An Open Letter to the Republican Party: How to beat Hillary in 2012

Super Tuesday is over and this will be my last post.

This letter goes out to the Republican Party- both officials and Republican voters.

Now that it's January, 2011 and we're well into Obama's first term, it might be a good time to regroup, analyze why your candidate McCain lost so badly to Obama in the general election in November, 2008. Perhaps that would help you come up with a winning strategy in 2012.

Here are some suggestions:

1. LISTEN to potential voters
Pay attention to straw polls conducted by non-mass media organizations. Study online polls like the million who voted in AOL's spam-proof poll. Analyze web searches, website hits and other indicators of your candidates potential. Understand that mass-media polls are only a piece of the puzzle, not the whole picture.


2. It's the MESSAGE, stupid
The marketing wizards at Apple, Nike, Google and other top brands understand messaging. You needed a strong, unique brand image. Next time, supporting a candidate with a clear message (such as "Peace, Prosperity, Freedom") would be your best bet.


3. Look for the most ENTHUSIASTIC supporters
Choose a candidate whose followers are enthusiastic- pay attention to candidates whose supporters set fundraising records, think up interesting, attention-getting events like the re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party, launch blimps, and attain other unprecedented levels of devotion to a cause. You have lost a huge number of young, energetic, intelligent, motivated people who could have been lifelong Republicans.


4. Be the Party of PEACE
You knew 70% of the American public was against the Iraq War by the end of 2007. You knew the Republican Party had a consistent history of winning by campaigning for peace- Eisenhower was voted in to end the Korean War, Nixon was voted in to end the Vietnam War, Reagan ended the Cold War.

Yet you shot yourself in the foot by nominating a pro-war candidate who pledged indefinite, insanely expensive expansion of U.S. military operations around the world, appealing to a small and shrinking minority of voters.


5. Don't be AFRAID of Democrats jumping ship
You blew it. You had a rare opportunity to grow the Republican Party. For the first time in history, a number of Democrats and Independent liberals actually registered Republican to vote in your party primaries- but only for one particular candidate. You squandered this opportunity to grow the party base and nominate the one candidate that attracted voters from across the board.

Not only this, by banning Independents from voting at the Republican primaries you did your best to lock the door to new voters.

You could have built the fabled big tent... but instead chose to cater to a limited exclusive country club of voters- a small gated community.

It is clear that by adopting a platform that appealed only to the aging fringe element of the party, and not the mainstream American public, when you study former President Bush's steady drop in approval ratings, the 2006 Congressional elections and the 2008 Presidential elections, it is unmistakable that the Republican Party is becoming irrelevant in today's political environment.


6. Wait... is this advice too little, too late?

Perhaps by now, you are aware of the phenomenal growth of the Freedom Party, and you see that America will soon have a major third political party. The Freedom Party is on ballots in all 50 states and is attracting disenfranchised voters from all walks of life who are fed up with the Republicrat monopoly.

I don't think this advice will help much, as the Republican Party has now trivialized itself into a shrinking cadre of neo-conservatives.

You could have been the party of the future. Instead, you are the party of the past.

Farewell, Republicans!

Ron Paul winning AOL Straw Poll (Republican, #2 overall)

Ron Paul is well out in front in AOL's Straw Poll:



With 49,655 votes he leads all candidates of either party except Hillary with 63,599:



AOL is certainly no bastion of libertarian weirdos. Hopefully this will help make the case to the Republican party leaders that if they choose to nominate anyone else besides Ron Paul to the Republican Ticket, they might as well just start thinking about how to beat Barack in 2012.

TODAY'S THE DAY!

Celebrate the Boston Tea Party's 234th anniversary - the event that started the first American Revolution, by making a generous donation to Ron Paul's campaign.

Invest in the future- you, all Americans, and all the world will benefit greatly from Ron Paul's message of peace, prosperity and freedom for all.

Donate here:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

I did!

Ron Paul leading pajamasmedia poll

http://pajamasmedia.com/strawpoll2008/results.php

CNN proves it is completely out of touch

The mass media once again demonstrate how hopelessly obsolete they are.

Here are the deluded pundit's opinions on "who won the debate" vs. the actual people who voted at CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/debates/scorecard/gop.debate/results.html

An interesting stat from Facebook and a theory

I was just looking at some stats generated by the Facebook application called "Politics", created by ABC News.

It is an option Facebook users can install in which they can indicate who they support for U.S. President (among other things).

