PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy Victory in ‘Value Voters’ Straw Poll

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | 88 Comments

The question to be asked is not whether it is unfair for the Paul campaign to keep doing this, but why the rest of the GOP field can’t spend a few bucks to do it themselves. Dave Weigel at Slate reports:

He beat out seven other candidates and “undecided.” The full results, with 1,983 ballots cast:

Ron Paul – 36.9% (732)
Herman Cain – 22.5% (447)
Rick Santorum – 16.3% (323)
Rick Perry – 8.4% (167)
Michele Bachmann – 7.9% (157)
Mitt Romney – 4.4% (88)
Newt Gingrich – 2.7% (54)
Undecided – 0.7% (13)
Jon Huntsman – 0.1% (2)

In a post-vote press conference, FRC President Tony Perkins made sure to note that 600 people had bought tickets for Saturday only — a none-too-subtle hint that Paul’s supporters had over-represented themselves.
“Do the math,” said Perkins. “Ron Paul and his campaign are very well organized.”

What did 600 tickets cost the Paul campaign? And what would have been the publicity value if, for example, the Rick Perry campaign had paid for 1,000 of their supporters to attend the summit? Perry raised $17 million and he can’t afford to buy a straw poll? Your stupidity is not someone else’s fault. Beyond that, the story is:

A. Herman Cain continues his momentum; and
B. Santorum got twice as many votes as Bachmann.

This pretty much puts a fork into the Bachmann campaign. If she can’t beat Santorum in a straw poll at a national conference of social conservatives, Bachmann probably can’t beat Santorum in Iowa, either.

UPDATE: Jazz Shaw at Hot Air: “Ron Paul brings home the bouquet for best organizational skills at a conservative event .”

And by “organizational skills,” he means, the willingness to spend money on grassroots activism, i.e., offering free tickets for any Paul supporter who wanted to come vote for their guy.

UPDATE II: My buddy Joe Fein has shown how the Paulistas won — “stole” might be too strong a word — the California GOP straw poll.

Stipulate that the Paul campaign operates according to the “By Any Means Necessary” radical principle. Nevertheless, the point to which I wish to call the reader’s attention is this: The Paul campaign is smart to spend money on getting their supporters to events, and other campaigns are stupid in spending money to hire a bunch of staffers and consultants who don’t necessarily provide value-added to their efforts.

Suppose you are a college kid who might be willing to support a Republican presidential candidate. Now, suppose that you could actually get to meet that candidate, and get free travel to events where that candidate appears. OK, furthermore suppose that the campaign had a sort of Amway incentive deal where, if you were campus activist who could sign up a dozen of your college buddies to accept the same free-travel deal, you’d get a small commission for every warm body you delivered on the Republican candidate’s behalf.

Shouldn’t Republicans be able to understand how the Ron Paul campaign is using market incentives to build their movement?

Why, then, are most GOP presidential campaigns top-heavy affairs that spend ridiculous sums on “media consultants,” etc., rather than to use their money the way Ron Paul’s campaign uses their money?

Like I said: Your stupidity is not someone else’s fault.

Category: Election 2012, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

Comments

88 Responses to “PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy Victory in ‘Value Voters’ Straw Poll”

smitty
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:33 pm

I would like to repeat my assertion the the World’s Youngest Blogger will not beat Ron Paul in the CPAC12 straw poll.
Joe
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:40 pm

I thought Ron Paul was against unnecessary spending. Can’t he do it without paying people to vote for him.
Joe
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:42 pm

It is pathetic if you have to pay for sex…is this any difference?
Jeff
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:44 pm

Hmmmmmmm…..

Over the years, Ronulans keep on voting for Ron Paul, but, somehow, Ron Paul never gets the GOP nomination for President.

Is it the man? His message? Or is it just that the Ronulans are great at rigging popularity contests, but suck in real life?

Hmmmmmmm…..I’ll go for all three.
ThePaganTemple
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:51 pm

Why don’t these people smarten up and just stop putting Paul’s name on polls? Wouldn’t that solve the problem? There would also be the comedy value of the Paultards crying and complaining, after which we just belittle them some more.
T Millz
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:51 pm

because 600 people only wanted the hear Ron Paul speak they only bought sat tickets, how does that become Ron Paul bought the tickets and the straw poll?
Tom Callow
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

I like some of Santorum’s positions and some of Bachman’s positions.
Hard for me to see how he got more votes, because I know he did not buy any votes.
the questions that I see are : “Is Herm the flavor of the week?” and “Second look at Santorum?”
There, I said it in my allahpundit voice.
PS> I am not that person though
Elize Nayden
October 8th, 2011 @ 4:55 pm

Isnt every victory in a straw-poll bought? I thought that’s what straw-polls are all about?

