What is the official campaign strategy? No brokered convention, no third party.

[MN Patriot]

I thought this was going to be a revolution, as in third party run and a challenge to the two old parties. But I guess not. Now it is a reform movement, trying to change the Republican Party.

Ron said there is almost no chance of a brokered convention, and he will remain a Republican and not run as a Libertarian. Since McCain will be the nominee, what is the point of being a delegate for Ron? It seems to be a pointless effort of demonstrating against the rest of the Republicans. Are the Ron Paul delegates supposed to work our way through the system to the Republican national convention? For what purpose? To be labeled as unrealistic supporters of a candidate with no chance of becoming the nominee? Can anyone explain what the strategy and goals are? Or am I the only stupid one who can't "read between the lines" and figure it out on my own? Why not explain it in plain terms? Are people afraid of our opponents seeing our strategy? We have nothing to hide, we aren't trying to enslave a nation with a fiat monetary system, we are trying to liberate our citizens. What good is a strategy when even the followers don't know what it is or what we are trying to accomplish?

I really wish the campaign would lay out all the options with the positives and negatives:

Continue seeking the Republican nomination:
positive:

• be able to run as a Republican for congressional seat.
• work within an established political party.

negative:

• won't get the Republican nomination in a brokered convention since McCain is the nominee.
• working within a corrupt political party.
• won't be on the ballot as a presidential candidate.
• won't be able to take the message of freedom and limited government directly to all the voters as a presidential candidate
• Zero chance of winning the presidential election

Run as a Libertarian for president:
positive:

• Keep presenting the message of freedom to the American people until November.
• Be able to run with hundreds of like-minded Ron Paul Libertarians, helping to spread the message.
• Better chance of winning the presidential election with name on the ballot in all 50 states, than not having name on ballot at all.
• Build a true revolution by building a third party to challenge and eventually replace the Republican party.

negative:

• Have to deal with an incompetent political party that doesn't know how to strategize or run effective campaigns.
• Would have to build the Libertarian Party into a credible party, get competent people to lead the states and national organizations.
• Would have to convince many supporters to join the LP.
• Would have to sacrifice Ron's house seat if he runs as a Libertarian.
• Get blamed for "stealing votes" from Republicans, allowing the Democrat to win.

I'm sure there are many other factors to include. But my first question is still: what is the official campaign strategy?

 

[The Tao Of Bill]

Running as a libertarian forever scared Ron Paul's record when he ran in 1988. He will never be taken completely seriously because of that one scar. The libertarian party is a joke of a party. They've been around for decades and have yet to have a single successful run for any public office. They are completely disorganized and quite frankly are not worth our time.

You are expecting this revolution to take place in one year. I'm sorry but the world doesn't work that way. You can't just turn an entire establishment on it's head in one year. It would be nice. I was really hoping people would suddenly wake up but you gotta look at the bright side. We were able to convince nearly 1million people that Ron Paul's philosophy is a correct one. Now we just have to build from there.

Running 3rd party will be destroying everything we've worked for. It will turn the movement into a joke. No one takes 3rd parties seriously for anything. Even if they are 100% correct. There are just too many loyalists to the two main parties.

It will be much easier to build support in an already successful party and try to infiltrate it while it's weak and divided. Our goal for the next decade should be to get as many Ron Paul republicans into office as possible and hopefully by 2016 we will have a fresh new republican face to run on the Ron Paul platform who doesn't have the libertarian scar of Ron Paul and make sure we learn from the unorganized mistakes of Ron Paul's campaign. When the republican party is strong again it will be Ron Paul republicans in the cockpit. Because in order for the republican party to become strong again they will have to remember their original principles of limited government and no entangling alliances.

Remember. Rome was not built in a day. This will take awhile. But if we stay strong and stay politically active we will continue to press forward.

If we rush things and go third party expecting to gain support that way we will fall flat on our faces and another good movement will be turned into a third party joke.

 

[Somebody_Else]

I always thought his responses to the "will you run as a libertarian?" questions were to scare the other candidates. If Paul runs as a libertarian the democrats win.

I can still see Paul being offered a position like Secretary of the Treasury, maybe even VP. That would be a victory in my book.

