Topic: Ron Paul
What is Ron Paul Doing With Your Money?
Did you participate in Ron Paul Money Bombs? Are you wondering why the Paul Campaign kept asking for money that it wasn't going to use? You aren't alone.
by Jake Morphonios
(conservative libertarian)
Friday, March 28, 2008
I can remember, not that many months ago, sitting with my wife at our computer looking over our finances. We were getting ready to make our fourth (or was it fifth) donation to the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential campaign. Like a lot of you, we were loyal members of the Revolution, doing our duty to make yet another "money bomb" contribution. One of the few reasons that Paul was getting any media coverage was because of the zeal of his vocal support base that kept helping him break fundraising records. We gave the most we could afford each time and have no regrets for putting our money where our mouths were. We also talked many friends and family members into making repeated donations.
I will say at the outset that I feel full conviction that Congressman Ron Paul is one of, if not the single most fiscally honest and responsible members of Congress. I don't feel the anger that some other folks might about how our contributions have been spent. Paul is honest.
As a private physician Paul often did services for free for patients who had nothing but welfare money to pay for services. For twenty years he has returned to the government the unused portion of his annual Congressional budget. He has never taken a government expense paid junket. He is a man of integrity.
But what's he planning on doing with the millions of dollars that he never spent during his campaign?
Yes, yes, I know. His campaign isn't officially over. Okay. But he is sitting on $5.6 million dollars in unused donations. I don't know about you, but each of those times I tightened my belt to participate in another money bomb, I did so with the belief that my money was going to be used for something - like some quality campaign ads or direct mail brochures. I never thought my donation would count for nothing.
Ron Paul's campaign, in my opinion, is woefully mismanaged. Thousands of supporters sent in over $34 million dollars - and what did we get in return? His campaign ads absolutely sucked. They were cheap, second-rate spots that looked like they were produced by a high school film club. When I saw Paul's campaign ads I felt embarrassed for him.
Think of all the big, flashy things we did during this campaign. Not one of them was financed using campaign funds. We gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to put a Ron Paul blimp in the air, and the campaign didn't so much as produce a TV ad featuring it. We financed so many other things, in addition to sending in funds to campaign headqarters. Paul frequently noted in interviews that the success of his campaign was due to the independent actions of supporters outside of his organization.
I've gleaned some information from the web on the campaign's financial status. First, from OPEN SECRETS we find the following funding statistics as of February 29th, 2008:
Total Receipts: $34,290,401Total Spent: $28,735,134
Cash on Hand: $5,570,164
I know that campaigns are expensive to finance. I've been employed as a campaign manager more than once. But what did the RP Campaign Staff spend almost $30 million on? Let's review a few items:
Advertising and Media: $10,791,097
This includes all of Paul's radio ads, television ads and associated production costs. It includes everything spent on all print advertising, internet ads, the cost of running his web site, photo shoots, billboards and all other forms of advertising.
I think that the campaign should have spent at least DOUBLE this amount to produce twice as many ads of much better quality. Paul's biggest problem was that the mainstream media won't give him any coverage. Logically, the way you GET coverage when the media won't give it to you for free is to PAY for it. But that's just me. Lew Moore must have had different ideas.
Direct Mail: $4,782,836
Campaign Salaries: $2,217,342
I did some scratching around on Open Secrets and dug up the income data on Paul's campaign manager, Lew Moore. He is earning $11,678 per month. That equates to an annual income of over $140,000. You'd think that someone making that much money would have something more to show for his effort. But I'm not complaining!
Fundraising: $1,797,221
Campaign Events: $168,457
Etc, etc, etc.
The official Campaign is essentially over. Paul will put a little more money into advertising and administrative expenses in the few remaining primary states. But how is he going to spend over $5 million dollars when he is so tight with money? And if he doesn't spend the money, what happens to it?
I know this sounds stupid, but I kind of wish my candidate was a little more frivolous with his spending. I didn't give what I did for the cash to sit unused in a bank account. If the money won't be used toward the March in Washington, which apparently won't be happening after all, or on any other major media blitzes in an attempt to win the Republican nomination, then what else will it be used for?
I'm not worried about Paul spending the money on the wrong things.
I'm worried about the campaign not spending the money at all.
