the beating 9ui1ian1 in sc, we have beat him in other places as well WITHOUT the blimp so um.... yeah....

[gecko42]

I was just shooting for national coverage of the blimp OR a HUGE spike in the votes in the counties and cities it did in fact fly in.

Look down at the media thread. You will see all the media the blimp has gotten, including NATIONAL media. This media is worth over $6 for every $1 spent on the blimp. This counters the free coverage the MSM hands out like candy to the anointed candidates. The blimp is very effective advertising. That's why Fuji and Goodyear have used it for years, because it gets the word out. Then other campaign strategies like canvassing can turn this into votes. People have to know about Ron Paul's existence to vote for him.

[Soccrmastr]

the blimp should die already. If i see it Ill probably throw a few sharp things at it, hope it pops so more of the grassroots money can go to important stuff like funding precinct leaders

[Thomas Paine]

Whether the blimp is worth millions of dollars of free media or not is irrelevant. The question is whether the blimp is getting people to vote for Ron Paul. I submit that the blimp is not convincing a sufficient number of people to vote for Ron Paul to justify the expense of keeping the blimp airborne. Case in point, Ghouliani has spent tens of millions of dollars and has finished behind Ron Paul in four out of five states. Thus, even though Ghouliani has spent more money than Ron Paul, Ghouliani is getting less bang for his buck. Similarly, we are getting less bang for our bucks spent on keeping the blimp airborne than we would if the same donations were utilized for GOTV efforts on the ground. In short, the blimp has passed the point of diminishing returns and is draining money away from the national campaign. It's time to ground the blimp.

[RonPaulFTW08]

And how do you know that? I won't say, that Blimp in SC was a failure, but the SC result was very bad - the lowest % so far? Trying to defend the blimp in the way you do is a joke. If Ron would have lost to Giuliani, you'd say, that without a blimp he'd have lost to Hunter?

LOL yeah that was a pretty bad argument IMO. I just think that its really hard period to know whether the blimp had any effect... SC was a hard state to win period. Im praying for him to kick ass in FL.

[Primbs]

The campaign also had a ground operation in South Carolina. I am not sure what they did.

[texasliberty]

Whether the blimp is worth millions of dollars of free media or not is irrelevant.

I have to say that's almost an impossibly foolish argument. Millions of dollars worth of free media is irrelevant only at the point where advertising and media are irrelevant. If you are submitting that the Ron Paul campaign has done enough advertising and gotten enough media and should now stop, I'd submit back that this is a position so far from touch with obvious reality as to not require any serious rebuttal. If you are submitting that yes we need television but it's better to pay 6x more to buy it directly than to fund the Blimp to get it, I think the above statement covers that argument also. And if you are submitting that Dr. Paul's obvious excitement about the Blimp project and what he directly refers to as its "millions of dollars of advertising" value is misguided, I would note that he has won 10 elections and that we place great store in his informed and insightful judgement, which is why we are supporting him for President.

[gecko42]

I have to say that's almost an impossibly foolish argument. Millions of dollars worth of free media is irrelevant only at the point where advertising and media are irrelevant. If you are submitting that the Ron Paul campaign has done enough advertising and gotten enough media and should now stop, I'd submit back that this is a position so far from touch with obvious reality as to not require any serious rebuttal. If you are submitting that yes we need television but it's better to pay 6x more to buy it directly than to fund the Blimp to get it, I think the above statement covers that argument also. And if you are submitting that Dr. Paul's obvious excitement about the Blimp project and what he directly refers to as its "millions of dollars of advertising" value is misguided, I would note that he has won 10 elections and that we place great store in his informed and insightful judgement, which is why we are supporting him for President.

QFT

[newyearsrevolution08]

If it was foolish then the millions of dollars of free advertising disappeared in sc then because it sure didn't make a spike in the results one way or the other and I would assume the millions of dollars of so called advertising ability was either not done correctly OR is not really worth "millions".

Which state will the blimp show a real spike in votes then? by all means at least give some ideas to why this thing is worth the 400k monthly expense. Imagine putting 400k into the call4paul campaign. I wonder how many potential voters that would raise.

Whether ron paul is excited about the blimp or not really does not matter,hell I would be excited if a grassroots campaign rented a 400k/month blimp with my name on it also.

