ABC News reports campaign working on backup strategy (Benton calls report 'asinine')

[bobbyw24]

The Title of this OP should be "Watch how this Re-Circulated ABC News Article Divides and Conquers Ron Paul Supporters"

Send it to a Mod for changing!

 

[69360]

What does Rand do in 2017 if he doesn't win the Presidency in 2016?

I'm not so convinced there will be free elections in 2016 if we don't fix this now.

 

[Deborah K]

I tried to change thread title to: Does Jesse Benton have a Plan B if RP doesn't Win Nomination?

but am no longer a Mod so I cannot do it

Ask a mod to do it, and use something along the lines of what Tyler just posted and have it moved to media spin. Please.

 

[Tyler_Durden]

Here's a NYT article from the 15th saying the same thing:

So even as the campaign has a “path to victory” that it is committed to pursuing aggressively, said Jesse Benton, Mr. Paul’s national campaign chairman, it does not expect to compromise if it is a runner-up. “If there were any negotiations after another candidate secured the nomination, our first rule and guiding principle is that we would refuse to allow our movement and our ideas to be co-opted,” Mr. Benton said.

Mr. Paul says he is not thinking about a role at the convention outside of winning the nomination, and he plays down his interest in securing a prominent speaking slot, a potential role that worries many establishment Republicans.

“I’ve seen others give speeches up there that I never thought amounted to being very much,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/u...cused-on-delegate-math.html?_r=2&ref=politics

I know I read a similar article in December. I'm trying to find it. I wouldn't worry too much about the ABC News Article guys.....

 

[Mr. Rapp]

The people that are getting angry are silly. If Paul and his campaign are planning the inevitable, there is nothing you can do about it. Its his decision, money and health. I think some people need to look at reality. He is spreading the message of liberty, along with his legacy to inspire future politicians and voters. It has been working and the movement is spreading. One day we may have a president with Paul's ideas and ideals. You got to remember though, change doesn't happen overnight. We have to keep up the cause no matter what.

 

[Deborah K]

The people that are getting angry are silly. If Paul and his campaign are planning the inevitable, there is nothing you can do about it. Its his decision, money and health. I think some people need to look at reality. He is spreading the message of liberty, along with his legacy to inspire future politicians and voters. It has been working and the movement is spreading. One day we may have a president with Paul's ideas and ideals. You got to remember though, change doesn't happen overnight. We have to keep up the cause no matter what.

He made a decision to run and win. But yeah....let's spread it around that he's not.

 

[jct74]

here's an update from Buzzfeed quoting Jesse Benton

Ron Paul Has No Plan B
Jesse Benton calls reports that the campaign was exploring fallback plans “asinine".

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Ron Paul's campaign manager Jesse Benton dismissed a report that the organization was forming a Plan B in anticipation of Paul not winning the nomination as "asinine" after a town hall meeting today.

"Of course you always have fallback plans, but our plan is to win the nomination," Benton said. "Any report that we're not 100 percent focused on winning the nomination is just asinine."

Benton said that he stressed that point "over and over and over again" with the reporter who wrote the ABC story in question, and that he's "just going to stop talking to him if he doesn't stop misreporting what I say."

Paul deflected questions about a potential third-party run again today, telling the town hall audience that "The question is premature." While Paul isn't projected to win in South Carolina and didn't pull off a first-place finish in Iowa or New Hampshire, the campaign has mounted an effort to target as many delegates as possible going into the convention. The ABC report that annoyed Benton indicated that this was a ploy to get the Republican party to stick with a limited government platform, not just to install Ron Paul as the nominee.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/ron-paul-has-no-plan-b

 

[gerryb]

Don't worry, folks. Ron Paul is infallible and therefore, the campaign is too. They know what they're doing and you shouldn't criticize them, trolls.

Seriously, though. I've been irritated to death by them sharing their strategy to this degree.

C'mon, REALLY?

The strategy isn't hard to come up with.. There is only one way to be nominated, and that is the get the required number of delegates to select your guy at the convention. There are very few ways to do that, and they are all obvious.

 

[Tyler_Durden]

Good for Jesse!!!!!

Jason Volack is the ABC News Reporter assigned to Paul. In the past, he has written some negative articles on Paul. As Paul started gaining popularity, the articles started becoming more objective. Now, it appears Volack is regressing to distortions.....

 

[Tyler_Durden]

C'mon, REALLY?

The strategy isn't hard to come up with.. There is only one way to be nominated, and that is the get the required number of delegates to select your guy at the convention. There are very few ways to do that, and they are all obvious.

Agree. I'[ve read several articles indicating it's the same strategy Obama had and how the Paul Campaign appears to be utilizing the same model.

 

[cindy25]

everyone has, or should have a plan B or plan C

but it should not be public

 

[schiffheadbaby]

Does it bother anyone else that Jesse is the campaign manager, selected mostly because of nepotism I would assume? I mean is he really the best spokesman for our cause?

