Monday, December 31, 2007

Ron beats Rudy?

Operation Live Free or Die efforts mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article Ron beats Rudy:

Ron Beats Rudy?
December 29, 2007; Page A10
Wall Street Journal

For several hours on Sunday, more than a dozen Ron Paul volunteers stood in snow drifts in the rain outside the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester waving at last-minute Christmas shoppers and handing out hundreds of yards signs.

The campaign doesn't know how many people participated because, as with so many Paul rallies, this one was organized entirely by fans not officially associated with the campaign.

"We told them to take Christmas Eve and Christmas off, and next thing we know they're doing a sign wave at the mall," said Jim Forsythe, a self-employed engineer and former Air Force pilot from Strafford, N.H., who independently organizes volunteer efforts for Ron Paul.

That spontaneous grassroots support is why Mr. Paul, an obstetrician from Lake Jackson, Texas, could pull off a stunner on Jan. 8 and place third in New Hampshire's Republican primary. If he does, he would embarrass Rudy Giuliani and steal media limelight from John McCain and Mitt Romney, who are battling for first place.

Many Republican operatives in New Hampshire, even those affiliated with other campaigns, think Mr. Paul is headed for an impressive, double-digit performance. That he has been polling in the high single digits for months is discounted, because the polls may be missing the depth of his support.

Why? For starters, he appears to be drawing new voters. Polls that screen for "likely" voters might screen out many Paul supporters who haven't voted often, or at all, before. Many of Mr. Paul's supporters appear to be first-time voters. They will be able to cast their ballots because New Hampshire allows them to register and vote on the day of an election.

Even Mr. Paul's New Hampshire spokesman, Kate Rick, is an unlikely political activist. She grew up in a political family in Washington, D.C. and says "I swore I would never work in politics." She only changed her mind after finding Mr. Paul, a candidate she says she can finally believe in. "Most people I know in the grass roots are like that," she said. "My closest friends have never voted before, and they're die-hard Paul people now."

There is another reason to discount the polls on Mr. Paul. The one thing that unites his supporters is a desire to be left alone, not only by government, but by irritating marketers and meddling pollsters, too. Mr. Paul's supporters might well be screening their calls and not-so-inadvertently screening out pollsters. Still, some observers of the primary race here downplay this support, noting that a lot of the activists who show up in news stories are not state residents and won't be voting.

It is true that Paul supporters from New York, New Jersey and even California are prominent at campaign rallies. But volunteers and campaign staffers say that, although out-of-state volunteers often are the most flamboyant and can attend day-time rallies while local supporters are at work, they do not outnumber the locals.

"Ninety percent [of his supporters] are from New Hampshire," says Jared Chicoine, Mr. Paul's New Hampshire coordinator. Keith Murphy, a former Democratic campaign worker from Maryland who owns Murphy's Taproom in Manchester, has held several Paul rallies at his restaurant, which has become a regular hangout for the Paul crowd. When the candidate shows up, about 75% of the activists at an event are from out of state, he said, but on other nights it's about 50-50.

Regardless of where they are from, organizing Mr. Paul's supporters is a challenge. "This is entirely grassroots oriented to the point that the official campaign structure seems almost lost, to the point that they don't know what to do with all these people," Mr. Murphy said.

On their own initiative, and at their own expense, Paul volunteers hold rallies, print and distribute brochures and even purchase ads. "I pick up the paper and say, wow, there's an ad and it's not my ad," Mr. Chicoine told me.

The buzz surrounding the Paul campaign is reminiscent of the grassroots campaign Democrat Carol Shea-Porter waged against Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley last year. Polls showed Mrs. Shea-Porter trailing by 19 points in October. With almost no money and no support from the Democratic establishment, she came from behind and beat the congressman 51% to 49%.

Many are wondering if the polls are similarly missing Mr. Paul's momentum. Mrs. Shea-Porter and Mr. Paul have very different ideas about how to use the power of government, but both strongly oppose the war in Iraq. And Mrs. Shea-Porter ran last year as a fiscal conservative, so it's possible Mr. Paul could win over many Republicans who voted for her last year.

