At the beginning of this week the Ron Paul campaign announced a strategy change that was misconstrued as a campaign suspension. I couldn’t figure out why the campaign made such an announcement since it was pretty obvious how the media would take such news but I think somebody in the Paul campaign has decided the best way to move forward is to decimate the morale of Paul’s supporters. I present to you an e-mail I received from the Paul campaign yesterday:
Every day, I see firsthand how humbled and encouraged Dr. Paul is to have the enthusiastic support of so many who are committed to revitalizing our country.
Let me be very clear. Dr. Paul is NOT dropping out or suspending his campaign.
As Dr. Paul has previously stated, he is in this race all the way to the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August.
And he is deeply grateful for every resource he has been entrusted with to run an historic campaign that continues to defy all expectations.
Looking ahead, our campaign must honor that trust by maximizing our resources to ensure the greatest possible impact at the National Convention.
So while our campaign is no longer investing in the remaining primary states, we will continue to run strong programs at District and State Conventions to win more delegates and alternate delegates to the National Convention.
To this end, our campaign has several positive and realistic goals:
1) Having recently WON Maine, we believe we can win several more states.
2) We will win party leadership positions at both the state and national levels.
3) We will continue to grow our already substantial total of delegates.We will head to Tampa with a solid group of delegates. Several hundred will be bound to Dr. Paul, and several hundred more, although bound to Governor Romney or other candidates, will be Ron Paul supporters.
Unfortunately, barring something very unforeseen, our delegate total will not be strong enough to win the nomination. Governor Romney is now within 200 delegates of securing the party’s nod. However, our delegates can still make a major impact at the National Convention and beyond.
All delegates will be able to vote on party rules and allow us to shape the process for future liberty candidates.
We are in an excellent position to make sure the Republican Party adds solid liberty issues to the GOP Platform, which our delegates will be directly positioned to approve. Our campaign is presently working to get several items up for consideration, including monetary policy reform, prohibitions on indefinite detention, and Internet freedom.
Finally, by sending a large, respectful, and professional delegation to Tampa, we will show the party and the country that not only is our movement growing and here to stay, but that the future belongs to us.
Dr. Paul will begin this new phase of the campaign this Friday by speaking and holding several events at the Minnesota State Convention. He has also recently accepted an invitation to speak at the Texas Convention, and we are busy scheduling appearances around other State Conventions later this month and into June.
As Dr. Paul stated in his message yesterday, this fight is NOT over. We will continue fighting and expanding, and “we will not stop until we have restored what once made America the greatest country in human history.”
But for Dr. Paul’s efforts in the remaining State Conventions to be successful, and to ensure we get as many Ron Paul delegates to Tampa as we can, he needs you to continue standing with him.
Along those lines, as you probably already know, the grassroots are holding a Money Bomb on Thursday, May 17. Any money raised from that Money Bomb will go toward winning delegates and finalizing our plans for Tampa.
As those plans for the National Convention come together, we will make sure all of our delegates, whether bound or unbound, get the information and aid they need.
Your support on May 17 will also help us reach more Americans with the solutions we know can restore our nation. Each person we add to our cause strengthens our movement for the critical work that awaits us beyond Tampa.
Dr. Paul, John Tate, myself, and the entire campaign staff know what incredible sacrifices have been made by each of our supporters.
Thank you for all of your hard work and your dedication to liberty. Together, we will champion Ron Paul and his message in Tampa, and we will lay the groundwork for future victories.
Emphasis mine. That’s a very long e-mail to simply say, “Hey guys, we don’t have enough delegates to stop Romney but we can still influence the Republican Party platform!” In other words the Paul campaign has basically said it’s giving up trying for a first place victory and, instead, hoping for the bronze medal.
The part I emphasized, the consolation prize if you will, is absolutely lackluster. We can influence the Republican Party platform? The same platform that already has many liberty issues listed by goes entirely ignored by Republican politicians? Sign me right the fuck up for that! What a treat, we can influence something that gets completely ignored! If I wanted to waste my time on pointless activities I could just stay at home and masturbate. Actually the latter is a better deal because it doesn’t involve sitting in a room full of screaming blood-thirsty neocons trying to get the state to enforce their ideas of morality.
I’ll be totally honest, this news really doesn’t bother me all that much. I was never that vested in Paul winning because, as I’ve noted on this blog numerous times, I know the entire nomination process is rigged and people like you and me have no say in who the Republican nominee is. With that said the real value of the Ron Paul campaign as been the people and the liberty movement that has sprung from those people. The campaign is doing a disservice to those people by killing morale.
Why did the campaign choose to say this? Why didn’t they talk about the actual meaningful actions that the liberty movement could take? While I don’t believe this country can ever have a viable third-party working towards that goal is certainly more worthwhile than trying to change the Republican Party platform. Paul gave up running for Congress so there is no reason he needs to continue placating the Republican Party, they’ve already demonstrated their hatred for him so he should return the favor. How about putting major resources into bring the Federal Reserve front and center? Saying, “End the Fed!” is a great slogan but it doesn’t address the actual issue. Look at all the organizations that spend time trying to advocate for and against gay marriage. Those organizations put together flyers and hold rallies in the hopes of getting their message out. The Paul campaign certainly has the people and resources to do something similar regarding the Federal Reserve. What about jury nullification? A powerful advocacy group made up of liberty minded folks could do wonders for raising awareness of the power jury members hold.
My point is alternatives exist and the Paul campaign could do a great deal of work in drumming up advocates for these alternatives. Instead they’re sending out e-mails that appear to be crafted in such a way as to deflate the liberty movement and discourage individuals from continuing the good fight. Ron Paul has been a rally point for the liberty movement in my opinion. I never expected him to get to the White House, his value has been in bringing advocates of liberty together. Such power can still be wielded for good but offering a worthless consolation prize isn’t the way to do it.