Dont get me wrong, I have no love for the Ronulans, but this headline strikes me as pretty unfair.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:02 pm

Stacy said “What did 600 tickets cost the Paul campaign?”

Ron Paul didn’t have to buy the tickets, not when Ronulans keep on throwing good money after bad. His campaign did….or they convinced 600 followers to flock into the “Value Voters” session.

Ron Paul is a bizarre wacko even amongst the politicians of this nation, but I don’t recall anyone ever accusing him of being stupid.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:16 pm

“The question to be asked is not whether it is unfair for the Paul
campaign to keep doing this, but why the rest of the GOP field can’t
spend a few bucks to do it themselves.”

Since one of my biggest complaints with our government is the disrespect of money I don’t have a problem with the others not wasting money buying votes in a straw poll which has no binding affect on the primaries.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:18 pm

I forget, straw polls only count when Paul doesn’t win them:

Suggested reading: “The Commissar Vanishes; The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin’s Russia” by David King. It is a compelling work about how the state and state media attempted to remove enemies of the regime from the news and the historical record.

Your tiny, snarky little blog just makes people easier to rule.
Quartermaster
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:20 pm

If you don’t pay for sex, then you aren’t married. Marital sex is the most expensive sex obtainable.

The obsessive anti-Paulbots long ago got tiresome. If you can’t deal with the man’s message in an intelligent manner, then go away.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:22 pm

I gave another $100 dollars to Paul’s PAC in honor of your remark.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:22 pm

When Ronulans stop acting like high school students voting for Prom Queen, I’ll take another look at the man.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:24 pm

I gave another $100 dollars to Paul’s PAC in honor of your remark.

I am at $200 for this single blog already.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:28 pm

Give away, son, give away. It’s a free country, after all. And your own, hard earned shekels. Not mine.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:32 pm

Shouldn’t Republicans be able to understand how the Ron Paul campaign is using market incentives to build their movement?

Like I said — no one ever accused Ron Paul of being stupid.
PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy 'Value Voters' Straw …
October 8th, 2011 @ 5:38 pm

[…] is the original post: PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy 'Value Voters' Straw … Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: attend-the, been-the-publicity, buying-their, live-, market, […]
ThePaganTemple
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:04 pm

The Paultards are a bunch of looney tunes, why not just come to grips with reality and see it for what it is? If they don’t want to be criticized all they have to do is stop spamming on-line polls and jamming up straw polls like this one. Who the hell do they think they’re convincing? Everybody knows their game, they just haven’t caught on yet that everybody else is wise to them. That’s what makes them Paultards.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:16 pm

Straw polls aren’t all alike with a wide variety of requirements or lack of same to vote. Some are more easily bought than others, which is not to say that Paul bought this one. It is at least possible his victory is due to dedicated followers. Have you ever attended a Grateful Dead concert?
ThePaganTemple
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:22 pm

If you hang around here long
Son, you’ll go broke
Cos we know Paul’s a clown
And a perty funny joke

So run along, little Paultard
From your basement please don’t wait
Mommy might have more dollars
In her purse you can donate
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:27 pm

One needn’t remove Ron Paul’s face from old photographs in order to marginalize him….or his fans.

Conservatives for Cthulhu do not consider Ron Paul a significant threat to Romney’s ascendancy and therefore have little value as an ally we shall forget him now.
McGehee
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:30 pm

A few more anti-Paul remarks and you’ll have reimbursed his campaign for that straw poll victory!

Here, let me pitch in. Um…

Oh, how about, “If Ron Paul were as good at winning elections as he is at winning unscientific polls, he would have already served his second term and retired ten years ago.”

Huh? Huh?
McGehee
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:31 pm

Undecided – 0.7% (13)
Jon Huntsman – 0.1% (2)

The Huntsman juggernaut juggers on.
Thomas Knapp
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:34 pm

There are two keys to winning these straw polls:

1) Spending the money to buy the tickets, transportation, etc.; and

2) Enthusing your supporters enough to get them to take advantage of the tickets, transportation, etc.

Paul’s campaign is smart enough, and has raised enough money, to do (1); Paul does quite well at (2).

Neither is a mean feat.

That may not necessarily translate into caucus wins or primary votes, but it’s standard campaign fare and not some “Paultard outrage.” It’s just silly to blame a guy who’s running for president for doing a good job of … running for president.