Mr. Chicoine and other Paul supporters say that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most of Mr. Paul's backers are Republicans, not independents. But everyone agrees that Mr. Paul draws an unusual mix of libertarians, fiscally conservative Democrats, conservative Republicans, home-schoolers, vegans, gambling aficionados, anti-abortion activists and others who want the government to butt out of some aspect of their lives.

But will they get out to vote on primary day?

"I've never seen a group of people that are this energetic about a candidate," Mr. Murphy said. "It's something else."

That sentiment is shared by Republicans who have observed numerous New Hampshire primaries. The level of enthusiasm for Mr. Paul is remarkable, they say. It transcends the state's Libertarian base (about 4% of the electorate). And by many accounts, Mr. Paul's backers here are more energized and committed than are supporters of Mr. Giuliani, who may enjoy inflated poll numbers because of his celebrity status.

National attention is focused on the horse races between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and between Messrs. McCain and Romney. But the shy obstetrician from Texas could be the surprise story of the New Hampshire primary.

Mr. Cline is editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

##

Jane's Note: Cline initially dismissed this candidacy yet is now asking the question, is Paul going to trump Rudy? Amazing progress we've made and a good indication of the recognition of support in this state.

Voter Fraud

As the meetup coordinator for New Hampshire, I wanted to update everyone on the efforts of the campaign to make sure the election is free from any fraud, and votes are counted accurately. There are a lot of posts and e-mail going around about this, so I thought it would be good for people to hear something from the folks on the ground and closest to the campaign. I have been talking to the NH campaign manager about this issue, and he has in turn been discussing it with national. They are taking the issue quite seriously, contrary to the rumors floating around the internet.

First, I have done hand counts here in NH in the past, with my kids sitting by my side. I know the folks in my town take the accuracy of the count quite seriously, and we normally have numerous volunteers to count the votes. Each table has two people so they can double check each other. The hand counts are a very transparent process, and this is what is used in about half the communities.

The other half use scanning machines, NOT the all-electronic machines. A paper trail is required in New Hampshire. So the person will fill out a paper ballot, and insert it into the machine to be counted and registered. If there is an error, it is spit back out, giving the person an opportunity to fix the mistake. All the paper ballots are put into a box and kept on file for 60 days (see RSA 659:95 - http://www.sos.nh.gov/rsa659.htm) for possible recounts. It is my understanding that many communities go ahead and hand count that night to double-check the scanning machines. These machines are NOT hooked up by modem.

The campaign has plans for the day of the primary that will help ensure a clean vote AND maximize the number of people that turn out. The best thing supporters in New Hampshire can do is to volunteer with the campaign to work the day of the primary, all day and into the evening. Working for other groups rather than the campaign will only dilute our efforts and risk destroying all the hard work us NH residents have made starting as far back as March. There are hundreds of polling locations - we need everyone's help if we want to cover as many as possible. Having half the people work for the campaign, and half for other groups will mean we can only cover half the polling locations.

There have been a lot of nasty things said about the official campaign. Having worked closely with the campaign since they began in NH, I find this extremely frustrating. Several of these people I worked with prior to the official campaign starting, and they are great hardworking people who want Dr Paul to win. In NH, the grassroots supporters and the campaign have had a great working relationship, and there is no need to destroy that.

Breakfast with Ronny

People in New Hampshire take their politics seriously. They have come to expect that candidates from each party will visit and speak with them directly. It's not uncommon to run into a Presidential candidate in a bookstore or a coffee shop.

One of the regular stops for all Presidential candidates in New Hampshire is the Red Arrow, a small diner in downtown Manchester. A few days ago Ron Paul showed up to the Red Arrow for a breakfast coffee and some toast. The story is written up in the Concord Monitor.

After Ron finished breakfast he came out to speak with a group of his supporters who had gathered outside the diner. The coolest moment for me was when he saw me and said "I remember you!". He spent a few minutes asking me questions about how Operation Live Free or Die was going, how many volunteers we had in the state, and how citizens of New Hampshire were receiving his message of freedom, peace and prosperity. I told him that most people in New Hampshire were still undecided, because of their spirit of independence, but that they were very receptive to the message. I also told him how all of our volunteers were carrying pocket Constitutions and were explaining to voters that "this is Ron's platform". The press (who were also gathered outside with us) really loved that.

The Union Leader also wrote about my experience hamming it up with Ronny outside the Red Arrow.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Honk, I'm freezing for your freedom!

