RPF veterans...what was it like in the beginning?

[trey4sports]

I joined here after the tea party in 07, we were gaining popularity quite quickly. Im curious what it was like here at RPF when Ron Paul had just announced his campaign.

were goals lower?

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

did you expect Ron Paul to be an internet sensation?

did you think we would EVER raise the kind of money we raised in the 4th quarter, when we were in the 1st quarter?




even more important, to those of you who have been right in your predictions for the campaign/movement where do you see our support at in 2012??????

 

[pcosmar]

Learning/growing pains and HOPE.
A lot of excitement as we met others.


Now I just hope to survive, and pledge to resist.

 

[CoreyBowen999]

man I was a fan since May and we had such low expectations, or at least I did. These forums were EXTREMELY slow too. When we had our first mini bomb and took over some networking sites did I realize we had a real movement going on/ Hopefully I will be able to convert more high school friends

 

[OptionsTrader]

I thought the people of America could be awakened, maybe. But the ignorance of today's fat and lazy citizens has become more apparent to me over the past 3 years.

 

[aravoth]

I joined here after the tea party in 07, we were gaining popularity quite quickly. Im curious what it was like here at RPF when Ron Paul had just announced his campaign.

were goals lower?

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

did you expect Ron Paul to be an internet sensation?

did you think we would EVER raise the kind of money we raised in the 4th quarter, when we were in the 1st quarter?




even more important, to those of you who have been right in your predictions for the campaign/movement where do you see our support at in 2012??????

There was hardly anyone here in the beginning. The people that came here when it began made youtube vids, canvassed, held signs over freeways, street corners, and in high traffic areas an online radio station was set up, and people just started to come out of the woodwork. The work of less than 200 people nationwide blossomed into the "Ron Paul Revolution". It was amazing. I think the first fundraiser we had the Campaign set a goal for 500k, we reached it early, and then they set the goal to 1 million. We had less time to raise another 500k, and we did that before the deadline also. After that all sorts of crazy shit happened. November the 5th, the blimp, the Tea Party, Rallies were huge. We had people phone bombing radio shows for christs sake. LOL that reminded me of when lolololololol, we literally shut down the Mark Levin show, rofl, we tied up that schmucks phone line so badly that he wouldn't take anymore callers, and all he did was play music, lol remember that? He kept sayin "keep callin' libs" hahahaha.

It was different then though. This forum had a very rebellious attitude. One group even pulled a "paint the town ron" and literally put Ron Paul signs all over the city they live in. Ron Paul signs were plastered on the Federal Reserve Buildings in major cities, etc. It was fun. There are more people now, but far less than there was at it's peak. I'd like to see us get active again, like that.

 

[Cowlesy]

"In the beginning Aravoth created a video singin' doowah ditty ditty dum ditty doo"

 

[trey4sports]

things like this really help me put this movement in perspective. A time for looking back and growth.

Ron Paul has went from a no-name nobody to being one of the best known politicians in congress. You vets deserve a pat on the back and a sincere thank you for starting this movement.

thank you

 

[LibertyEagle]

I remember Aravoth's first video. After that, nothing was the same again. It seemed to give people ideas and people ran like crazy after that.

Remember how we all used to gather when Ron Paul was going to get a whole 2 minutes on the MSM? We were like beside ourselves. And the debates. It was nuts here. :

People coming up with ideas for radio slots, newspaper ads and even TV ads. Chip-ins were setup and amazingly, the money flowed in. It was a special time, that's for sure.

Nayjevin started a thread sometime back here, that was a remember when thread. You'd probably enjoy reading that.

 

[lucius]

//

 

[lucius]

//

 

[nayjevin]

Nayjevin started a thread sometime back here, that was a remember when thread. You'd probably enjoy reading that.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=153803

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

no. this is what I have learned - - with the freedom of the internet and its networking tools -- it is worth it to be involved. many people have been awakened in the past few years, and they and their families are better for it.

