RON PAUL BLIMP 2 and future creative ideas

[PaulConventionWV]

I didn't discount the fact that those things undoubtedly expose Ron Paul to a few extra people, especially when Paul was largely unknown, but this is now 2011. Ron Paul now has over 70% name recognition, and these gimmicks waste our precious treasure. For that reason, I will continue to voice my opinion on the misdirection of our limited resources.

Victory in 2012 is achievable, but not if we continue the same failed strategies of yesteryear.

I don't encourage people to waste a lot of money or resources on this, but they are a much more practical alternative to the huge blimp we had in 2007. I say go for it, but ONLY IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO DO SO WHILE MAXING OUT ON DONATIONS TO THE OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN. That is all.

 

[Karl]

Isn't that what Ross Perot did? It didn't work for him and he spent millions of his own dollars.

 

[Pseudolus]

Guerilla Marketing Works

Guerrilla marketing works. America revolutionaries beat the most powerful army on earth largely due to their grassroots guerrilla warfare; we can beat the most powerful political establishment on earth via guerrilla marketing. We only need be creative and cost-effective.

There are lots of brilliant guerrilla marketing ideas that don't cost a penny. Shouting down guerrilla marketers before they get started is not productive, just as wasting money on high-cost low-impact ideas is not productive. Balance is everything.

Perhaps the blimp paid for itself, it's also possible that another idea might have paid for itself 100x over. We need to have the freedom to investigate and create, then the objectivity to analyze if we can accomplish the same with even less resources. (As I type this, I'm watching a dance troupe on Fox News get more than 5 minutes of national airtime because they choreographed a swing-dance flashmob for only $100 in cheap wigs and t-shirts.)

This thread could be incredibly productive if:

• the visionaries consider the concerns/critiques of naysayers, and
• the naysayers allow the visionaries the time to create then refine ideas.

We have to work together. Both naysayers and visionaries are needed.

For now, what we need to do is:

1. recruit a group of committed grassrooters to brainstorm guerrilla marketing ideas/tactics,
2. critically analyze how to execute those nontraditional ideas/tactics in the most penetrating and cost-effective manner possible,
3. objectively consider if the guerrilla technique will have more impact than the traditional,
4. pursue only the best, most penetrating, most cost-effective guerrilla marketing ideas/tactics that will clearly have more impact than traditional campaign methods so that we're constantly creating the biggest bang for our buck.

By working together we can create genuine buzz, excitement, media attention, social networking chatter, and, yes, free traditional press. If we create something newsworthy, we won't have to buy news--the news will court us! We can make Ron Paul's life easier if we cultivate the ingenious.

You can sell ice-cream knocking door-to-door, but it's much more effective to put a bell on a truck and get the doors to open themselves. That's guerrilla marketing!

 

[mello]

I think it would be a good idea to get national exposure for as little money as possible.
I've suggested flash mobs in the past. For example, for the week running up to Super
Tuesday, we should get Ron Paul supporters to go the Today show window at NBC. We
should try to get as many supporters in the audiences of the Tonight Show, Leno, Conan,
Jimmy Fallon, George Lopez, & etc. ALL WEARING RON PAUL SHIRTS! Every time they show
the audience we get a free National airtime spot. Even if it's for a couple of seconds.
And if we can coordinate it well enough where Ron Paul supporters seem to be everywhere,
it would probably provide bonus mainstream news stories that show what we are doing.

Here is the link to get tickets to Jay Leno (Need to book at least 4-6 weeks ahead of time)
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/tickets/

The Late Show:
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/tickets/

Conan O'Brien:
http://teamcoco.com/tickets

Jimmy Fallon:
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/about/tickets/

Jimmy Kimmel:
http://www.1iota.com/show/view/Jimmy_Kimmel_Live

George Lopez:
http://www.lopeztonight.com/tickets/

 

[freedom-maniac]

I took an AATA bus to the local Meijer, spent $5 buying the big box of Meijer brand sidewalk chalk (versus the more expensive Craylola brand), rode back, and began chalking up sidewalks around the University with "Peace, Prosperity, Freedom: Ron Paul 2012".

All sorts of events around campus are advertised this way, so I presume it will be effective, considering the 1000s of people who walk past the main parts of campus everyday.

 

[Pseudolus]

It might be interesting to have a flashmob of pregnant Ron Paul supporters. It would gain media attention, be memorable, shore up the pro-life evangelicals, and highlight Ron Paul's experience in health care as a surgeon and OBGYN.

Imagine 30 pregnant mothers wearing maternity shirts. On the front belly of the shirt is written "Restore America Now for our future"; on the back "Ron Paul 2012". We'd have to come up with something interesting for the mothers to do, but we could definitely make news at a low cost this way.

