Romney Buying Votes in Iowa

[torchbearer]

When the founders rebelled against the powers that be... they did what was necesary to win... the act of rebellion was in itself very unlawful... and the revolution, violent.
We are not advocating violence... but if my liberties are at stake... I'm taking romney's ticket offer.
I'll flip him off as I vote for the constitution. i.e. Ron Paul.

 

[ghemminger]

Fuck Romney.. let him waste his money

Romney has $12 Million in the bank.. but only because he put in over $9 million of his own money.. If you subtract that hes got no more than $3 Million.. Some people say hes got close to $2 Million...

all these fuckers can pump in all the money they want, but theyve got the wrong message and it will be a money pit for them..

The establishment isnt going to know what hit them.. After we get done with the neo-cons and lock up the nomination then were gonna knock out the neo-libs as well...

There will come a point when he knows he wont be able to win and mark my words.. he will pull out all his money for fear of losing it all and his campaign will be over.

I know I'm late but You are funny man...

 

[beermotor]

My conscience just isn't as pure as Dr. Paul's. I'm an "ends justify the means" type of person.

You will have to change that, I'm sure.

We've got to bomb Iowa with information. The message will attract them, they will spend their own $35 to vote for Ron Paul. I predict this.

 

[Shink]

Thanks for the heads up! lol I guess I need to go to bed...zzzzz

Need to get some people holding signs at the gate.

I don't recommend that sign, seeing as there was free food at the rally here in Iowa a couple weeks ago.

 

[Dave]

The Iowa GOP has said that ticket distribution is 'to be determined'.

I'm sure they're accustomed to selling huge blocks of these directly to the campaigns and have relatively few that are purchased directly by individuals.

I will call the Iowa GOP on Wednesday.

I spoke with the Iowa GOP. They said they don't have the tickets back from the printer yet. The guy said they could be bought directly from the Iowa GOP or at the event.

 

[Ninja Homer]

I see no moral dilemma with using Romney's tickets to vote for Ron Paul. Campaigning to get Ron Paul elected is a campaign for morality, and anything used to help get Ron Paul elected is a sound moral decision, in my opinion.

Don't be concerned about a news story coming out about people using Romney's tickets to vote for Ron Paul. If it did, it would read something like, "Mitt Romney was trying to buy votes and Ron Paul's supporters took advantage of it." I just can't see MSM reporting that. Besides, any news story about Ron Paul, whether negative or positive, gives more attention to Ron Paul, which leads to more supporters once they see what Ron Paul is all about. Negative press always helps an unknown candidate, unless it is something REAL bad (which we all know would never happen with Ron Paul).

That being said, if the OP could upload a high resolution scan of both sides of that Romney flier, I'd like to print and mail in a few thousand of them (joking, of course).

 

[Avalon]

anything used to help get Ron Paul elected is a sound moral decision, in my opinion.

So robbing a bank, business, or person, or dealing drugs to raise money for Ron Paul is OK? Seriously...a line has to be drawn somewhere. Where do you draw it and how do you arrive at drawing it there? If you guys want to employ moral relativism that's fine, but if you want to advocate it for other people, at least lay out complete, logical reasoning.

 

[Ninja Homer]

So robbing a bank, business, or person, or dealing drugs to raise money for Ron Paul is OK? Seriously...a line has to be drawn somewhere. Where do you draw it and how do you arrive at drawing it there? If you guys want to employ moral relativism that's fine, but if you want to advocate it for other people, at least lay out complete, logical reasoning.

It depends on which bank, business, or person you are referring to. I see no problem with dealing drugs because they should be legalized anyway. Seriously though... each person has already drawn their own moral and "comfort zone" lines, and this is a cause in which people need to decide for themselves whether they are going to do everything they possibly can, or look back at this time in the future and think to themselves, "I should have done more."

 

[ChicagoLawyer]

Non-Iowans Should Buy Tickets for Iowans

If people can simply buy tickets from the Iowa GOP beforehand, or even at the event, I don't think there's anything wrong or "anti-Freedom" with us Paul-supporters who are non-Iowans, collectively or individually, buying tickets and handing them out to people who say they support Ron Paul.

Face it, this is not the equivalent of "buying votes." It's not like people voting in the straw poll are getting free oil changes or anything else of value (other than perhaps a lunch and a "trip" to Ames) in exchange for voting. They are supporters of a candidate who are voting, and simply are doing so without having to pay $35. Would you go to Ames and vote for a candidate (even if for free) if you didn't support him? I don't think so.

This is how the game is played. I don't think it's correct to say "Ron Paul wouldn't buy tickets for the straw poll even if he could afford it." It the campaign had as much money as Rudy and Romney it would be stupid not to buy tickets.

Therefore, I think it's a very very good idea for us to move forward, independently from the campaign--as the FairTax people are doing--and buy a bunch of tickets for Paul supporters. If each of us only "sponsored" one Iowan we could buy THOUSANDS of tickets.

So, who's in?

 

[Avalon]

I don't think it's correct to say "Ron Paul wouldn't buy tickets for the straw poll even if he could afford it." It the campaign had as much money as Rudy and Romney it would be stupid not to buy tickets.

The campaign could easily afford to buy tickets for up to the 10k supporters it wants in Ames. It could afford a nice setup with great food, buses, etc. In fact, winning the straw poll alone would very likely earn him an extra million in donations (and certainly be worth even more in attention/expectation). If the campaign decided not to buy tickets it's not for a lack of funds.

With that said, that doesn't mean the grassroots effort can't or shouldn't do something different. There's a lot of benefit to being kept at arm's length.

 

[DeadheadForPaul]

I WANT the campaign to use my donations to bus in supporters and buy tickets. You have to play the game in order to win

If the campaign does not want to do that, then we must buy tickets and distribute them

 

[egoistorms]

taking free tickets under condition

if you take the free ticket under the condition that you will vote for romney or huckabee or brownback or whoever and then vote for Ron Paul....

...aren't you part of the problem that RP's principles and platform are trying eradicate?

I support Ron Paul b.c he is loyal to a set of values that I also value.

key idea: loyalty to values.

 

[MozoVote]

I respect the campaigns decision to take the high road. But I also think it's perfectly fine for the grassroots organization to sponsor voters, drive them there, etc.

 

[Nash]

I don't think it's a "high road" issue I just think it's a matter of how the campaign wants to spend their money. They feel in terms of the resources they have, it's better to have us mobilize instead of blowing 300k on the straw poll.

I have no problem with this. We just need to do what we can to make our presence known in Iowa. I'm sending two individuals from ISU to the poll to vote for Ron Paul and I'm footing the bill. I figure it's money well spent.

 

[aknappjr]

Well, unless he offers some legally binding contract, then it shouldn't hurt anyone's conscience. You could just change your mind temporarily and want to vote for Mitt Romney. He flips around a lot -- why not his "supporters?"

EDIT: I'm speaking tongue-in-cheek in case anyone wants to take me too seriously. ;-)

It might or might not be legally binding, but it would be morally binding if you said "In exchange for this ticket, I will vote for Mitt Romney." Also, you would be lying. If however, you said "I like some of the things Mitt Romney stands for and will consider voting for him" in exchange for the ticket, I think that would be morally permissible.

 

[aknappjr]

Free tickets for Volunteers: http://www.iowagop.org/FlexPage.aspx?area=strawpoll

 

[JoshLowry]

Free tickets for Volunteers: http://www.iowagop.org/FlexPage.aspx?area=strawpoll

I spoke with Eric and he confirmed that volunteers can vote in the straw poll. You do have to be a resident of Iowa though.