The aftermath...what now?

[limequat]

Yep, me too....He's it for me.

And I had to laugh about the post that said what went down had nothing to do with media bias...puleeese....if he had 24/7 coverage like Trump, had his name mentioned alternately with Trump's like Cruz, or was the establishment choice like Rubio, he would have won..I am amazed he is still standing..for months he's the only one they keep trying to drive out of the race; every interview includes when are you dropping out...I mean, come on, get real...the fact that he beat Bush is a miracle...I'm going to be phone banking as soon as I start getting the NH surveys and I'm sending a donation.

Out of rep for Squirl.

 

[thatpeculiarcat]

geez, one State and its over for you?...

you guys are pathetic.

No no, you're right. He's going to win NH, NV, KY, ME and so on with 73% of the vote.

The fact that he's polling 6th-7th in NH and nationally, and just about every other state, and the fact he only got 9,000 votes in IA is writing on the wall for us.

I'd rather come to terms that we lost now, then have to prolong the agony like the last 2 cycles.

 

[CPUd]

No no, you're right. He's going to win NH, NV, KY, ME and so on with 73% of the vote.

The fact that he's polling 6th-7th in NH and nationally, and just about every other state, and the fact he only got 9,000 votes in IA is writing on the wall for us.

I'd rather come to terms that we lost now, then have to prolong the agony like the last 2 cycles.

You can do that, but you won't be doing it in Rand's forum while he is still running.

 

[derek4ever]

Rand has had a bad hand. I think he still has time to straighten the ship and learn from what happened last night. We know rand can win a general election. He's got the right temper. But if he can force the conversation and narrative to be about killing our debt, he can end up coming back. It's 1 loss and we have 55 contests left, he can have a good showing. Rand needs to remember how he did it in 2010 before it's too late.

 

[01000110]

I'm curious to see how he does in NH. Let him decide after that if he wants to continue.

And when/if he goes back to being a great Senator I hope he is a giant pain in the ass for whomever is the next president.

 

[laissez faire]

I'll be in New Hampshire on Sunday because there is still value and possibility requiring my energy. That said, consider this when you consider strategy:

Suppose Rand received 50,000 votes last night instead of Cruz. Who would they be? Answer, a mix of people voting for very different reasons, from pot legalization to anti-war, to liking curly hair, to Austrian economics, to chemtrail crusading, to Audit the Fed, to having a hot neighbor caucusing for Rand, to wanting a doctor in office and no longer liking Carson, to balancing the budget, to Read the Bills and on and on.

The 'liberty movement' is finally breaking away from the mistaken thinking that has always accompanied it since 2007: that "we win" when 50 million people think like "us." Ron's support came from diverse and often unsophisticated ways of thinking. Stop trying to sell people the whole liberty electronics superstore... just bring people in based on one or two products they need. I don't care why you vote for Rand, just tell me what you're looking for and I tell you how Rand is probably your guy. Joining a movement is not necessary.

 

[wizardwatson]

I'll be in New Hampshire on Sunday because there is still value and possibility requiring my energy. That said, consider this when you consider strategy:

Suppose Rand received 50,000 votes last night instead of Cruz. Who would they be? Answer, a mix of people voting for very different reasons, from pot legalization to anti-war, to liking curly hair, to Austrian economics, to chemtrail crusading, to Audit the Fed, to having a hot neighbor caucusing for Rand, to wanting a doctor in office and no longer liking Carson, to balancing the budget, to Read the Bills and on and on.

The 'liberty movement' is finally breaking away from the mistaken thinking that has always accompanied it since 2007: that "we win" when 50 million people think like "us." Ron's support came from diverse and often unsophisticated ways of thinking. Stop trying to sell people the whole liberty electronics superstore... just bring people in based on one or two products they need. I don't care why you vote for Rand, just tell me what you're looking for and I tell you how Rand is probably your guy. Joining a movement is not necessary.

Are we always going to have a Ron or a Rand? Doubtful. I think the strategy definitely needs to be about some kind of organization supporting the movement.

You along with many, many others I've read so far today all seem to think refinement of campaign strategy is the key. I would say it is precisely the attempts to bolt the movement onto a campaign that has left many behind.

Electoral politics is the box the movement is trapped in. Instead of people thinking about strategically getting the movement out of the box, most of the "advice" seems to be that we haven't folded ourselves into a small enough unit to make ourselves invisible to the people we are trying to trick into voting for our liberty candidate.

We need an organized movement with metrics for "winning" that are based on things we do instead of things we exercise little control over.

 

[Krugminator2]

I do think it is important to have a credible liberty running for President. The advertising and exposure is enormous.