©2008 Jake Morphonios, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, March 28, 2008
Last modified: Friday, March 28, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Jake Morphonios only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jake Morphonios is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Rik
Date: 2008-03-28 14:29:34
What do you mean no march in June? Last I checked, there were 13,000 people signed up for the Freedom march in June on Washington. UPDATE: 13,500... As for the money. I sent in my money to help Ron Paul spread his message. Paul and supporters have been able to introduce a sane policy to many Americans and the efforts continue. I am sure that, regardless of where the money went, my money was used to attempt to spread the message of liberty and freedom. Unlike a tax, I sent in my money willingly and, win or lose, I feel better knowing that more people are in the know than before. Plus, these are still the early stages. Think of all that is happening in the conventions around the country. Think of the fact that 40% of Americans are so fed up with the two parties that they now consider themselves independent. Think of all of the brilliant minds who are still actively supporting Paul...if you think that there aren't any more surprises left, well, I wouldn't bet on that. Finally, watch Larry King on April 1st should be interesting or hilarious or both.
Posted By: Rik
Date: 2008-03-28 14:31:55
Oh sorry...here's the address www.ronpaulmarch.com
Washington in June sounds so nice.
Posted By: spinnikerca
Date: 2008-03-28 14:39:46
I maxed out on Ron Paul's candidacy and am still spending to support grass roots efforts. I have no problem with the money he has, and understand that he wants to spend about $5 million to support campaigns of like minded individuals who would be a voting block with him in Congress, and that is fine, if it works out that way.
I DO believe that the reason there aren't so many contributions now is that supporting some unknown person and supporting Ron Paul in maybe winning are two different things to sacrifice for. We are all 100% behind Ron Paul.
If Ron Paul gets the nomination or runs 3rd party, I will max out again. But I think there are a few reasons for the current funding now going more to grass roots efforts (have you seen the chip in to get the video "High Tide" on the air in PA?). You know how the money will be used, and to be honest, some of the videos created by supporters on Youtube are better than the ads the campaign put out.
But I have no problem at all about the money I've donated, so far.
And I do urge people to support the next money bomb. If we want him to run we have to show there will be support, and we also have to wake up a country that has been told emphatically and repeatedly that he is no longer running.
See you in DC on June 21.
Posted By: Jim
Date: 2008-03-28 14:41:43
I went to that web site. They haven't updated anyting on it in over 3 weeks. They don't even have an official date planned for a march. All it says is "JUNE". Nobody seems to have any idea of when or if a march is actually taking place.... since the ron paul headquarters has said it won't have any part of planning it i don't htink anyone has stepped up to take care of the planning of a march. who is getting a permit? who is spreading the news? there is nothing specific about a march... just general info that was put up months ago when he first proposed the idea.
Posted By: RaferJanders
Date: 2008-03-28 14:54:56
So, I have been in Nicaragua for the last three weeks, these people know what freedom is, and I find the race as a joke, and so does most of the Nica's I talk to, I had a amazing talk with a old Nica on Corn Island, He feels sorry for most of us, and says that America does not represent American's anymore, Lies money and greed, With that said, Ron Paul can spend the 2500 dollars my family sent anyway he wants, Oh yeah, I was going to go to a tv station in managua today and say the truth Hillary loser, Obamma Loser, McShame the anti crist. I wish all of you the peace and love, That is what I have learned from the Nica's, they don't harbor any ill will for all the shit the USA did to these wonderful people, they know how to obtain freedom and they believe America is headed for a civil war, and they are saddned by this
Posted By: DigitalBob
Date: 2008-03-28 14:55:07
I hear you, brother. When the campaign wanted another $23 million from me in December, I had to wonder what did they spend the first $23 million on?
John McCain is in debt by a few million, but he looks like he can go back to his day job, until September. I saw him on TV with Mitt Romney yesterday. Romney might not be able to buy McCain's debt, but might loan him an extra jet or a bus. Not a bad deal for the VP job.
The Paul campaign suffered from a lack of belief that it could win. He could have hired Carville AND Matalin. He had the cash. He could have had the great advice in the primary and the general election.
Like Larry the Cable guy says, "Git'r Done!"
Or possibly he might refund the excess proportionally back to his suppporters--NOT!
