I tried to warn you guys.

[skinzterpswizfan]

I agree with the original poster. We could have done a lot better in Iowa if the campaign had their act together. I do think that Iowa was a tough state to do well in, but there's no reason we couldn't have scraped together 4,000 more votes to pull 3rd place.

 

[libertythor]

This is not the place and the time to bring this up. Tensions are too high right now.


This is better for tomorrow in the grassroots central.

However, it is good that the topic has been broached; now lets drop it until tomorrow.

 

[2ndAmericanRevolution]

I've been concerned about the "official" campaign as well. The excuse that is usually used by "longshot" candidates is that they don't have enough money or their ideas do not appeal to enough Americans...

Well, the Ron Paul campaign has 20 MILLION dollars and I have never in my life seen a candidate whose message immediately appealed to average Americans the first time they hear it, like Ron Paul's message does.

I'm affraid that the campaign has been so overwhelmed with the success of the grassroots efforts, that they were kind of shocked to have 20 mill thrown at them...in fact they have often said, "We are trying to figure out what to do with all that money." (paraphrase).

It's obvious that to date, the offical campaign has failed to maximize the momentum and money created by the grassroots and I agree that it is time for them to re-examine their tactics in order to translate the grassroots support and all that money into tangible results in the polls/primaries.

(Also, there is always the possiblility that Iowa was never a strong state for Ron Paul, and we will begin to see the fruits of the 20 mill in NH and beyond. The polls do point to this as a possibility and we can only hope it's the case.)

 

[jake]

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.

*in Iowa.

 

[McDermit]

21-23.



I posted a long ass time ago calling on people to hold the staff accountable for their major blunders, and I was called a troll. Lolz.

 

[Babylon]

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.

I got news for you.
McDonald's hamburgers suck.
But, they sell billions of them.

The goal is to get Ron Paul ELECTED.
Anyone -- with any message -- can get elected with the proper packaging and marketing.

The fact that Ron Paul's message turns off many people is PRECISELY why he needs a professional campaign team.

 

[Highstreet]

Reagan lost Iowa and won the presidency as many have, this is a victory for RP to get the amount of votes he did. Iowa knows subsides, and want government freebees on the taxpayer dime. Take your negativity away from here, the great citizens of Iowa have spoken and that rarely means they influenced the presidential contest.

Great Post!!

Don't lose hope Dj. This is only the beginning. As Ivers said. The support will be exponential. HQ is changing because of us, slowly, but surely.

 

[DaneKirk]

21-23.



I posted a long ass time ago calling on people to hold the staff accountable for their major blunders, and I was called a troll. Lolz.

+1, I think Ron may be done. I will still vote for him though. I can't believe all those tools voted for Huckabee. Republicans are gonna lose big time this election if he gets the nomination.

 

[Ron2Win]

Sadly I agree with you. I demand to see the money we donated spent.

Youtube? at this stage of the game?

Where are the national commercials?

 

[Birdlady]

I got news for you.
McDonald's hamburgers suck.
But, they sell billions of them.

The goal is to get Ron Paul ELECTED.
Anyone -- with any message -- can get elected with the proper packaging and marketing.

The fact that Ron Paul's message turns off many people is PRECISELY why he needs a professional campaign team.

Agree 100%!

We need to get people in the campaign willing to do things non-conventional. Those cheesy looking commercials and infomercial didn't help us here it appears.

 

[MN Patriot]

This is deadly serious business we are in: war, taxes, big business subsidized with our tax money, the economy, civil rights.

Ron needs a competent campaign staff. If they can't do better in New Hampshire, fire some people and get someone who can get better results. It happens all the time in campaigns.

But I am afraid Ron is too loyal to his friends, even the ones who can't do a good job for him.

 

[colin1]

It's frustrating to miss a third place tie by 3000 votes. I mean, what would it have taken for him to have gotten 3 percentage points?

 

[dblee]

you guys are idiots.

The campaign never planned to win Iowa. The values of the voters there are totally different.

We had a double digit showing, and were within spitting distance of 3rd.

And most importantly, we won delegates. It's only the first primary of the election and you guys are already panicking? Are you in it for the long haul or what?