Romney has enough money to do (1), but his truly enthusiastic supporters would fit in a Honda Civic with room to fuck doggy-style, so (2) is out.

Cain probably has enough enthusiastic supporters to do (2), but his money train is just now starting to roll and (1) is probably just creeping onto the menu of things his campaign can do.

Perry should have ramped up faster, but he’s covered with those insider “power consultant” leeches, and they’ve been too busy patting themselves on the back for jumping Gingrich’s ship just in time to actually, you know, do anything.
How To Win Straw Polls…Buy The Votes « That Mr. G Guy's Blog
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:41 pm

[…] Stacy McCain has an interesting theory on why Ron Paul wins so many Straw Polls. He uses his campaign money more ‘wisely’ than his erstwhile opponents. And he also has the QOTD. Stipulate that the Paul campaign operates according to the “By Any Means Necessary” radical principle. Nevertheless, the point to which I wish to call the reader’s attention is this: The Paul campaign is smart to spend money on getting their supporters to events, and other campaigns are stupid in spending money to hire a bunch of staffers and consultants who don’t necessarily provide value-added to their efforts. […]
Mike
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:51 pm

The Kid’s got chutzpah…he might.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 6:51 pm

Haw! Good ditty, TPT!
ThePaganTemple
October 8th, 2011 @ 7:25 pm

Few things are more inspiring than a Paultard on a cool Saturday evening.
Anonymous
October 8th, 2011 @ 8:05 pm

No, I’ll accuse him of being stupid. His foreign policy stopped making sense when the Wright brothers flew.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 8:14 pm

I’d categorize that as “crazy”, myself. YMMV.

I will say that the way Ron Paul keeps on leading his Ronulans around by the nose makes me wonder if he’s crazy like a fox. What a great way to keep the campaign contributions coming in nationwide! Build up a network of cult-like followers, all for the promise of running as their Presidential candidate. There’s more than a hint of pandering coming from the fellow.

Frankly, Ron Paul reminds me too much of Lyndon LaRouche, except that Paul is less crazy and more crafty.
#VVS11: Campaign Spin Wars Follow Values Voters Summit Straw Poll : The Other McCain
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:05 pm

[…] (typeof(addthis_share) == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}Following up on the earlier post about the Values Voters Summit presidential straw-poll results, we continue to the spin phase of the event, where people tell us what it means. Most interesting […]
AngelaTC
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:16 pm

Now , now -seems like ya’ll have a serious case of Paul Derangement Syndrome these days. All the real candidates that want to win straw polls put money and time into the effort, but maybe Cain is too busy on his book tour to be bothered with politicking.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but hey – it appears that the only reason Cain managed to win FL was because the Paul campaign decided not to compete, and one straw poll does not a legitimate candidate make.

http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/one-week-before-collapse-cain-says-economy-great/
AngelaTC
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:21 pm

Stacy’s journalism tends to skew slightly (out of necessity) when he addresses all things Cain. VVS gave discounted tickets to college students, and Paul is the only GOP candidate that appeals to that demographic.

In the meantime, Cai wins a single straw poll, and we’re told how important the victory is. But when Paul wins several, we’re told that they aren’t important at all.

Politics is a very intellectually dishonest business, and Paul is Plato’s s would-be philosopher king in a land of dim-witted warriors.
AngelaTC
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:33 pm

Look, I’m a self employed accountant who supports Ron Paul. You’re an intelligent person, why do you instantly resort to liberal tactics – calling names and simply lying – in order to berate the most honest man in Washington?

I get that you don’t agree with his foreign policy. Even though he was on the floor in the ’90’s telling us that an attack on US soil was going to happen, he was a loon then and he’s a loon now. Whatever.

Even though he stood on the floor in 2003 and told us Bin Laden was in Pakistan, he was a loon then and he is a loon now. I hear you.

In 2000, he told us that the government was creating a housing bubble, and that the economy would suffer horrific damage when it popped. But he was just a cranky old man. I get that.

The problem I have is that I can’t seem to find anything he’s ever been wrong about. And yet, all those people who hate hi with such a viscious passion all seem to be putting their faith in men who were so very wrong in the past, entirely credible about what is going to happen in the future.

And that makes perfect sense to the so-called conservatives currently laying claim to the GOP.