Posted By: spinnikerca
Date: 2008-03-28 15:30:27
When I posted above I hadn't read the comments doubting the march. This was posted today on Youtube by the organizers (yes there are organizers) [link edited for length]
However, this is my favorite march video, so far, amongst many on youtube: [link edited for length]
Posted By: tim, minnesota
Date: 2008-03-28 17:13:15
Marketing is the name of the game, with exposure, free press releases, buying airtime, hounding MSM and anyone else on radio, and in print to broadcast the message, what ever it takes. Nope I think the national campaign ran as if they were in Texas and had a captive audience of repeat customers. I am not any kind of communications or marketing director, but I could run a better campaign than this blindfolded. Enough spilling my guts. I know America does not have another election cycle to get Ron Paul, Rand Paul or another typical statesman elected. America is crashing and far too hard for recovery. Anarchy, marshal law, suspension of our constitutional liberties is just over the horizon. Economic collapse will finish off what we know as America. Both the Republicans and MSM plus to my utter amazement conservative Christians all worship at McCain's feet. I am 50 years old, just in shock and speechless.
Posted By: Akston
Date: 2008-03-28 17:48:49
Isn't some of the money going to start http://www.libertypac.net/?
Posted By: yorktown
Date: 2008-03-28 17:55:14
If you didn't send your money with the disclaimer that he must spend it the way you see fit, then shut your complaining mouth and get to work on some other good cause.
We got a bona fide Ron Paul campaign. If you were looking for a Mitt Romney campaign, you would have had to mortgage the house again, plus the kids, and send a whole lot more than your 2,300 ameros.
$5 Million divided by each of his supportes comes out to about 23.50 each. Are you really that cheap that you would want a refund of less than $50?
Posted By: Gandalf
Date: 2008-03-28 18:20:24
In regard to campaign funds left over, we should recall that these funds were donations and so do not need to be repaid.
Now when I hear people whine that the Paul campaign wasn't run the way they would have run it, I am reminded of Lincoln's famous words: "You can please some of the people all of the time, and you can please all of the people some of the time; but you can never please all of the people all of the time." If you backseat drivers are so great at campaign organization, get your resumes to the Paul headquarters now, before the Convention. But then, if you were all that expert, you should have done this long ago.
For my part, I think the campaign has done well. It is up against the Big Guys, and to survive and prosper after dealing with them is a miracle. God bless Ron Paul. We will still need him no matter what happens in November.
Posted By: Craig
Date: 2008-03-28 18:43:38
If you add the "Advertising and Media" and the "Direct Mail" categories, the Ron Paul campaign spent about $15.5 million on advertising to voters, or about 45% of the total $34 million raised. Really, that's not bad -- Rudy Giuliani raised twice as much, and spent almost nothing on advertising. John McCain raised a lot of money early on, then practically went broke, so he didn't have much for advertising either.
So where did all the money go for the major contenders' campaigns? Most of it goes to setting up a national campaign organization in 50 states (or nearly all of them.) If you look at the results in caucus states, where having an actual organization was important, you'll find that Ron Paul (and Mitt Romney) did significantly better in those states than they did overall.
Could some of the money have been better spent? Sure. Would a few high profile national TV ads have made everyone feel better and earned Ron Paul some free exposure? Of course. But no campaign is perfect, and no amount of advertising can overcome the major media outlets giving 10 times, or 100 times, as much coverage to the competition.
As for the remaining funds, it would have been nice to spend them all in January and February, but a lot of it was raised too late to have an impact anyway. I'm sure Ron Paul will put it to good use.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-03-28 19:21:09
All I can suggest is that you be more careful who you donate money to. You fell for the doddering old man of principle and conviction when he was really just a greedy politician looking to see how many fools he could lure into precarious financial straits for his own profit and amusement.
You poor victim. Better luck next time.
Jahfre Fire Eater
Posted By: Steve at LAAG
Date: 2008-03-28 19:35:10
The internet will plan everything like magic. We don't need to do anything. Just sit back and watch the net work its magic. Unfortunately the net worked for Ron Paul, but Obama got it to translate into money AND votes. Oh well Anybody but Bush is what I am left with now. The Revolution will not take place until AFTER the US is bankrupt
Posted By: Mike Benoit
Date: 2008-03-28 19:44:41
I always get so infuriated with complainers of any stripe. If you give money to someone to use in their political campaign/agenda unless they commit some sort of fraud shut up about it. It is no longer your money. Everytime someone wants to complain about what someone else did not do I want to know what did they do.
Posted By: Jim Hines
Date: 2008-03-28 22:55:29
I love these shut up and march to the captain's orders follower types. It's shutting up and not complaining that got us Bush's wars, the Fed and any other amount of dung we now eat on a daily basis. People shutting up and taking it has sunk this country possibly for good. It's your god given duty to complain when you see something going wrong. Stand up and be men. If you can counter the complaint with logic and good sense fine. If you're just shouting folks down by saying shut up and take it slave then F U!