 

[Feelgood]

Dude, there was NEVER any intention of a third party run. The only third party talk was from defeatist on the forums, trying their best to sabotage RP's campaign. Why do you think I have railed so hard, on all the defeatist speak here, and started putting them on ignore? NOW the defeatist are trying to derail his campaign by diverting your attention and donations away from his Presidential bid, toward his Congressional race. Guess what, those defeatist are going on my ignore list now, as well.

For some reason, typical Americans have a short attention span, and can't seem to keep their eye focused on the ball. The only thing that matters, the ONLY thing is the Presidency. If Ron Paul is not elected, for whatever reason, by 2010 it is all over. This country changes, it is all over. Hello RFID, hello NAU, hello Amero, good-bye Constitution, goodbye to all of our freedoms and liberties. There wont be a Congress for Ron Paul to sit his ass at, by 2010. Do you people not understand this? Do you all not understand we are on the brink? The breaking point? It is now or never. The hell with his Congressional seat, it doesn't matter.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!

 

[WilliamC]

I always thought his responses to the "will you run as a libertarian?" questions were to scare the other candidates. If Paul runs as a libertarian the democrats win.

I can still see Paul being offered a position like Secretary of the Treasury, maybe even VP. That would be a victory in my book.

I seriously doubt he would accept a position within a McCain administration because by doing so he would be forced to support McCain's positions even when they contradict the Constitution.

But by staying within the Republican Party and serving as the Conservative, Constitutional standard bearer he gives like minded people someone to rally around.

And of course since McCain is far more likely to lose the general election than to win it, McCain's loss will be a loss for the neocons and moderates.

Thus Ron Paul would stand to gain again by fact that he never abandoned his Conservative principles and, with the support of a million grassroots rEVOLutionaries, could wind up being one of the most powerful Republicans in DC.

That's what I think he is going for.

 

[Ninja Homer]

http://www.gopconvention.com/history/default.aspx

"National conventions combine three important functions: nomination of candidates for office of President and Vice President; formulation and adoption of a statement of party principles - the platform; and adoption of rule and procedures governing party activities, particularly the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle."

Imagine what we can do with a majority of Ron Paul supporters at the national convention. Even if many of them are blocked from voting for Ron Paul for the nomination, they can vote on changing the platform as well as the rules and procedures.

If there are a majority of Ron Paul delegates, we could change the Republican platform to match Ron Paul's platform. We could change nomination process rules, like making every state the same election process, and/or all on the same day, and/or use instant runoff voting. It would be a damn good start on completely taking back the Republican party.

Also read these threads:
"We are taking over the GOP in Alaska! THIS IS AWESOME, READ IT NOW!"

"Carol says the last RP message was not written by Dr. Paul"

That email that was sent out was very unfortunate, both with timing and the tone it was written in. Ron Paul HAS NOT given up on the nomination! There is still a chance he can get it, and we will work towards that goal up until the day of the convention!

Another thing to consider is states like MN, where delegates are not bound. Romney won, but is out, so there is a great opportunity to turn his delegates before the local conventions meet. Also, many probably won't even show up to the local conventions because they think McCain already has the nomination locked up. You may be able to bring Ron Paul supporters to the local conventions and they can become delegates if not enough delegates and alternates show up. Dress nice and don't wear anything RP. Different rules on this likely apply to different areas and states.

 

[The Tao Of Bill]

I seriously doubt he would accept a position within a McCain administration because by doing so he would be forced to support McCain's positions even when they contradict the Constitution.

But by staying within the Republican Party and serving as the Conservative, Constitutional standard bearer he gives like minded people someone to rally around.

And of course since McCain is far more likely to lose the general election than to win it, McCain's loss will be a loss for the neocons and moderates.

Thus Ron Paul would stand to gain again by fact that he never abandoned his Conservative principles and, with the support of a million grassroots rEVOLutionaries, could wind up being one of the most powerful Republicans in DC.

That's what I think he is going for.

What makes you say that? Maybe if he accepted a VP position but not secretary of treasury. The secretary of treasury is there to inform the president not agree with the president. Though I could see how you could be confused due to the 8 years of the president surrounding himself with yesmen.

