I'm going to make this happen.

[Ben Elliott]

Alright guys, I have a little money saved up over the last few days and I've come to a decision.

I have been brainstorming some ideas I could do personally to expand Ron Paul's exposure around town. Houston is a pretty liberal city and the meet up group here seems fairly large (though I haven't become a part of it yet). I decided to buy a camcorder and go around town video taping myself speaking to people about Ron Paul. I may go door to door or just go to downtown and stop random people walking in the street. I'll try to get away with video taping the people by saying I'm doing a documentary or something, but I was just wondering if you guys have any feedback on this?

I was planning on just posting videos on youtube but it would be nice if I had a site as well (all a part of the plan).

So how about it guys? It may spawn some other folks to randomly canvas for Ron Paul around town.

Any advice on camcorders also? I'm looking for a pretty cheap one.

 

[Ben Elliott]

I think this thread deserves a bump.

 

[[email protected]]

i think its a great idea, id be interested to see it

 

[Cleaner44]

Make it happen!

 

[Ben Elliott]

Alright thanks guys. I'm making it happen.

Would be cool if I had some fellow Paulites joining me in this project.

 

[krott5333]

a decent cheap camcorder is the Aiptek A-HD.

They go for about $120 and are sold at Best Buy, Circuit City, and Target.

Great picture. They use SD cards, and you can get a few hours at a decent resolution on a gig or two SD card.

The only drawback I've found with mine is that the microphone leaves a bit to be desired.

But its tough to beat for the price.

 

[Ben Elliott]

I might buy a personal microphone to hold up to the people. That'll help for the sound. But hey, that's around the price range I'm looking for. I'm mainly just looking for a great picture, something that'll show up nice on the internet.

 

[NerveShocker]

Make sure to say something along the lines of: Do you know the 1 person running for president who would truly get us out of Iraq? Being a X-democrat I know that is their weak spot. They hate the Iraq War.

 

[Ben Elliott]

Yeah I was thinking about something along the lines of that.

I would go up to random people and start listening some of Ron Paul's adjectives.

"Would you like to not pay income tax?"

If they look like they may smoke marijuana I'd ask or just generally dislike the war on drugs, "Would you like the war on drugs to be over,"

And of course, the most famous one, "Would you like to be out of Iraq as soon as possible",

Then say after they answer yes, "Then you support Ron Paul."

That'll look good on camera.

 

[gpickett00]

Different idea, I don't see how it is going to really push this revolution forward though. It will add to the Ron Paul videos on youtube but there are already so many great videos. Also, the people who watch youtube really do support Ron Paul for the most part already. Nothing hurts though

 

[Ben Elliott]

Considering little ol' me, if a thousand people watch one of my videos that's probably the most I can single handedly do, and in my opinion, that's a lot. Plus, canvassing in the streets will help wonders at tha.

Nothing hurts though.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

The point doesn't really have to be to make a video.

The point can be to just get people talking about Paul, and make a small spectacle. Well, not a spectacle, but maybe get a small audience.

"Have you ever heard of Ron Paul?"

No - tell them who he is, running for pres, etc
Yes - Next question

"Did you know he'd like to eliminate the IRS and income tax, replacing them with nothing?"

"Did you know that there's no need for an income tax if we return to spending levels of the year 2000?"



I think this is a great idea for several reasons. It gives you a legit reason to even have the conversation. If somebody came up to me talking about Rudy, I might have to defend myself. If they're doing a documentary and ask about Rudy, it's very disarming - no matter how I feel about politics and politicians in general. Most people like me and many would-be Paul supporters probably do feel they need to defend themselves from political types. So, this gets you through doors that are hard to open.

This is also good for hitting several people at once. It makes it easy to approach groups. (2-3 people) Since you're doing an interview (and not having a private conversation), it makes it appropriate for other people to observe. So, if you do this downtown during lunch, you could be hitting 4-5 people at a time, or even more.

I think you have something here.

 

[Ben Elliott]

Thanks for the support.

I wouldn't mind a little conversation going on. I plan on it being quite open and I love just being with people so I might just try to absorb as many people as possible into a small discussion.

Thank you guys for the support. I'll try to make this happen over the next week. Hopefully by the next week I'll be posting videos.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

You might also bump into people that are camera shy, but still receptive. You can have a back up plan for that... ask them if they'd like to anonymously take part in a survey off-camera.

 

[Ben Elliott]

yeah, I don't HAVE to video tape them. The main point is to get the message out. The camera is a side adventure.

 

[nc4rp]

Yeah I was thinking about something along the lines of that.

I would go up to random people and start listening some of Ron Paul's adjectives.

"Would you like to not pay income tax?"

If they look like they may smoke marijuana I'd ask or just generally dislike the war on drugs, "Would you like the war on drugs to be over,"

And of course, the most famous one, "Would you like to be out of Iraq as soon as possible",

Then say after they answer yes, "Then you support Ron Paul."

That'll look good on camera.

good points, but you could just do a poll with a clipboard. it would be cheap, they wouldnt need to feel camera shy, and you could get to the meat of the whole point by asking those questions as a poll. when you walk away they will be stunned to know that they support ron paul.

alternately before you walk away, you could say ' well this IS a real poll, but im also actually with the paul campaign and i have a handy republican registration form right here or delegate registration form we would love to have you on our side" or whatever your state has.

 

[smartguy911]

this is a good idea. Youtube is filled with videos that people joined together by cutting and pasting. It would be nice to see people of different background, religion, color, age, sex saying they support Dr. Paul or give comments about him.

 

[nc4rp]

if you do the camera thing it might be nice to have someone else hold the camera so you could have an eye to eye conversation with them. have you joined your meetup group? id think someone there would be overjoyed to help.

 

[Thanehand]

Make sure you get permission to use their taping. I usually start recording and ask them "is it okay if I tape this so I can use it in my film?" making sure to record them and their answer. Otherwise, if someone finds themselves on youtube later, they might be pissed, and worse, pissed enough to get a lawyer.

 

[hawkeyenick]

Make sure you get permission to use their taping. I usually start recording and ask them "is it okay if I tape this so I can use it in my film?" making sure to record them and their answer. Otherwise, if someone finds themselves on youtube later, they might be pissed, and worse, pissed enough to get a lawyer.

If you use it for journalistic purposes, it's public domain. Hence why to catch a predator is able to show faces even when they end up not guilty