Nursing Home/Elderly Outreach

[netwalker]

A friend and I were discussing ways to reach the older crowd after the results of the last poll were released (only 4% of the 65+ age group would vote for Ron Paul). These are a few ideas we came up with:

• Printed power point presentations left in the lobby/common area.
• Contacting the nursing home and setting up a "debate night."
• For Liberty DVD video viewing.
• Bring in a laptop to show Youtube videos or articles.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

We really have to tap into this age group because these people have very limited access to Ron Paul information. Most get their news from the TV and most of them vote.

 

[orenbus]

Damn I think you are on to something here, didn't even consider retirement homes. The question would be how many people in these homes actually vote? If the number is high then I think that would be a huge target we could tap into as many in retirement homes enjoy having people come visit them especially younger folks. Would be a lot more efficient then door to door canvassing and could produce higher results, that's not to say door to door still isn't essential but I could see this outreach as being a huge benefit. It would also be interesting to hear their points of view on politics so could be a win/win.

 

[TexMac]

Another thing to consider about the elderly is that a lot of them vote absentee by mail. That means you have to get to them early.

 

[harikaried]

ronpaulhawaii has experience going to retirement homes for outreach:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...m-what-I-have-been-doing-and-how-you-can-help.

I can't find the exact post quite yet, but some initial feedback was some places allowed For Liberty to be shown while others said no politics. Generally be nice to those taking care of the elderly, and they'll help you get things set up to either talk to people individually or as a group or showing.

 

[dannno]

[*]Contacting the nursing home and setting up a "debate night."

Hmm, I'd hate to be responsible for a heart attack..

 

[harikaried]

Still can't find the post by ronpaulhawaii or maybe it was someone else when they were getting ready for the Pella For Liberty showing, but there's a post from earlier this year:

Thread: How can we reach out to the elderly/senior citizens/mature Americans?
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...-the-elderly-senior-citizens-mature-Americans

And there's a subforum for Senior Outreach:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?96-Senior-Outreach

 

[JamesButabi]

Ive advocated this in a previous thread. Ive also done it, however I had a contact inside the nursing home. This was by far the quickest amount of votes I have ever won in a single outing. Most people just misunderstand Ron Paul, or don't know anything about him. Elderly are extremely open to the message.

 

[netwalker]

We just have to rekindle the flame of liberty in the older generation. TV has made them forget, but I don't doubt for a second that they aren't still carrying the fire.

We are working on a Powerpoint presentation, I'll post it when it's done for input.

Thanks for the responses!

 

[ItsTime]

Ron Paul himself, like Mitt 'I Like Mandates' Romney is doing in NH, needs to go to these homes and give speeches.

 

[orenbus]

Was also googling around trying to find some political advocacy group for the elderly or retired people only thing I could find was AARP but they are non political and probably not exactly what we would be looking for. However if there are local advocacy groups for the elderly that maybe a way of getting out the message through their newsletter or talking to their groups directly.

 

[Fatejuggler]

I think reaching seniors is the area where we have the most to gain because they are the most reliable voters, particularly in primary elections.

Keep in mind seniors use Internet social media too. Maybe not as much as younger people but net enabled computers are pretty much standard household appliances now.

We should try to think of places a lot of seniors might be online that allow political discussion and be sure our message is getting heard there. For example here is a vegetable gardening forum I visit, and it has a political section where Ron Paul comes up sometimes. It's not entirely seniors of course but the people there probably average a lot older than the typical Internet user:

http://idigmygarden.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

There are probably lots of little niche political areas like this where we could spread the message of liberty (not only to seniors but also other groups we may not be reaching). Maybe we could compile a list of them. Things like health related discussion groups might be a good place to look.

As for face to face outreach and canvasing, there are lots of places where seniors congregate where I think they would be easier to reach than just nursing homes (and focusing on younger seniors might be more productive). Outside events popular with seniors like flower shows for example. Also there are "retirement communities" where there are large numbers of seniors in the general population.

 

[timjn]

It would also be interesting to hear their points of view on politics so could be a win/win.