 

[Bryan]

Im curious what it was like here at RPF when Ron Paul had just announced his campaign.

Well, technically, at that point there was no "here". RPFs went online after the first GOP debate.

Otherwise, I think Aravoth nailed it good.

Also- all the archives are still online, you can start here:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=2

We just passed 2,000,000 posts- let me know what you think.

 

[MozoVote]

I started reading the forums a week or two before Ed Failor and the Iowans for Tax Relief debacle. I think currently, things are a little quieter than then. What will be interesting to see is what happens after this summer. Will stuff ramp back up, with the next election? Or has the RP revolution Jumped The Shark?

 

[Todd]

I looked around here in July of 07'. I was introduced to Ron Paul by a "socialist" friend of mine. Can you believe it....a socialist who thought Paul was too principled not to consider. I had heard of him before, but never looked into just how principled he was.
I went to a meetup and was sold by the willingness of the members to actually get out and do things.

On the forums....One thing I remember is how much bombing the on line poll threads there were. Everyone was trying to get his numbers up online and make it newsworthy. Not surprisingly, the MSM ignored us anyway.

We got blamed a bunch for being "spammers" back then, especially when Ron won the Fox news debate poll.

 

[Raul08]

Lots of energy, then disgust with the way the Campaign was handled, then schisms, then arguements, then fakes who said things that were statist but said they supported Paul. Then people gave up in the end for the most part. But the numbers stayed and we leveled off after lots of media coverage.

I watched the forums far longer than I had an account.

 

[dr. hfn]

I wasn't here in the begginning, but I want to be a part of that awesomeness!

 

[nayjevin]

Then people gave up in the end for the most part.

lol, not really:

Total members that have visited the forum in the last 24 hours: 758 ..PAUL4PRES.., 0zzy, 1000-points-of-fright, 29ytsejam, 2orb, 2young2vote, 98Tokay, A. Havnes, AbolishTheGovt, AcidReign, acptulsa, AdamT, Agent CSL, agentl074, aiejd1, AJ Antimony, akforme, akihabro, Alawn, almantimes2, AMBurns, american.swan, americana, AmericasLastHope, amonasro, Andrea, andrewh817, angelatc, Annihilia, AnotherPaulBot244, Anti Federalist, Anwar_S, apropos, Ara825, Aratus, aravoth, Archie, ArchPaul, ARealConservative, Arklatex, armslist, AsifShiraz, asimplegirl, Athan, atlgroup, AuH20, AuH2O, Auntie Republicrat, austin4paul, AutoDas, awake, axiomata, Ayse, B964, bah, bamacre, bander87, Barackistan, BarryDonegan, BCR_9er, beerista, BeFranklin, benc, benhaskins, BenisforRon, billjarrett, bkreigh, BlCkDeAtH, Bliberated, blocks, Bman, bobbyw24, boberino, BoBoDuFlachi, Bobster, Bodhi, bolidew, bomybomy, bossman068410, Bradley in DC, brandonyates, Brassmouth, Brian Defferding, Brian Foley, Brian4Liberty, Brooklyn Red Leg, Bruehound, Bruno, Brutus35, Bryon Huber, bubbleboy, buck000, BudhaStalin, bullterrier0, bunklocoempire, Cali4RonPaul, Call Me V, canadian4ronpaul, Cap'n Crunk, Captain America, carlangaslangas, carmaphob, Carole, CaseyJones, CasualApathy, Catatonic, CatherineBleish, ChaosControl, Chase, Chieftain1776, Chieppa1, Chiznaddy, chris198, ChristopherJ, chrysanthemum, chudrockz, cien750hp, Cinderella, cindy25, CivilRadiant, ckg242, ClayTrainor, clb09, CMoore, conqst3, constituent, Conza88, CoreyBowen999, Cowlesy, coyote_sprit, Crash Martinez, crhoades, cska80, cswake, cthulhufan, Cunningham, Curlz31, DAFTEK, damania, DamianTV, danberkeley, DanielF17, Danke, dannno, darkbluesunday, Dark_Horse_Rider, Dary, Daveforliberty, daviddee, dawnbt, dealerjim, Deborah K, decatren, demolama, Dequeant, derdy, devil21, DFF, [email protected], DJ24966, djfirm, Dojo, Doktor_Jeep, donnay, Dorfsmith, Dr.3D, DrCap, Dreamofunity, driller80545, Dripping Rain, Drknows, DrRP08, Dustancostine, DXDoug, EastWindRain, eduardo89, EgwaTlvdatsi, Elegy, Elwar, emazur, EndTheFed, enjerth, enter`name`here, eok321, eOs, Epic, eric_cartman, escapinggreatly, Ethek, Expatriate, extrmmxer, fahayek, falsinator, fedup100, Feelgood, Feenix566, fgd, Fillbaxter, financialcrisiscards, FindLiberty, Firegirl, fj45lvr, fletcher, flightlesskiwi, Flirple, floridave, foofighter20x, forfreedomforever, ForLiberty-RonPaul, forsmant, Fr3shjive, FrankRep, frank_rizzo, Freedom 4 all, Freedom Forever, FreedomFighter8008, FreedomWon, FreeMama, FreeMo P48, fsk, FunkBuddha, Gage, Galileo Galilei, Gary07, gbump, georgiaboy, georgiapeach, Gertie, ghengis86, gilliganscorner, Gin, give.me.liberty, gjdavis60, gls, glts, Godisnowhere, [email protected], Goldhunter27, goldsilber, gonegolfin, Gordon LeCompte Bolmer, Gosmokesome, gregb, Grievance, GunnyFreedom, haaaylee, Hamadeh, Hamer, hard@work, hazek, He Who Pawns, heavenlyboy34, Hiki, hillbilly123069 ...

