I tried to warn you guys.

[MozoVote]

I am not even going to read all that. Yes, it could have been better, but just a few hundred votes would have made this a 3rd place finish.

 

[johnrico]

I don't think you can call this a failure in any way. Ron Paul was polling in Iowa somewhere near zero before October. All of his numbers have gone up since then. He was polling at an average of 7.3% yesterday and will likely finish near 10% in Iowa. I think momentum is building. If you look at the graphs of the polls, his have been constantly moving up. It is unrealistic to expect a huge jump from zero to win, especially for a candidate that gets almost no media coverage. This is just the start. If the trend continues, his numbers will continue to increase as the primaries continue on.

 

[DjLoTi]

Look, if Ron Paul doesn't win it won't be because the grass roots or the campaign screwed up. It will be because his message of limited government is NOT POPULAR.

If Pepsi and CocaCola teamed up and make an all-powerful, political candidate drink I don't think it could sell as good as the Ron Paul R[evol]ution.

The campaign didn't sell Ron Paul. Some call it pandering, but there's a difference between selling and pandering.

When you sell something, you give someone something they want in exchange for something you want. In this case, they are selling ( image, philosophy, policy, ect. ) in exchange for a vote.

Pandering is preying on the weakness of people to get them to do what you want.

Although the campaign did not pander, they also did not sell, either.

 

[yongrel]

RP better pull a Reagan and fire some folks. There's a lot of people not doing their jobs.

 

[Michigan11]

I agree with the original poster as well.

I also agree with the other poster about blaming the voters for their ignorance.

Therefore, we should stop funding the campaign and concentrate on funding grassroots.
Finally, we should try and direct the campaign, if at all possible.

My thoughts.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

Look, if Ron Paul doesn't win it won't be because the grass roots or the campaign screwed up. It will be because his message of limited government is NOT POPULAR. I know that is really hard for some of you to understand but why do you think there are so few people like him in elected positions? Why do you think that he is the lone dissenting vote on so many pieces of legislation?

I am not trying to be negative here. I'm just really tired of people trying to find someone to blame for everything that goes wrong when the real problem is the message.

Why is Ron Paul's message unpopular? Well, it's a number of things. Many people are apathetic and fear change. Many people just don't agree with him for a number of reasons. When it comes right down to it the only people you can blame is the voters. As the saying goes, "I have seen the enemy and it is us".

UNfortunately, I have to agree with you.

 

[OptionsTrader]

I'm gonna take this time to tell you, the 'grassroots', something you probably don't wanna hear. ' I told you so '

I'm sorry, but with not even 10%, it's a F for the campaign.

I posted here a few days ago recomending a grassroots advisory board or w/e because the campaign was doing such a bad job. Someone literally said ' I don't care what RP does with my money '.

You guys should be asking from the campaign why this happened. The first person you should ask is Joe Seehusen. In August, he was the Iowa state coordinator. Now he's the deputy campaign manager. With positions like that, you think he'd be crazy shit-hot. Where is he at? If he's the expert on Iowa, I want to hear his explanation, personally.

Or you could ask Bill Dumas and Jesse Benton why some of the excellent commercials on YouTube are not playing in Iowa, even though they've had way more money way longer then Mike Huckabee, who's been playing ads for at least a month.

I wouldn't ask Drew Ivers anything, it's really not his fault. They only have *one* major person on the crew in Iowa? They have 20 Million dollars!

Of course the truth is, the real problem lies in the campaign. Why are the same names recycled as the campaign grows? Why are there no major players added to the campaign when the RP campaign is obviously sellable.

Do you know what the remnant is? Ron Paul has mentioned it in a few of his speeches. They probably depended on the remnant to come out and vote. This is the HQ pipe dream.

I hear so much ' The reason the grassroots is so successful is because the campaign doesn't try to coordinate them '.
Please. That wasn't their secret to success, just as they say they have none. And it also didn't aid in it's success.

Face it. The campaign did nothing. They raised all this money and now they're sitting on it. The grassroots did with 1 million more then the campaign has done with 10.


Ron Paul always says ' I don't want the government running the economy, the people do much better '. I've come to the conclusion that the people also ran a better campaign. I don't even know what campaign they're running. They're so unconfident I honestly think RP has said he didn't think he could win more then the media. But, I listen to RP more then the media.

Did things change with the huge money bombs? Yeah, they did. Did the campaign change with the money bombs? No. They just asked for more money. And you gave it to them, without even seeing results.

Granted it was all in good fun, but who's less then 10% now? You guys act like he's going to just walk into NH and sweep a 1st place victory. Over 90,000 people didn't vote for Ron Paul, vs. about 10,000, with 86% of the tallies in.

They said the republican party saw a registration increase of 6%. Lets be generous and say half of that was for Ron Paul. That's, in Iowa, only 3,000 people, not even enough to bump Ron Paul up a place.

Now I'm seeing a thread that says we didn't target Obama supporters enough. I've been saying he's the real threat for weeks.

Anyway, lets say Thompson moves out and endorses McCain. Now Ron Paul has to beat the big 3. Not easy. And with Ron Paul placing a 9% 5th, there's plenty of fuel to go around saying he's not electable.

