I think we're heavily overestimating the scale of social media here. The difference between Obama and Paul is that Obama targeted the college-aged students HEAVILY. Voter turnout increased dramatically, in a demographic that has not been shown to eagerly turn up to the polls. Ron Paul on the other hand may be popular on the liberal internet, but that's still a very small demographic compared to the amount of voters owing their loyalty to either the Democratic or Republican party exclusively. The impact of mainstream media is going to be way more influential on most Americans than the impact of social media. Sure, Ron Paul may win battles on the internet and have his videos paraded around the interwebs. Doesn't make up for the tens of millions of people that are going to tune into their respective party's mainstream media propaganda and blindly vote for either Obama or Romney. Keep in mind how large the GOP voter base is in the bible belt, and how large the liberal voter base is in the Northeast. These types of people show up to the polls and cast votes for their mainstream candidates. The majority of the people on the internet DON'T CARE. Sure they will say Ron Paul 2012 on YouTube videos everywhere, but that doesn't change the fact that you still have to go out there and vote to make any significant difference at all. Not to mention even the majority of those same people are just doing it for appearances. If Obama can convince this new wave of American youth to vote for him again in this election he will win. Without a doubt, he will win. TL;DR: If Ron Paul had conformed to GOP politics then he would have a valid chance. An independent will never win in this country unless the mainstream media fights for it, which it won't. Too many blind voters chaining themselves to the ideology of one party.
Ron Paul Wins Minnesota Delegates by a Landslide By David Weigel | Posted Monday, April 23, 2012, at 9:14 AM ET http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/04/23/ron_paul_wins_minnesota_delegates_by_a_landslide.html A few weeks back, when Rick Santorum was arguing that he could power out delegate wins by organizing the little-noticed state conventions and caucuses, I agreed with him. And then Santorum quit. This left the state delegate pool hot and panting for Romneymentum, right? Not quite yet. Over the weekend, Minnesota held congressional district conventions. Now, the state's February caucus -- one of the trio of non-binding contests Santorum won early that month -- went 45 percent for Santorum, 27 percent for Paul, and only 17 percent for Romney. The Associated Press and other groups went on to estimate that Santorum would win 17 of Minnesota's delegates, Paul would win 10, and Romney 6. Wrong. Ron Paul dominated the CD conventions. According to a tweet from RNC committeewoman Pat Anderson, Paul took 20 of the 24 delegates available in the CDs. That's 20 delegates more than the zero that Paul got from Minnesota in 2008. Keep watching this. The Paul movement spent five years prepping for a guerilla delegate campaign, and they're going to be the last Republicans who refuse to settle for Romney. This was the point of Paul's non-alignment pact with the frontrunner. With Santorum out and Gingrich staggering like an extra in Re-Animator, Paul's movement is free to take over the state contests.
Actually on this note, its been really funny reading emails from the Texas Republican Party. I have no idea how it actually turned out but before the recent senate district conventions, they were spam emailing people to turn out so the Ron Paul crazies dont overrun the conventions. Incredibly entertaining if you ask me. For those that went to a district convention, how did it turn out? I know that overall turnout was terrible compared to 2008 because the date of the conventions were screwed up thanks to the whole redistricting mess.
Rachel Maddow Talks About Ron Paul Winning Iowa and Minnesota. <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EfS1x5RnZZQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I guess no one has the heart to tell Ron it's over. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QiZdY9rw-uo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jjgU8_RfFQE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I would like Ron Pauls attack ads to focus on Obama presendential record. Romney is a dead horse already, expose Obama.
I hope Ron Paul finally gets the balls to run as an independent ... I mean, really, he doesn't have much time left.
He knows he's popular enough to ruin even the smallest chance Romney has of being elected, and he'd rather have Romney win than Obama.
He's going to announce that he's dropping out next week, but is going to continue to campaign until that time. Guess he needs to keep raising money (apparently he's been skipping out on his campaign debts).