 

[MsDoodahs]

were goals lower?

I would say yes.

did you guys EVER think we would have the numbers we now have?

I did not expect to see this in my lifetime.

did you expect Ron Paul to be an internet sensation?

Never.

did you think we would EVER raise the kind of money we raised in the 4th quarter, when we were in the 1st quarter?

Never in a bazillion years.

even more important, to those of you who have been right in your predictions for the campaign/movement where do you see our support at in 2012??????

I guess I was wrong in my predictions, so my view isn't really what you're looking for. But I'm giving it anyways.

It all depends on who runs.

 

[MsDoodahs]

I remember signing up for the Houston meetup group and trying to figure out how to use the message feature (technotard here, as most of y'all know :o). I think Josh and Bryan were part of that group...

A local businessman who knows Ron planned a fundraiser, and I got in touch with him about it to offer to help. This was JUST AFTER the dust up in the first debate with Rudy G. The man was very worried - the locals who had promised to help him with setup for the event had bailed - they got pissed because of the dust up. He told me that he was afraid NO ONE would show up, and that CNN and other national news outlets would be there and claim Dr. Paul had NO SUPPORT AT ALL!

I got in touch with that meetup group, and spread the word for as many as could come to please come out here so we had SOME in attendance.

Met Josh and Bryan, they started this place, and at the time, I honestly thought it would be LOCAL HOUSTON FOLKS ONLY here. I thought it would replace that messaging function at the meetup group site that I STILL couldn't figure out.

lol....

Boy, was I ever in for a shock.

 

[Roxi]

you guys make me smile.

from beginning to end I heard "Ron paul doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell"

and the whole time I said "I don't care, the people we are educating along the way makes it worth it to me"

I never thought he would be what he was now... there was a short point in time I thought we could win, but to me it just meant so much to be a part of what was happening.

in a nutshell it was like this.... In the beginning someone came up with an idea, presented it to the grassroots, it was tossed around and around until there was a consensus, and then people got their butts to work, and we accomplished miracles... then on to the next project.

if you want a good idea search "spam spartanburg" on this forum and have a good read