Over the last few days we've had several large sign waving efforts at the mall of New Hampshire, at the most trafficked intersection in the state. We've had a tremendous response, giving out hundreds of yard signs, Constitutions and reams of literature on Ron Paul.

Each day the sign waving effort has become larger with volunteers flocking to New Hampshire. You can feel the energy growing each day, and it's such a rush to hear cars honking at you and people drive by who're enthusiastic about Dr Paul.

The Revolution is here!

Part 1:


Part 2:

Saturday, December 22, 2007

I'm back from New Hampshire...a reflection on my experience

I just returned from a week in New Hampshire (12/12 - 12/18) as a part of Operation Live Free or Die (OLFD). Here are some notes on my experience:

The OLFD folks are working hard in New Hampshire for Ron Paul, and there is a lot of energy from the volunteers. We have come from all over the country. I met people from Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, Oregon, Kentucky, California, Missouri, Washington, and more! Most everyone coming into New Hampshire end up at one of the rented homes that OLFD have arranged for us. The homes get very busy but it's good to be among like-minded people.

During the week I was there I worked on several assignments. Some activities were directed by the campaign, others we did on our own. Here's a list of the different activities that were going on during my stay:

1. Voter ID canvassing (directed by campaign): going door to door to identify voters' registration and issues that are important to them.

2. Voter Advocacy (directed by campaign): going to specific homes spread throughout an area talking to people about issues that they have said are important to them.

3. Phonebanking (directed by campaign): same thing as voter ID canvassing, but by phone.

4. Business canvassing (on our own): going into different towns and stopping by businesses to talk to the owners/workers about Ron Paul. We made sure only to talk with employees if they were not busy with customers.

5. Posting signs (on our own): we posted RP signs at major intersections of the towns we drove through.

6. Handing out fliers in public areas (on our own): we walked down busy city streets talking with shoppers about Ron Paul. I FELT THIS TO BE THE MOST POSITIVE EXPERIENCE OUT OF THEM ALL.

7. Sign waving (on our own): we waved RP in the morning before canvassing and at night during high traffic times.

8. Boston Tea Party (on our own): a nasty winter storm hit this day keeping many people indoors. The city of Boston was dead quiet but 700 of us RP supporters turned out to hear amazing speeches (Rand Paul, Jim Forsythe to name a couple) by several people.

9. Blanket canvassing (on our own): several of us decided to simply go to uncanvassed areas and go door to door telling people about Ron Paul.

Some reflections and suggestions on my experience:

There are a LOT of people arriving in New Hampshire to help out. Coordinating together is a major challenge. Do your best to be self-sufficient!

1. Rent your own car
2. Bring your own food and drink (some of the OLFD homes will pitch in and cook meals together, but on their own schedule)
3. Keep RP fliers and materials with you to pass out (OLFD has plenty of material stored up at their houses - but some with you so you don't have to go back and forth)
4. I would recommend asking OLFD and/or the campaign HQ in Concord if you can take a specific project and run with by yourself or with another volunteer instead of trying to coordinate activities every day with other volunteers.

I would also recommend helping in whatever way you feel you're best suited to help with.

Bring WINTER clothing - it gets COLD, WET, and WINDY!

Suggestions on activities:

They are all important, but for me I found my best experience came from going door to door to talk with voters in areas that had not been contacted yet. Unfortunately, it is frowned upon to canvass door to door after dark (about 4:30pm), so many people won't be home.

The other activity I found effective was walking busy streets, talking with voters, and passing out information. People seemed to be less defensive and more open to talking/taking information with this venue than any other I tried.

My personal suggestion: It may be just the same to take a week (or however much time you can) off and work on campaigning in your home state/area. Find out how and when your state votes, pass out voter registration, get voters to switch parties if they need to, and assist them in getting involved in your state as much as possible. There is a LOT of help in New Hampshire and we'll need as much help across the states for us to win.

All that said, my hats off to OLFD and the Ron Paul campaign in New Hampshire - great work everybody. It was very exciting to be among the ever-enthusiastic supporters of Ron Paul in the state that holds the first primary in the nation.

The impression I got from voters in New Hampshire is that Ron Paul has GREAT support. He does, however, have his work cut out for him. The Democrats have a lot of support among Independent voters and Mitt Romney has strong support among Repubicans. My guess is that Ron Paul will have a very strong showing in New Hampshire and could very well win the state!