SHOW SOME REAL RESULTS, that is the only reason people are complaining. If it shows results then I am positive people with start donating and stop griping but to simply assume people will keep tossing down money based on "ron paul is excited" or "millions in advertising" only works for about a month then after that is doesn't really hold water unless once again results are actually had.

Also he did actually win those "elections" without a blimp btw. Of course ron paul is not going to talk down on any effort for a great cause because that would be insane HOWEVER we need to work hard at things that turn votes and nothing more.


I have to say that's almost an impossibly foolish argument. Millions of dollars worth of free media is irrelevant only at the point where advertising and media are irrelevant. If you are submitting that the Ron Paul campaign has done enough advertising and gotten enough media and should now stop, I'd submit back that this is a position so far from touch with obvious reality as to not require any serious rebuttal. If you are submitting that yes we need television but it's better to pay 6x more to buy it directly than to fund the Blimp to get it, I think the above statement covers that argument also. And if you are submitting that Dr. Paul's obvious excitement about the Blimp project and what he directly refers to as its "millions of dollars of advertising" value is misguided, I would note that he has won 10 elections and that we place great store in his informed and insightful judgement, which is why we are supporting him for President.

[Ethek]

I think the blimp reaches people. NPR did a segment last week from SC that had one word reactions to all the candidates. Ron Paul got some middle of the road statements. 2 of the 7 people interviewed said 'the blimp'.

[Mckarnin]

Look, we all know that there are what has been termed 'blimp trolls' that suddenly popped up 2-3 days before the last fundraising drive. These people vigorously defend the blimp and defy logical debate of the free market. They very rarely post in non-blimp related threads and seem to be more passionate about the blimp rather than ron paul's campaign. This doesn't apply to everyone who loves the blimp, but the 'blimp trolls' seem to create a division. They're part of the free market as well. I've got a running list of unofficial blimp promotional volunteers, and refer to it often when reading threads about the blimp.

The blimp was a huge success. Now we're told that SC is not a valid representation of its influence on voters because SC is a war-hungry state. We're told that Florida will be a much more accurate predictor because it has spent more time there. No problem, I'll wait and see. The blimp trolls need to realize that when they attack others on the forum, it makes the entire blimp operation look bad. They should all take a look at how respectfully the blimpette tailors her responses to legitimate inquiries.

Thank you.

[Mckarnin]

If it actually works then great but where do you find the exit poll question on "did the ron paul blimp sway your vote?" I just wish there was a way to honestly see what it did. I assume it is getting a ton of air time in the cities it flies and by air time i mean advertising.

I was just shooting for national coverage of the blimp OR a HUGE spike in the votes in the counties and cities it did infact fly in. How do we really check the results of the blimp BESIDES using the same old "its only 3% of the campaign funds raised" or "according to recent studies this is generating about 1.39 million dollars in advertising".

I know it is a cheap method ie the 400k or whatever it has been so far to get to the people BUT is it actually turning into VOTES? If it is and there is a way to realize how large of a help this is then by all means keep flying BUT please actually show a result instead of comparing the main campaing dollars raised vs the blimp cost BECAUSE the main campaign showed proof of the ad dollars at work so far and to me that is why I have been tossing down money to the main campaign 100% instead of a 80% campaing 20% blimp as has been talked about in december.

Not trying to downplay the blimp at all, I advertise it on all my sites as well. I just want to make sure that the blimp is actually turning out the votes.

Also on the beating 9ui1ian1 in sc, we have beat him in other places as well WITHOUT the blimp so um.... yeah....



I appreciate the supportive comments that some have given the blimp but even I do not yet have any way of showing a direct correlation between votes and the blimp. Now, I do know that we got really good media in SC (we had 2+ minute segments on the local news in Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Greenville and Columbia and several national stories) but I do not know how that relates to the numbers either.

If someone who is bored (lol!) can take the figures from the politico map in the initial post and put them into each county and then superimpose the blimp flight path (I'll have to make sure the GPS showed it all) we may be able to find some connection. That would be something.

[Mckarnin]

the blimp should die already. If i see it Ill probably throw a few sharp things at it, hope it pops so more of the grassroots money can go to important stuff like funding precinct leaders

Actually the pressure of the helium in the blimp is pretty low so holes create slow leaks. When the blimp comes out of locales like Texas it often has bullet holes in it that need patching.

