‘Youth for Ron Paul’ Member Total Exceeds 110,000 Lifelong Small-Government Activists

Supporters in 627 nationwide chapters commit to lasting political reform as they carry responsibility to govern their lives and bring about real change

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – The Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign announced today that its ‘Youth for Ron Paul’ (YFP) program membership has surpassed the 110,000 mark.

Since the program launched in September 2011, and as of yesterday, the number of YFP members was 110,880.  Members have established 627 sanctioned chapters in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

Young supporters including college-age activists and new workforce entrants established these chapters nationwide to remain politically involved expressly to challenge the status quo, bring about lasting prosperity, and work toward the full, permanent restoration of their economic and civil liberties.  Ron Paul, the champion of these aims, often declares that the free-market and constitutional ideas he espouses are young ones, and that an idea whose time has come stands no chance of being stopped.  The intellectual revolution youth are bringing about, then, is a manifestation of all that Dr. Paul hopes to achieve through his lifelong advocacy and pursuit of our nation’s highest office.

“Young Americans are often viewed as a solid constituency for the left and establishment Washington, who make promise after promise about a federal government that will ‘take care of them’ from cradle to the grave.  Now it’s clear that more than 110,000 young Americans reject this empty rhetoric and have committed themselves to the principles of constitutionally-limited government and the restoration of their economic and civil liberties as real solutions to our nation’s challenges,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Manager John Tate.

Editor's note: 110,000 people say that the GOP cannot win against Barack Obama unless Ron Paul is the nominee.

Why Not Just Settle for Romney?

The lesser of two evils

By Zach Foster

Here are two quick insights I wrote on Facebook on why Ron Paul supporters such as myself will not support either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama this November.

The first was a response to a pen pal of mine and close friend of Mitt Romney, Don Huber, who invited me to “Feel free to reapply and rejoin this winning bandwagon for ‘my old but still younger friend of half a century, Tim Yenmor’... a.k.a. the Honorable W. Mitt Romney... when my other friend Dr. Ron and Carol Paul endorse MR!”

Don, I highly appreciate your generosity and your continued kindness, but there's no way I can support Romney. I can't support a candidate who's taken multiple contradictory positions on the sanctity of life, the individual mandate, TARP bailouts, and deficit spending. There are certain things I hold sacred which I cannot and will not sell out on in order to settle for the lesser of two evils.

If the situation was hypothetically reversed I'm sure Governor Romney would endorse my candidate, and you'd support him as well in order to elect anyone but Barack Obama. On my end, I'm not voting for a candidate per se, but rather a set of principles I can't compromise on and still walk tall afterwards.

The consistent Constitutionalist

The second, a general statement:

Dear Mitt Romney supporters, all the ad hominem attacks and false rumors in the world are not going to make us stop supporting Ron Paul. It's not just the man, but the ideals.

--The racist newsletters were NOT written by him. Period. His actual record has proven him a non-racist.

--He ran as a Libertarian in 1988. So what?! He never sold out on his IDEALS. It's about ideals and philosophy, not about having a D or an R next to your name.

--You all make a big stink about supporting our troops, when more than half of the troops (such as the one writing this letter) are tired of a decade of war and support Ron Paul.

--I'm sure Romney's a kind man and a wonderful father, but he's flip-flopped way too many times on key issues like abortion, deficit spending, bailouts, the individual mandate, and the Bill of Rights for us to take him seriously. He literally says one thing, does another, and says something else after that.

So this is not a challenge or an egging on in any way, but rather a brief but clear explanation of our position.

And I’d like to follow up with a reminder that the “lesser of two evils” is still evil.  The greater evil gives us all someone to rally against because we know that we’re united in opposing him.  The lesser of two evils is the one who makes us abandon our sacred principles, and instead of the people telling the elected officials what they will do, it becomes the elected official telling us what we must settle for.

No more.

Romney image courtesy of Gage Skidmore and Ron Paul image courtesy of Jamie Kelso. Both used via Wikimedia Commons and the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 Unported.

