Where Have Grassroots Efforts been HARMFUL???

[Revolution9]

There is no reason why we cannot discuss what we've done wrong. I am no nanny.

Hope not.. It wouldn't look good on a Texas male to have that mindset be on display

Best
Randy

 

[liberteebell]

The Foregoing posts are what is harmful to this campaign.

People, the enemy has been identified numerous times. Ron Paul himself has said that "We are fighting an establishment that is nearly 100 years old" and even longer in the making in my opinion.

Did y'all think we could simply dismantle "The Beast" in just a few months?

The walls of Jericho didn't just simply fall down when Joshua arrived - they had to circle the city 13 times.

Babylon refused to let God's people go (Jer 50:33)

Pointing fingers at each other is non-productive. Everyone from every background (and ideology) has something to contribute to this campaign.

Yes, we are all frustrated but imagine how Huckabee's folks and all the supporters of the dropout candidates feel today - WE HAVE HOPE, THEY HAVE NONE.

QFT!

I'm NOT saying we did anything wrong, nor am I trying to be negative. Much can be learned from failures. I'm just looking at this from hindsight and frankly, through tears after my home state of Virginia's abysmal performance yesterday. These are lessons I learned from my personal experience. Things that I was "guilty" of.

1. Thinking that a self-organizing system, devoid of some sort of organization, plans and yes, leadership was going to win elections. Like it or not (and I don't), we could have done a much better job of developing a plan for success and systematically carrying it out.

2. Being politically naive and being novices to the political system. Not knowing The System, how to win elections and how to properly work it and having few people inside the grassroots who could effectively educate and organize us and channel all the grassroots energy into winning the primaries. Things like effective canvassing, especially for super voters and turning them out on election day and effectively targeting and appealing to the conservative base. We should learn from this and carry this knowledge forth to elect future Liberty candidates. We spent too much time voting in on-line polls and not enough time earning real votes.

3. If there is such a thing: being so well informed, we were not able or effective in dumbing down our message enough to appeal to the general public. Have you ever met a Ron Paul supporter who isn't a walking encyclopedia on the Constitution, government corruption and abuses, in depth knowledge of things like the Federal Reserve, Austrian economics, etc, ad infinitum? Didn't think so. The American public wants sound bites and glitz. We offered none of the above. We all know that the American public has been effectively brainwashed. They are stuck in a false left/right paradigm, afraid of a couple of guys in a cave in Pakistan and think there "outta be a law" for just about everything. Thus, our appeal for following the Rule of law came off as being fringe kookdom. People need to be spoon fed this new information; it is a completely foreign way of thinking for most. They need to think that they arrived at this on their own; they need to be given just enough to make them want to research more; get a chink in their armor, if you will; rather than trying to bash them over the head with the whole thing at one time. We need to find things that work and share successes with others. We often need to listen more and talk less.

4. Allowing the msm to "define" us and thus, control our public perception. We spent too much valuable time trying to make the national media notice us when we should have become the media on a local level. We should have appointed press secretaries in our localities and effectively used the local press to get the media we desired, needed and quite frankly, deserved. We are informed, articulate and passionate and we could have done one hell of a job on a local level. From this day forward, we should all Become the Media. Locally.


That being said, we've had tons of successes. It made my day yesterday when one of my co-workers, a hard-core democrat, called me to tell me that he'd voted for Ron Paul because it was "a vote for America and the Constitution". We've awakened a whole bunch of people, who will, in turn, awaken other people. I've never met anyone who isn't hungry for Freedom; it's just that some of them don't know it yet. Our numbers are growing and we should be very proud of what we've done so far, improve on that and carry forward. We have a long way to go and a lot of work still ahead!

 

[MsDoodahs]

I see nothing wrong at this point with looking to see where grassroots hurt and where grassroots helped.

I agree with the thread starter's observations 1 - 3.

I'd add that a big problem for grassroots IMO has been the lack of solid knowledge among the grassroots.

 

[seeker1]

What do you mean?

I'd add that a big problem for grassroots IMO has been the lack of solid knowledge among the grassroots.

What is the solid knowledge? And where would they get it?

I used to drive through Chappell Hill on my way back to Austin from My mom's house on the beach.

 

[MsDoodahs]

What is the solid knowledge? And where would they get it?

I used to drive through Chappell Hill on my way back to Austin from My mom's house on the beach.

There was talk a time or two about possibly raising funds to hire a professional political consultant for the grassroots, to help us with all the various things that we newbies don't understand.

I thought when it was suggested that it was a great idea, as it would have provided knowledge, direction, and focus - something we sorely lack.

Never happened.

Looking back, I think we should have done it.

eta: it's almost bluebonnet time! This area is breathtaking when the pastures are ablaze with wildflowers.

 

[joemiller]

Ron Paul...

Are you meaning in your rebuttal the modern dictionary definition of conservative..one who belongs to a conservative party, or the old dictionary meaning about conservation of values like truth and family, respect for money and rule of law?

I think he means, Ron Paul, the reactionary.

But let me just quickly add here before I had to leave that another very important function that will be addressed at the RNC convention is the adoption of the rules governing the next election. I hope some of you old-timers will get together as a group and write down the policies and procedures needed to help other fellow reactionaries prevail in the 2012 election.

 

[affa]

Wow.

Some of you guys have managed to list every single thing that made us as successful as we were as... problems. Good job, guys!

 

[seeker1]

I agree with you.

There was talk a time or two about possibly raising funds to hire a professional political consultant for the grassroots, to help us with all the various things that we newbies don't understand.