Nothing like buying the nomination -- Romney Campaign Spent $126,000 Per Delegate Mitt Romney spent over $76 million to win the GOP presidential primary, more than the combined spending of all three of his main opponents. That breaks down to $18.50 per vote, and $126,000 per Republican convention delegate through the end of March, according to an analysis by CNN Money. If one includes the spending from super PACs supporting Romney, the total jumps to $122 million and breaks down to nearly $30 per vote and more than $200,000 per delegate.
http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/romney-ron-paul-in-brutal-battle/ by Doug Wead - senior campaign advisor to the Ron Paul 2012 Campaign <p>The war over delegates at the district level last weekend descended into a brutal battle, more like a scene from the plains of the Serengeti than a political convention. Romney Hawks, now in complete control of his campaign (See <a title="Romney Hawks" href="http://dougwead.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/ron-paul-pandemic-causes-romney-split/">Romney Hawks</a>) are using strong arm tactics to shut out the Ron Paul forces. A county chairman in New York has commissioned robo calls declaring that all other candidates have dropped out of the race except Mitt Romney.</p> <p>“If Mitt Romney has won the nomination,” says one of the Ron Paul state directors, “Why are they so threatening and running so scared? Why would they risk breaking the law or openly lying to people on phone calls?”</p> <p>I reported to you yesterday on the Ron Paul success in Minnesota and Iowa. But only partially. I held back the full extent of the good news. The Des Moines Register reported that Ron Paul had won six members on the state committee. Ahem. There is much more to say but it is not wise to share. But since Dr. Paul, himself, let one of the cats out of the bag on CNBC today, I will reiterate his announcement that we took 15 out of 17 members of the Iowa state GOP steering committee.</p> <p>But don’t cry for Mitt Argentina. Romneyites are using every trick in the book and then some. In one instance they literally locked the door to keep Ron Paul young people from participating.</p> <p>From scattered reports of district conventions in numerous states, the Rick Santorum forces are scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. In many places his campaign is being picked clean by the Romney forces with their “unity” slates, which are anti-prolife and anti-everything else for which Rick Santorum stood.</p> <p>BTW, if you are Santorum delegate, don’t sell yourself cheap. The Romney people are making big promises to your colleagues, don’t give away your vote for nothing. And if you happen to still believe in something, come over to us.</p> <p>In Missouri, where a Santorum-Ron Paul coalition could have split the delegation, the Santorum people flipped and moved to Mitt Romney, instead. Depending on how one interprets the final tally, it looks like Ron Paul will get 20 of the delegates, and Romney will get most of the rest, giving only a token to Santorum. Ironically, the socially conservative, Rick Santorum had asked his people in Missouri to cooperate with Ron Paul, a pro lifer and an evangelical Christian. But in the end most of the delegates were Santorum supporters in name only and did their own thing, cutting a deal with Mitt Romney.</p> <p>In Washington State, where Ron Paul and Santorum people are openly cooperating in some districts, the modus operandi of the Romney establishment was especially curt. The 37th legislative district of King County is a case in point. Borrowing successful tactics used by the Romney Gestapo in Alaska, a determined King County Chairwoman, Lori Sotelo, instituted a last minute “poll tax” of ten dollars. The Ron Paul people were not deterred. They meekly submitted to this surprise “rule” and paid her the money. The meeting began, late but the duly elected delegates were committed to see it through.</p> <p>When the delegates in attendance, overwhelmingly Ron Paul supporters, duly elected their own Tamra Smilanich as the permanent chair of the caucus, Sotelo watched for a few minutes and then began what can only be described as a continuous assault on democracy at work. First she interrupted the proceedings to announce that the caucus was adjourned. She declared that Smilanich was an “operative” of the Ron Paul campaign and had turned the event into a Ron Paul campaign meeting. Since the insurance was paid for by the King County GOP, she determined it did not cover a Ron Paul event, thus the meeting was closed.</p> <p>No reason was cited to substantiate the accusation and videos now abound on the internet giving viewers a blow by blow account of events as they unfolded. Participants insist that Smilanich operated within the Robert’s Rules of Order and her election was legitimate. Her only fault was she hailed from the Ron Paul camp.</p> <p>After Smilanich allowed for speeches and just before the body could vote, Lori Sotelo made another attempt to end the proceeding and prevent any vote from taking place. Once more she contended that the premises had to be vacated because chairman Smilanich was acting as a Ron Paul campaign surrogate. A few minutes later she announced that the premises had to be vacated because the place had been rented for a limited amount of time and that time was now ended.</p> <p>With this ugly tug of war ongoing, the meeting dragged on for hours, relocating to different places, but, miraculously, a quorum was maintained and delegates were elected to the next round.</p> <p>See: <a title="Lori Sotelo" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-zOrBIXwBs">High noon in Washington State</a>.</p> <p>Of course, the establishment GOP and the Romney campaign continue to make every effort to stop or discourage the Ron Paul involvement on the grounds that Mitt Romney has won the nomination and the party should unite.</p> <p>Vincent Reda, the Rockland County, New York chairman had robo phones call to all Republicans in the county declaring that all other candidates had dropped out of the race except Mitt Romney. Where the calls made with Republican money? If so, it was illegal.</p> <p><a title="Vincent Reda" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTLtTYwqH9Y">Listen to Vincent Reda give his false message</a>.</p> <p>One wonders why the Romney forces are so nervous. Why would they misrepresent the facts? Why would their shills in the main stream media keep beating the drums, saying to the Ron Paul supporters, “Get out, get out, get out.”</p> <p>No one stops to ask the question that if Mitt Romney has the nomination won, why should all of these people have to get out? Why wouldn’t the Romney organizers be saying, “Get in, get in, get in?”</p> One day before the NY GOP Presidential primary, Vincent Reda, the First Vice Chairman of the NY Republican Party, made robo calls to voters declaring that all other candidates had dropped out of the race except Mitt Romney. <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uTLtTYwqH9Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
^^^ Damn, that is why I'm going to state that I will vote for Romney but pull a fast one when I become a delegate.