Posted By: Stebro
Date: 2008-03-28 22:59:40
If we can't trust Ron Paul, who can we trust? I gave more to his campaign than all of the politicians up until now and I'm 60 years old and unemployed. I'm sure some things could have been done better. I, for one, did not get out and do them myself. I showed up at a Missouri caucus and we did get some things done. I would never have done that if it had not been for the Paul campaign. I wrote several checks and counted on others to do the job. How many others will honestly say the same thing. Jahfre ... you should be ashamed of yourself. It's this kind of thinking, throwing up our hands and blaming our candidate for failing to beat the biggest political machines on the face of the earth, and turning into quitters that will defeat us. He has the cojones to stand up day after day under unrelenting assault and ridicule. Are we going to stand on the sidelines and critisize? Time to look at ourselves - not Ron Paul.
Folks, we lost this battle, but this is a war and Ron Paul never told us anything else. I trust him to spend what is left to the best of his abilities. He's a sharp, focused man of integrity. But he didn't have the Republican machine with all of its resources working for him. We are amateurs. We need experience and better organization.
Now that we are beginning to learn how the system works, we must infiltrate it and change it. RP has given us hope. Please, let's not walk away grumbling. There was never a realistic chance of Dr. Paul being elected ... but who else did we have to support?
Let's suck it in and prepare for the next battle.
Posted By: dman_nh
Date: 2008-03-29 01:16:30
Stebro.... Absolutely well said!
While I agree that the Paul campaign wasn't run as well as I had hoped, the task was clearly difficult. Between the press and the GOP machine what more could he do?
In my 35 years I've never paid attention to any other election cycle as I have this one. Much to my dismay, as so many others, I'm amazed everyday at the power of MSM. I speak to so many people, including my own family, that just take the MSM spoon fed BS and say it must be true I heard it on TV... sad fact but true. I'm hopeful of the prospect, put forward on this site, of liberty TV. I think we all should get behind this effort, if for nothing else but at least the experiment of it all.
Education is key!!!!
Posted By: dmv
Date: 2008-03-29 02:16:39
I gave my money to the campaign that best suited my ...flavor...so to speak. Just because I did not win doesn't mean my money was wasted or that the campaign wasn't run the right way. What it does mean is that there are a majority of people in the country who disagree with me and my opinions. That is not Ron Paul's fault or mine. I would guess the fault would lay with people like the writer of this article and those that agree.
Posted By: Fascist Nation
Date: 2008-03-29 03:02:57
I pretty much agree with everything the writter had to say. I agreed with Bovard on the ads. I didn't give a rat's ass about how many babies Paul delivered. Nor his immigration stance which was (sadly) not substancially different than the other nine of his opponents. I want to know where the anti-war ad and the economy ads were? Go after the minority disenfranchised GOP voters that nobody wanted and you might grab up to 33% of the vote. Compete with all the other candidates for traditional Republicans and you split the vote severely. It is really bad when the best ads you have were unsolicited and made by volunteers.
Posted By: Pablo Escobar
Date: 2008-03-29 07:34:27
I hope that the campaign spends all of the remaining $5 million before 2008 is up.
I don't think we need more money bombs at this stage, not for the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign anyway. There are however, several "Ron Paul Republicans" running for Congress who could use financial support (for example, Murray Sabrin).
Posted By: Jim Hines
Date: 2008-03-29 10:16:30
From Third Party Watch
The article also brought up Strippers for Ron Paul, an issue in which I personally played a role. It also criticized Ron Paul’s “inept campaign management team”—a charge I heard echoed by every single DC insider with whom I spoke last week regarding the Ron Paul race.
http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/03/29/recent-gravel-interviews/
Posted By: Jim
Date: 2008-03-29 12:46:11
After reading this post, I donated more.. just now before posting this response.. This man has been fighting for our rights for many years. I have no doubt that the money will go to good use, no doubt whatsoever.
Posted By: ME
Date: 2008-03-29 14:09:28
Of course, if you are running for the Republican nomination, it might make sense to hire someone other than a gay Buddhist to run your campaign...but that's just me.
You may not like the fundies, but they aren't totally blind, just yet, and they vote.