While reviewing some of the reports, I found a key stat that supports a theory I have about the best strategy for Ron Paul winning the White House.

First, let's look at some overall numbers:



No surprise here, of the Facebook members who have chosen a Republican candidate, 34% have chosen Ron Paul, twice as many as the closest runner-up.

Facebook people are savvy, mostly college-educated, and tend to be more independent thinkers.

Of course this contrasts sharply with the posted ABC News poll:



I could write an article about this discrepancy, but let's move on.

Here's the breakdown by age group:



I guess we do tend to get slightly smarter with age, eh? :-)

But here is the chart that supports my theory:



This chart is saying, for those Facebook members who chose a Republican candidate who indicated that their political views were conservative, 10% support Ron Paul, but 70% of those who said they were liberal (yet chose a Republican candidate) support Ron Paul.

Initially, this is no surprise, Paul's anti-war, anti-Patriot Act message would of course appeal to those who term themselves liberal much more than any other Republican candidate.

But this brings us to my theory:

Ron Paul is not favored by the pro-war, neo-conservative vote who consider him a renegade and not representative of the current Republican platform (as represented by the Bush administration). Regardless, if Ron Paul is the Republican nominee, they will inevitably vote for him over the Democratic candidate.

Paul already has the support of the few Goldwater Republicans left who actually believe in limited government.

I believe Paul's biggest potential gains in support will come from disenfranchised Democrats and libertarian-leaning independents. These millions of "MoveOn.org" voters feel the Democratic-controlled Congress they voted for in protest in 2004 has put up feeble or no impedance to the neocon agenda. These folks do not consider Clinton or Obama ideal candidates. They admire but cannot seriously support Kucinich's idealistic but unrealistic candidacy. And over the last 8 years they have become ever more mistrustful of government to solve problems, domestic or abroad, and are questioning their loyalty to the idea that government is the end-all be-all solution.

Here is more support, this is a poll on Ralph Nader's MySpace page, think of the kind of people this page attracts:



Ron Paul's antiwar message certainly resonates with liberals, and indeed the peace message alone has garnered a small but vocal following on college campuses, but only so many are willing to look the other way when it comes to Paul's views on abortion and gay rights.

I know, because I have had numerous discussions with, and read numerous internet postings by Democrats who believe in Paul's peace and fiscal sanity messages so strongly they would go door-to-door if these issues were resolved, but as it is, they cannot support him.

So, my theory is, the Republican nomination, and hence the White House, hinges on Paul making a couple of campaign promises that will result in a groundswell of support from dissatisfied Democrats, and libertarian-leaning, fiscally conservative, socially liberal independents, who would be willing to register Republican to vote in the primaries


The statements Ron Paul needs to make are these:

1. I pledge to do whatever I can to ban states from refusing marriage licenses based on the gender or sexual orientation of the applicants.

2. I pledge to take no action to overturn Roe vs. Wade while I am in office.

3. I pledge to issue an executive order to the military to change the rulebook so that all personnel would be treated equally, regardless of sexual orientation.


My theory is, making these points clear would garner the support Ron Paul needs from liberal voters to put him in front. I believe the White House- and the future of America hangs in the balance.

Ron Paul on Bill Maher show

Ron Paul wins world vote

http://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/

Bill Maher on Ron Paul

San Francisco Straw Poll cancelled due to too many Ron Paul supporters

"Unfortunately, at around 9:45pm when the straw poll was about to take place, Gail Neira of the SF Republican Alliance, announced that she was cancelling the straw poll because it was unfair. She was referring to the approximately 40 Ron Paul supports that were standing in the back of the room with Ron Paul signs. She went on to say that she was overwhelmed by the number of Ron Paul supports that showed up, but by that time the crowd was in an uproar."

"A shocked Gail Neira in consultation with the Fred Thompson Northern CA Coordinator cancelled the straw poll vote offering a series of fraudulent, incomprehensible and incoherent reasons. The result was chaos as more than one hundred Ron Paul supporters objected to the outright deception. Neira’s ratings reached a level of unreality beyond description. Security was called to evict the peaceful if upset Ron Paul followers. When I asked that a picture be taken to attest to security attacking the 79-year-old me, security turned and disappeared."

http://gordonunleashed.com/blog/2007/12/06/gop-shot-fired-at-ron-paul-revolution

Ron Paul is a baby elephant

A wonderful article by Michael Scherer at Salon.com:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/12/03/ron_paul/index.html

Ron Paul's website ranking #1 among ALL candidates

Here are some graphs from compete.com:

As you can see, unique visitors to Ron Paul's website now dwarf the Republican "front runners":



And here is the graph for total visits to Republican candidates' main websites, including repeat visits:




Here's how Ron Paul's website ranks against the Democratic frontrunners for unique visitors:



And here is the comparison with Democratic candidates by total visits (including repeat visits):



If these were stock charts... which stock would you buy?