One thing's for sure. It's not your fault. It's not the grassroots fault. It's the campaigns fault. They're unorganized, unexperienced, and they are most certainly unfriendly. They laughed off the idea of going on Glen Beck's show, and eventually he gave a personal message to us, the internet, the grassroots, that he'd have Ron Paul on for an hour. Finally, their snobby campaign caved in.

What experience does the high-level Ron Paul staff having in running a republican presidential primary run?

You can ask them that. Good luck getting answers, though. They probably won't treat you any better then Glen Beck or Bill O'rilley. And Glen Beck did mess up by *having a guest* who called us terrorists (sort of), but BillO did nothing.

So when people are telling me off and telling me to go to hell for trying to push for a grassroots advisory board because I don't 'advise' them while they hold their signs, keep shining in your own glory. I've probably had a net conversion of over 1,000 people, maybe more. I've been here since the beginning, working hard and standing up to you ignorant, hateful and brash ' supporters '. That doesn't go out to all of you. That's just, in general, what I observe. It doesn't and never supprised me though. Americans are always more (insert negative word) in general then other people. That's why I don't even like it here. That's why Ron Paul was part of my hope. But over 90,000 people voted for someone else.

And by the reactions by my post a few days ago, that other 10% certainly isn't untouched either.

And yeah, the RP campaign not doing their part I take personally, personally.

So that's all I got to say, and I have to say it, otherwise I won't stop thinking it. Thanks.

This is not the time for "I told you so" posts.

 

[mconder]

Look, if Ron Paul doesn't win it won't be because the grass roots or the campaign screwed up. It will be because his message of limited government is NOT POPULAR.

Not because it couldn't be, but because the MSN, the people most people trust more than their own friends and relatives, tell them that limited government is dangerous and unstable. Only kooks and terrorists believe in all that Constitution crap don't ya know?

 

[Michigan11]

I don't think you can call this a failure in any way. Ron Paul was polling in Iowa somewhere near zero before October. All of his numbers have gone up since then. He was polling at an average of 7.3% yesterday and will likely finish near 10% in Iowa. I think momentum is building. If you look at the graphs of the polls, his have been constantly moving up. It is unrealistic to expect a huge jump from zero to win, especially for a candidate that gets almost no media coverage. This is just the start. If the trend continues, his numbers will continue to increase as the primaries continue on.

Good point as well.

 

[Gustogus]

Honestly, I can't agree 100%, but there are some tidbits I'd like to see implemented. The campaign has raised enough money to bring in a "ringer". Grassroots has done its job, it established a strong financial base and has gotten the name moved from complete obscurity into a viable position. What the campaign needs now is polish.

I understand this plays against the Ron Paul image, but to have someone with some already built credentials could do some real good with the MSM. Imagine if RP had snagged Ed Rollins instead of Huckabee. Ed has been mentioned as much as Huck has and has.

Nothing against Jesse or Kent or any of the other RP staff. They, even more so then most of us, have been there from the very beginning. RP and his message is what got them into this, but I don't see any reason not to bring in a campaign consultant to try and mainstream the message a little more.

 

[mconder]

All I have left at this point is hope for a miracle.

 

[smartguy911]

RP better pull a Reagan and fire some folks. There's a lot of people not doing their jobs.

+1

 

[RonPaulFTFW]

i agree 100 percent.

paul's team needs to go.

 

[braumstr]

Defund the campaign and its over, which it may well be anyhow.

I do agree that getting some of the youtube style work out in an add is a good idea.

 

[Babylon]

If Paul is unable or unwilling to effectively lead his campaign staff, he should not be President.

Criticisms of the official campaign are certainly merited. They are amateurs. They are unprofessional.

That they have been allowed to run the campaign in the first place is a reflection on Ron Paul's judgment.

If he doesn't pull a Reagan and take charge of his own campaign, or if he lacks the judgment to even perceive the gross defeciencies in his staff and strategy, then the sad truth of the matter is that he does not deserve to be President.

Do you want the same man who assembled this idiotic group of campaign staff to select the Cabinet of the of U.S.?

Think about it.

I have faith he'll do the right thing.
But, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[braumstr]

Hey, we beat Guiliani...

 

[Exponent]

I am not even going to read all that. Yes, it could have been better, but just a few hundred votes would have made this a 3rd place finish.

Um, Paul is currently behind McCain by 3,500 votes, and behind Thompson a few more than that.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

The campaign staff may have made some errors, but they are small potatoes in the final analysis.

Nothing matters compared to this:

Freedom isn't actually popular. At least, not within the Republican party.

That's the bottom line, really. It's hard to accept, but it's true. It doesn't leave us a lot of options.

 

[ChickenHawk]

Look, if Ron Paul doesn't win it won't be because the grass roots or the campaign screwed up. It will be because his message of limited government is NOT POPULAR.

Not because it couldn't be, but because the MSN, the people most people trust more than their own friends and relatives, tell them that limited government is dangerous and unstable. Only kooks and terrorists believe in all that Constitution crap don't ya know?

No question there is some truth to that. However, I do think that the media is as much a reflection of the people as the other way around.

 

[OptionsTrader]

DjLoTi,

How old are you?

And be honest.