Posted By: Christian
Date: 2008-03-29 16:14:14
http://www.libertypac.net/ This is what he's doing with the rest of the money. You should be ashamed of yourself armchair quarterbacking this. The other candidates spend double and even quadruple what Ron Paul spend AND have 24-7 msm coverage. Give me a break man if you were right here in front of me I would slap you silly. People if you want to hang with some really positive folks who believe in the long term revolution that Ron Paul has started...please join us at http://ronpaulchat.net which can now be reached by http://libertychat.net as well.
Posted By: ME
Date: 2008-03-29 17:40:38
Ah...the same Liberty PAC run by the same gay Buddhist, or is a reincarnation?
Interesting....
Posted By: csb
Date: 2008-03-30 00:31:42
When you sent in your "donation" did you also send a note as to just how you expected he should spend your "donation"?
I am sure that you send the IRS a note to tell them just how they should spend your weekly donation to them as well. Unjust wars, military industrial machine, congressional pay raises just to name a few.
I truly don't get it. Ask yourself how much is the message his campaign spread is worth? only 1 million or 7 million or just how much is the American Dream worth to you, or for your children?
I will not moan and groan on how terrible of a job his campaign did . I'm sure few of us could do any better. Esp the few on here who seem to cry the most on this and other websites with RP as a tag line.
For those who wish to cry about their "donation" to the purest message of all the candidates, I beg you to move aside and shut up already and go run for office yourself. Good luck raising enough for the first set of flyers or tv spot with a platform of "I got robbed".
Remember, It was he that said in front of the nation on how the people of this country, including you whiners, how we have been robbed by our govt for years and years. which of the other candidates have stated anything close to the truths Paul stated.?
csb
Posted By: Doc
Date: 2008-03-30 01:32:43
I sent in the max amount. I'd happily do it all over again too.
And the reason it won't matter is that there won't be a new President seated next year. Some "crisis" will cause Bush to become President for Life, our new dictator.
I'll save you guys a seat near the bucket on my boxcar...
Posted By: Regnad Kcin
Date: 2008-03-30 13:39:35
Patience, Master Jake. Patience.
Posted By: Spence
Date: 2008-03-30 17:15:29
I can't believe what I'm reading here from these replies. "It doesn't matter what he spent it on, all that counts is the message." So if I just set up a site to free Tibet, would you all care to pass me a 100 bucks?
There really is a double standard among the majority of Ron Paul supporters. They will blindly follow their candidate to the end of the earth in the name of "the message". That's good or fine, but the fact is you're still following someone. You're still sheeple. Doesn't matter who carries the message. The worst part about is those of you who ridicule others for expressing their dismay are no better than those who ridicule RP supporters in general.
If Ron Paul sinks his money into the Liberty PAC or helps fund these candidates, then by all means, your money is being used for something after all. That's the future. We're talking about something that was already done. in the past . Though I disagree with the original author who wishes RP was more frivolous with his money, it does matter to me where it ends up.
Are you all here to tell me that you would donate a kidney or lung to a dying family member and NOT expect them to cherish and/or change their lives a little? Or was it just a message of love? No, it's not just a message. Would you honestly just say: "well, at least s/he's alive. It's not my organ anymore. It doesn't matter what they do with it in the future"?
I'm not blind to the fact that we are taking a stance against an establishment, and that the point included a "grassroots" style organization. But that can't win alone. As a few others have mentioned, what of this march on DC that Ron Paul says his campaign will not plan? Who is going out and getting permits and spreading the word to all the various meetup groups?
This is why the Articles of Confederation failed- it was destroyed on the inside because it didn't have a strong enough federal system. If you can't mediate or level each other's plans, then you're doomed to fail. If you don't have a central and visible media campaign, you're doomed to fail. It doesn't have to be a monolithic or gigantic one- it just needs to be precise on the money. It doesn't matter how much you spend but where you spend it.
If I may go out on a limb, for all the best intentions in the world, it doesn't matter what you plan to do if you're a bad judge of character. And it is my belief that Ron Paul isn't a very good one. That isn't to say he doesn't recognize integrity or loyalty sometimes, but the people he picked for this campaign were pretty subpar, and in turn, they had little judgement for who they shelled his money out to for ads and such.
Just because you are fighting for a message doesn't mean you can't expect a little accountability and demand some results in the near future. Yes, I know "revolutions are long-term projects", and we awakened a few people to the message- those who were already jaded by politics in general. That's a good, but very small and meaningless start since we're talking about people who have had little effect through their apathy in the political process to begin with. If you want to see better results, go after the establishment yourself.