 

[RonPaulFTFW]

we stay in and keep our voice out there.

a thorn in the side getting our view heard.

that's about all we can do from this point on.

 

[AlexMerced]

Vlog #34 - Ron Paul, a Brokered Convention, and the Movement

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qd0gVoyDnaM


that video explains everything

 

[bcreps85]

Fact is, him running as a Libertarian in the past has hurt him in this election. He's the only real Republican running, but they forever use his past to call him a Libertarian instead now.

The only way to take this country back is to counter-hijack the GOP.

 

[The Tao Of Bill]

A brokered convention is not going to happen. McCain has pretty much officially won the nomination. In order for a brokered convention to happen either Huckabee or Paul will have to get at least 60% of the vote in the rest of the primaries. Paul more than Huckabee because he has less delegates. They actually went through the scenario on CNN. Even if Huckabee wins every state from here on out with 50% of the vote and McCain wins 40% and Paul wins 10% McCain will still cross the nomination threshold first. Both Huckabee and Paul need mathematically impossible wins and a political miracle to pull off a brokered convention much less a win. McCain has this in the bag and there is little we can do to stop him at this point.

 

[Steve4RP]

For some reason, typical Americans have a short attention span, and can't seem to keep their eye focused on the ball. The only thing that matters, the ONLY thing is the Presidency. If Ron Paul is not elected, for whatever reason, by 2010 it is all over. This country changes, it is all over. Hello RFID, hello NAU, hello Amero, good-bye Constitution, goodbye to all of our freedoms and liberties. There wont be a Congress for Ron Paul to sit his ass at, by 2010. Do you people not understand this? Do you all not understand we are on the brink? The breaking point? It is now or never. The hell with his Congressional seat, it doesn't matter.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!

I tend to agree with this 'on the brink' concept. The US as we have known it is in a very unstable position. We no longer have the strength of the US dollar to lean on as it has been devalued by our overspending, money printing, world power mongering 'conservative party'.

The most immediate challenge is to cut spending drastically and relieve the burden we are placing on our economy. The quickest and least painful way to accomplish this is to leave Iraq, not invade Iran, and start closing our off-shore military bases. The biggest threat to this plan would be John McCain, who will with out a doubt pursue expansion of our military involvement in the world at the cost of countless lives and our economy. The RP revolution must succeed and have an impact now, not 2012, not by slowly changing the party from within, not by being a thorn.

I will make this prediction now: If John McCain wins the White House by 2010 we will all wish we had done more...and so will the world.

 

[The Tao Of Bill]

The world isn't going to end if another establishment candidate makes it in. It will be tough times that's for sure but America has seen worse. We will pull through and when we do we need to be ready to take control. The goal was the white house. But now that goal is impossible to accomplish and we need to reevaluate our goals. Otherwise this movement will die when Ron Paul bows out.

 

[Gil]

Mom, come change me!

I came here because many RP forums are becoming increasingly negative and defeatist. Apparently, negativity and defeatism are widespread. I live in a caucus state, I am a precinct delegate to the county convention, where I hope to become a delegate to the state convention, where I will work my ass of to become a delegate to the national convention. After reading the whining from sissies on this forum, I'm just a bit ticked off.

RP will not be offered any position in a neo-con administration. Those fascist MFs hate his guts. He is trying to derail their plans to destroy America and establish a global fascist government. Why would they offer him anything? To reward him? To keep an eye on him? NFW!

I trust the wisdom of the good Doctor. He is an astute and clever politician as well as a first-rate human being. Until I hear from him directly that his run is over, I plan to continue to work for his nomination as the GOP candidate. Maybe you're all so grumpy because your diapers need changing. Try this: explore the connection between conscious intention and physical manifestation, starting with your own personal life and then go outward from there. It's exaxtly the opposite of what you're doing here.