Paul easily wins GOP straw poll

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071202/METRO/112020043/1004http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Who is Ron Paul?

A good way to get to know who Ron Paul is and what he stands for is to listen to his responses in the CNN/YouTube debate:



Next is an interview he did at Google... if you watch this (with mind even a tiny bit open), you will hear truths I have never heard a politician utter in 40 years of being somewhat aware of politics. Not even close. Amazing!

Of particular note- when his interviewer challenges his position on stopping the government from subsidizing college student loans, and asking the assembled Google employees how many of them took out student loans (quite a few raised their hands), Dr. Paul had the perfect opportunity to pander to these potential voters by spinning his views to fit the crowd as any good politician would.

Instead, and shockingly, he confronted the overflow crowd head-on, asking "Why should people who don't get to go to college subsidize your education? It's not fair!"

Incredible.




Here's Ron Paul taking on one of the most insidious rich old boy's clubs in the U.S., the Federal Reserve (a private, non-regulated, non-elected entity that can legally create money and give it to others in their old boy network).

In this video, he reveals a dollar in the year the Fed was created is only worth 4 cents today due to the unbridled greed of this network.

A true hero!



And, here are some writings on issues:

http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/index.php


And finally, his website:

https://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Can Ron Paul actually win the U.S. Presidency?

I have only voted once in the 30 years I've been eligible to vote, for Ross Perot in 1992. Since then I have given up on politics, considering the corruption far too entrenched to even consider wasting time contemplating how to effect change.

A few weeks ago I was pulling off the freeway and saw a "GOOGLE RON PAUL" banner, so I did.

I had never heard of Ron Paul. But after watching some videos on YouTube, I suddenly realized, for the first time, and probably the last time, in my lifetime, I have a window of opportunity to support someone who will fight for freedom, truth, sanity and responsibility and reverse the steady decline of the U.S. in so many areas.

So, are many other people having the same experience? The jaded, cynical, silent majority? The "Perot 20"?

The mainstream media characterizes Ron Paul's bid for even the Republican nomination, much less the Presidency, as "quixotic"... "a long shot"... "Ron Paul doesn't have a chance"...

Of course, history has notable examples of "dark horse" wins, due to a groundswell of grass-roots support. Bill Clinton was polling in the low single digits the year before he was elected.

But what signs are there that Ron Paul's message is resonating with a wide swath of potential voters, and his strength among people is already far greater than the mainstream media polls indicate?

The "google ron paul" banners seem to be working, as visits to Ron Paul's campaign website lead ALL candidates of either party.

Ron Paul is the #1 receipient of donations from active enlisted men and women, a fact that is resonating among those who support our troops.

Ron Paul is not only the Republican frontrunner for fundraising in the last quarter, including more than $4 million in a single day, but on Dec 16th, the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, raised $6 million, the most successful fundraising day for any national candidate in U.S. history. He may bring in more money this quarter than any candidate from either party, with over $18 million raised and 11 days left in the quarter.

These "money-bomb" days were planned and executed by grassroots activist Trevor Lyman, an independent supporter not even associated with Ron Paul's campaign.

But what about the offline polls that rate Ron Paul in the single digits?

Some of these polls only query people who voted Republican in the last election. This means Bush supporters, very of few of which would choose Ron Paul over the other Republican candidates. But this does not represent likely voters in upcoming elections, many of whom didn't vote in 2004. So these polls are questionable in value.

Ron Paul has come in first in 77% of the "straw polls" conducted since 9/26/2007.

More straw poll results here.

Facebook members are traditionally college students, but tens of millions of others have joined. Look at the discrepancies, between the ABC News Poll and Facebook supporters, not just for Ron Pal but Barack, Hillary and Giuliani:

	Facebook Supporters	ABC News Poll
Democrats:
Barack Obama	57.88%	26%
Hillary Clinton	18.78%	49%
John Edwards	8.54%	12%
Dennis Kucinich	5.91%	2%
Joe Biden	2.83%	3%
Bill Richardson	2.72%	2%
Mike Gravel	2.55%	NA
Chris Dodd	0.79%	1%
Republicans:
Ron Paul	34.13%	3%
Mitt Romney	17.61%	11%
Fred Thompson	15.36%	16%
John McCain	11.38%	19%
Mike Huckabee	10.20%	9%
Rudy Giuliani	9.24%	33%
Thomas Tancredo	1.02%	1%
Duncan Hunter	0.96%	NA
Raymond Mckinney	0.10%	NA

Ron Paul supporters remind me of the Apple faithful during the last decade. Apple stock was in the teens just a few years ago, and their demise was predicted almost daily. A necessary step was Steve Jobs skillful rejuvenation of the computer product line and expansion into software and consumer products.

