An open letter to HQ and all the sugarcoating Iowa Apologists

[hankpyro]

I am not a fair weather fan of Ron Paul. I have not met that person. I got too many chips in the pot to run now. The problem is not Ron Paul. It has never been Ron Paul. And I resent--deeply and bitterly--that a criticism of the Official Campaign is a criticism of Ron Paul. I am practicing great restraint to not flame on this posting.

I am nauseated by this excuse that Iowa is somehow demographically different from America. Oh really? If we cannot win in Iowa, what makes you think we can win in any other Great Plain state?

If the problem is the fundamentalist vote, why did we not score at least second place? It's not like we put Beelzebub on the ballot. Ron Paul is a genuine Christian and a true christian. Did the people of Iowa know that? Do they know that he is committed to the welfare of the unborn and has spoken out on this matter to not always approving crowds? The purported fundy distaste for LDS is not so great that they ran Romney off the ballot. Mitt Makeover got second place.

If we cannot carve out some of the fundy vote, can we hope to win in the South? The MSM does not understand the fundys and they don't care to understand them. They treat them as a monolith when they are anything but. I have fundy friends and I grew up with fundys. The people who are scared of what may lie on the other side of the Hudson or the other side of the Beltway don't want to talk to fundys. They would rather ask Zogby what their opinions are.

Rove has scored with the fundys in the past by just talking to them. They are not monolithic but they share a common mistrust of the MSM (sound familiar?) They feel--often vehemently--that they are either ignored or ridiculed by the MSM (sound familiar?) We think that we are underground. We think we have a grassroots movement. Folks, they were underground and grassroot before those words became popular.

We can win the fundy vote. We could have anyway. Had we targeted them. A few misconceptions about fundys.

1. They are stupid. Richard Dawkins can squawk all he wants but I disagree with him.

2. They are monolithic. Pat Robertson could not carry THE EVANGELICAL VOTE in Mississippi in 1988. Pat Robertson lost in 1988 because he overestimated the unity of the the fundamentalist voter. Which brings us to our next point.

3. Fundamentlists crave a theocracy. Not most of them. Pat Robertson is not the only candidate to fall on his face because he overplayed the God card. Most fundamentalists sound like Ron Paul supporters---hell, they sound like Ron Paul himself--when they discuss the constitution and role of religion in a secular government.

4. They are unapproachable. They are as open and as friendly as anyone out there. They even talk to Carl Rove for crying out loud.

5. Fundys are somehow different from the rest of us. Fundys spend most of their time struggling to pay their taxes. They spend the rest of their time trying to pay for frivolities like mortgages, food, education, clothing with the crumbs that are left over from their first activity.

I have reached out to the Ned Flanders's in my life. Is the official campaign reaching out? I got the feeling that if I went to a Christian site or watched Christian TV or listened to Christain Radio (or even Ave Maria Radio for that matter) that I would not see or hear anything about Ron Paul. Am I wrong?

We should never have let Huckabee take off. But we did. To reiterate, Fundys are not stupid or monolithic. They recognize that Huckabee is petty, mean and STUPID! They would toss this guy aside for those reasons as well as the fact that he is unelectable if the Dems run a strong opponent. But we have to first offer them a better choice. We have the better choice. Have we presented him to the fundamentalists?

So I ask the officials who are running our campaign: Are we presenting Ron Paul to the fundamentalist?

 

[hueylong]

Chill out dude. You have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[hankpyro]

I have no idea what I am talking about?

Can you be more specific? Please take your time to point out in detail where I am wrong!

 

[DanK]

I think this shouldn't go as much to the campaign as the grassroots. The campaign tried reaching out the fundamentalists with things like the abortion stuff in the Iowa infomercial, and it didn't work. The place where we need to reach out to them a lot more is through the grassroots. And I wouldn't say most fundamentalists sound like RP - not by a long shot. But there is still a lot of insight in this post.

+1

 

[Jake!]

So I ask the officials who are running our campaign: Are we presenting Ron Paul to the fundamentalist?

Pauls speech at the straw poll was focused on the "values" crowd. I think it was one of his better speeches in Iowa. They also pushed his pro-life stance in ads.

There was a small attempt by some of the meetups (i think it was mostly the boots on the ground and not HQ) to canvas their church going friends and drop fliers in churches and on vehicles parked at churches. I think bad weather had a big part in hindering their work.

 

[partypooper]

I am nauseated by this excuse that Iowa is somehow demographically different from America. Oh really? If we cannot win in Iowa, what makes you think we can win in any other Great Plain state?

i am with you here. i don't know any "fundys" but what you say about them sounds plausible. people we don't know often seem much more similar than they are.

 

[jacmicwag]

Some good points - it all comes down to person-to-person interaction in the end. According to the stats, we got 10% of the fundy vote. Not bad but Huck got 46%. We can do better but will probably never match the minister from Hope unless someone has a video of him stealing money out of the collection basket. The voter stats for women are still the biggest concern.

 

[amonasro]

The fundy vote will be difficult no matter how many of them hear Paul's message for one big reason:

He will end federal regulation on drugs, prostitution, anabolic steroids, and other "immoral" substances and activities. This is just too radical for some who have already invested a lifetime of effort into indoctrinating their congregations and families that "drugs are bad mmmkay??"

 

[roversaurus]

Sorry

Stop complaining about Fundies.

I am one of 4 religious homeschool familes on my block.
All of us make it to church every week some more. Pray at every meal
and every night.
2 of us have Ron Paul signs in our yards.
The other two agree with RP and will probably vote for him.

