I tried to warn you guys.

[slantedview]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/010308dntswpaul.2114595.html

troll warning.

 

[Man from La Mancha]

Good points to bring up and less not condemn HQ or grassroots but this is a new paradigm and we have to think fast and new and DjLoti is very right to bring this up. I wish I knew how to help, please help with new ways.

.

 

[coffeewithchess]

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?

Then they lied to me...because I remember across their website back in October it said "$12 million to win Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina".

 

[thomj76]

54% of people angry with Bush Administration

29% of Independents

21% Voters aged 17-29

We won Jefferson County. Picked up a couple of delegates.

On to New Hampshire.

 

[John P Slevin]

This is an ignorant thread.

Ron Paul has come up from consistently showing around 1% in polls to now cracking 10%. And he got just over 10% of the vote in a caucus state, where other campaigns had longstanding organizations, more than one year of working that state. In caucus states, party leadership rules.

He whupped Giuliani and he came within approximately 3 points of both McCain and Thompson.

Anyone suggesting they could have done better, or know the campaign doesn't have the talent to succeed needs to provide a track record of their own success at campaign management.

Ron Paul's vote has grown 10 TIMES what it was just a few months ago.

It was a very GOOD vote for Ron Paul and anyone who cannot see that never knew what was happening and needs to begin to learn something.

 

[Marc Scott Emery]

The Positives

Paul only received one poll where he hit 10%, the Zogby poll of 3 days ago. So the Ron Paul vote peaked at the time of the caucus, at its zenith. Its not likely more than 10% could be achieved in Iowa, 60% of Republican voters in Iowa regard themselves as "evangelicals", and Paul is the only Congressman amongst former Governors and Senators.

10% is all that can be reasonably expected. Paul only spent about $700,000 on advertising while Dodd spent $1,600,000 and Biden spent $1,700,000 and they've dropped out now, getting nothing out of the Iowa caucus. Pundits think that 10% is the most Paul could have expected so the pundits are neutral about Paul's showing in Iowa. He did better against expectations than Romney, Clinton, Dodd, Biden, Richardson, all of whom are engaging in damage control or have withdrawn. The winners are Huckabee, Obama, with Edwards, Thompson, Mccain in neutral with Paul, while Giuliani loses alot of momentum. Hunter will withdraw shortly.

The real problem ahead is New Hampshire where polls, which are indeed accurate by and large, show Dr. Paul at 6 - 9%, though he may gain some traction over this weekend, but the big problem is The Ron Paul campaign is losing people to the Barack Obama campaign, and this will really prove difficult in NH, California, Texas, now that Obama certainly has momentum and is the most popular "change" vehicle of Paul or Obama.

Ron Paul needs a 12% or better showing in New Hampshire.

 

[RonPaulR3VOLUTION]

Why change the campaign staff? Stay the course!

Oh, it doesn't sound as good when you put it that way. Saying it is bad to criticize the campaign seems similar to saying it unpatriotic to criticize the war.

 

[ronpaulfan]

Brilliant Post

I couldn't agree more

 

[lvp1138]

Yes, the campaign must revise their strategy, as should we.

Let's make some tactical analysis.

True... and so do we.

First, I think the "revolution" part should be dropped already. The general population gives a negative thought to that.

The "google ron paul" worked well, however, we have reached the point of saturation. Only a small percentage of the population has the level of curiosity to take some time to do that. All those with that level already googled Ron Paul up. The others are of the "follower" type and spending a while on Google is not a priority for them. Starbucks and their SUV are a priority for them.

I think it's time our spreading the word becomes more mainstream. "Ron Paul for President, Hope for America". The phrase "for president" has to be there from now on. Up to this day, people wonder what the "ron paul revolution" is and don't really care about researching it. But embedding "ron paul for president" into their heads as early as now would work. It's about embedding a suggestion into their mind.

And the blimp, to be honest, I don't think it works that much. But then again, I'm in a state (Nevada) where the blimp won't come to, so I don't know the level of publicity it generates whenever it arrives in a city.

Thoughts?