The problem is I doubt Rand will run in 2020, which leaves a big hole. People forget Rand raised $25 million between PACS and his campaign in just 2015 for this run. Ron and Rand were outliers in their ability raise money. Massie and Amash really have trouble fundraising. I think Amash is the best message candidate. He has no chance of winning. The only other person who seems plausible is Mark Sanford. But a Mark Sanford run would have a Jim Gilmore feel and he isn't really big on the education part of running even he is great on the issues.

That's why it is so frustrating that people couldn't not see how obviously great Rand is as a candidate. I don't expect someone as good as him to come along in my lifetime but would love to be proven wrong.

 

[liberty_nc]

I do think it is important to have a credible liberty running for President. The advertising and exposure is enormous.

The problem is I doubt Rand will run in 2020, which leaves a big hole. People forget Rand raised $25 million between PACS and his campaign in just 2015 for this run. Ron and Rand were outliers in their ability raise money. Massie and Amash really have trouble fundraising. I think Amash is the best message candidate. He has no chance of winning. The only other person who seems plausible is Mark Sanford. But a Mark Sanford run would have a Jim Gilmore feel and he isn't really big on the education part of running even he is great on the issues.

That's why it is so frustrating that people couldn't not see how obviously great Rand is as a candidate. I don't expect someone as good as him to come along in my lifetime but would love to be proven wrong.

Well there is another candidate, revolt

 

[Theocrat]

Rand Paul is the Only One Standing For Truth

Simple Truth is this:

The campaign did great. The volunteers did great. The Iowa voters suck.... and it clearly does not appear to be Rand's time. The country is on a war footing. Boobus couldn't care less about personal responsibility and individual liberty. They want to kill the brown people and want more free shit. The only difference between the parties is superficial. The only thing that can bring some fire into the liberty cause is a major economic collapse or something similar.

Well I'm with Rand until he quits (and even then, I have no one else to vote for), but I do think he needs to work on rebuilding his base of support. Rand at one time had the liberty vote, parts of the conservative base, and part of the anti-establishment base. I think for one reason or another (perhaps in some cases was self-inflicted, while others out of his control) Rand started losing some of his share in the conservative and anti-establishment crowd. Rand had a good amount of support/people who were favorable towards him at places like Breitbart, Redstate, and TheBlaze, but that no longer appears to be the case. I think Perception is a big issue. Somewhere along the line a perception was created that Rand was no longer a viable candidate to much of these people, and his favorables started tanking and many started becoming outright hostile towards Rand. Perceptions are powerful and can lead people to view someone in a light that isn't really consistent with reality. Rand unfortunately got stuck with negative perceptions and hasn't shaken it off yet. That's how I see it anyways. It's nothing that can't be fixed, though will probably take some time, but in the end I'm happy with Rand. He is fighting for liberty and that's all I can ask for.

geez, one State and its over for you?...

you guys are pathetic.

Hell no, I'm in as long as Rand is running.

Yep, me too....He's it for me.

And I had to laugh about the post that said what went down had nothing to do with media bias...puleeese....if he had 24/7 coverage like Trump, had his name mentioned alternately with Trump's like Cruz, or was the establishment choice like Rubio, he would have won..I am amazed he is still standing..for months he's the only one they keep trying to drive out of the race; every interview includes when are you dropping out...I mean, come on, get real...the fact that he beat Bush is a miracle...I'm going to be phone banking as soon as I start getting the NH surveys and I'm sending a donation.

I agree with all of the sentiments above. We must continue to "stand with Rand" because he is the only candidate who represents true, Constitutional government and fiscal/monetary conservatism.

Those of you claiming that Sen. Paul's campaign is over, or that he can't win now, or any of the other defeatist arguments we've seen since yesterday have really lost sight of what's at stake here. Sen. Paul's campaign is about his standing as a witness to the entire United States of America that there are still politicians who are not afraid to speak the truth against "American Exceptionalism"; that there are politicians who rightly understand the root causes of our economic system and can provide a path which brings prosperity to all Americans; that there are politicians who don't need to manipulate voters by appealing to emotions but by stating facts and using reason so that the truth is firmly established; that there are politicians who truly care about the next generation's well-being and are fighting to preserve life (in the womb and in sand dunes); that there are politicians who want to actually stop spending money that we don't have and thereby balance the national budget; that there are politicians who are fighting to end regulations which have crippled our economy and have transformed our rights into privileges; and the list goes on.