Ron Paul Gains Delegates at Maine and Nevada State GOP Conventions Held this Weekend

Paul supporters are enlarging GOP and elevating his platform of constitutionally-limited government and restoration of our economic and civil liberties

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – Supporters of 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul made notable gains in state Republican conventions in the key voting states of Maine and Nevada this weekend, affirming his delegate-attainment strategy and injecting uncommon, sorely-needed enthusiasm into GOP party-building efforts.

By Sunday in Maine, Republican convention-goers elected Paul supporters as their state party secretary and chairman, changing the convention atmosphere and altering party operations going forward.  They also elected the state’s RNC committee man and woman, and swept four of four electors.  In addition, Paul supporters won 34 of 50 Maine Republican state committee members elected today, bringing them closer to a majority of the full state committee that consists of 80 members including county chairs.  Especially noteworthy is that the Paul campaign estimates it has elected 20 delegates to the national convention – an airtight majority.  In total, Maine gets 24 delegates, the balance consisting of automatic delegates such as RNC officials, the governor, and the state party chairman.

By Sunday in Nevada, where on Saturday Ron Paul addressed the state convention in Sparks live and in person, Paul supporters won 22 of 28 delegates to the national convention, with establishment-pick Mitt Romney garnering three, and three more reserved for the state GOP chair and two RNC officials.  Other recent developments in Nevada include Paul supporters electing a Paul-friendly state GOP chair by a 2-to-1 margin, the election of a Paul-friendly Nye County GOP chair, acquiring a two-thirds controlling interest in the Clark County GOP executive board, and gaining control of both of the state’s RNC slots.

“We’re extraordinarily pleased with the victories Ron Paul supporters achieved this weekend, and we thank these men and women for their untiring engagement.  Republican Party activists with Paul leanings are affirming the campaign’s delegate-win strategy and making lasting inroads into the party infrastructure, broadening the Republican footprint and strengthening the GOP base that suffers from a dearth of enthusiasm,” said Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Manager John Tate.

“Ron Paul victories in Maine and Nevada are occurring at a time and in a manner helpful for unseating President Obama and restoring America’s liberty and prosperity – goals that, naturally, all Republicans share,” added Mr. Tate.

The Tree of LIBERTY is Taking Root!

Dear friend of liberty,

Ron Paul is on a serious roll.

The good doctor’s stealth delegate plan is coming to fruition nationwide. By simply out-participating the competition, liberty is gaining a foothold in convention halls from Nevada to Louisiana.

Freedom seems to be popular after all!

Revolution PAC is proud to be part of this history in the making. With your help, we’ll continue to create bold, fresh content that reflects the intelligence and energy of the most significant - yet least covered - political movement of our time.

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Thank you for your vigilance and support, and, remember … “Don’t live free or die. Just live free.”
Dan Johnson
Vice Chairman, Revolution PAC

Source: Revolution PAC 

Synergy and Cohesion in the Liberty Movement

By Zach Foster

A heavily edited version was originally published in April by Young Americans for Liberty

Syn-er-gy. n. 1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. 2. Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.

This is a very delicate subject, but please approach it with an open mind, and know that in no way do I wish to threaten YAL’s non-partisan, non-profit status in the writing of this communique to my fellow liberty activists.

First of all I must congratulate all the YAL chapters who have actively established and maintained a presence on their campuses and nearby towns.  The many protests and creative demonstrations against violations of privacy and dignity by the TSA have made the papers in many cities.  YAL members have shown that they have what it takes to raise awareness to the issues.

However, I am concerned with a perceived lack of unity among different factions within the greater liberty movement.  For example, in California there have been many complaints of YAL chapter members being hesitant or opposed to partner in activism with members of Youth for Ron Paul.  Among Youth for Ron Paul, there is widespread opposition to working with grass roots activists.  Furthermore, though this gap is being bridged, there are still liberty factions within the Republican Party who will not work with Libertarian Party members to enact change, and vice versa.

I fully understand that overtly doing so would threaten tax-exempt and legal statuses of these various organizations.  However, let us not forget that we are individuals, and as individuals we have a freedom of association.  This author happens to be a member of various organizations, from YAL and YFP to the state defense force.  However, being a member of one organization does not mean that identity is tattooed on my forehead.  I still have the right to associate freely as a private citizen, as do all of you.  If you wish to not compromise the status of your organization, then simply don’t wear the uniform, or the name tag, or the badges, etc.  Wear your Ron Paul t-shirt or Gary Johnson t-shirt, or even a Murray Rothbard shirt or hat.

