So what did the Ron Paul supporters do right? The answer from Dr. Brian Horsfield, organizer of Ron Paul Meet Up group #267 (
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/267) of Fairfield, IA, was everything. But not at first. They made mistakes and corrected.
Horsfield sent out a note to Ron Paul supporters documenting his group's success. I'll paraphrase and expand below.
- Don't waste your time cold calling to get Ron Paul supporters. It's frustrating and it takes time away from other activities.
- Participate in Local Meet Up Groups. This will be a center of shared learning and mutual support.
- Build your Meet Up Group by Advertising in the Local Newspapers. There are Ron Paul supporters, but they may not know where to go. Publish website info and phone numbers.
- Use the Meet Up Website to the fullest. Use it, advertise it.
- Regular Meetings at Farmer's Markets. That was good for Iowa. You will have to find an equivalent in your community.
- Weekly lunch meetings at a restaurant.
- Regular table at monthly Art Walk evening. Find a regular public monthly event, and attend as a group. I've heard about a table at the local gun show and flea market.
- Public meetings at the local library with local speakers and videos of Ron Paul.
- An advertised distribution point for signs, buttons, bumper stickers and campaign literature (we used a bulletin board and lobby area of our office which was open 24/7.)
- Advertise a local supporters phone number, or at least create an e-mail address to contact on all ads.
- Horsfield recommends using local media to your fullest.
- Write letters to the editor of your local and state papers
- Call in to radio stations
- Signs of all types. Bumper stickers are good but also put signs in the windows of parked cars.
- Pick up truck billboards. Getting 4x8 billboards in good locations is a challenge -- but getting them on a pickup truck is very easy to do and park in high traffic areas.
- Buttons --get tons of these of many different types, both stick on and pin on. The stick on lapel labels are very cheap and effective conversation starters
- Compile a digest of Ron Paul news every 2 or 3 days and e-mail your supporters. Make it short, format it nicely with lots of links to stories and YouTube. Put your Meetup and other local contact information on the bottom
- Add a quote or link to your e-mail signatures to promote Ron Paul
He summarizes....
Time is short so focus on the younger voters and folks with internet.
Build a list of supporters e-mail addresses, phone supporters to ask for their email addresses.
Prefer to use ads which direct people to websites like
www.ronpaulforpresident2008.com and
www.RonPaul2008.com rather than trying too hard to sell the message in a few bullet points.
Advertise these events in local newspapers. This can be organized state wide, but try to get a LOCAL contact number for each paper. Use a supporters phone number. Don't worry they'll be overwhelmed with calls -- they won't be. But better to encourage a supporter to schedule a weekly lunch meeting.
What's striking about his suggestions is that his group makes use of the local newspaper to coordinate their activities. He recommends that regular ads should first show a picture and give a few key points about Ron Paul (can change them every week to have different themes). And then each should have an action step, such as:
Come to a weekly Ron Paul meeting
Watch a TV show coming up featuring Ron Paul
Watch a YouTube or visit
www.RonPaulforPresident2008.com or
www.RonPaul2008.com
Come to a public lecture given by local Ron Paul supporters and Video of Ron Paul
What Horsfield has done in Jefferson County is maximize the effectiveness of his Meet Up group. Yet he didn't duplicate the media efforts by the official campaign. No where does he speak for the campaign. Instead he refers the public effectively where they can get more information on the candidate. He gives would-be activists something to do right away.
Currently Brian Horsfield is vacationing in Arizona. He deserves it. However, he's getting emails for advice. Recently he's helped a Utah supporter get an article run pretty cheaply. From the Meet Up Group website, he writes,
I made an ad this morning and we just made an incredible deal to get this in 40 local papers throughout Utah. It's 3.79" x 4" and cost just $578 to be in 40 papers next week delivered to 200,000 households....
You can bring up the PDF file of it here. Dave Garber is asking for donations to keep it going for another week:
http://davegarber1975.chipin.com/ron-paul-2008-utah-ads. This ad was placed through the Utah Press Association. Each local group would have to determine if such press associations exist its state.
Also at the Iowa Meet Up website, Wisconsin and Minnesota Meet Up groups are asking for used yards signs. They will pay shipping.
