(For the sake of narration, when I say I, that's reffering to the members of the Santa Barbara meetup who was out with me handing stuffs out today)
We handed out about 600 slim-jims today, give or take, and mailed off about two dozen Tax-Free tips fliers with hand written notes to a lot of local restaurants.
Here's what I learned:
Smile. It makes a world of difference in both the positive responses from others and your morale.
Bring a friend or another meetup member. Having someone else to talk to in between the lulls, to share in happiness when converting someone, or to chuckle about someone who freaks out when they hear the word 'republican'.
Have a sign. The 2' x 4' signs work great - we just propped it up against a hedge near where we were standing. Since not everyone will take a slimjim, or are preoccupied and aren't listening, they'll atleast see the sign and see support.
Don't bring the '9/11 truther' stuff into it. it does brings a negative perception of Dr. Paul. One person I was able to dissuade from that notion, saying that it's jsut a small subsection of his followers, but another wouldn't hear of anything else.
You can't win 'em all. Realize that some people just can't be converted. There are people who are just so fanatically apathetic, and people who are close-minded because they see that he's running on the republican ticket.
Be Mindful. If their hands are full, don't hand them anything. If they're on a cell phone, don't try and talk at 'em, just smile and hold out a slim-jim.
Remind people about the Primaries and the registration requirements. If you run into a supporter or libertarian, or someone receptive to Dr. Paul's ideas, remind them about the primary dates and the voter registration requirement. (Varying by state of course)
You'll find all kinds of unexpected people. I handed out a slim-jim (and he took it!), to someone who identified themselves as one of the CA Giuliani Co-Chair people. I was too flabbergasted to do anything other than smaile as it was so unexpected.
Mention that he's running for president. With many city elections just happening, a number of people originally thought he was running for a local position.
Embrace the handout philosophy. Sign waving and posting are great for name recognition, but they don't get his message out all too well. To do that, you need to hand stuff out and talk to people. The number of positive responses/hr from sign waving is about the same as the number of slim-jims that we hand out per hour. Many of the people honking maye know who he already is, while the slim jims get the message out to those who haven't heard of him.
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us