What I learned in New Hampshire working this weekend - *warning* divisive

[thisisgiparti]

Without the young people who are fired up out on the streets not wearing the clothes that you have deemed appropriate, this campaign would be nowhere.

I understand that you want this to go mainstream and appeal to all, but there are just people out there who can't be changed.

Knocking the guys on the ground because they are young and excited about righting the wrongs is not the proper thing to do.

I find their passion to be very encouraging. These are the voters of the future and as long as they keep these principles, we have hope that America will get better.

If this were a sporting event, say the Superbowl, then painting your face up, waving signs and screaming at strangers would be acceptable, normal behavior. Why weren't these people volunteering to knock on doors? Help out Meet Up groups? Just like in comment sections on blogs, you can either engage people or just type GOOGLE RP 08.

 

[noztnac]

Good post.

I agree with you especially about keeping yourself well groomed when you're speaking publicly.

Go pull out a one dollar bill. Check out that guy. George Washington had long hair, a wig even. Damned hippie. Now pull out a five. Check out that "well groomed" individual. What the hell is that? Some Amish nutcase?

Look folks. This is America. Land of the free. Freedom is about ideas not grooming. If you want a slickly packaged game show host who is followed by a bunch of identical suit wearing conformist minions why don't you just vote for Mitt Romney. He's exceedingly "well groomed". As for me, I'll take Ron Paul. Sure he wears sneakers with his suit. Sure he slouches when he stands, Sure he's not the slickest public speaker in the world. But he is principled, honest, and his ideals are firmly rooted in the views of the founding fathers. This country is about we the people not we the well groomed conformist sheep.

 

[klamath]

I agree with not so much of the dress code part but the in your face antics of the grassroots being harmful.
I think HQ made some big mistakes and the number one in not having RP live in NH the last 3 months shaking hands and getting his message to the people one on one. RP got so much money that he thought he could sell the message through tv and radio ads.

 

[Soccrmastr]

Hope you manage the NYC meetup better

 

[D B Branyers]

Wow! Stunning. I completely disagree with you. Being an American is about being an individual, not conforming to some perceived ideal. You should be happy Ron Paul attracts a broad spectrum of people.

And I'll end with this. It is extremely disingenuous to emulate a 70 something year old Republican in order to get him elected. Ron Paul is running to be our public servant not our king. Fortunately Ron Paul understands that the movement makes him and not the other way around.

Are you sure you are an American?

This is complete BS. These groups are so obnoxious, no one will touch them with a 10 foot pole. They cause a scene, make a stir and it is 100%, a piss poor image. It is a complete detriment to the campaign.

 

[noztnac]

A final note. Quit worrying about other supporters. Worry about yourself. Lead by example not by criticizing other's personal appearance. By the way, telling people they are not well groomed or properly dressed is flat out rude. Note that Ron Paul is proud of all of his supporters so long as they share his love for the constitution.

 

[sharedvoice]

There are many Ron Paul supporters that conduct themselves in a professional manner. I am a 32 year old USMC Veteran working in Law Enforcement today. My long hair "hippy" days are long gone. *lol*

 

[RWill]

1. Chase down TV personalities who have verbally attacked Ron Paul. Curse at them and insult them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p9uBLqz958

Great video. Wish I was there with an egg.

 

[Apparition]

image matters, yes it does, especially when you are representing a candidate...

We often forget that it's our politicians who are supposed to representing us.
Fact of the matter is.. Hannity and Fox are getting hounded and protested 'loudly' because of THEIR actions.

The supporters have tried to play nice.. they've emailed, called, and respectfully tried to get through to these people and it has failed, and I find absolutely NOTHING wrong with being vocal about their beliefs. They aren't just representing Ron Paul.. they are representing themselves, truth, and freedom.

 

[Cardinal Red]

1. Chase down TV personalities who have verbally attacked Ron Paul. Curse at them and insult them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p9uBLqz958

2. Grow your hair long. Longer and more unkempt the better. Republicans listen to you better. Along the same lines, grow the wildest most unkempt beard you can. Visible tattoos also help sell Republicans and undecided indepdendents in New Hampshire. Social conservatives just love those tattoos.

3. You don't need to put a suit on to GOP events - just look like you just put on whatever was laying on your floor and come to that GOP business-attire or formal dinner or bruncheon. Yellowed Ron Paul Revolution t-shirts work well with jeans. It doesn' matter that all the other Republicans are wearing suits - you'll fit in and they'll listen to you anyway.

4. Yell and interrupt all TV news appearances. It especially helps if you yell out things like "the fed is evil" and "abolish the fed". 98% of people already know that the fed causes damage and want it yelled out. Its not necessary to explain yourself in more well-mannered tones and discuss the problems of inflation and printing money and overspending. Yelling "abolish the fed" to voters is enough.

5. It doesn't matter what voters want to hear. What matters is that you say what you want to. Don't use Ron Paul's phrases to promote his message - use your own! Don't use his website, RonPaul2008.com, under Issues, to learn phraseology about how to discuss issues - come up with your own more advanced, radical ones!

6. Spend your time talking to voters who are wearing "Huckabee", "McCain", "Hillary", and "Obama" buttons. Argue with as many Giuliani volunteers as you can. Those are the people you need to convert. Just because they're volunteering for another campaign doesn't mean their minds are made up. Don't bother talking to the 40% who are undecided voters...convert other candidates volunteers!

Avery, you are 100% on the money. The folks engaged in this sort of behavior nothing about winning elections, but everything about being self-righteous, crying about the "revolution" and alienating independents. Guys clue in, it's not about whether you can morally justify your action because so and so is such a jerk, its about whether your action leads to more votes for Dr. Paul, which is the ONLY way that we can show power as a movement. It would be amusing to hear their pathetic defenses of their behavior if it weren't so sad. Ultimately, I regret say Dr. Paul himself bears a lot of the blame for not communicating clearly with his supporters about the type of behavior he expected. It would never have stopped all of the bad actors, but it would have dramatically reduced the number of damaging incidents.

