Like a good virus... Watch this new YouTube video to see Ron Paul supporters across the country demonstrating their support for the Ron Paul Revolution.

Here are the first pictures I've gotten from the McCain rallies. Look at that.

Dr. Paul's segment on WMUR's "Conversations with the Candidates" aired tonight, and I think it's fair to say that he cleaned up.

After watching the Democrats waffle and waver for over an hour last night, it's incredible to see Ron Paul come out with quick, sharp, and comprehensible answers in response to audience questions. (He has a wonderful way of simply stating complex truths that other politicians would dumb down to meaningless platitudes.) In any case, don't take my word for it; watch.

Someone got a video of everyone holding signs at the McCain rally. I came across it today on digg.com.



Thanks to everyone who showed up--I wish I could have made it!

By the way, be sure to RSVP for our debate watch party on the night of May 3rd. We'll post the location as soon as we find out where it will be. We've narrowed it down to two possibilities, one in ManchVegas and one in Concord. See you there. Thanks!

As Philly Dave pointed out in a comment, we got a little press today.

At noon yesterday, 15 adults and kids attended McCain's first stop in Portsmouth. Cordoned off from the "official" crowd (which was described in various articles as "listless"), our good folks held signs, talked to people, and managed to pass out about 250 Ron Paul flyers. A huge thanks to everyone who turned out there.

Later on in the day, we had a handful of people (about 8) at McCain's Manchester stop. We stood in the rain for about an hour and a half, cheerfully holding signs, chatting, and handing out flyers. Another tremendous "thank you" to y'all who couldn't be deterred by a bone-chilling April shower.

The Manchester contingent was also sectioned off from the action, which was particularly great on a day when the Supreme Court seemed poised to knock down McCain's legislative assault on the First Amendment. Nothing like launching a presidential campaign with a large dose of irony.

Pictures to follow when I receive them...

So, today's the day when Senator "Bomb Iran" McCain officially announces his candidacy here in New Hampshire--and we'll be there to advance the cause of the real maverick in this race. (Click here for details.)

After today, McCain continues on to South Carolina, Iowa, and Arizona, where he'll try to rally voters around his already flailing campaign... This is an opportunity to support Ron Paul by riding on McCain's media coattails--his worst issue is Ron Paul's best; his conservative weaknesses are our guy's conservative strengths. I encourage Paul supporters in each of these states to get out there with Paul signs and literature at every stop on McCain's announcement tour.

If you don't have signs already (we couldn't possibly ship in time), follow the lead of of the Ron Paul Revolution guys, and make your own.


Strafford, NH

On May 3rd, the first GOP debate will take place at the Reagan Presidential Library. The debate will air live on MSNBC, and Politico.com will simulcast; there will be three rounds in which all questions are taken from those submitted on the Politico website.

In addition to attending our debate watching party (probably going to be in Concord, details forthcoming), it is imperative that we get some great questions on that list for Ron Paul. So, go to Politico's "ask your question" page, register, and submit a question--then, take a few minutes and take a few minutes to click on questions you like. They appear to be ranking them, and may select the most popular questions first.

Only slightly less important: Spread this around. With the sheer volume of Dr. Paul's online support, the questions aimed at him and his issues should be topping their charts. Right now, out of 386 questions, 18 are for Dr. Paul. We can do better.

This news is probably all over the place, but we'd be remiss in our duties if we failed to pass along this great news from the campaign:

New Hampshire voters contributed more money to Ron Paul than all but one Republican presidential candidate in the first quarter of 2007. According to media reports, Granite State citizens donated nearly 20 percent more to the Texas congressman than presumed GOP front runners John McCain and Rudolf Giuliani.

Much more work to do, but what a great start.

April 17, 2007
Press Release

Jared Chicoine to Head New Hampshire Operations

Campaign announces the addition of director for crucial early primary state

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jesse Benton at 703-650-9559

April 17, 2007

ARLINGTON, VA – The Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee announced today that it has hired veteran campaigner Jared Chicoine to head up efforts in New Hampshire. Chicoine, long active in Granite State politics, brings with him a wealth of political and organizational expertise.

"We are excited to add Jared Chicoine to our campaign team," said campaign committee chairman Kent Snyder. "Jared will be instrumental in communicating Ron Paul's message of freedom to the voters of New Hampshire."