[FreeTraveler]

You haven't been lucky enough to canvas or sign-wave under the blimp. Slim-jims and other literature literally disappear when the blimp is within sight. Cars see a Ron Paul sign on the ground and can't stop fast enough to find out what the blimp is all about.

The blimp needs to be coordinated with local meetups, to assure there are sign waves at EVERY large gathering, so that people who are seeing RON PAUL in the sky have an easy way to find out more immediately!

[Mckarnin]

I think the blimp reaches people. NPR did a segment last week from SC that had one word reactions to all the candidates. Ron Paul got some middle of the road statements. 2 of the 7 people interviewed said 'the blimp'.

Really!? That's neat. I wonder if it's on line anywhere?

[Dave Pedersen]

Hey how about new color for the blimp? Naturally red white and blue. The blue field of stars covering the nose and red stripes waving back toward the tail. I know it costs money but it looks kind of bland being all white. And a couple new slogans should be considered. Like "Don't waste your vote vote for Ron Paul" and "Help Ron Paul guard our borders". I know it requires money..

Thanks. GoooooooOOOOOOO.. BLIMP !!

[Mckarnin]

You haven't been lucky enough to canvas or sign-wave under the blimp. Slim-jims and other literature literally disappear when the blimp is within sight. Cars see a Ron Paul sign on the ground and can't stop fast enough to find out what the blimp is all about.

The blimp needs to be coordinated with local meetups, to assure there are sign waves at EVERY large gathering, so that people who are seeing RON PAUL in the sky have an easy way to find out more immediately!

Weather variability makes it necessary for meetups/ground people who coordinate with us to be flexible..when that happens partnerships can be very effective! I suggested a few weeks ago at blimp central that we should post detailed "after action" maps of cities so that grassroots people on the ground can go in and canvas after the blimp has softened people up. Kind of like military strategy for the idea war.

I have also thought about buttons for Ron Paul supporters in the cities where the blimp flies that say: "Ask me about the Ron Paul Blimp" or something similar. To help get curious people and supporters connected. :)

[FreeTraveler]

Weather variability makes it necessary for meetups/ground people who coordinate with us to be flexible..when that happens partnerships can be very effective! I suggested a few weeks ago at blimp central that we should post detailed "after action" maps of cities so that grassroots people on the ground can go in and canvas after the blimp has softened people up. Kind of like military strategy for the idea war.

I have also thought about buttons for Ron Paul supporters in the cities where the blimp flies that say: "Ask me about the Ron Paul Blimp" or something similar. To help get curious people and supporters connected. :)

Both GREAT ideas! I try to wear one of my Ron Paul shirts any time I'm out and about, and keep a supply of slim-jims in my back pocket. If the blimp comes by Jax today, I'll take a run over toward the beach again and wave a sign as it goes by.

[gecko42]

The blimp trolls need to realize that when they attack others on the forum, it makes the entire blimp operation look bad. They should all take a look at how respectfully the blimpette tailors her responses to legitimate inquiries.

I've been here for months. I'm not attacking, I'm defending. I don't go over to the canvassing thread and say you suck because we didn't win NH do I? I guess canvassing doesn't work by the "logic" people use with the blimp.

[Mckarnin]

Both GREAT ideas! I try to wear one of my Ron Paul shirts any time I'm out and about, and keep a supply of slim-jims in my back pocket. If the blimp comes by Jax today, I'll take a run over toward the beach again and wave a sign as it goes by.

We are in Savannah tonight because of winds. We should be over Jax tomorrow and I'll try to update so you can be out with the slim jims. :-)

[gecko42]

You haven't been lucky enough to canvas or sign-wave under the blimp. Slim-jims and other literature literally disappear when the blimp is within sight. Cars see a Ron Paul sign on the ground and can't stop fast enough to find out what the blimp is all about.

The blimp needs to be coordinated with local meetups, to assure there are sign waves at EVERY large gathering, so that people who are seeing RON PAUL in the sky have an easy way to find out more immediately!

When I was in Tampa, the blimp literally caused mini traffic jams because people were looking up at it.