Topic: Politics
Of Course the Money Bomb Failed It is amazing to me how, after more than a year of association with Ron Paul's message, so few people understand it.by Jahfre Fire Eater
(Libertarian)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Most of the Ron Paul supporters I know are still very active in their local GOP. We are working to elect County Commissioners, City Councils, School Boards, etc. officials who will grow the base of support for Ron Paul's policies and brand of conservatism.
This is true because throughout the Paul campaign I deliberately disassociated myself with people who couldn't grasp the fact that the defense of liberty is a life-long struggle. The rest, I call them "American Idol Americans" obviously made up the bulk of the money bomb support. Fickle, whiny and uninformed about how politics works, sums up their relevant characteristics.
A lot of them are (were?) Nolan Chart authors. I read their articles about how Dr. Paul let them down and what ever other personal grievances they felt it necessary to lay at Dr. Paul's feet. They thought by participating in a Money Bomb effort that they were purchasing a service, securing a result, whatever. In a word, they merely were part of a flash-in-the-pan political emotional event. Not an actual part of Dr. Paul's GOP reform movement. That is defined by a consistent, eventually life-long pattern of commitment and action. Unfortunately, most of Dr. Paul's supporters had no respect for his actions, his philosophy or his goals. They only wanted him to validate them. Period.
As always, my advice is to forget politics on the national level and focus on making sure the neocons in your community are opposed at every event. Make sure that someone is standing up for Dr. Paul's policies at every single speaking opportunity including monthly GOP meetings, fund raisers and local candidate's campaign stops. Continue to self-educate, take responsibility, encourage effort and reward success and above all, defend liberty in your local community. Very few people have the deep pockets and the cast iron stomach necessary to remain fired up about national politics. Everyone should be able to muster the resources to stay active locally, where it does the most good in the long term.
The Fickle have shown their true colors as I have predicted they would since my first Ron Paul meetup event in May 2007. Those of us who remain in the GOP, on the front line in defense of liberty, welcome any Ron Paul supporters who have come to understand politics and local government through their efforts in support of Dr. Paul. Our numbers are tiny, as I always suspected would be the case after the attention span of the Fickle dead-ended, but our efforts are constructive and powerful, especially in comparison to the null and void "results" that arise from lesser organizations that remain outside the GOP.
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2008 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.
Published: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, July 8, 2008
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Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2008-07-08 12:01:25
I must point out that the GOP is not generally a party of liberty, and in reality it has never been a party of liberty. Ron Paul likes to point to former Sen. Robert Taft as being a representative of the true Republican party, but Taft's views have never predominated within the party. If they had, Taft would have been nominated for President in 1952. It's no accident that the party ended up selecting Ike instead. Most of them never wanted Taft.
Although I've known this fact for decades, this fact became painfully clear to many due to the Paul campaign and how it was treated by the party. Dr. Paul believes in continuing to work within the Republican Party, and apparently you do too. That's fine, I respect your choice, but my own take is that it is, was, and always will be a waste of time.
The reason? Most Republican activists have no interest in changing their spots. Similarly, most Republican voters are unmotivated in any significant way by the message of liberty (except when it directly affects their own agendas). They're more accurately pragmatists, which is another way of saying that they won't hesitate to sell out ideology in favor of a quick fix and a reinforcement of their party's power, which always goes to the anti-liberty folks in the party, not to the pro-liberty folks.
Their only interest in dealing with people like you and Dr. Paul is that they hope it will help pad the vote totals for their own candidates of choice who give lip-service to liberty and then sell it out at the first opportunity. In other words, they're counting on you and people like you to continue to support their lesser-of-two-evils candidates.
Posted By: Jahfre Fire Eater
Date: 2008-07-08 12:19:50
It makes no difference what they hope to get from me. It makes no difference to me what you think of the past so long as we can learn from it and do better in the future. The only thing that matters is how our actions can influence the future. The argument that things always will be what they always have been just doesn't wash with me. New Republican conservatives can remove the liberal influence starting with local officials. This November will show a great first year result.
Third party actions cannot influence our government at all, now or in the future because they cannot elect enough people at one time. So, all third party actions are irrelevant, useless activities. It has nothing to do with their passion and goals, it has to do with the size of the tool. In politics, size matters more than anything else. Most 3rd party members simply cannot understand that is isn't a matter of passion, it is a matter of power. The GOP has power. I want to redirect it towards conservatisim. Just like Dr. Paul does.