In short, Sen. Paul is the lone voice "crying in the wilderness" and standing up for the principles which once made America the best republic in history. He is our representative, in the midst of crooks, cronies, commies, and comedians. And if we want a better future for our kids, and if we believe that our principles are worth fighting for (even if the whole world rejects them), then we need to continue standing with Sen. Rand Paul because Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Carson, nor any other candidate will have intelligent and fruitful plans about ending socialized medicine, auditing the Federal Reserve, cutting spending across the board, ceasing to be the world's police, and most importantly, ending the genocide that is known as abortion.

So, what we should not be doing now is bitching, moaning, griping, complaining, weeping, and blame-shifting about Sen. Paul's results. Until Sen. Paul suspends his campaign, we all have work to do in these upcoming states. Our future and our children's futures depend upon it.

 

[Michael Landon]

Out of rep for Squirl.

I got you covered.

- ML

 

[squirl22]

Out of rep for Squirl.

What does that mean?

 

[Chieppa1]

I really think Rand's attacks on Trump really hurt him. All it did was make people on the left give him some compliments. He could have been attacking Cruz and Rubio the whole time.

At least right now he would be able to verbally "side" with Trump in the minds of the mindless voters. His path to success is destroying Rubio and Cruz. He can't do that if he spends all this time dropping insults at Trump.

The issue Rand has is that he has to work with these two after the election. His father gave zero fucks about this, but Rand seems to give a crap.

Having Trump on your good side definitely helps. Rand should have never tried to be the candidate that stands for the Republican Party (first debate). He should have pointed out that the success of Trump is because of the failing of Washington. And he was here to fix those problems.

Now he's fighting three camps.

 

[69360]

I like your running for senate on the LP idea. I don't know if it's possible with ballot deadlines. But if anyone could get elected to the senate for the LP it would be Rand. I don't think he would do it though.

The people arguing that it isn't over in the presidential primary are clinically insane.

 

[CPUd]

I like your running for senate on the LP idea. I don't know if it's possible with ballot deadlines. But if anyone could get elected to the senate for the LP it would be Rand. I don't think he would do it though.

The people arguing that it isn't over in the presidential primary are clinically insane.

It's over when Rand gets elected POTUS, or when he decides not to. Your behavior in Rand's support forum is shameful, and you should consider whether or not it is going to be worth it for you to keep posting in here.

 

[Crashland]

It's never over til it's over, but right now I would not bet on Rand even with 100 to 1 odds. I will support him as long as he is still running. As for what happens next, Rand doesn't have much to lose at this point so I'd be fine with him just going scorched earth and use every opportunity to rebuke the GOP and the media and everything else. If he wins re-election to the Senate, then I wouldnt mind seeing him defect from the GOP.

 

[PhineasFinn]

I'm supporting Rand until he officially suspends his presidential campaign. I predict it may be after the South Carolina primary. If he has the funds to keep going afterwards, more power to him; he'll have my support. However, as much as I don't want to agree with McConnell, I really think he should sure up his senate seat. Having a Paul in Congress is vital for our country, especially since Clinton is likely to win the general election.

 

[laissez faire]

Are we always going to have a Ron or a Rand? Doubtful. I think the strategy definitely needs to be about some kind of organization supporting the movement.

You along with many, many others I've read so far today all seem to think refinement of campaign strategy is the key. I would say it is precisely the attempts to bolt the movement onto a campaign that has left many behind.

Electoral politics is the box the movement is trapped in. Instead of people thinking about strategically getting the movement out of the box, most of the "advice" seems to be that we haven't folded ourselves into a small enough unit to make ourselves invisible to the people we are trying to trick into voting for our liberty candidate.

We need an organized movement with metrics for "winning" that are based on things we do instead of things we exercise little control over.

A movement with political might is millions of people in agreement on a whole batch of principles. You appear to be doing what so many have done since '07, overestimating the agreement among those who support or have supported Ron, Rand, Gary Johnson, Harry Browne, et al. My post illuminates the opposite, that political might comes, and has come, from the stitching together of many fewer and more basic notions. I'd bet you and I agree on very little, definitely not this:

"We need an organized movement with metrics for "winning" that are based on things we do instead of things we exercise little control over."

Yet we might lock arms at a Rally for Rand or a forum like this.

 

[Anti Federalist]

The aftermath...what now?

 

[AngryCanadian]

It's never over til it's over, but right now I would not bet on Rand even with 100 to 1 odds. I will support him as long as he is still running. As for what happens next, Rand doesn't have much to lose at this point so I'd be fine with him just going scorched earth and use every opportunity to rebuke the GOP and the media and everything else. If he wins re-election to the Senate, then I wouldn't mind seeing him defect from the GOP.

He would have much better chances of being elected as a Democrat he could use his defection to show how the War Party is not tolerant towards the minorities and migrants and only care about starting conflicts.