I love Ron, but disappointing he wouldn't be more free-market about selecting his staff. Pick someone for their brilliance and ability to deliver the message in a great way, not because they are married to your granddaughter.

 

[cindy25]

I believe he was campaign manager before he married Ron's grand daughter in 2008.

and RFK was JFK's campaign manager.

 

[Mini-Me]

Does it bother anyone else that Jesse is the campaign manager, selected mostly because of nepotism I would assume? I mean is he really the best spokesman for our cause?

I love Ron, but disappointing he wouldn't be more free-market about selecting his staff. Pick someone for their brilliance and ability to deliver the message in a great way, not because they are married to your granddaughter.

I think it's less about nepotism and more about trust: This is more than just an ordinary political campaign. It's a revolution against an entrenched establishment that would do ANYTHING to stop him. Iowa saw the worst smear campaign in US history. We have media misreporting at every step, Huntsman putting up false flag ads and blaming Ron, and people who have openly conspired to dress up as KKK members for Ron Paul in front of media cameras. These people would absolutely assassinate Ron Paul if they thought it would do anything other than make him a martyr. Ron Paul could theoretically hire someone like Karl Rove, who is totally excellent at propaganda (and has used it effectively in the past in the name of evil)...but then he'd deliberately tank the campaign at a critical moment. You can't just fire someone after that and get someone else, because it's all over but the crying by that point. Therefore, Ron likely wants the ultimate control over the campaign to be in the hands of someone he personally trusts not to completely betray him and the cause of liberty, and that drastically limits the pool of spokesmen to people that Ron knows personally.

Is Jesse the best in the world? No, he's not. Is he the best that Ron can 100% trust? Maybe. He's also a lot better than he was last go around. He just needs to redirect to "We're going to win, dummies," whenever the media starts asking about plan B's and such.

 

[devil21]

How many times is Benton going to hurt RP's campaign with these unsolicited off-the-cuff remarks that make it sound like RP isn't in it to win? He did this same exact shit last campaign! Every time he starts to look like a professional he opens his mouth with his own opinion/commentary to some random fucking reporter and causes serious damage. Ugh. Benton please do us a favor and STFU unless you're spitting out talking points. I can't watch you destroy this campaign AGAIN.

(If I had known of his comments yesterday I would have given him an earful when I was standing 3 feet away from him in Rock Hill)

 

[abstrusezincate]

In fairness, it's not like you hear news stories too often about what other candidates' staff says or does. Why? Because they try pretty hard to cause us problems.

But I think these stories expose our biggest fault line: What is Plan B? I suspect most supporters feel NOBP, but the campaign takes a longer term beginning not with Benton, but Ron himself.

 

[Revolution9]

Best discussion in a long time here. Why end it?

You look more and more like a shill with every gambit you oh so innocently lay down here. Now yer all excited that yahoo is spreading out of context quasi-quotes. Pure clownage.

Rev9

 

[nayjevin]

How many times is Benton going to hurt RP's campaign with these unsolicited off-the-cuff remarks that make it sound like RP isn't in it to win? He did this same exact shit last campaign! Every time he starts to look like a professional he opens his mouth with his own opinion/commentary to some random fucking reporter and causes serious damage. Ugh. Benton please do us a favor and STFU unless you're spitting out talking points. I can't watch you destroy this campaign AGAIN.

(If I had known of his comments yesterday I would have given him an earful when I was standing 3 feet away from him in Rock Hill)

What?

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Ron Paul's campaign manager Jesse Benton dismissed a report that the organization was forming a Plan B in anticipation of Paul not winning the nomination as "asinine" after a town hall meeting today.

"Of course you always have fallback plans, but our plan is to win the nomination," Benton said. "Any report that we're not 100 percent focused on winning the nomination is just asinine."

Benton said that he stressed that point "over and over and over again" with the reporter who wrote the ABC story in question, and that he's "just going to stop talking to him if he doesn't stop misreporting what I say."

If you really believe the ABC reporter is not spinning this, over Benton's statements here, I don't know what to say. But it's pretty clear to me that the reporter was out for a certain angle on his story, and was willing to take any quote and run with that angle regardless of the truth.

 

[devil21]

What?

What? Do you not remember Benton's comments from the 2008 campaign that Paul was basically quitting and it took Rand to come out on tv and publicly state that Benton was wrong and Ron was still in the campaign? At that point the damage was done and people stopped donating and campaigning for Ron. This looks exactly like that moment all over again.

If you really believe the ABC reporter is not spinning this, over Benton's statements here, I don't know what to say. But it's pretty clear to me that the reporter was out for a certain angle on his story, and was willing to take any quote and run with that angle regardless of the truth.

I dont care if he's spinning it. That's what these reporters do. But it's apparent to me that Benton still hasn't learned this and still continues to give them ammo to use to damage our momentum. Why is he talking about campaign strategy to a reporter in the first place? Like I said, stick to campaign talking points and stop with the rest of it. All he's doing is giving them opportunity to spin and we've seen how that ends up already.

 

[XTreat]

This is a tactical off the record comment imo.

^this is accurate