Paul Volunteers Trying To Get To New Hampshire Any Way They Can
Not all of them are coming because of Operation Live Free Or Die. I spoke to one young musician from Missouri who is trying on his own to raise funds to go, just because he wants to support Ron Paul. by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Friday, November 30, 2007
A few weeks ago, I did a story about a young Google employee who quit his job and is organizing 1,000 volunteers to go to New Hampshire to work in support of Ron Paul's candidacy. Operation Live Free Or Die has since identified nearly 300 volunteers and has high hopes of recruiting and finding housing for 1,000 to meet the original goal.
Today I want to take a look at another volunteer who is just trying to get himself and a few of his friends to New Hampshire. Aaron Jones of Missouri, a deferred graduate of the University of Indiana, tells a story that is interesting for two reasons. First, his effort is independent of the Operation Live Free Or Die project. Second, his insights and feelings about Dr. Paul's candidacy provide a revealing window into why it is that Ron Paul is so appealing to young people this election cycle.
I found Jones via a YouTube video he recorded in the early hours of this morning. There are hundreds, even thousands of such videos out there, all created independently by YouTube members regarding the Paul campaign. In a sense, I picked Jones' video somewhat randomly, but I also picked it because it shows exactly how "grassroots" the Paul campaign truly is.
Jones told me that he is connecting with the Free State Project, which is a political activism group which previously designated New Hampshire as the state where they will try to build a large freedom-oriented political infrastructure, in his attempt to find a way to get to New Hampshire. "I'm new to all this, as a lot of Ron Paul people are," he said, after I gave him a brief history of that project. "It's been amazing to watch the Paul campaign develop, and being a part of it has been simply incredible."
Jones told me about what he is trying to do, "It all depends on whether I'm able to raise the money. I'm in between jobs, and I don't have much money to get the kind of equipment I want."
What kind of equipment is he talking about? A/V equipment! Jones is a musician in a band called the American Pirates, and he previously performed in Iowa at an event where Ron Paul spoke. He and his friends want to go to New Hampshire with a small PA system, a projector and a screen to play videos at campaign events, figuring it is the best way they can contribute to the campaign. That's why he's using YouTube to try to raise some funds.
Organizing plans and events like this on a local level is nothing new to Jones. He helped organize and produce "Paulstock," a local music festival held about a month ago in Bloomington on the Indiana campus. He also helped produce a video to promote that festival at another event at a local pizza place called, "Ron Paul: Love Him Or Hate Him." Said Jones, "That was really, really great. It wasn't a huge room, but it was packed."
As with most locally organized Paul activities, these had their origins in one of the more than 1,000 Paul meetup groups around the country. Jones, said, "I knew from the moment that I decided to support Ron Paul 110% or more, from that moment I knew that I want to be in New Hampshire, to be there when whatever happens, happens. How exciting would that be to have Ron Paul win that primary!"
Jones likes to perform and then talk about and play videos of Ron Paul between songs and between sets. What a unique and interesting way to combine music and politics! It reminds me a bit of the musicians of the 1960s and early 1970s, such as the Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Country Joe & The Fish, etc. Even the event they held, Paulstock is reminiscent of Woodstock from roughly 40 years prior, albeit on a much smaller scale. Says Jones, "What I like to do if I've got an audience is to engage in discussion with the audience asking, 'What do you think? Have you seen anybody like this?' and try to get a dialog going with the audience, even if they only say something negative. Usually there's a group of Ron Paul supporters there too."
How did Paulstock do? Well, they had eight bands play a total of nine hours. Not bad at all. Jones guesses that roughly 150 or so stopped by hear the bands for some or all of the festival, which is pretty good considering that it was very cold that day (although there was hot apple cider available, which helped). Also, the fundraiser they held (see the video link above) was picked up as a story by CBS News, although Jones bemoaned the fact that their local newspaper (the Bloomington Herald Times) blew them off. "They're just totally ignoring us," he says. "It's hilarious. They're missing out on all sorts of links on their website," as a result of the missed coverage. "You even have to pay $5 just to see what they've put online. It's just totally stupid," he says. He later took a call from one of the Herald Times's editors who apologized for the previous lack of coverage of the event, admitted that they dropped the ball, and promised to follow up with an interview soon, but that was the last they heard from them. Jones thinks that it has to do with the university town being very liberal, and the population is very torn about the Paul candidacy in contrast with some of the Democratic candidates. As he puts it, "What other presidential candidate has inspired people to put on a nine hour outdoor concert?" He also said:
"I called and talked to the events/calendar editor...I mentioned that our student group for Ron Paul was probably larger and certainly more active than the Obama student group (it is larger and 100 times more active). She scoffed and half laughed, 'I don't know about that, where did you get that information?' After this she pointed out that the paper doesn't really cover political events until closer to the election. It isn't true! You'd think they'd want the web traffic. CBS covers us but we don't exist to our local paper!"
He also talked a bit about his own campaigning efforts:
"It's funny. I'll be holding signs at the central gate, and you'll get a mixture [of reactions] from professors. You'll either get a big smile, or you'll get a 'naughty' shaking of the head. I've been watching their reactions to learn how to present myself better.
"The same thing I've gotten when I've done sign waving on the roads and highways, it seems that some of the older men, upper class, I've seen them shaking their heads [as if to say], 'Oh, this is terrible! What's going on?'