I thought when it was suggested that it was a great idea, as it would have provided knowledge, direction, and focus - something we sorely lack.

Never happened.

Looking back, I think we should have done it.

eta: it's almost bluebonnet time! This area is breathtaking when the pastures are ablaze with wildflowers.

The lack of grassroots organization at the national level was indeed a major misstep.


I cut my photography teeth on Texas wildflower pictures. I carried bluebonnet seeds with me for years after I moved from TX.

 

[enjerth]

I think that the only problem with the money bombs was the fact that people kept hanging on to them.

At first, donations were slow and they weren't adding up to much. The money bomb did not replace something that was working, it energized people who were thinking about giving to become a part of something record-breaking. It was exciting, and it likely got many people to donate a significant amount more than they would have otherwise.

What we would have benefited from most would be to take the money bomb idea after the first one and make it a weekly event. People love to be a part of a great measurable success.

 

[Stefan]

I remember my first encounters with Ron Paul and the grassroot support.

The thing that got me interested was that I heard that there would be a libertarian running for president, so I googled him, Ron Paul. I liked his positions on freedom and taxes and I liked that his great integrity and consistensy. At the time I was somewhat pro war, mainly because I really hated those really annoying left wing Bush bashers who are against it, but I could cope with supporting Ron Paul anyways. Mainly because of the way he argued against it (the war is too expensive).

Some weeks later I saw a bunch of really loud people marching around, shouting things and waving signs that said "REVOLUTION" with big red capital letters. I remember looking at them thinking "I really hate those communists". Later, I understood that those were grassroot supporters of Ron Paul, but at the time it was a major turn off. I can imagine that more people think the same thing when they see loud people marching around. And if I would have seen them before I looked into Ron Paul, I would probably not have gotten involved..

On the other hand: the grassroots would never have attracted so many people if it wasn't loud, odd and annoying. Sure, grassroot support of this size and entusiasm consisting of only sane, bright and articulate people would have been great, but I don't think it would have been impossible. Ron Paul has gone a far way from the 1-2% he used to be polling.

 

[Highland]

Personally, I think the solution to the grassroots problem of organization is the key to our ability to help get Dr. Paul elected. I think we should have a website organized by "strengths"...like for us, our strength is media...so there would be a media pod where people could get free ron paul ads to run locally...print, TV and radio. There could be a pod for people who specialize in canvasing, one for signs and supplies, one for letters to the editors..and on and on. Also we need to be able to list the barriers we have to campaigning locally and nationally for Dr. Paul. Currently we only have these threads, which are great, but not conducive to collective work on the election. Our organization needs to be targeted not only for those who are working locally or statewide, but many of us can help those all over the US, like in our case with free RP ads for download. The framework needs to allow fluid passage to the local and national efforts. I think this would work because it would be self regulating and no one would have to run it...it is sort of like a forum but consisting of pods and solutions.

For the free ads to run on your local TV and Radio stations go to...

http://www.highlandmediaworks.com/ronpaulad2
http://www.highlandmediaworks.com/ronpaulad

 

[pmbug]

The grassroots raised the campaign from obscurity to having a voice. It also limited the ceiling on how much mainstream GOP voters would support RP.

The grassroots did and is still doing some amazing work. But the fringes (truthers, supremacists/separatists/whatever, etc.) did have a powerful negative influence on the GOP voters that I have talked to.

It's one thing to grab the spotlight (good job), it's another to use it well when the light is shining on you (not so good).

 

[Dave Pedersen]

Calling truthers "crazy" and rejecting them (us) has done great harm. Without full knowledge about 9/11 we cannot stop this "war on terrorism" which is doing such violence to our constitution. Those who renounce 9/11 truth (including our illustrious leader) have really shot this revolution to restore our Republic in the foot.

 

[Ron Paul Fan]

Wrong. Not rejecting them did the Paul campaign great harm. Everyone thinks these people are crazy. Associate with crazies, you'll be labled as crazy. This happened to Paul and they described him in the media as such. You truthers and white supremacists cost Ron Paul the Presidency. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

 

[Highland]

They are not calling truthers crazy any more than truthers call others sheep! This thread is to be able to analyze our progress and define solutions further....please do not take offense, but use it as a catalyst to improve our movement...we desperately need to get Dr. Paul elected and that means taking responsibility and trying to correct things that are less effective...We all recognize each other are very important. We need Solidarity right now even though we may differ in opinions.

Thanks

 

[DeanToPaulIn4Years]

Unkempt supporters canvassing and holding signs. The truthers wouldn't have mattered if the majority of supporters looked more mainstream (and cursed less often, of course).

Just because it's insulting doesn't mean it's not true.

 

[Highland]

We should not call names...please...Dr. Paul would not like it fellows..ok??!!

 

[Highland]

This thread should be SOLUTION ORIENTED!

 

[Ex Post Facto]

I hate to tell you: 9/11 skeptics make up probably 50% or more of those that support Ron Paul. Some just don't say much on the subject. There is no denying that the government is withholding video tapes of the pentagon incident. If raising that issue, makes me a truther, I think you've been brainwashed to accept whats presented to you by authority.

 

[ButchHowdy]

I hate to tell you: 9/11 skeptics make up probably 50% or more of those that support Ron Paul. Some just don't say much on the subject. There is no denying that the government is withholding video tapes of the pentagon incident. If raising that issue, makes me a truther, I think you've been brainwashed to accept whats presented to you by authority.

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