God help us all.
AngelaTC
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:36 pm

Crazy is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Voting for anybody but Paul is crazy if you honestly want a smaller, more efficient government.
AngelaTC
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:39 pm

We’re counting on his Rand Paul vote in the 2031 VVS straw poll. Put it on his calendar, so he doesn’t poke his eye out with the pen, please.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:53 pm

I refer to liberals, socialists, greenies, et al, as “lefties”, because they are left of center. I don’t see you complaining about that…..perhaps because you agree?

No matter. I refer to Ron Paul supporters as “Ronulans” because most of them — not all, but a large percentage — are acting like cultists. Their support is darn near religious in nature; for example, they will accept no criticism of the man. I’ve seen genuinely sincere, constructive criticism of Ron Paul savaged by them, not unlike what I’ve seen from ardent supporters of the global warming scam.

The similarities are disturbing. Cult like political parties we don’t need more of.
JeffS
October 8th, 2011 @ 9:55 pm

Just a reminder: the only poll that counts is scheduled for 6 November 2012.

Everything else is jockeying for position. Straw polls are only a small part of that process.
#VVS11: Campaign Spin Wars Follow Values Voters Summit Straw Poll | Herman Cain PAC
October 8th, 2011 @ 11:10 pm

[…] up on the earlier post about the Values Voters Summit presidential straw-poll results, we continue to the spin phase of the event, where people tell us what it means. Most interesting […]
ThePaganTemple
October 8th, 2011 @ 11:18 pm

I get that you don’t agree with his foreign policy. Even though he was
on the floor in the ’90’s telling us that an attack on US soil was going
to happen, he was a loon then and he’s a loon now. Whatever.

Really? I didn’t know that. When he made this prediction way back in the nineties, did he also predict it would be all our fault, the way he does now?
Adjoran
October 8th, 2011 @ 11:20 pm

And $1 from each loose joint sold goes to the Paul campaign . . .
Adjoran
October 8th, 2011 @ 11:24 pm

None of the straw polls mean anything, except for Ames – which doesn’t mean anything in terms of who will win Iowa, but a lot in terms of perception of viability, as in forcing Pawlenty out early for his failure.

Certainly “analyzing” the vote totals is laughable, since they have no statistical value at all.

What is interesting is that Paul supporters attended a “values voters” conference sponsored by the FRC when they believe basically the opposite of everything the FRC believes on social issues.
Jeff Y.
October 9th, 2011 @ 12:11 am

Ron Paul is a “whacko”, hub? But neo-cons who accept the Administrative State erected by the Progressives, who trash the constitution every bit as much as the liberals – that neo-con trash are the real conservatives?

Not.

(I’m not a Ron Paul supporter, because he can’t win the nomination. Still, he’s the *only* person running from any party that will roll back federal government excess. And if you don’t like being called neo-con trash, then don’t hurl insults yourself, hypocrite.)
Jeff Y.
October 9th, 2011 @ 12:24 am

RSM has a great blog.

If we’re stating the obvious, that’s my contribution.
Republicanmother
October 9th, 2011 @ 12:28 am

I so hear you, girl!

People seem to be devolving into 1984 “hate” sessions instead of looking at the facts of how we got here.

I thought conservatives were more intellectually honest than liberals, but lately all I hear is a lot of name calling and very little factual debate. It’s really sad.
Republicanmother
October 9th, 2011 @ 12:34 am

The foreign policy Ron Paul criticizes is the liberal progressive foreign policy begun by Wilson and continued by every president since, with the slight exception of Ronald Reagan who said thusly about the 1983 Lebanon attack on the marine barracks:

In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believe the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today. -Ronald Reagan

So what I’m actually seeing on many “conservative” sites is the gnashing of teeth because Ron Paul isn’t following a liberal foreign policy, thus making him “crazy”. Um. Sure. okay.
Thomas Knapp
October 9th, 2011 @ 12:39 am

Paul’s supporters are a diverse lot.

Paul himself, on the other hand, is probably neck and neck with Santorum among the GOP field for “most in lock step with FRC on social issues.” He’s thoroughly pro-life, and even his vaunted “constitutionalism” doesn’t get in the way of his desire to preserve marriage apartheid.
JeffS
October 9th, 2011 @ 1:53 am

There’s stating the obvious, and then there’s reminding people of facts. You’re the former, I’m the latter.
Jeff Y.
October 9th, 2011 @ 1:54 am

“there’s reminding people of facts”

Reminding people of obvious facts is stating the obvious. That’s obvious.

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PAULBOT-MANIA: Ron Paul Supporters Buy Victory in ‘Value Voters’ Straw Poll

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