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Erik, my son, 12 years old, and I went to the Ron Paul event tonight. Grant has a fever, so he and Catherine had to miss out.
It was great. We were able to get seats in the sixth row. Some photos are in this Picasa album. I'm sure that a lot of YouTube stuff will come out shortly. The one guy working to establish Ron Paul chapters on college campus locations was streaming right off of his ball cap camera.
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I want to thank everyone for the great effort they made last night. They gave me a lot of credit, but the truth is that we are a group and we did this all together. All of you came out there and made the difference. Many of you also helped set up the event, direct people, sell shirts, and do a host of other things.
I will share some things I have been learning that should make you all proud. To date, we hosted the largest Ron Paul Rally to date. Living in a state where our primary isn't one of the earliest, and where people tend to be less political, we drove out DOUBLE the expected amount of people. The best estimates range between 1,200 and 1,400 people for the event, and the campaign will have raised, at a minimum, in excess of $30,000 last evening. My guess is that the number is most likely twice that total.
I had the opportunity to speak at some length with Lew Moore, who is the campaign manager for Ron Paul, and he was clearly impressed with how well organized we are and what we have been able to accomplish. A number of other Organizers, as well, came to me and asked how we do it, and the most common thing I told them was this: trust your people and let them use the skills they have. It is not a conventional campaign, but we take what we are good at, and do a great job.
I am pleased to report our t-shirt sales were a great success. We raised a great deal of money for both the campaign and our local effort, and we will use those funds to take this campaign forward and make it stronger. We are coordinating better with our friends in this state, in this region, and with the national headquarters. We remain autonomous, but as partners working toward a single goal.
I am not in the habit of sharing personal stories in my e-mails, but I will tell you what I enjoyed most about the rally, because it gives me great hope and it should do the same for you also. While you were all watching Dr. Paul give his excellent speech (and I was listening, of course), I found my eyes scanning the room looking to see how people reacted. You could just tell everyone actually believed, and they had such commitment to spread the message of restoring the Constitution. The message is better than good; it's good enough to win.
It won't be easy. We have factors arrayed against us. We have an unsympathetic media. We have an ambivalent party. We have time, but not time enough. And, our opponents will outspend us, because they are bankrolled by interests who have a vested interest in perpetuating the status quo. It is a formidable challenge, no doubt. But, we have something they don't: belief. Our enthusiasm is real, our cause is just, and in every new listener, it seems we find another convert.
I hope you all remember the joy you felt this night, because the road gets harder from here. We still have a lot of people to convince, and the only way we can do that is getting to where they are. We are the Ron Paul campaign, and we need to increase our efforts. We need to be at more events, get more literature and paraphernalia out there, and to make them listen. But, I'll offer you an incentive that might just make you decide it is worth all the time, effort, sweat, and dollars.
Ron Paul could be back as the Republican nominee for President. The odds are, if we want to have the chance to host him and his family back in Pittsburgh, that is what it will take. I know I want to see that happen. I hope you do too, and if we can do that, we'll be over halfway done to reclaiming our country and defending our liberties.
It was a great night. I ask that anyone who has photographs please post them to the Meetup site. Also, if there is any video footage (and we do have some, and it will work its' way to YouTube and so on), that is also welcome.
Enjoy your weekend, relax, and we'll get back to work come Tuesday. If I seem a little absent for a day or two, it's because as much as I can, I'm taking a mini-vacation, or as lay people call it, sleeping. :)
Yours,
Tom
P.S. The Paul Family was really touched to have such a great reception in their hometown and I heard more than one person tell me that our enthusiasm and optimism is what drives this campaign forward, and that Ron himself will get such energy from us being there. Take pride in that.
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