 

[MrCobaltBlue]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jsocCWiLh3s

 

[Spirit of '76]

Avery, you are 100% on the money. The folks engaged in this sort of behavior nothing about winning elections, but everything about being self-righteous, crying about the "revolution" and alienating independents.

And I bet half the 'tards out screaming at people, throwing stuff, and refusing to engage with the Republican base won't even turn out to vote on election day.

Look at Iowa...

 

[familydog]

1. Chase down TV personalities who have verbally attacked Ron Paul. Curse at them and insult them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p9uBLqz958

2. Grow your hair long. Longer and more unkempt the better. Republicans listen to you better. Along the same lines, grow the wildest most unkempt beard you can. Visible tattoos also help sell Republicans and undecided indepdendents in New Hampshire. Social conservatives just love those tattoos.

3. You don't need to put a suit on to GOP events - just look like you just put on whatever was laying on your floor and come to that GOP business-attire or formal dinner or bruncheon. Yellowed Ron Paul Revolution t-shirts work well with jeans. It doesn' matter that all the other Republicans are wearing suits - you'll fit in and they'll listen to you anyway.

4. Yell and interrupt all TV news appearances. It especially helps if you yell out things like "the fed is evil" and "abolish the fed". 98% of people already know that the fed causes damage and want it yelled out. Its not necessary to explain yourself in more well-mannered tones and discuss the problems of inflation and printing money and overspending. Yelling "abolish the fed" to voters is enough.

5. It doesn't matter what voters want to hear. What matters is that you say what you want to. Don't use Ron Paul's phrases to promote his message - use your own! Don't use his website, RonPaul2008.com, under Issues, to learn phraseology about how to discuss issues - come up with your own more advanced, radical ones!

6. Spend your time talking to voters who are wearing "Huckabee", "McCain", "Hillary", and "Obama" buttons. Argue with as many Giuliani volunteers as you can. Those are the people you need to convert. Just because they're volunteering for another campaign doesn't mean their minds are made up. Don't bother talking to the 40% who are undecided voters...convert other candidates volunteers!

Lmao.

+1

Credit them for trying and getting excited, but we should have been out of this type of thing months ago. We are suppose to be at the professionalized stage, guess not.

 

[Apparition]

Avery, you are 100% on the money. The folks engaged in this sort of behavior nothing about winning elections, but everything about being self-righteous, crying about the "revolution" and alienating independents. Guys clue in, it's not about whether you can morally justify your action because so and so is such a jerk, its about whether your action leads to more votes for Dr. Paul, which is the ONLY way that we can show power as a movement. It would be amusing to hear their pathetic defenses of their behavior if it weren't so sad. Ultimately, I regret say Dr. Paul himself bears a lot of the blame for not communicating clearly with his supporters about the type of behavior he expected. It would never have stopped all of the bad actors, but it would have dramatically reduced the number of damaging incidents.

The movement is much bigger than Ron Paul.. and he is well aware of that.
If Hannity and Fox were about the truth and not about blatant lies and deceit, then they wouldn't have protesters acting that way towards them.

The protesters are an EFFECT.. not a CAUSE.

 

[CelestialRender]

And I bet half the 'tards out screaming at people, throwing stuff, and refusing to engage with the Republican base won't even turn out to vote on election day.

Look at Iowa...

Our base turned out. The Republican base didn't. Which you would know, if you had bothered looking at the county-by-county numbers before developing your theory.

 

[TheGrimace]

You're missing the point. My point was that if you want to be effective at convincing Republican voters, act in accordance with their standards, social norms, and manners.

No, I understood your point, conform, and yes, that would probably increase votes, but those who expect you to conform might not be as receptive to a message of freedom anyway. I mean, if someone is not going to listen to you because of the length of your hair or what is growing on your face, would you really expect them to become interested in Paul's brand of libertarian ideas, especially the ones that excite you?
Perhaps suggesting that more caution be used in promoting Ron Paul to others, who are largely apathetic or ignorant, would have been a better approach to this situation, rather than trying to place the blame on a group of people who are acutally out there pushing this campaign. For Christ's sake, at least they are motivated.

 

[Paulitician]

Grassroots has been taken over by nutjobs who don't know the meaning of the word "decorum."

 

[osofaux]

There is a limit to the number of people you can win over on a purely intellectual level.

There is no limit to the number you can win over with the right presentation. You want young people? Make whatever you're trying to present look cool. You want old people? Make it look respectable. Either way, you have to rely on some level of emotional appeal, and to do that you have to make your audience empathize with you.

You can tailor your appearance and your approach to fit who you are trying to reach, but one thing is for sure, being clean, presentable, and polite NEVER hurts anyone's pitch.

 

[thoughtbombing]

Concord and Manchester.

If people are smart enough to understand Paul's points about freedoms, they are smart enough to know how to sell his message and the responsibility that goes along with freedom.

When I see these kinds of things going on I try to suggest to them "What would Ron Paul do?"

Why aren't you there right now canvassing?

I know you've done a lot, but Jesus Christ... man this is not a sprint for us. We might lose all 5 of the first primaries like Bill Clinton did and still be the only team on the field come Feb.

I realize it's frustrating, but we can win bigtime in Michigan still. Very pro Second Amendment state. We can win on that alone. Failing industries are being regulated to death, taxes are high, services are low. They need the answers we got. Let's keep our eyes on the ball, please.

 

[CJP]

Kudos to the original poster. It needs to be said.

Anyone remember "Get clean for Gene" ?

We apparently need a mantra: "Be Polite for Paul."