Here's to freedom!

Friday, December 21, 2007

Too Much of a Good Thing?

I posted the following to the Daily Paul, but thought it would be of interest to anyone looking at Operation Live Free or Die.

----------------------

I wanted to post an update of what is going on in New Hampshire, since all eyes seem to be focused on us. I’ve seen e-mails, posts, blogs, etc, about the campaign in New Hampshire that seem to bear little relation to reality, so I wanted to try to provide a counterbalance to those posts.

As a Meetup coordinator in New Hampshire, I've had a lot of people contact me wanting to help in this state. The outpouring of support and offers to help have been truly outstanding and gratifying. However, there has also been some help that has been undesirable, and downright harmful to our efforts here. I’ve said several times that Ron Paul's best asset is his supporters. But they are also his biggest liability. There can truly be "too much of a good thing".

Current Status of the Campaign

I’ve worked a lot with the official campaign. Many of the hired folks are people I worked with on the grassroots level before they got hired. Although many are young, they are smart and extremely motivated. Several of them gave up high paying jobs with no hope of going back in order to get Dr. Paul elected, so their dedication is not to be questioned. It’s a small staff (10) but they have worked extremely well to leverage the energy of all the supporters. They tend to keep very quiet about what they are doing since they don’t want the “competition” to know what they are up to, and therefore they get far less credit than they deserve. Things that have been done, and my perception of them:


  • Direct Mail: The direct mail is easily the best of any Republican's, if not the best of anyone's on both sides of the aisle. They have probably sent out a total of 10-20 direct mail pieces, all of high quality. Many of these pieces were targeted to the recipient. For example, homeschoolers all got a flyer on homeschooling, and Dr. Paul’s protection of their rights. Those that care about sovereignty got a nice flyer on that, etc. The one that went to all Republicans was a beautiful 8-page beautiful piece.


  • Radio: I have heard as many or more ads for Dr. Paul on the radio as any other candidate. It’s blasting the airwaves. A day won’t go by where I won’t hear several radio ads on several popular stations.


  • Phones: Our phone banks are almost always constantly manned, and we don’t let up. Also, the campaign has done a lot of targeted auto-calls with some great messages. We have tons of coverage over the phones.


  • TV: I have to admit, I don't watch much TV. People didn't like the original ad, but the more recent ones are very good. The one that came out today, I thought was great.


  • Canvassing: We are getting a lot of people knocking on doors, largely thinks to Operation Live Free or Die. But we can always use more people!


  • Visits: Dr. Paul has spent a lot of time out here over the last month. We will never get enough of him, and unfortunately have to share him with Iowa, S.C., Michigan, etc. But he is definitely working hard, and shaking a lot of hands. And the people that meet him love him.


As you can see, the campaign is hitting things very hard. They are serious about New Hampshire.

Too Much Help

With as much as the campaign, local supporters, and Operation Live Free or Die folks are doing in the state, it is very easy to get “too much help”. Some examples:

Some folks outside the state have decided to do "auto-calls" on their own. Given the amount of auto-calls the campaign is doing, this is getting on peoples nerves. Also, someone forgot to take the time zone into account, and people were getting calls in the middle of the night!!! You can’t imagine how painful it is for us to hear "I was supporting Ron Paul, but all this calls are pissing me off, and I won't vote for him". This has happened several times, and is really a problem. If you know who this is – STOP IT. In fact, this is hurting so much, I wonder if it is coming from one of our opponents.

Some folks have come into the state, and handed out flyers for marijuana, or 9-11 truth. That's help we DON'T need. No matter what your opinion is on these things, you don't hand this stuff to someone you don’t know well! We almost had a die-hard meetup member drop out because of this. The key to winning people over is to find out THEIR issue, and speak to that. Don't push your issue. If you come out to NH, please keep this in mind.

Many people, including myself, are concerned about vote-count, voter fraud, etc. Many third party organizations are talking a lot about this. But I have talked to the campaign and sincerely believe that the campaign's plans should handle this. Third parties coming into New Hampshire, who are not familiar with what goes on here, could actually hurt us. Please leave this to the New Hampshirites, and the campaign. We've got plans we can't talk about.