 

[seapilot]

A brokered convention is not going to happen. McCain has pretty much officially won the nomination. In order for a brokered convention to happen either Huckabee or Paul will have to get at least 60% of the vote in the rest of the primaries. Paul more than Huckabee because he has less delegates. They actually went through the scenario on CNN. Even if Huckabee wins every state from here on out with 50% of the vote and McCain wins 40% and Paul wins 10% McCain will still cross the nomination threshold first. Both Huckabee and Paul need mathematically impossible wins and a political miracle to pull off a brokered convention much less a win. McCain has this in the bag and there is little we can do to stop him at this point.

This is true, yet the GOP never expected Huckabum and RP to stay in the race after supertuesday. There is a small chance that together RP and Huckabee may slow the McCain machine. McCain coming behind RP in a state now could remind a lot of GOP voters they dont have to settle with him yet.

The small chance he doesnt have all the required delegates by the convention it will become a brokered convention where even he holds the majority of delegates he still could lose in the round of voting.

 

[gharalam]

I always thought his responses to the "will you run as a libertarian?" questions were to scare the other candidates. If Paul runs as a libertarian the democrats win.

I can still see Paul being offered a position like Secretary of the Treasury, maybe even VP. That would be a victory in my book.

Except the dems will win office either way...

Brace for a Hillary victory and get local paulites into office to stop her nutty agenda from becoming reality!

 

[Steve4RP]

Try this: explore the connection between conscious intention and physical manifestation, starting with your own personal life and then go outward from there. It's exaxtly the opposite of what you're doing here.

Here is one for you: 'The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within.' Mahatma
Gandhi

My point is a bit more altruistic in that of ending the war and our interventionist policies.

 

[seeker1]

If you ask me and I don't know why you would...

I thought this was going to be a revolution, as in third party run and a challenge to the two old parties. But I guess not. Now it is a reform movement, trying to change the Republican Party.

I'm sure there are many other factors to include. But my first question is still: what is the official campaign strategy?

There is no strategy to win and there never was. And except for all the hoopla, the presidential campaign is over.

The focus has changed to keeping the congressional seat and those of us supporters that still have primaries to go are left wondering.

Too sad.

 

[seeker1]

I'm confused.

Maybe you're all so grumpy because your diapers need changing.

Your title suggests that you are the one in need of a diaper change.

 

[MN Patriot]

Running as a libertarian forever scared Ron Paul's record when he ran in 1988. He will never be taken completely seriously because of that one scar. The libertarian party is a joke of a party. They've been around for decades and have yet to have a single successful run for any public office. They are completely disorganized and quite frankly are not worth our time.

You are expecting this revolution to take place in one year. I'm sorry but the world doesn't work that way. You can't just turn an entire establishment on it's head in one year. It would be nice. I was really hoping people would suddenly wake up but you gotta look at the bright side. We were able to convince nearly 1million people that Ron Paul's philosophy is a correct one. Now we just have to build from there.

Running 3rd party will be destroying everything we've worked for. It will turn the movement into a joke. No one takes 3rd parties seriously for anything. Even if they are 100% correct. There are just too many loyalists to the two main parties.

It will be much easier to build support in an already successful party and try to infiltrate it while it's weak and divided. Our goal for the next decade should be to get as many Ron Paul republicans into office as possible and hopefully by 2016 we will have a fresh new republican face to run on the Ron Paul platform who doesn't have the libertarian scar of Ron Paul and make sure we learn from the unorganized mistakes of Ron Paul's campaign. When the republican party is strong again it will be Ron Paul republicans in the cockpit. Because in order for the republican party to become strong again they will have to remember their original principles of limited government and no entangling alliances.

Remember. Rome was not built in a day. This will take awhile. But if we stay strong and stay politically active we will continue to press forward.

If we rush things and go third party expecting to gain support that way we will fall flat on our faces and another good movement will be turned into a third party joke.

I agree The LP is a joke, but it could be reformed with enough capable people joining. Of course the Establisment ignores and smears the LP at will. If they had a candidate running in every district running decent campaigns, they could get the right ideas out there, but it would be an uphill battle.

Of course if there were enough Republican running for Congress with libertarian ideas like Ron Paul does, then the Establishment would ignore and smear them like they did Ron.

So the Ron Paul campaign needs to work hard to convince their supporters to overrun the Republican Party. They have done a poor job communicating this idea.