 

[Paul4Prez]

It is my opinion that we are in a serious battle for public opinion which makes David and Goliath look like child's play. The other candidates are able to have those redundant and shameless commercials because they are receiving MILLIONS more in donations from special interests than Ron Paul gets from us. If he spends that money on those lame commercials and "boring" methods, he will flat out loose. Financially, it is not a level playing field. If all the supporters went bankrupt trying to compete with other candidates, we still wont even come close.

Actually, the other guys aren't raising so much money that Ron Paul can't compete. In the 2008 campaign, Ron Paul raised close to 30 million dollars, almost matching what John McCain raised in his winning bid. The top fundraiser (in donations) was Rudy Giuliani with 50+ million, which bought him zilch in the primaries. Romney also raised 50+ million and did well, but Huckabee raised closer to 10 million and did very well.

Ron Paul has far more support this time, and should be able to stay close with everyone except Romney. The money came in far too late last time, so we need to get the fundraising in gear ASAP this time around.

The real difference in campaigns is that other candidates get fawning coverage in the media and are treated as serious contenders, while Ron Paul gets demeaned, defamed, and discounted. Even that is not nearly as bad as last time, and media trying to portray him as a distant long-shot can be put to sleep forever with good fundraising numbers in the second quarter (i.e. by June 30th), and with a win in the Iowa straw poll (or maybe a very strong second, but let's win and be sure.)

 

[afwjam]

Get ready, lets make June 5th HUGE!
1 week, spread the news.

 

[jkr]

t shirts work!
be prepared to talk!

15 second answers and ready to explain

 

[parocks]

What?????????????

"we should start our own street protests in the US."

this is a joke, right?

Apparently some people in Mexico were brainstorming on what to do about the Guerra de las drogas and they came up with these ideas so far:
- get 10s of thousands of people to march in the streets
- create a drug war wall, like the Viet Nam war wall in D.C.

The had 90,000 people march last week in Mexico City:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...s-2281626.html

I think we should send Ron Paul to Mexico and we should follow him for these weekend street protests. And then we should start our own street protests in the US. In the US our protest signs should be 2 liners where the first line (in Spanish to highlight the 35,000+ Mexican drug war deaths) say "No Mas Guerra de las Drogas" and then variations will have 2nd lines that say:

"Less Taxes for Cops"

"Less Taxes for Prisons"

"Less Taxes for Prison Guards"

"Less Taxes for Govt Employee Unions"

"Less Taxes for Border Guards"

"Less Taxes for Checkpoints"

"Less Taxes for the Military"

"Less Taxes for Murder"

etc.

If Arabs and now Mexicans can protest in the streets, why not have Ron Paul lead us to join in just across the border in the blood drenched streets of Mexico. We will be able to get lots of support from our lefty friends and we won't have to worry about 90% of the Tea Partiers stinking things up. And we should fly Peace & Sound Money and No Mas Guerra de las Drogas blimps with Ron Paul's stenciled profile on the nosecones too.

 

[parocks]

The one idea that I saw that I liked a bit is "Ron Paul Democrats". Or, "tea party Democrats". Basically, as I see it, to challenge Democrats who are insufficiently something. Democrats do expect their politicians to be antiwar, more so than Republicans do. Target college towns with an anti Monsanto message. In November 2012, it would be good to have someone in Madison, WI hammering Obama and the Democrats about their true environmental record. Now, I'm not sure how that helps Ron Paul get elected, but having a "green" type candidate getting environmentalists pissed off at Obama in places like Madison, WI, Ann Arbor, MI, Boulder, CO, Seattle, WI, Portland, OR, Portland, ME. Just have a "Green Tea Party" Green tea is good for you. And their candidates hang out where NPR is huge, and point out the main failings of the Obama administration on issues like GMO, codex, banning suppliments, raw milk. A certain kind of Democrat is definitely not happy with Obama on healthy food, healthy environment. They might care about Global Warming too, but the case can be made, by a "Green Tea" candidate that Obama does not care about your health, he cares about big business like Monsanto and ADM and the chemical companies and the pharmaceutical companies. Companies like Gore tex are poisoning people and they still say their products are good for the environment because they use less energy on cleaning the garment. This isn't Ron Paul stuff, so these wouldn't be Ron Paul Democrats necessarily, but attacking Obama on Monsanto in leftist college towns and other leftist towns could take a chunk out of Obama in places he needs big margins.
Milwaukee would likely be strong for Obama, but a Green talking down Obama would take down Obamas margin in Madison. And Wisconsin is likely to be a target for a pickup for Ron Paul. Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan.

Threads like these destroy any hope I have for Ron Paul actually getting the Republican nomination.

While some of these things are fun and will undoubtedly expose Ron Paul to a few extra people, most are a colossal waste of time and have little effect on the direction of this country.

The boring stuff is what wins. Do you think the neoconservatives and the progressive left are winning by flying blimps and launching submarines?