Saturday, September 15, 2007

Is it time for Ron Paul to organize the grassroots movement?

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketI have been observing and participating in the Ron Paul movement for a while
and I have noticed some things that seem to be inhibiting its success.
While it is a great thing to see America coming together this way; across party lines,
race lines, and most other lines, it may be time for more management of the resources.
I have written about the Ron Paul "saturation" of the Internet and possible (probable)
negative peripheral affects of the flood of information in previous posts.

But I do feel like the time has come for Dr. Paul's campaign to begin an effort
in managing the inspired and passionate people participating in his movement.
My feelings are based on a few of things:
  1. The message, while being sent far and wide throughout the Internet, is
    becoming diluted due to duplication of effort.
  2. The duplication of effort is wasting resources that could be used on more
    concentrated and efficient communication methods.
  3. Again, the saturation point of the medium (the Internet) is beginning to
    approach which I feel may be having a negative effect on the campaign.
I have already spoken to the saturation of Ron Paul information in a previous post on
my blog. Reactions have been mixed, but for the most part, people agree with me.
Although some have called me a shill attempting to prevent Paulers from
voicing their support. The duplication seems to have become almost more
of a problem than saturation. Using Digg as my prime example, as I almost always
do, I see duplicate posts, almost back to back, to nearly the same article or
information. Blog posts will be created with a single line in the body of the message
and a link to a video or another blog or site. Dr. Paul's recent visit to USC is a
prime example. I have seen many posts on Digg duplicating the same information,
linking to the same video of photo montage via their own blog, with no value
added.

Some could just be seeing the popularity of Ron Paul and exploiting it for traffic
to their blog (likely in some cases). But I also think there are many who think
they are assisting the campaign by providing these links. I believe
they are not and are helping to dilute the message and the likelihood that the posts
will become popular enough on networking sites to make the front pages. If the
bloggers are going to provide analysis, feedback or add value to a video or foreign
site link, that works for me. But linking to another site or blog as a portal does not.
Link to the source and help clarify and concentrate the message of the campaign.

So now may be the time for the campaign to make an effort at organizing the
resources. More press releases, letters from the campaign and the like can
help clarify and concentrate the message maximizing its impact. While it will
not be possible to get everyone on board, I think it will help in the long run.
It may also let some backers know that they can spend more time on the street
if they feel the work is being done well on the Internet.

I encourage everyone to get involved, voice their opinions and continue to
research the candidates. But if you are going to help people find Dr. Paul,
add some value to your links; write a commentary to give your point of
view. Let your friends and family know you are involved and how
they can become more informed.

The movement is afoot and gaining momentum every day!! Let's keep
up our efforts and become even smarter about it through cooperation
and hard work!!



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6 comments:

Mike Wagner said...

There is a lot of "under the radar" stuff going on.
The Ron Paul campaign has hired some top political consultants to organize and train the MeetUp groups. I attended one of these training session last weekend. Over 100 MeetUp organizers and assistant organizers were there.
There is a new strategy that aims at getting all the meetup groups working in the same direction.
I am not at liberty to disclose this new strategy (for obvious reasons) but you should start seeing the evidence in you neighborhood very soon.

Craft Brew Community said...

I think the campaign needs to allow the grassroots to organize themselves like they have been. By trying to control it, I don't think it will continue the current success.

Anonymous said...

Obviously not a cat owner. Try herding cats. Then tel us how to herd grassroots volunteers.

Dave4RPaul said...

I hope captain Mike is right..

But I also agree with both of the other comments in some ways.

It will be impossible to rein in everyone, but I think they should at least try...

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Anonymous said...

I think that is eactly the wrong idea.

Just as the Federal Government is constituted by the people, Ron Paul's campaign is constituted by his supporters. Imposing controls from the top is what hurt Dean in '04.

While we should (and I do) welcome direction from the campaign, I think we should allow each person to continue to do what they think is best to promote Ron Paul.

1) It gives better deniability if someone does something stupid.

2) It maintains volunteer energy.

3) Local control is best, and people know their local area best.

BTW, Herding cats is easy. All you have to do is open a can of tuna at the destination.

We all know the destination, and we all know the waypoints along the way that we have to hit.

Later.

Kevin Houston
Bridgewater, SD

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