hmmm I see this on the site:
IMPORTANT NOTE: This type of literature is NOT meant to be used in combination with standard campaign-issued slim-jims:
In fact using slim-jims or other DETAILED literature will often be COUNTER PRODUCTIVE and likely to LOSE a vote that this piece has just won-over. At this LATE DATE in the campaign, most "superficial voters" -- those who have NOT yet made up their minds -- DO NOT WANT all of that additional information (in fact they use detailed information to ELIMINATE candidates from their "short-list" before they play eenie-meenie-miny-moe in the voting booth).
So keep it simple. and use these pieces BY THEMSELVES.
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Why? I was gonna use this WITH slimjims and other printouts --- whats the problem with including this OR including the other items WITH this printout.
As to the reasoning why...
Seeds take time to germinate.
I will explain what that means more fully below.
We do have experience to prove the value of this over Slim-Jims.
At flea-markets, trade shows, and in one-on-ones, a lot of people will "glance-over" the standard campaign slim-jims
and will run across a particular issue/position and then instantly "dismiss" Ron Paul -- because they the statement/issue/position is one they disagree with
or more often, think is IMPRACTICAL.
So, we've found that the slim-jims actually turn OFF more voters than they turn ON.
The reason is pretty basic.
The Campaign's literature was designed by libertarian-type people to APPEAL to libertarian-type people. That's fine as far as it goes (but it hits a ceiling at around 10%). Those 10%, the "libertartian/thinking" people are already onboard.
But the general public -- while probably libertarian in their hearts -- do NOT make their decisions logically and based on a firm philosophical-political stance.
Instead they make their decisions EMOTIONALLY, based on how they "feel" about a candidate, not what they "think." The gut overrules the head.
And in "picking" a candidate, they are doing a "narrow-down" process -- in other words they are LOOKING for gut-level things that EXCLUDE someone from consideration, rather than for someone TO vote for.
The CommonSense flyers are actually pretty "generic" -- but they appeal on a gut-level to people's EMOTIONAL needs and desires (though it works on libertarians too) -- even playing on SPECIFIC keywords and hot-buttons like the "Peace of Mind" and "Financial Security" phrases (these are based on years of solid focus-group research).
Everyone wants PEACE. Everyone wants PROSPERITY... and Everyone wants FREEDOM.
Everyone also wants PEACE OF MIND, to be FINANCIALLY SECURE, and to live FREE FROM FEAR!
An everyone wants to have a "CAN-DO SPIRIT." We all want to RENEW, RESTORE, REVITALIZE. We want to HONOR our PAST COMMITMENTS, and we all want ACCOUNTABILITY, and [claim or profess] that we want PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and freedom to pursue our OWN BELIEFS and make our OWN CHOICES.
You see how -- at a gut level -- you automatically agreed with ALL of the above? So does everyone else. NO TRIGGERS, and absolutely NOTHING TO REJECT.
Conversely, most people reading "End the IRS!" on a flyer have TWO thought that occur almost simultaneously. 1)
"Don't I Wish!" immediately followed by 2)
"But it's not practical... how would we pay for XXX!" which leads the person to EXCLUDE and then DISMISS Ron Paul as non-electable.
The CommonSense flyer does NOT go that far... instead it "wins hearts" and engages people to
"IMAGINE... A Rejuvenated American Workforce, Totally Free from the hassles of burdensome Income Taxes and IRS rules." It does NOT say how that will be achieved -- but note the context. Even though the words Totally Free, Income Taxes and IRS rules are in bold -- the BRAIN is still thinking of "Prosperity" and is busy
imagining the "Rejuvenated AMERICAN Workforce" as the context, and so does NOT reach the point of "rejection" of the other part of the message.
Nitty gritty is this: If you give someone a Common Sense flyer wrapped around a Slim-Jim, you will "WIN" them over with the CS flyer,
only to lose them 30 seconds later with the Slim-Jim, because the "SEED" of the "CommonSense" and the "Peace, Prosperity and Freedom" memes has not YET had the chance to take root. It is almost instantly "uprooted" out of the ground by the gut-level reaction thoughts necessary to examine the "roots" of the candidate.
But if instead... you hand out the CS flyer as an initial "seed planting" --
and then a few days or a week later the person gets a Slim-Jim or receives more details on Ron Paul's message and his issue stances -- THEN those things will serve to WATER and FERTILIZE the young plant that has been "growing" in the imagination of the voter.
Seeds take time to germinate.
You cannot stick a seed in the ground and
immediately pour a ton of 10-10-5 fertilizer on it, drown it in water, and expect to harvest a full-grown crop on the same day! Seedlings are very vulnerable and need "nurturing" and "protection" -- once the plant begins to grow... THEN you apply the fertilizer and water in measured portions and at appropriate times.
Make sense now?
Don't "uproot" the seeds you're planting.
to address the foolishness of voting AGAINST people in primaries (instead of voting FOR someone else). (i.e. the Ron Paul supporters in New Hampshire who voted FOR John McCain as a way of voting AGAINST Mitt Romney!)