Might Help, Hopefully Won't Hurt

Letter Writing: I know there are some campaigns to write letters to NH. I think this is pretty unobtrusive and could help a bit, and shouldn't really hurt. The important thing is to have a good message on the letters. Stay away from anything controversial. Maybe just say that you support Ron Paul, and hope that the folks in NH will consider him. Don't focus in on issues that they may disagree on.

So How Can People Help?


  • Work on your own state. It's looking likely that this will be a brokered convention, and we need to get delegates wherever we can get them. With the hugely successful fundraising, this is going to be a national campaign, and the eggs are no longer in one basket (NH). There are 20+ states that will have caucuses and primaries on Super Tuesday. With the large grassroots we have, we can compete in these if people start working now. A good site for canvassing training and other ideas is www.ronpaulreveres.com


  • Come out to NH ASAP as part of www.operationlivefreeordie.com. If you can’t come out, please donate to that effort (using the donate tab on their site).


  • Donate to the campaign. The next effort is New Year's Money Bomb The $4.3M, and $6.0M has really gotten people talking in NH, and taking Dr. Paul seriously. Breaking $20M will as well.


  • The blimp has also created a lot of buzz. Reporters in NH are dying to ride on it. Make sure it gets to NH by donating at Ron Paul Blimp.



I hope all this information helps. I am so happy that folks from around the country want to help us win New Hampshire!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Spreading the message of freedom despite a blizzard

Dr. Paul is in town!!

Dr Paul is in town, this makes our full time jobs double overtime, and we could never be more excited or tired. I have to roll out of NH tomorrow for christmas with my daughter, olivia but don't worry ill be working from missouri and laura will be here so volunteers will still be coordinated :)

He went to portsmouth late this morning to have lunch with his family and then greet businesses and residents, we put signs all up and down the highway with signs which were removed by the NHDOT at 3pm (after Ron Saw them)even though the STATE TROOPERS had given us permission to have them on the highway til 5pm... a meetup member snapped this for us



so then we went had a sign wave just down from where ron was and told people where he was so they could hear him speak. Next we headed to Concord HQ to help with phone banking calling people to invite them to hear him speak over the next few days
putting signs together, etc

Ron paul had just left on his way to Franklin Pierce Law School to have a Presidential Forum, in which all candidates were invited, only 2 excepted, Dr. Paul, and Mike Gravel, who canceled at the last minute, so Dr Paul spoke about the cons of executive power and then had a Q and A with the audience, it was great, and as always he did SO AWESOME, man that guy is a genius!!! so here are a few pics

the event


me getting jays christmas present ready :)


matt (AZ OLFD volunteer) and Dr. Paul


a view of the crowd


trying to mess up curtis's picture taking


thanks for reading!

Roxi

Freedom brings us together

I often tell the media that there's no place I'd rather be, and nothing else I'd rather be doing, than fighting for my freedom in the crucial battleground state of New Hampshire. I can't think of anything more inspirational than defending liberty for all Americans. As I explain, I really had no choice in quitting my job at Google.

But what makes the effort especially exciting for me is the vast community of liberty-minded citizens that I've discovered in the last few weeks. Many people have joined us in New Hampshire. Many more have donated their money to our cause. And yet more have sent their well wishes.

I've recently been humbled by the generosity of the Free State Project in New Hampshire. An offshoot of this project, known at Ladies of Liberty, volunteered to feed volunteers of Operation Live Free or Die by cooking for us twice a week. This Monday, we were treated to home cooked lasagna and I can assure you, this is a vast improvement over cold bagels, stale doritos, and warm beer in a coffee mug. And just today we received a delicious box of confectioneries from California.

I want to thank everyone for the time, their efforts, their generosity, their gifts and especially their well wishes in this important effort to restore freedom to our beloved Republic.

Vijay and Ron

Free At Last 2008

Martin Luther King was an American hero who dedicated his life to fighting for liberty and justice for all Americans. In 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington, he saluted our spirits with the immortal words, "I have a dream..."

Free At Last!
Free At Last


Today the dream of liberty and justice for all is slipping through our fingers. Our government no longer speaks for the people. It is waging an immoral, unconstitutional war abroad, while stripping us of our basic civil liberties at home.