Yes, we donated to a message- a message of freedom and prosperity. But when you actually have a chance to manifest the message, which we were capable of doing via donating to the central campaign, you should expect them to produce something distinct- better yet, demand it. Because there is nothing worse in this world than those of you who just hand money off to people and then yell at everyone else to stand up and do a better job all the while defending your candidate's every choice. It's a ridiculous notion, it rarely applies.
Deny ignorance. Become transparent.And don't let these paltry efforts to fool you from the actual goals succeed.
Posted By: USAF Vet Dan
Date: 2008-03-30 20:25:41
Sure, there were a lot of pros and cons about how the campaign was managed or mismanaged. We can speculate all day long about incompetence, intentional mismanagement, etc. But that isn't going to get our country back.
In view of the crisis our country is facing, we shouldn't waste time and energy on the negatives but focus on the positives. As a result of the RP Campaign, tens of thousands have been awakened to the truth about what is really happening to our country. There are a good number of Constitutionists now running for House and Senate seats. This couldn't have come at a better time. For that, we should be grateful that there was a Ron Paul Campaign... even with its shortcomings.
Now, let's get back to work - we have a country to save.
Posted By: Stefan
Date: 2008-03-31 09:11:23
Jake & all: I have to agree both Lew Moore and Jesse Benton were NOT the best people, to put in diplomatically. I watched their appearances on youtube and TV. I heard Kent Snyder - that also helped with the 1988 campaign - was working very hard. One can understand that during the first few months they could not afford a top notch team. Once the money came in, or at the latest after NH, they should have appointed a top notch team, incorporating some of the current campaign. But it is also easy to sit and critisize and certainly not easy to get someone that you can trust in politics...
Anyway, let us look at the future. Jake, very important it is all but over for Dr. Paul's chances to get the GOP nomination. Yes, sure, he cannot win int he conventional way, as was already clear after SUper Tuesday in February. But this does not mean Dr. Paul and us and the real historical GOP principles cannot win at the RNC. Contact Dr. Steve Parent at newspaper4paul @ hot mail dot com and check out this link:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=1346426
He can still get enough delegates. McCain does in reality NOT have the amount of 1300 and something delegates that the media say he has. www.greepapers dot net has the real actual amount. You should also read/study the RNC pdf file. Contact him ASAP! It is important that this message be spread ASAP.
Let me paste it here, in case it is taken down, some some hackers have apparently done on dailypaul . com The strategy is working so far and it is 100% according to party rules. SHow up, become a delegate or alternative delegate.
Dr. Steve Parent
I was an administrator for the Democratic party for over 6 years and i am well educated in the nomination process, I left the party to support Dr. Paul so i know what i am talking about.
Our founding fathers set the system up like this to assure that there would not have false or fruadulent support for a candidate thus forcing THE PEOPLE to become involved in the election process and to show actual support for thier candidate.
They wanted to make sure they would protect us from VOTE FRAUD and to make sure that a candidate did not win a beauty contest but instead win an election.
Any candidate and thier supporters can do exactly what we are doing if they chose to do so and i am sure from the reports we have received that Mccain does not have real support or he would have the delegates he needs registered as delegates to vote for him in the up coming convention.
If you doubt my post go and research it yourself PLEASE here : http://www.gop.com/images...
PLEASE EVERYONE COPY AND SEND THIS TO THIER EMAIL LIST AND MEETUP HEADS AND ANY OTHER RON PAUL FORUM THERE IS.
I know many of you are new to the election process but don't worry.
I am going to go into some depth of how this all works so read and then read again if you need to.
Did you know that the delegates can actually vote to unbind thier delegates that are bound by state rules? Did you know that delegates can actually overturn and previous vote? Did you know the delegates have control of the entire process?
The MSM is not reporting how to become the nominee in a situation like this so i will tell you to stop getting your info from the MSM.
I know many of you are bummed about Dr. Paul not getting more votes in the states popular vote BUT THAT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THE ELECTION SYSTEM WORKS : Let me explain to you the reality of how to become the nominee.
First stop looking at who wins each states popular vote for most of these states the vote by the people is really nothing but a straw poll and have no real bearing on who will become the nominee. The only way this matters is if 1 person receives 1191 delegates that are bound by state rules to be commited to that candidate. So if a candiate like Mccain now has 906 delegates now but he doesn't reach 1191 WHICH HE WILL NOT most of the delegates the state awarded him mean nothing and keep in mind in most of the states most of the people that represent the 906 for Mccain are actually Ron Paul supporters. NOW there is no possible way that anyone in the race can achieve this goal now because of the major split in state wins by the candidates.