 

[amonasro]

DjLoti, while I respect your opinion I believe you are overreacting just a little. 100% of blame should not be placed on the campaign, although they may be partly responsible for our finish in Iowa.

I've been with you since the beginning and have witnessed the incredible growth of support for RP in every aspect. He has become a sensation almost overnight, relatively speaking. RP has stated repeatedly that he was reluctant about running and is surprised he's made it this far. You have to think about this statement and its implications: Some members of his campaign may not be of the "6 million dollar man" caliber, quite honestly. If he is smart he will make some changes to remedy this. I agree with you in this area.

The other side of the coin is that Huckabee has had 100000% more media coverage than anybody else. He had like 500k in the bank when the love-fest started. The last month has been the next best thing to a MSM Huckabee porn site. We also have to take this into account, and the fact that RP gets almost no free media coverage in comparison--we have to alter the rotation of the Earth to get a 5 minute segment! It is completely unfair. We are fighting an uphill battle. We know this and are reminded again tonight.

Face it, the majority of America are sheep and not part of our Revolution. They watch the MSM constantly and vote accordingly. We need to make some changes to win NH and future states, that is for certain, or we're going to slowly fade away.

 

[voiceactivated]

If you people have so little faith in the campaign staff, and I have no reason to doubt your analysis, then what makes you think Ron Paul will choose suitable cabinet members if he's elected? This does not bode well for a Paul presidency.

 

[parke]

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

Loti.. Chill out.

Im bummed too. I still have faith.. this isnt RP first rodeo.

1. Its Iowa.. we knew we wouldnt win. Its a po-dunk tv loving place that is primarily pro-war and pro-subsidies... You cant expect Paul to shake that area up.

2. Rudy is the only person with any money to compete for the long haul.

3. Thompson isnt going to get a jolt of energy and do much.

4. Romney and Huck are just going to go at each others throats.

5. McCain... isnt going anywhere. And i mean he's got nowhere to go.

This is my first time dealing with a presidential campaign. We have learning curves.. RP may not win, but we cant give up.

Believe me, its worth all this work. The 'grassroots' needs to learn some lessons and we need to take it upon ourselves to get the voters to the booth.

Chill out bud.. please.

 

[steve005]

agreed,

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I got news for you.
McDonald's hamburgers suck.
But, they sell billions of them.

The goal is to get Ron Paul ELECTED.
Anyone -- with any message -- can get elected with the proper packaging and marketing.

The fact that Ron Paul's message turns off many people is PRECISELY why he needs a professional campaign team.

This just isn't true.

Look, I understand [and share] positions like Paul's position on the Civil Rights Act. But people don't care about the libertarian position on property and don't want to talk about it. They just say, "He doesn't support the Civil Rights Act? What a jerk!" and move on. And it's like that for 100 different issues.

Barry Goldwater had a professional campaign team and he got DESTROYED. And America was about 1 billion times as willing to listen to a message of liberty in 1964 as it is in 2007.

Sorry, I know I'm being a downer about this. But we always were going to need a lot of serendipity to even have a snowball's chance, and it's discouraging.

 

[thisisgiparti]

I see your point of view, but what do you propose that we do this late in the game? Feb 5th is just over a month away and we have given almost thirty million dollars to the campaign.

I honestly don't know what to do, but I think we have placed too many resources in the campaign to abandon them now.

I saw this problem with the Jonathan Bydlak screw-up last month. The campaign keeps asking for money, but we're not seeing anything done with it, especially in the key early states. Thompson and McCain have been talked up for weeks. We knew we had a fight in Iowa, and I see this as a missed opportunity.

Many supporters think firing people will send the wrong message, but I have little faith in the official campaign. I've heard of them being rude, sloppy and uncooperative. Something needs stepped up, tightened up or changed.

I am worried about the campaign, too, but I am still optimistic about Ron Paul's odds. I think this thread raises some good points.

 

[Bloody Holly]

If you people have so little faith in the campaign staff, and I have no reason to doubt your analysis, then what makes you think Ron Paul will choose suitable cabinet members if he's elected? This does not bode well for a Paul presidency.

I'm not easily swayed.