Ron Paul 2012: We are Running to Win, Right?

[K466]

2008 was more of an educational campaign.

What are your views for 2012? I'm hoping we have the full intention of winning this thing, we cannot afford another statist victory.

It's going to take a lot more sacrifice and money to win. Better start getting ready now!

 

[Romulus]

To Win. The education is just a bonus and solidification of future wins.

 

[CableNewsJunkie]

To win...or at least really piss off the establishment.

Another thought...are there election laws against individual presidential candidates helping out each other's campaigns?

For example, if Gary Johnson entered the race, would he also be able to serve as some kind of advisor to Dr. Paul while he (Dr. Paul) was also campaigning? And vice versa? Seems like an arrangement of that sort could help us conserve financial resources if they campaigned together at multiple locations around the country. We could build a slate of 3-4 liberty candidates that the entire electorate would become familiar with due to their unique, revolutionary style of campaigning.

 

[Matt Collins]

We must ask ourselves "how do we define success"?

 

[Elwar]

To win...or at least really piss off the establishment.

Another thought...are there election laws against individual presidential candidates helping out each other's campaigns?

For example, if Gary Johnson entered the race, would he also be able to serve as some kind of advisor to Dr. Paul while he (Dr. Paul) was also campaigning? And vice versa? Seems like an arrangement of that sort could help us conserve financial resources if they campaigned together at multiple locations around the country. We could build a slate of 3-4 liberty candidates that the entire electorate would become familiar with due to their unique, revolutionary style of campaigning.

Coordinated appearances would be cool.

But it appears that Gary Johnson is trying to venture outside of Ron Paul's grassroots and cater to mainstream Republicans in the center.

It's actually better that he go this route since he can build a lot of supporters and Ron Paul can build a lot of supporters and before the primaries one can drop out and endorse the other...

 

[CableNewsJunkie]

Coordinated appearances would be cool.

But it appears that Gary Johnson is trying to venture outside of Ron Paul's grassroots and cater to mainstream Republicans in the center.

It's actually better that he go this route since he can build a lot of supporters and Ron Paul can build a lot of supporters and before the primaries one can drop out and endorse the other...

Well, the media's been hyping people like Palin, Gingrich, Romney, Jindal, Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty.

Do you think our ranks are large enough now to comfortably fund 2 or more true liberty campaigns? Because even if Gary Johnson is going to go for the mainstream, he'll need an initial financial boost from us just to build name recognition to compete against all the media darlings...and then hopefully start reeling in some mainstream contributions to pick up the slack.

At the same time, we'll need to set new moneybomb records for Dr. Paul to continue building momentum.

And of course, we can't forget about funding the tens/hundreds of congressional and local campaigns.

So will we be better served by emptying our wallets for a bunch of politicians or would we be better off just buying more food and metal in preparation for the perfect storm?

 

[rancher89]

To win...or at least really piss off the establishment.

Another thought...are there election laws against individual presidential candidates helping out each other's campaigns?

For example, if Gary Johnson entered the race, would he also be able to serve as some kind of advisor to Dr. Paul while he (Dr. Paul) was also campaigning? And vice versa? Seems like an arrangement of that sort could help us conserve financial resources if they campaigned together at multiple locations around the country. We could build a slate of 3-4 liberty candidates that the entire electorate would become familiar with due to their unique, revolutionary style of campaigning.

I have it on good authority that Gov Johnson will not run for President if/when Dr Paul runs.....

So, IMHO now, I think Gov Johnson will end up stumping for Dr. Paul and possibly end up running as VP

 

[K466]

Do you think our ranks are large enough now to comfortably fund 2 or more true liberty campaigns? Because even if Gary Johnson is going to go for the mainstream, he'll need an initial financial boost from us just to build name recognition to compete against all the media darlings...and then hopefully start reeling in some mainstream contributions to pick up the slack.

At the same time, we'll need to set new moneybomb records for Dr. Paul to continue building momentum.

And of course, we can't forget about funding the tens/hundreds of congressional and local campaigns.

Good points. I don't think we can afford to run two liberty candidates for President

I'd be curious as to what the reasoning is behind any votes caste in favor of this being another educational campaign. So far only 1 vote for that.