Normally Convention Delegates do not matter because the convention is not brokered and we have a clear winner because someone has 1191 delegates. BUT THIS YEAR IS DIFFERENT. This will be a brokered convention there is no way around it. Do you see how the ronpaul campaign strategy will work.
When a candidate wins delegates by winning a primary that does not mean there are actual people that won acting as delegates- these are virtual delegates.
What do I mean by virtual delegates: A virtual delegate is just a number - there are no actual people YET that will go and vote for the candidate who won the particular state at the national convention. We call these people convention delegates
The actual delegates are voted on (in most states) at a statewide delegate caucus after the Primary (which is just a giant preference poll) Who can be delegates? Anyone. In closed Primary states they must be registered Republicans, in Open Primary states they can be Republicans, Democrats, Independents.
View the hard count of actaul pledged delegates here : http://www.thegreenpapers...
And we have lots of delegates.
Out of the 2,380 delegates sent to Minneapolis St. Paul in September-
-463 delegates are bound all the way through the convention some of those 463 are Ron Pauls people.
- 565 delegates will be bound through one ballot. That is, they have to follow the results of the state election on the first ballot. After that, if no candidate has a majority of delegates, they are free to vote as they please and Mccain will not receive over 50% on the first ballot.
- 383 will be bound through two ballots then they are free to vote for whom they wish.
- 318 will be bound through three ballots then they are free to vote for whom they wish.
I am not going to list every state and what the break downs are, just do the math from these numbers or look for yourself here :
http://www.gop.com/Images...
Bottom line is less than 1/2 of the delegates are bound by state party rules. Now do you see how we can win this thing?
So what happens now you ask? You look at the number of delegates that Dr. Paul has that are uncommited to the other candidates and will support him. these delegates are not decided by the popular vote ie: straw poll of the people. Since no one will have enough delegates to skate them through to the nomination we now must look at how many delegates NOT VOTES but delegates Dr. Paul has that are 100% uncommited to the other candidates and will be 100% for Dr. Paul and are free to vote for whom they wish.
This race will go all the way to the convention for there is no other way for someone to receive the nomintaion untill the convention.
The RNC will convene its annual Winter Meeting - and voters will continue to cast their ballots in the nation's primaries and caucuses. Candidates for delegate and alternate delegate to the convention will be elected - and thousands of convention participants and guests will begin planning their trips to Minneapolis-Saint Paul The first week in September 2008
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
This means that all of the people that registered to become a deligate for Dr. Paul can go to the convention and cast thier vote for Dr. Paul, now think about what i just said : Do you think for one second that all the people that voted for Dr. Paul and filed to become a deligate will not show up at the convention to vote for the good Doctor? Of course they will just like they battled the rain and the sleet and the 15 below zero winter weather to knock on doors and wave signs spreading our message.
Now i assure you that even though we didn't win the popular vote in many states WE DID PICK UP THE MAJORITY OF DELEGATES THAN ALL THE OTHER CANDIDATES IN MOST EVERY STATE EXCEPT A FEW. So yes they won the straw poll and we won what counts which is delegates.
Doesn't Dr. Paul need to WIN 5 states to be on the ballot at the convention for the nomination?
NO THIS IS NOT TRUE for people were just confused on how it actually works.
We only need the majority of delegates from 5 states to be put on the ballot NOT THE POPULAR VOTE OF 5 STATES and i assure you we have picked up the majority of uncommitted delegates for Dr. Paul in more than 5 states.
Do any of you remember seeing posts by myself and many others that said BECOME A DELEGATE? There is still time in most states to become a delegate for the convention and we are picking up more of them every day.
So please STOP! you worry too much because you do not understand how the election system works and you thought we lost didn't you? I assure you we have not!
The fact is Dr. Paul is a genius in his strategy and we are further ahead in delegates than you think and we can win the nomination.
I hope this gives a better understanding of how we have been winning even though most of you thought we were not.
NOW LET'S KEEP WORKING FILE TODAY AND BECOME A DELEGATE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
Info on how to become a delegate here :
http://www3.webng.com/ron...
Dr. Steve Parent
KEEP THIS BUMPED EVERY DAY PLEASE!
