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Paul: Stand & Be Counted...or Not
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ShareFebruary 12, 2008 11:32 AM
ABC's Z. Byron Wolf Reports: Texas Congressman Ron Paul, despite his remarkable run of fundraising and vocal supporters, has not amassed a cache of delegates for the Republican National Convention.
He all but admitted in a Feb. 8th message to supporters that he would not be the nominee and was going to pare down his campaign staff and focus on getting reelected to his Congressional seat.
But the Paul campaign has never really been about getting Paul into the Oval Office.
It has been, as supporters will tell you, about his limited government message, which, in a nutshell, is something like a, "keep-your-darn-hands-out-of-my-life and bring the troops home" revolution.
Now that Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., seems poised to sew up the Republican ticket, Paul is entreating his supporters into what he calls a "risky" endeavor to blast that message to the masses.
Specifically, he's asking his supporters to come offline and out of the shadows and "be counted" in a march on Washington.
Paul, in a 14-minute video message the campaign posted this morning on YouTube says he is "throwing this out as an idea."
"We ought to have a grand display. We ought to have a true march," he says toward the end of the video, from a wood-paneled office.
But there is the chance, he says, that if Paul supporters try to stand and be counted, if no one shows up to be counted, they will lose some credibility.
"It could be very, very valuable. It could send a powerful message where the where the media could not ignore us. At the same time, if nobody shows up it might mean maybe there weren't enough of us, maybe we didn't have enough energy, maybe we didn't want to go to Washington," he admitted.
When will the grand march Paul is suggesting into the ether on Youtube take place?
No date is set and Paul, who does not coordinate supporters so much as it joins their stampede, says it should, if supporters want to organize it, should happen before the Republican convention this summer in Minneapolis.
February 12, 2008 in Paul, Ron, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (8)
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What can be expected when all of the media has done it's best to exclude Ron Paul creating the impression that his campaign isn't viable. Well it is viable and you will find out in November with or without party nomination.
Posted by: Patriot2008 | Feb 12, 2008 1:22:03 PM
One of the problems with the Ron Paul campaign is that it was run like a Libertarian Party campaign. This is one more indicator of that - it was a campaign not for the sake of winning, but for the sake of getting a message out.
Libertarians are great at getting their message out, but not too many listen, when its clear the candidate himself doesn't expect to win. The campaign itself becomes akin to a protest or a march.
I think Ron Paul got caught off guard by the money he raised (he certainly wasn't trying to raise that much), and had no plans in place to spend that kind of money. They didn't have field offices, coordinating county chairs, who in turn coordinated precinct captains, who were pursuing contact lists and building GOTV plans. It was all about the message; and thus the anger over news services who didn't play along and broadcast that message.
Remember Huckabee did what he did without money and media. Once poll numbers started moving, then the media followed. Not sure the money ever did. That's what Ron Paul needed, as do Libertarian candidates. They are going to have to figure out how to organize via retail political tactics, to the point of moving poll numbers.
Posted by: Paul | Feb 12, 2008 1:59:37 PM
The media has lost s substantial amount of credibility as many sources misreport false information such as Dr. Paul dropping out.
Do reporters writing this stuff not realize you an run for Congress and President at the same time thanks to Lyndon Johnson?
Posted by: TFS | Feb 12, 2008 3:42:58 PM
I am excited and hope I can attend!!
Its been over 30years since I marched in Washington...
Posted by: judarama | Feb 12, 2008 4:43:10 PM
I will be at this march on D.C. because this signifies our line in the sand. We will not allow our freedoms to be taken under the veil of security.
Posted by: Ron Paul 2008 | Feb 12, 2008 4:43:54 PM
There was a time this country was run by the people and honest, lawful politicians....not today...
Posted by: arthall33 | Feb 12, 2008 4:50:38 PM
Well, they destroyed the family and made BIG GOVERNMENT the parents, no wonder people can't fathom getting off the government teat. You can have a dictator by government and multinational corporations, or a dictator by big buisnees/and big military/police enforcement. Doesn't seem like much of a choice to me. But then again it never was supposed to be done by choice, either. Thanks "Democracts", Thanks Republicans", your despotic control over the so-called "civillians" is complete.
Posted by: cba | Feb 12, 2008 9:50:00 PM
Huckabee is a tax and spend governer who is essentially a duller version of Jimmy Carter. Why wouldn't he do well in the South?
Huckabee is just an anti-McCain vote, who has received very little negative press, unlike the good doctor.
Ron Paul is carrying on Barry Goldwater's flag and Neo-cons and Liberals are understandably irritated by his presence.
Posted by: s.l.d. cowen | Feb 13, 2008 11:02:57 AM
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