 

[rancher89]

Well, the media's been hyping people like Palin, Gingrich, Romney, Jindal, Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty.

Do you think our ranks are large enough now to comfortably fund 2 or more true liberty campaigns? Because even if Gary Johnson is going to go for the mainstream, he'll need an initial financial boost from us just to build name recognition to compete against all the media darlings...and then hopefully start reeling in some mainstream contributions to pick up the slack.

At the same time, we'll need to set new moneybomb records for Dr. Paul to continue building momentum.

And of course, we can't forget about funding the tens/hundreds of congressional and local campaigns.

So will we be better served by emptying our wallets for a bunch of politicians or would we be better off just buying more food and metal in preparation for the perfect storm?

Dr. Paul needs a WIN, and a big one in Iowa and New Hampshire, all the early states....that's a no brainer..

Whether we can support multiple candidates is another story and one that will depend on the economy in large part.

But, maybe those "other candidates" in 2011 and 2012 will benefit from the buzz created by the support Dr. Paul receives...so slightly less will be needed monetarily by them?

IMHO, the food and metal purchases are like a "tilth" to the church of preparedness, it happens constantly...

 

[FreeTraveler]

While it would be really nice to claim to be running to win, I see no signs whatsoever that the American people are ready to elect Ron Paul. I agree that there's a fervent minority that believes that would be a great step toward more freedom, and I'm proud to count myself among them.

But let's look at society as a whole and be realistic. Another educational campaign will certainly save a few more lives when the ship of state finally goes belly-up, but there's no chance in hell of the passengers electing a sane captain, Ron Paul or otherwise. Pretending otherwise is simply delusional. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.

 

[K466]

While it would be really nice to claim to be running to win, I see no signs whatsoever that the American people are ready to elect Ron Paul. I agree that there's a fervent minority that believes that would be a great step toward more freedom, and I'm proud to count myself among them.

But let's look at society as a whole and be realistic. Another educational campaign will certainly save a few more lives when the ship of state finally goes belly-up, but there's no chance in hell of the passengers electing a sane captain, Ron Paul or otherwise. Pretending otherwise is simply delusional. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.

Good points, but more can change between now and then. If he doesn't get elected, at least a few more would be educated. I wouldn't write him off as unelectable yet.

 

[FreeTraveler]

I'm all for education. I just remember the crash around here the last time, and I think we should temper our euphoria with a heavy dose of realism. Decisions should be made based on their educational value, not on grabbing another vote here or there.

 

[erowe1]

I voted "win."

But let's try to make it as educational as possible, given that we all know he's not going to win.

 

[ItsTime]

The grassroots needs to act more professional this time around. Thats just my 2cents.

 

[FreeTraveler]

I'd use the terms "civil" and "dignified" rather than "professional," personally. For example, I think a silent sit-down strike at a Birmingham lunch counter was infinately more effective than throwing snowballs at reporters we don't like.

The whole "tea party" meme, as much fun as it was, got us off on the track of rebellion, rather than acceptance. Liberty should be viewed as the ultimate civil right. Government has no authority to interfere with peaceful civil behavior.

 

[MozoVote]

If Paul gets enough delegates to deadlock the convention, play kingmaker and wring some concessions from the nominee, that's still a "win" IMO.

Winning means earning some amount of political power. In 2008, we only had enough delegates to be a minor annoyance.

 

[Austin]

The folks that voted we should run to win.... are you actually expecting him to win, or are you simply suggesting that we should give it our all if he runs?

 

[K466]

The folks that voted we should run to win.... are you actually expecting him to win, or are you simply suggesting that we should give it our all if he runs?

Good point- I think we should try our best to win, but I don't think there can be any certainty that he will win.

 

[randolphfuller]

there are no more deadlocked conventions. The last convention to go beyond the first ballot was in 1952 when the Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson. For the Rpublicans it has been much longer. You are using a very old and outdated playbook.

 

[Anti Federalist]

We must ask ourselves "how do we define success"?

State run media reporting of the Ron Paul campaign that does not include the words "quixotic", "quirky", or "gadfly".

Oh, and what Cable News Junkie said: pissing off the Establishment in the bargain.

That's success for me.