Ron Paul Meetup BLOWOUT

Posted: August 3rd, by Duff OMelia

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I was just thinking a bit about the statistics for the presidential candidates. As of August 6, 2007, Ron Paul has over 30,000 meetup members. On the Republican side, Duncan Hunter is in second place with 123. That’s right – 123 people. John McCain, a supposed front runner, has 104 members. And bringing up the rear is Tom Tancredo with 23 avid fans.

Well… not exactly the rear. There’s 5 other candidates in the Republican primary (Brownback, Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee, and Thompson). Here’s the thing. These 5 other candidates, 2 of whom are supposed front runners, don’t have 1 meetup member. There’s not one person interested in getting together in person to support these campaigns. Can you believe that? Ron Paul has over 30,000 members. I think it’s safe to call that a blowout.

It’s remarkable to me that so many media outlets refer to these front runner candidates when there appears to be absolutely zero passion for their campaigns. Ron Paul already has over 661 groups! Over 661 people are paying money to host a meetup group for Ron Paul. Does this statistic say nothing to those in the media? Rallies have been happening all over the nation which are being organized by people on the ground who are often members of these meetup groups. Hundreds upon hundreds of people are driving for hours for a chance to hear Ron Paul speak in person.

I’m wondering when the media is going to realize how much passion there still is for freedom in this country. I’m wondering when those in government will realize that it’s liberty that crosses party lines, that it’s liberty that brings us together, and that it’s liberty that folks are willing to spend their time, energy, and money on.

I’m seeing a change happen in this country. I met a friend recently who’s been involved in politics for over 2 decades. He happened to drive a few hours for a Ron Paul rally. He said, “I’ve been doing this for 27 years and South Carolina was EXCITING!” The Ron Paul campaign is different from what folks are used to. I’ve never seen a campaign have so much support from both sides of the aisle. I’ve never seen a campaign inspire so many people to run for public office. This campaign is looking to be fun ride.

Rich Schmidt

While the Meetup numbers are certainly exciting for those of us who are supporting Ron Paul (and I do consider myself among that number), it’s pretty clear that they don’t translate directly into how much support each candidate has. Giuliani and Romney, for example, might not have any supporters using Meetup, but a whole lot of somebodies have been passionate enough about their campaigns to donate thousands of dollars (and then some). And people are definitely getting together around those candidates—they’re just not using Meetup.com to do it.

I’m excited about Ron Paul’s campaign, but I don’t imagine the media will really pay attention until some votes start coming in. Ron Paul needs some political wins (Iowa straw poll, for example, but I’m really thinking about primaries here) to show just how broad the love of liberty really is… or isn’t.

Duff OMelia

I agree with you Rich. You’ve made some excellent points. The amount of money that some of the candidates have raised (like Romney and Giuliani) is certainly an indication of the support their campaigns are getting.

It will be interesting to see how the internet changes things over time. Donors can find ways to contribute large amounts of money to candidates. Each of them only gets one vote though so I’m excited to see how things shake out this primary season given that Ron Paul’s money is coming in relatively small amounts from lots of people.

RonPaulMania.com

Awesome news on the front.

You guys make some great points, but I’d also like to point a few things out.

Sure, Rudy, Mitt and others have a LOT of money, but the majority of this money is funny money. What I mean by funny money is that its simply not hard core support. If you look at the campaign financial statistics for all the candidates and compare them to the Ron Paul campaign you’ll see some eye opening stuff.

1. Most of Ron Paul’s support is smaller contributions spread out across a wide support base. There are lots on minor individual contributions and these people are hard core supporters who will turn into votes.

2. A lot of the other candidates show maxed out contributions from lots of the same family members, which is typical of funny money tactics.

3. Other candidate take seed money from every organization and corporation they can get. They are basically whores. Ron Paul does not do that and it’s a reason his funds are lower… however, lower does not mean its a bad thing. Look how much money he has on hand compared to other candidates. That speaks volumes.

4. Do the other candidates have anywhere near the kind of support Ron Paul has out in public? Absolutely not and it’s just the beginning… it hasn’t even started yet. These MeetUp numbers are tiny compared to what they will be in a few months. Mark my words.

These other candidates have to BUY their support. Ron Paul’s support is growing on its own naturally (and fast) without any money behind it.That’s the huge advantage Dr.Paul has over everyone. His support is compounding while everyone else’s is shrinking!

There’s a buzz in the air and that buzz is the buzz of liberty spreading across the land.

ahedgehog

Think Howie Dean had over 100,000 meetup members come election time, but that was before meetup was charging. Truth is we don’t know for sure what the numbers mean, but it definitely is a good sign. What would be interesting to know is if those numbers represent unique members, or does one person count many times if they belong to many groups. Either way, I don’t think the numbers would be off more than 15%.

And do the smaller campaigns that don’t have the money to organize expensive databases for the supporters have something different than meetup, or if they just have nothing beyond old fashion community outreach and direct mail, which is expensive. I can’t imagine any campaign besides Tancredo, Huckabee, and Obama having a base of supporters so passionate about their candidate, and so willing to walk an extra mile, as that of Ron Paul.