 

[jmarinara]

2 Points:

A. In general, Paul has been putting a good portion of his resources into New Hampshire, over Iowa. NH is the playoffs. Win or go home. We must MUST win New Hampshire or at least make some very significant noise there, or it's time to pack it up and refund the campaign money.

B. Money is nice, but it's not everything. Grassroots is nice, but it's not everything. A lot of things have got to come together to get a campaign win. They didn't come together tonight, it's not a total loss. But learn from it and move on folks. No point in whining.

Oh, one more point. . . will someone please read my signature about Christians making or breaking Paul. Perhaps after Iowa, you all will start to take this seriously. I hate to think about how many potential Paulites were scared away by the teasing of creationists and pro-lifers on this here forum. We don't always see eye to eye, us left and right spectrum liberty lovers, but at least we could start to get along?

P.S. Wyoming is 1 day and 10 hours away. We could get a good boost with a win there.

 

[Fields]

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.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Nash]

54% of people angry with Bush Administration

29% of Independents

21% Voters aged 17-29

We won Jefferson County. Picked up a couple of delegates.

On to New Hampshire.

Also 13% of the voters switched to Paul today. That's a testament to the campaign's efforts (both grassroots and HQ) over the last week.

I think these numbers pretty much verify that we're targeting the correct people and where we are going to have to get our support from.

We're not getting the Bush loving conservatives. They hate our guts. They are not going to vote for us. Not in Iowa, not in New Hampshire, not anywhere. Deal with it.

Peeling Obama supporters is going to be harder than you think. These people are socialists. Yes they want "change" but they really believe government is literally a solution to everything. The like Paul on the war and then completely freak out when they hear everything else.

I'm not saying HQ can't do better. There are some organization problems apparently and I think they should be a bit more aggressive in organizing in the early states but I don't think the ads are poor.

I perfectly satisfied so far with how my money is being spent up to this point. I gave him money to run ads and that's what HQ is doing. I would think an ad and phone blitz in NH over the next 5 days is in order.

I'm going to reserve complete judgment until after the next primary. These are just my current opinions.

 

[G-Wohl]

Why is it such a bad idea to suggest there be more coordination between the campaign and the grassroots?

 

[StephenTC]

shut up

 

[[email protected]]

It is sad that with so much ammo (dollars) we pretty much went down without firing any guns. (commercials)

Is it not true that if you try to win Iowa and you finish outside of the leaders, you are pretty much out?

What can we learn and what can we change before it is too late?

 

[paulitics]

I say people need to KNOW that their liberties are being stripped away, and how it affects them, and not just terrorists. Until they know this, and understand the threat within, they will remain unmotivated. Nobody else is talking about the patriot act, military comissions act, etc, and how they will restore the constitution. If people fear the threat from within, than we can get this movement to become more mainstream.

We are not connecting with people out there, because they don't believe in quixotic notions about eliminating all income tax, eliminating dpt of education, CIA, withdrawing from every country. I think the RP message has put the cart before the horse. I think we should focus on a few key issues, that the people need to be educated on, and then in time, after the holes in the constitution are patched up, and consensus is built, we can go for the rest.

 

[hankpyro]

My 2 cents

DJ, I don't have the political expertise to say what we should done. But I do know that with our resources, our passion, our dedication, our grassroots solidity, we should have done a lot better than 5th. Or 10%. Or 10K votes.

I can't fix the machine but I can see that something is broken. And we are fools to not acknowledge it.

 

[AtomiC]

Yes I have to agree with the OP in some ways because the campaign hasn't been doing its job.

We have raised almost $20 million this quarter and what do they do with it? They say they don't know how to spend the money...

There needs to be some serious discussion in the campaign and they need to hire new people who know what they're doing and get rid of the people who are there just because they're your "buddies". This is a serious grassroots campaign and they should be in it to win also and they don't have a clue.

 

[Paul10]

....

 

[ChooseLiberty]

Exactly. The RP message needs MARKETING!

Most people have no idea how to interpret what he says and just write him off as a kook.

They need someone that can INTERPRET his message to people that aren't versed in Austrian Economic theory and aren't Constitutional scholars.

They need something they probably despise. But they need it or they will not reach the general public.

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.