[link edited for length]
!["Reply]("http://www.ronpaulforums.com/gfx_RedWhiteBlue/buttons/quote.gif" "\"Reply")
Posted By: ruthelator
Date: 2008-03-31 14:51:02
re: post by Jim Hines on 2008-03-28, 22:55:29: I love these shut up and march to the captain's orders follower types. It's shutting up and not complaining that got us Bush's wars, the Fed and any other amount of dung we now eat on a daily basis. People shutting up and taking it has sunk this country possibly for good. It's your god given duty to complain when you see something going wrong. Stand up and be men. If you can counter the complaint with logic and good sense fine. If you're just shouting folks down by saying shut up and take it slave then ...!
Right on! 'course I'd try to find a more polite and less sexist but equally intense way of putting it.
Posted By: Vadim
Date: 2008-04-01 02:51:25
Really shocking to read some of these replies. Did you send a check with instructions on how to spend it .. unreal. No, I did not send a check with instructions on how to spend it, but I did not try to finance another coronation of a king. As Dr. Paul said many times himself, this Revolution is NOT about Ron Paul. It is about getting the country back, it is about returning to our roots, it is about throwing out the elite, ruling class that we have developed, and replacing it with government of the people, for the people. I donated money to that cause, which was represented by a man. And damn right I have a right to be pissed if it was mismanaged and wasted.
Got the message out? What message? That despite all the grassroots support we can possibly muster, we still cannot do a damn about changing anything, and most sheep, like those that are ready to crown another king, will continue to follow whom they're told to follow?
I spoke to a friend of mine from Florida, and he said that leading up to primaries there, you could not go through 5 minutes of TV programming without seeing an ad for some candidate. Florida was one of the states that Ron Paul's campaign was supposedly focusing on. My friend did not know who Ron Paul was at all. He did not see one ad for him. NOT ONE. Maybe not paying attention? Sure. After I told him who Ron Paul was, and what he stood for, he started researching, reading, googling, AND STILL DID NOT SEE A SINGLE AD ON TV.
Damn right, I'm pissed. Where did that $11 mil plus $5 mil for direct mail go? I certainly never saw a Ron Paul TV ad, or got anything in the mail about Ron Paul. Did anyone here?
Stop following and start thinking - that's a prerequisite to achieving what Ron Paul Revolution set out to achieve.
Posted By: Spence
Date: 2008-04-01 15:48:13
In response to Stefan,
We're aware of the principles of about taking back the GOP and the trivial nature of the "popular vote". I even udpated Wikipedia's entry on the RNC this year to reflect that McCain hasn't actually won enough pledged delegates. My edits still stand.
The most important part to remember is that this message transcends partisanship period. But naturally, the GOP has to be restored first. Gravel's approach was to take an outside shot at reforming both parties, which may or may not work. His presence in the primaries wasn't very strong, and now with their mass expulsion from the Democrats, that party doesn't look ready to crumble any time soon.
This is another place that our money could have gone too. How do you spread the message so people show up at the GOP this way? You need a prominent media campaign. So yes, we understand how many people that have been reached, but it could have been even stronger. That's all.
Posted By: cpd
Date: 2008-04-13 13:59:12
I have to agree with Vadim's sentiments. I havn't seen one Ron Paul ad, nor received any direct mail.
Posted By: Mark Frazier
Date: 2008-04-23 15:32:26
Ron Paul's staff completely dropped the ball. I personally spoke with Ron Paul on several occasions and had many conversations with top staff. They really didn't understand. They turned down help from experts who actually won three presidential elections in Europe. Ron Paul honestly wants individual control but he really didn't know how to implement it.
Even though the grassroots made thing happen they didn't understand the true significance of the Ron Paul Revolution. We are seeing a global change away from the centralized power structures. Its easiest to see this on the Internet. Today a single person with a computer they can get for under $500 can each millions of people.We don't need the top down command and control structures. In fact that old way is failing at every turn.
Communicating what is really happening is so important I wrote Ron Paul Revolution: History in the Making.
In the book I reveal some things many people didn't know and explain the relevance of it all to the future. The Ron Paul Revolution already won. Read the book and see why I say that. This information is so important to get out I'm giving away electronic versions for FREE to people who help share it with others.
Share Ron Paul Revolution: History in the Making and get a FREE electronic copy.
Hopefully as more people learn about the real progress we are making towards freedom it will catch on and take over. Its likely things will get really bad between now and then but there are things you can do to get us through this transition.
Keep spreading freedom.