This is it. King County GOP's Lori Sotelo disrupts caucus, citing Ron Paul 'operative' *Click CC to see subtitles of the audio.* <iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q-zOrBIXwBs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The caucus for the 37th legislative district of Washington's King County seemed to be off from the start. When the elected precinct delegates arrived on Saturday morning at Seattle's Dimmitt Middle School, some were surprised and angry to find out that there would be a mandatory $10 fee to enter. KCGOP leaders asserted that the fee was necessary in order to pay for the facility. The official invitation call to the caucus that was mailed to delegates of the 37th district noted a "$10 Contribution Requested," and many took that as a request for donation but not mandatory for entrance. However, no delegate was turned away, and everyone who arrived was able to pay to participate in the caucus. After the caucus commenced at 9 a.m., there was a nomination from the floor to elect prominent policymaking activist and community leader Tamra Smilanich to be the permanent chair of the caucus. She won by a majority of the vote. Shortly thereafter, King County Republican Party Chairwoman Lori Sotelo announced that the caucus was to be adjourned, claiming that Smilanich was an 'operative' of the Ron Paul campaign and that she had 'taken over' the caucus. The electing of Smilanich to be the permanent chair turned the event into a Ron Paul campaign meeting instead of an official GOP caucus, according to Sotelo. The insurance that was purchased for the event, she claimed, was paid for and covered by the King County GOP only, not the Ron Paul campaign. Smilanich is a known supporter of Ron Paul in the 37th district. However, there were no known rules broken when she was nominated and voted to chair the caucus, and Sotelo cited only the issue of insurance as grounds to disrupt the caucus. There was a flurry of response from participants, many of them frustrated at the political antics and some feeling that their vote was being disenfranchised. Supporters of Ron Paul and other candidates alike agreed that Smilanich, regardless of her presidential preference, was voted in according to Robert's Rules of Order and that her position was therefore legitimate. Smilanich continued the business of the caucus, and delegate speeches were made. However, before the first round of voting could be finished, Sotelo again interjected and claimed that the premises must be vacated because Smilanich was acting on the part of the Ron Paul campaign. After much impassioned debate and outcry among participants, including some who felt that the fee to participate should be refunded if they were forced to leave without finishing the caucus, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Lori Sotelo announced that the space had been rented for only a limited amount of time and that the caucus could not continue. A motion was made to move the caucus proceedings to the basketball court outside on the grounds of the school, and this was agreed to by the body. Although the number of delegates dwindled throughout the proceedings, a quorum was maintained, allowing the caucus to be completed. The caucus lasted until about 5 p.m., when the last delegate alternates were elected. Many delegates present were concerned that the election of delegates for the caucus, although apparently done in accordance with official party rules and Robert's Rules of Order, would be invalidated somehow by the KCGOP. Moves by the state's Republican establishment in other districts, like the anyone-but-Ron-Paul unity slate in Washington's 2nd disctrict and the removal of voting materials at the 36th district caucus, have some delegates worried that Lori Sotelo may have been acting as an operative for the status-quo. It was finished outside, and Ron Paul came away with all 11 delegates.