Now Apple dominates portable music players, and has made impressive gains in hardware and software, while the stock price has risen a dozenfold.

But without the fervent, enthusiastic promotion of the Apple brand by a small but fiercely loyal following, without this army of grassroots brand promoters, Apple would not be where they are now, with a market cap three times Dells- a fact that would have been ridiculous even a year ago.

The many Mac vs. PC flame wars in forums and blogs in the last 10 years remind me of the heated Ron Paul posters of today.

If each Ron Paul devotee can take their enthusiam offline long enough to personally convince enough family and friends to register Republican and vote in the primaries, and Ron Paul makes a top two showing in the early states, we will see the "Perot 20" come out of the woodwork. It's already happening.

Ron is already pulling from libertarian-leaning independents and anti-war liberals.

Over time, as Ron Paul makes gains, the Republican Party's dismissive attitude towards Ron Paul will inevitably shift. Paul's popularity may be incomprehensible to the party leaders, but they are not opposed to winning. There must be a few party power players who realize Rudy cannot sail into the White House purely on 9/11 rage and little else, Huckabee's track record is a liability, and McCain and Romney are just too beatable against Hillary or Barack.

Ron Paul can win, But only if massive action is taken over the next few weeks for the early primary states.

Get involved!


Here's Lew Rockwell's analysis of why RP can win:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/pitkaniemi2.html

Is Ron Paul supported by crazies?

One criticism I have read of Ron Paul is that extremist groups have endorsed him.

First of all, if you were a Neo-Nazi, which candidate would you endorse? Neo-Nazis, militia crazies, and the KKK are generally anti-government. They hear Ron Paul being the only candidate openly expressing anti-government views, so of course they endorse him. It makes perfect sense. Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber would probably be strong Ron Paul supporters.

The important point is, should this reflect badly on Ron Paul?

Well, consider this:

Many Neo-Nazi and KKK members strongly claim to endorse Jesus as their spiritual guide. So have many criminals, Mafia members, murderers, and child molesters.

Does this reflect badly on Jesus by association? Does this fact bring into question Jesus' teachings, character, integrity, or values?

Of course not.

Guilt by association is a logical fallacy.

So, what about the $500 Ron Paul's campaign received from Don Black, a known Neo-Nazi?

Bloggers demand he return the donation immediately. But, as an astute responder on this page wryly states:

If Don Black gets his $500 back, he can use it to… heck, bomb a synagogue or something. How do you benefit if Don Black has that $500 instead of the Ron Paul campaign?

In other words, what if it is a great thing that Ron Paul's campaign is draining extremist group's funds of cash that would be otherwise used to hurt others? I hope he is successful in bankrupting the KKK and Neo-Nazis by this most devious method!

What does Ron Paul's campaign say about the $500?

They say: "It's their loss."

In other words, why should they return the cash, rather than keep it, so it will be put towards efforts to enforce human rights and further the cause of freedom from race or religion-based oppression? Wouldn't the money be better put to use in this way than returned to known racists?

There are some interesting responses to an article on this topic here.

Ron Paul on Jay Leno

CNBC Pulls Online Poll that shows Ron Paul winning

Another attempt at a coverup by the mass media.

This poll was screen snapped, but soon disappeared without explanation:



http://www.google.com/base/a/1360441/D958442506607009280

Who supports Ron Paul?

Listen as this skeptical reporter interviews Ron Paul supporters- debt counselors, engineers, massage therapists... certainly not typical Republicans!



Also:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21521415/

Ron Paul Wins Alabama Straw Poll

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/08/ron_paul_wins_alabama_straw_poll/

ABC fraud in online poll exposed

Thread here:

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=46813

MSN online poll fraud

http://www.roncan.com/msnpoll.html

Iowa Presidential Debate Organizers Snub Ron Paul

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/06/20/111439.php

Ron Paul on the Daily Show

MSNBC May 3, 2007 Republican debate vote