"But there's a lot of professors, older people, employees of the university who have actually been following Ron Paul for years, and that surprises me because I didn't realize that he has kind of a core, a fan base. I like to meet those people because I like to find out what they think of him now."
Jones comes from a very conservative, Christian family from middle America. As you listen to him talk, it becomes clear that this is the core of what motivates him:
"What I say to them, especially, is that Ron Paul brought me back to conservatism, by putting a different face on it that wasn't so caught up in the war. I've always considered myself a conservative, but I just became very confused around all this war on terror. I just instinctually questioned the motives behind the war.
"When the first Gulf War happened, I remember even then seeing everybody around me cheer that 'great event.' I didn't know why I thought it was so very strange. And I think it's because I read books. I think if you have a historical perspective about events, when something happens, you can tell it's a big event, it's going to go down in the history books. You can kind of put it into reference and look for the justification for it.
"I'm no huge history buff, but when you think about bombing a country for reasons that are...well, I don't know. I don't know how to put a spin on that."
It struck me that we had touched on the central point in Jones' political makeup, and that this core is likely reflected among many of the young people who are drawn to the Paul campaign from across the country. Jones acknowledges that Paul's stance on Iraq is a huge attraction to his candidacy:
"I think a lot of people are attracted to the philosophies and principles behind the policies, such as being against pre-emptive and preventative war, violating the 'just war' theory, which is rooted in Christianity but even predates that. Those kind of things for people, for instance, who read books, that jumps out at you. You learn not only is he emotional, but this is what he thinks, and yet he is able to say it in a non-judgmental way.
"What he represents in politics is something I've never experienced in my lifetime. He's not governed by political interests, corporations, or things like that. That really hits you.
"I remember one of the first questions I wanted to ask at the first meetup group I went to is, 'Why are we doing this?' We know this is going to be very much of a long shot. Why is it worthwhile? The answer everybody gave was that they saw the value in it. What's amazing to me is that at the very beginning I didn't think there was any chance of winning. The more time goes on, the more the campaign becomes more possible.
"From the beginning among people I knew, winning wasn't the main goal. Seeing this energy...driving from town to town and seeing all the Ron Paul signs, it's a very universal thing.
"There's not an official measurement yet. The polling, I think, is very inaccurate, so I try to encourage people that way. I know that not everyone feels that way. There are a lot of people who have trouble taking action unless they think that action is a part of the winning team. They want to pick the winner, which is a very American thing."
But it's not just the war issue that drives young people to Ron Paul. Jones told me a story about the first time he heard Paul speak while working at a house that serves people with disabilities. They were tuned into CSPAN that day, and Ron Paul came on to announce his candidacy for President.
"I was dumbfounded by the humility of the man speaking. I remember thinking, 'I don't really know what he's talking about, but I know I want to learn more about that guy.' It was amazing. In almost 15 seconds of seeing the mannerisms, of him speaking, of how he was running for President, I thought, 'Wow, I'm going to go investigate that person.' I had been passed other videos and so forth, but until I actually saw him and had my reaction, it was then that I started gravitating toward him."
I asked Jones what role he thinks Paul's humility and genuineness plays in appealing to young people.
"I think it succeeds. Of course, the war is a big issue, but it's amazing, he's like the grandfather that you wish you had. Very rarely do you meet someone like that who can give so much information without shame and without judgment. Without embarassment. He can be a little self-deprecating, but he's not ashamed of what he believes. So he doesn't hide it. He'll tell you the truth if you ask him a question, even if you're going to disagree with it. And then, the way he directs it, he doesn't do it in such a way that divides and conquers, the way that power-hungry people divide people into camps.
"Paul says he's a little confused by [the response he gets from young people], but he thinks it's because their minds aren't muddled by older ways of thinking. He talks about these ideas of his being young ideas. Tyranny is ancient. He's being blown away. I love whenever he tells that story about now it's the young people who are bringing their parents to his office and to the rallies. And that's just...gosh, it must make all the other politicians jealous."
"The representative from my district here in Bloomington, whose name I don't even know...I was at the Ron Paul table this summer at a festival, and he walked by. I didn't know who he was so it was kind of embarrasing when I shook his hand. He said, 'Wow, I see a lot of Ron Paul supporters. What is it about Ron Paul?' And I said, 'Well, he's the most humble politician I've ever met.' It was really ironic saying that to his face, because he was the essence of that shiny, slick, MSG politician with this big ham smile on his face. It was funny."
Those of us who report on the Ron Paul campaign often get caught up in despair over the fact that Paul isn't polished in his presentation. He often stumbles over his own words. He doesn't have a commanding presence. Some have opined that he really needs a coach to improve his public personna. But after hearing what Jones had to say, I now believe that if Dr. Paul were to get that kind of coaching it would probably undermine some of his support among young people. Humility among politicians is a rare thing, and Paul has it in spades. And who knows? Lightning could strike when it is least expected, and that humility might take him all the way to the White House.
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I've known Ron for more than 25 years. I have heard him speak many times at big dinners and smaller meetings. He has never been a great orator. It has always been his message COMBINED with his TOTAL sincerity. I vote for NO COACH. And as you say, people are falling in love with him JUST THE WAY HE IS.
I am a member of LFOD and get all their communications. Unfortunately they are not very well organized as of yet, but I hope they get there and soon.
I tried to give them a contribution but they only accept PayPal and my account there is very low. I could not use one of my credit cards to make this donation so they did not get any from me yet.
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