Now another American hero has taken the stage to fight for our freedom. Dr Ron Paul, like Dr King, opposes the immoral wars that we have fought abroad, and he believes in the principles on which our beloved Republic was founded.

On January 21st, when we honor Dr King and his message of peace and freedom, please support Dr Paul, who carries the same message, with a pledge of $100. Do not let history record that those of us who had the most to lose, did the least to prevent its happening.

Join us in our effort to bring liberty and justice to our Republic by signing up at: Free At Last 2008

OLFD Volunteer Dave Shares about his experience in NH

We'll miss you Dave! Thanks for all you have done to help this cause and we hope to see you in January of '09!

Written by David Corbin from Atlanta,GA

Wow. I sit in my own home, listening to ronpaulradio.com, chatting on IRC and watching the money roll in for the Tea Party (we just past 11/5). We've done an amazing thing. But my thoughts turn back to last week when I was in New Hampshire.

I've been supporting Dr. Paul for over 6 months now, and like many other Ron Paul activists, this is the first time I've done anything like this. Each week it seems I commit myself more and more to the campaign, to level a could not possibly have imagined when I started. With a week of vacation I was going to lose at the end of the year, I made plans to go to NH.

I flew into Boston Friday evening and rented a car. When I landed, I thought I'd be staying in Concord, but Laura (who was arranging all the housing) rerouted me to Hampton to satisfy my preference to have a real bed instead of just an air mattress. When I got to Hampton, the house was full with Frank from Portland, OR; Laura and Wes (and their 2 kids) from Arizona, Jay and Roxi from Tulsa, OK; and Frank from Bakersfield, CA. Vijay (the chief) and few others were there from Manchester wrapping up a planning meeting.

I left the next Thursday, returning to Boston through a severe snowstorm (11" in 7 hours in Boston). And during those 6 short days, the following arrived in-state: Sean and Joel from PA, Justin from MO, Frank from OK, Steve from TX, Trevor from WA, Pat and Josh from KY, Sam (and Sue, his dog) from CA, Cathy from Canada, Shanon (from all over), Paul from OR, and I think 2 or 3 others that I never really got to know. While there, they opened up two new houses and by the time I left, I think everything was close to full again, and this was with over 3 weeks until the primary.

During my time there, I canvassed 5 days, had lunch with Rand Paul and "phone banked" for a few a few hours. I canvased with 8 different people during my time up there. Overall, I had a blast. I made friends with folks from all over the country, and even though I've only known them a short while, I have no doubt some of these friendships are going to last, and I look forward to seeing them all again at the January '09 Ron Paul inauguration meetup. I definitely preferred canvassing to phone-banking, but that's just a product of my personality. The vast majority of NH residents where nice and polite, and many were genuinely amazed that we would volunteer our own time and money to come to NH for Dr. Paul.

So, while we should all be proud of what we've done with the Tea Party, there is much more to do to get Dr. Paul the nomination. In short, I encourage you to go up there for a week. The orgainzers are busting their butts to figure out how to house everyone, be sure everyone gets fed, and that no one is left lying around unable to work for Dr. Paul, and I'm sure there will be some wrinkles as the number of volunteers in-state grows (I bet they're over 30 by now) and 400 total are expected.

But it's an experience you won't regret, and of course, Dr. Paul is worth it.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

random pics

I thought you might enjoy some random pics taken at the hampton house, and the new HQ office we are setting up, and some volunteers in action

the office is upstairs at an old movie theatre...







Brinck the seacoast director....


andrew putting out signs...




Justin plugging in the car topper...


the view going down the road...


the front of our house...

Murphy's and Glen Beck

we tried to make it to HQ in time to watch glen beck but jay had to finish the MLK video so we didn't leave in time, then we made it to murphy's just as everyone was getting there, and by that time most of GB was over. we didn't stay long we were so tired and our new house captain, Lisa had been on the road so long, plus the bar didn't want trooper, one of our three ron paul revolution mascots.... here are some pictures for ya :)


jesse the manchester meetup group organizer, and Ron's grandaughters, plus several other people...



Vijay, Lisa, our newest volunteer and house captain, who drove 1200 miles from milwaukee arriving today, and Trooper her puppy...



Justin Collins, (Poplar Bluff, Mo) drinkin it up...