If it takes 150 more years to replace the liberal leaders of the GOP with conservative leaders then that's what it takes. That doesn't mean it isn't worth doing, it just means that it must be done by fewer people because most want instant gratification. They cannot help their own cause.
Also, I apologize for my mis-use of the word neocon. There are no neocons in your local community as I define them. A neocon must have the power to influence national policies. I don't count any local voters or candidates as neocons in that regard. I meant to refer to supporters of neocon candidates.
Posted By: Scott from Oregon
Date: 2008-07-08 13:42:35
Americans suffer from "single-point fixation" made possible by television in every home.
We no longer meet at the water cooler to discuss our community, but to discuss television icons who we imagine are "our new community".
This is the main reason for the falling interest in the movement. The central icon is gone.
Community politics requires community involvement, which requires people to go outside after work and see for themselves that life is occuring in their community.
Umm, I think people forget the main reason for the Ron Paul money bombs. Media attention. It was only done for media attention because back then the excuse was he didn't generate enough money to be important. So we had to go and prove them wrong.
The Republican vs. third party question addressed by Walt and Jahfre is a very important one. Each strategy has its strong and weak points. By running as a Libertarian, I've found that the Libertarian Party is much less of a party than I thought it was. True, its overall platform is most closely aligned with my Constitutionalist beliefs, but as an organization, it is a fraction of what it needs to be in order to compete with the RepubliCrats. Building this party into a contender is going to be a daunting challenge.
Changing the spots of the GOP seems to be an equally daunting challenge. I reference the outcomes of such efforts by the Ron Paul supporters in states like Nevada, Texas, etc. (By the way, those particular supporters have my complete admiration and thanks!) As Walt correctly stated, the GOP really never was a "Liberty Party" as evidenced by their rejection of Taft. Today it seems more like the Democratic Party of a couple of decades ago than a "liberty and freedom" party Its going to be pretty hard to get it to reverse its course.
I don't profess to know which is the best strategy, but it seems obvious that either is going to have a better chance if we all get behind one or the other.
I think badmedia hit the nail on the head. The original money bombs were to make a statement. The results were limited media attention, ridicule by his own party, banishment from debates, and eventual dismissal from the Republican Primary conversation. And that was Ron Paul we're speaking of. Now we have an array of unknowns to give to. Its hard to find that motivation, when you don't expect the money to change anything. If one of these candidates stirs things up, makes a revolutionary stand and gets national media attention for it, I think you'll see people donate.
Posted By: Ivan from Oregon
Date: 2008-07-08 17:09:05
Ron Paul has always described the old Republican Party to be for "small government and a friendly foreign policy". It seems to me, therefore, that, under such a policy, we would not have the monstrosity of a Department of Homeland Security, nor be consuming 30% of the GNP to feed the parasite that has us almost totally enslaved.
Our system of government was meant to make politics "local", in which 80% of success is "showing up". Until we convince at least some people to give up "Idol" and get involved, we'll be ruled by those who do show up.
I couldn't agree more with the comment left by Walt Thiessen. I entered the Republican party to support Ron Paul. I became active and I became a Precinct Committeeman to further the cause. I have never felt so dirty.
I have nothing in common with the GOP. I have read their mission statement and it has nothing to do with liberty. I do not believe in Government force and I do not believe it is my place to attempt to force all the members of the GOP to believe the way I do.
There are other parties that already suit my beliefs. I will support those that already believe the way I do.
The money bombs for Ron Paul worked because thousands of his supporters helped spread the message about them to people who were already his supporters. Of course they won't work if you are trying to recruit supporters at the same time. The concept itself only worked because so many people did work to spread the message, not because one guy had a website that sent out emails. The concept failed miserably for all of the other candidates and it won't work for the guy who developed the website, it takes a whole army of people who are supporting the idea.
I feel very sorry for people in the future who are fooled into hiring "consultants" who promise to raise them millions with the "money bomb." The Ron Paul Revolution was a whole movement and was worked by thousands upon of supporters. I don't think even Ron Paul understood how it worked. The tactics used by his supporters are not successful in themselves, they were just tactics. Ron Paul himself energized his supporters with his deeds and his words. You cannot create that energy out of thin air.
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2008 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.