I urge all liberty activists to reach out to neighboring liberty organizations [you all surf on Facebook, you know who they are!].  Organize with them.  Educate voters on the issues.  Team up with them to get people registered to vote.  Combine your numbers so that you can go door-to-door and cover a greater areas.  Follow the example of groups like the LA Liberty HQ, who are constantly distributing literature, knocking on doors, canvassing parades and farmers’ markets, and making phone calls on behalf of multiple liberty candidates from multiple parties.

Just like having more laborers in the market creates more goods and more wealth, having more liberty activists working together creates more projects and more people reached and voters won.  Multiplying your output means multiplying the chances of our victory.

For those of you who are already working with neighboring organizations, setting aside minor differences for the sake of spreading the message of liberty, I commend you.  Keep up the good work!  We have a lot more ahead of us, but we have the privilege of being the forces on the ground leading the charge of this revolution.

---

Image by markn3tel (via Flickr) and published via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License. The owner does not necessarily endorse this author or his work.

Update on the Nevada Republican Convention

Ron Paul speaking in Las Vegas

By Zach Foster

May 6, 2012, 10:45 A.M. -- Though the delegates bound for the National Convention have yet to be elected, the atmosphere is incredibly tense but still shining favorably for the Paul camp.

Though it has been discovered that the Romney camp has done everything in their power to steal the state convention for the dishonest corporate welfarist, going so far as to dress their own storm troopers in Ron Paul gear and distribute fake lists on behalf of the Ron Paul campaign with the names of pro-Romney delegates, in an effort to bamboozle Ron Paul supporters, they Romney thugs are still in the minority in the election.

Unlike 2008, when the Nevada Republican Party shut down the convention early in order to prevent the Paul camp from winning their impending victory, the majority of those attending this year are in the Paul camp.  Whenever a Romney supporter takes the stage to speak, he is heckled by the Paul camp, even Romney’s own son Josh.  When Romney’s supporters begin to chant “Mitt, Mitt, Mitt” they are quickly drowned out by a sea of voices shouting “President Paul!”

Two of Nevada’s incumbent members of the Republican National Committee, Heidi Smith and former Nevada Governor Bob List (known Romney supporters), were booed and voted out of the RNC by the pro-Paul majority, and replaced by Paul supporters Dianna Orrock and James Smack.

Nevada Party leaders are trying to maintain the illusion that there will be Party unity after this convention, but any such notion is a falsehood.  The Romney camp are running on the desperation of having anyone but Obama (but Paul doesn’t get to participate in their utopia), whereas Paul supporters are campaigning on the principles of the U.S. Constitution and a truly free and prosperous society.  Paul supporters are finally making headway in performing the vital surgery on our country to rid it of the Obama- and Romney-supported cancers of perpetual war, deficit spending, inflation, and desecration of the Bill of Rights.

UPDATE: As of 11:00 A.M., Ron Paul won 22 out of 25 of Nevada's delegates to the national convention.

Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore and used via CC attribution license 3.0

Ron Paul Attracts 4,000+ Voters to Fullerton, California Town Hall Meeting

Sole conservative challenger to establishment-pick Mitt Romney engages CSUF and broader community on ways to ‘Restore America Now’

LAKE JACKSON, Texas – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul continued his pattern of attracting thousands of attendees to his town hall meetings, this time drawing 4,000-plus voters to his California State University at Fullerton campus event.

Tonight’s CSUF town hall meeting took place at 7:00 p.m. PST at the school’s Titan Stadium, located on W. Campus Drive, Fullerton, CA 92831.  Dr. Paul spoke to the CSUF and general community about the need for constitutionally-limited government, the bonds that tie economic and civil liberties, and elements of his ‘Plan to Restore America,’ an economic blueprint that cuts Washington spending, reduces the national debt, and curtails the rapid growth of the federal government.

The Fullerton event was the first in a days-long series of campaign events to be held in California.  Ron Paul will hold another large on-campus town hall meeting tomorrow at the University of California at Davis and on Friday, he will hold another at the University of California at San Diego.

Source: Ron Paul Campaign