My response to the offical campaign's new attitude and all the people blowing sunshine in their obituary-esque reflections on the campaign's successes is THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY ALREADY EXISTS. OK, so we have been a bit more successful than the LP, but these people are relegating us to a SLIGHTLY BETTER LP with all this talk about "look how far we have come, we are building a liberty movement starting at local levels, blah blah."
Excuse me for not getting warm and fuzzy as people like Jack Hunter, Trevor Lyman, that guy on LRC, and others expect us to get excited about doing THE EXACT SAME THING THE LP HAS BEEN DOING FOR DECADES. The LP's efforts aren't without merit (I've been registered LP in the past and given them money), but the end results are pretty paltry. The RP campaign was supposed to be about GOING ALL-IN for a big win. I guess I believed Dr Paul when he kept saying that HE IS IN THIS RACE TO WIN. While nice, I am not going to start jumping up and down over a NEW AND IMPROVERD LIBERTARIAN PARTY.
And, who's side is Benton on? He should be doing his job to publicize all the dirty tricks being used AGAINST US, rather than slapping us (those who pay his salary) on the wrist for occassional rude behaviour that amounts to 1/100th of what has been done against us. Where are the press releases about our people getting locked out, getting punched, getting the lights turned off, etc. at the state conventions?? - the liberal HuffPo covered it better than our own campaign. There are some who think this is "all part of a plan" to lull the opposition and Benton is a secret genious, but I don't buy it. I am very afraid the campaign is going to LET THE RP CANDIDACY GO OUT WITH A WIMPER IN THE NIGHT.
I'm not giving up, but this campaign is disheartening. And, all this drivel about a slow process of spreading liberty so that maybe our grandchildren will have marginally more freedom than us is an F'N' BOOBY PRIZE.
MY PREFERRED PLAN OF ACTION IS VERY SIMPLE: stay aggressive with delegate building, go 110% into the convention, be strategically disruptive at the convention as necessary, and encourage ALL RP supporters to vote RP on the FIRST BALLOT (regardless of being "bound"). If we still lose after that, I'd be OK with it because we did everything we could instead of QUITTING EARLY LIKE A BUNCH OF WEAKLING LOSERS.
I fear the campaign has TRADED AWAY THE WHOLE SHEBANG for a mere primetime speech or some toothless committment to get behind Rand in the future, perhaps with the added cherry on top for Jesse Benton with a career in the GOP establishment. I pray they didn't give away the farm, sell us short, and trade away all the delegate power we fought so hard for plus all the political capital we've build over 5+ years FOR PEANUTS.
The establishment would like nothing better than for us to politely abide by their rules and then at bedtime go to our rooms and quietly play with our toys, knowing our place as an impotent little "educational" movement out on the margin of politics. Sure, they'll let us feel statisfied with a few little town council posts and maybe even a congressman or two to keep us placated. But basically, we remain powerless as leviathin marches on. Going all-out-balls-to-the-wall at the convention and losing would atleast be an awesome show of force, get us heard, and encourage others to join.