Aaron Jones, (Bloomington, IN), with justin and micheal an FSP member and RP supporter..


Jesse (manch, NH) Andrew (Bloomington, IN) matt and another guy from the rye house...


crowd...


vijay and Andrew (Bloomington, IN)



aaron and one of Ron's grandaughters....

Tea Party 07

I watched the ticker til 3 am, a few of us did, some stayed asleep this is what happens when you try to sleep on tea party money bomb night....





this is the screenshot of the ticker at 3am....

















.


we were expecting a huge storm and it had barely started, so i wasn't really prepared for this in the morning....
















so we pretty much thought we were snowed in so the guys made breakfast and coffee...



















then a couple guys with trucks came and played in the snow on our street and eventually the snow plows came so the guys shoveled us out of the driveway, we ended up riding with someone else though since they drove out of their way to get us thinking we would be stranded. It was slushy but we made it pretty well, heres a picture going into the boston tunnel



















the first place we stopped was quincy market which is right across from Faneuil Hall where the rally was being held, The market was really cool, I imagined what it was like when the founding fathers walked the streets of boston and what parts were original and what parts were not, Im fairly certain that the starbucks was probably there for sure, otherwise what would have kept sam adams and daniel webster energized? :)


another cool thing in quincy market...





so just walking around quincy market jay and I found plenty of other ron paul supporters including our OLFD roomates frank (tulsa, OK) and justin (poplar bluff, mo)who came with us, we were standing inside talking and drinking coffee when all of a sudden we see the crowd gathering in front of Faneuil Hall with, you guessed it, Ron Paul signs... there were people everywhere and the people inside the market were gathering at the windows to see the spectacle outside, this is what we could see...





















then the granny warriors showed up








We went inside to the Hall and the energy was so amazing, I went to the Iowa straw poll and it was one of my first big events so of course i was excited, but it was so much like a competition parts of it were hard to enjoy. But the looks on peoples faces just made this so different, you could see in their eyes they were at their first big event, the electricity in them made me remember how it was the first time and it was so great to be a part of. if you would like to see for yourself watch this.....




heres a pic i took from the top of fanieul hall...



















heres Jay and Norman (campaign staffer) with John McManus, the founder of the John Birch society...












































here is our group of OLFD members in a group, some couldn't go but we still had a good showing...












here are some of the rest of the pictures of the rally and speeches











After that we marched (loudly) to the state house for the boston tea party official reeinactment heres the video, and some pictures.








It was really funny because i had no idea about the reenactment of the debates over the tax that was to be imposed on the tea in boston back then, and I honestly didn't know much about the history of it either, I was worried all day about not getting to put tea in the harbor and after the speeches were over, and I was trying to round everyone up for the group picture (not an easy task) Jim gave me two tickets to go to the state house and watch the reenactment, so i was worried i wouldn't make it because we were already late. We finally marched there, and they were very welcoming to us even though the show had already started... some went in and some stayed outside, Then I didn't see anything about them officially dumping tea in the harbor (which they normally do, i was told) and so I asked someone who appeared to be somewhat in charge and they said in fact no one would be doing that this year. I was never so disappointed considering this is WHY i wanted to go so badly. we all had plenty of ron paul tea bags though so we organized a march to the harbor to put in our tea bags, we chanted the whole way, trudging through snow, slush, ice and ice water puddles to get there but you would have never know it because everyone was so energetic, just like the march at the iowa rally but with less people. We lost about half our group

heres the video and some pics...




















Jay and I with our tea





































afterwards we headed back to where we heard the other ron paul supporters who didn't follow us to the harbor went, which was a restaurant and tavern called the green dragon.




















outside all the signs had been lined up outside the bar in the snow





















Coincidentally It happened to be VERY OLD, as a matter of fact it first opened in 1657 and was a "hotbed meeting place" for none other than.... you guessed it the founding fathers, can you imagine? It was even called the "headquarters of the revolution" by Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and Daniel Webster. My feet were walking on the same floor, I was sitting at the same bar, I could not have possibly been happier about that, and I had to get a sam adams to commemorate this amazing event in my life

here are the pics of everyone ....

























and I thought i would throw in a few pics i took in boston...









So I hope you enjoyed my version of the events in boston.... heres to the 6 million dollar man!!

Roxi