Most of the Home school religious in my area sound a lot like RP
The ONLY other one who has expressed a political opinion
plans to vote RP. The others aren't very politically active.

It is THOSE people who you need to reach. THOSE people
care about pro life issues and others. When they make up
their minds on a candidate it will be a few days before the election.
From stuff they hear. Just like everyone else it will be based on
FEELINGS. And if they get the FEELING from Ron Paul supporters
that they ridicule people of faith they will lump you in with
every other person who opposes them. ... And vote against us.

 

[Rebel Resource]

What's the point of spending money on Iowa?

The votes will come to us when candidates start dropping out.

 

[Brutus]

I am also a "fundy" home schooling father, prominent in a Boy Scout troop. I've been a supporter of Ron Paul for 9 years with money to his Congressional campaigns. And recently (last 18 months or so) I've even figured out he is as right on foreign policy, as he is on domestic policy.

The primary thing I see as being scary to people is "Muslims gonna get us" (substitute Chinese or whoever else is the boogeyman de jour) and if we can get hold of people long enough to dispel that then we've got a pretty good shot at their vote, and more importantly, maybe a big enough shift in their thinking that they'll be less susceptible to the next "emergency" so they can be part of the solution long term, rather than part of the problem.

 

[Brutus]

However, I am in agreement that the national campaign needs to be taken out to the woodshed.

 

[OptionsTrader]

No.

Stay positive.

Come to this forum and do something positive rather than negative.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=254

http://voters.ronpaul2008.com

 

[Holly]

Hankpyro, I think you're making an excellent and well written point.

It's simply a matter of informing evangelical Christians that Ron Paul has made a statement of faith. As so much of the population is unaware of the threat to freedom in the U.S., so the faith group have no idea that RP is one of them. It makes a difference.

Just my two cents from here in Canada .....where I'm earnestly hoping Ron Paul is going all the way to the White House. That's one powerful message he's delivering!

Holly

 

[bluemarkets]

I think it is still mainly a name recognition issue... someone from the campaign said today they have about a 35% - 40% name recognition of Ron Paul across the nation. Name recognition equals electability. (Most people, baby boomers and above still rely on Old Media, Gen Xers and below I would say are the cutoff for the ones that get their news/info primarily from the internet)

Look at the entrance poll on CNN on age breakdown for Ron Paul

17-29 = 21%
30-44 = 9%
45 - 64 = 9%
64+ = 8%

The younger crowd more than doubles every other age group.

The word is STILL getting out, and it is more a race against time, the longer Dr. Paul can stay in the race the better as his base steadily grows.

Everyone in the grassroots has to do their part, talk to family, friends, co-workers, canvass, etc.... Face-to-Face is the way to bring people on board.

As for the Christian vote, besides the abortion issue, integrity, and family man, he is a strict constitutionalist.

This nation was given a blueprint to be governed by, the Constitution. Dr Paul follows and supports it to the letter, much look fundamentalists myself included look to the bible for guidance. There is a comparison there that many people overlook.

The presidential oath once again " ...and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

just my 2 cents

 

[ghemminger]

Here is a expenditure comparison for last qrt.
Do some research and maybe we can help....

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=75728

 

[Crickett]

dunno, but I spoke to three sales manwho called me on the phone, 1 from Texas, today, and not one of them had ever heard of Ron Paul. So it is EVERYBODY....

 

[MrOblivious]

I wholeheartedly agree with the campaigns failure, and I thank you for this. I'm behind you.

 

[MoneyBomb Militia]

The Problem With Fundies

Speaking as a reformed, almost-but-not-quite fundy:

Fundamentalists are rather totalitarian. They will not support freedom if they see it as a threat to their power base. Kill abortion any way possible (even with a military invasion by the feds if possible).

"Honor before victory," to quote Huckabee regarding looking at our mistakes.

There are opportunities for making inroads into the Christian community (many of us RP supporters are Christians), but it is a tough sell since they see the feds as an ally-- even as they are laughed at and marginalized in reality. They crave access-- through their leaders. One good prayer breakfast and they feel like they've accomplished something. I know. I've been to the conferences in Nashville by the religious media. They're really nauseating.

You are going to need to talk to individuals. Make the case for state level battle against abortion, etc. Make a case for freedom before hoping for nebulous power through federal agencies.

Really, in the end, we are divided into two groups. Those who love projecting personal power and those who love preserving privacy and personal freedom. We're an indoctrinated, conformist people. Make sure that you understand this as part of your strategy to reach Christians. Soft sell, careful sell.

 

[hankpyro]

The fundie label

Stop complaining about Fundies.

I am one of 4 religious homeschool familes on my block.
All of us make it to church every week some more. Pray at every meal
and every night.
2 of us have Ron Paul signs in our yards.
The other two agree with RP and will probably vote for him.

Most of the Home school religious in my area sound a lot like RP
The ONLY other one who has expressed a political opinion
plans to vote RP. The others aren't very politically active.

It is THOSE people who you need to reach. THOSE people
care about pro life issues and others. When they make up
their minds on a candidate it will be a few days before the election.
From stuff they hear. Just like everyone else it will be based on
FEELINGS. And if they get the FEELING from Ron Paul supporters
that they ridicule people of faith they will lump you in with
every other person who opposes them. ... And vote against us.

I hope you did not think I was complaining about fundies and I hope you don't find the term offensive. It was a charismatic Christian Whom I had first heard use the term. I will use more politiically correct language if you are offended.