Chicoine has served on campaigns for U.S. Senator Bob Smith, State Senator Bob O'Dell and national Republican Committeeman Sean Mahoney. From 2003-2005, he was a political and policy consultant for New England Citizens for Right to Work, educating and lobbying lawmakers in Concord on behalf of workers and economic liberty. Chicoine also served as the area one vice chairman of the Republican State Committee in 2005, leading and coordinating GOP activity across three counties.

There are lots of videos on youtube available if you want to find out more about Ron Paul--but I ran across this one today with a picture of our yard signs! It's a great video too--check it out:

Don, of the Cyclone Conservatives, posted an assessment of Dr. Paul's speech at Iowa State University.

"Texas Congressman Ron Paul's first extensive trip to Iowa has got to be considered a success especially after the massive crowd he received in Ames tonight. The room was set up for 200 people and it was standing room only. While the event was co-sponsored by the ISU College Republicans, it was a diverse crowd with about half of the room students and the other half non-students. Clearly, the Congressman's campaign has to be pleased with the initial public response to his presence."

Click here for the full (and enthusiastic) post. Sounds to me like Don could be the kind of Paul voter who will surprise the hell out of the party establishment; he readily admits that he doesn't agree with Dr. Paul on the war--but respects him anyway.

In the HQ inbox this morning:

John Wayne & Bill McNally for Ron Paul 2008
Apart from the early morning chuckle I got out of the picture, Bill's idea got me thinking. For years now, I have jokingly advocated the creation of what I like to think of as a Founding Fathers Resurrection program: take the writings and speeches of great American patriots, feed them into some sort of artificial intelligence software, and finally get to ask James Madison what he thinks of Social Security. If you could get him to stop cursing and weeping, it would make great copy.

Now I'm thinking the concept needs to be expanded... Let's reconstitute all sorts of American icons and sub them in for the electoral college. Give me John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater and Davey Crockett, Patrick Henry and--hell, I'll take a live one--Clint Eastwood. Give me a room full of men Americans love and respect, and I'll give you President Paul.

I don't know about everyone else, but I have about had it with the mainstream media blackout of Ron Paul. I know it's early; I know there are candidates polling stronger; and I know we've got to pick our battles. But, even if it's just to stick our flag in the moral highground, I think it's time for a targeted assault on Fort News Industry.

The thorn in my side? Repeated discussion of the war, the "looming financial crisis," the dissatisfaction with the GOP frontrunners, and the question of immigration reform--and not a word about Ron Paul. Hunter, Tancredo, Huckabee, and the Thompson Twins get mentioned, but not the guy with an unbeatable legislative track record, a Constitutional agenda, and incredible Internet support.

Chief offender #1 right now is the New York Times, which had the impressive gall to post a chart of "The Presidential Candidates on Iraq," and leave out the *one* candidate who has repeatedly voted to get out and stay out.

Chief offender #2 is Politico.com, which had the good sense to post an article on how screwed we are thanks to the national debt, but, again, omitted any mention of the GOP contender--and ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee--who is well aware of the problem and knows how to solve it.

The battle plan:

• Make our displeasure known; flood these $!%^&'s inboxes with emails demanding real reporting on the presidential race.
• NYT letters to the editor go to: letters@nytimes.com. Must be less than 150 words, and include name, address, and phone.
• NYT reader complaints go to: Byron Calame.
• Politico complaints to: John Harris, Bill Nichols, and/or Roger Simon.

The niceties:

• Be pleasant to the Politico guys; they might come around.
• Be civil-ish to the New York Times. They're just egregious.

Paul supporter Jon Isaac has set up a pledge to gather contributions for Dr. Paul's campaign, $100 at a time. He needs 45 more people to sign on by April 20th--at which time, he'll have generated a total donation of $10,000.

Click here to pledge your hundred bucks.

Dr. Paul will be on Lou Dobbs tonight--that's CNN, and the show runs from 6pm to 7pm. No details available yet on the specific time for the segment.

UPDATE AGAIN: Grrr. Apparently, the segment has been rescheduled for a week from tonight.

EDIT/UPDATE: I just received word that WMUR's Conversations with the Candidates segment on Ron Paul will air at 7:30pm on April 27th. It will also be posted on their website.

We have Ron Paul yard signs! They look great, they're sturdy and they're going fast.Email us at mail@RonPaulHQ.com if you want one.

Also, I was skimming the net for any Ron Paul info that I could find, and I came across an article that says that Ron Paul can win because of Sanjaya from American Idol. At first I thought it was a joke, but, well, it's actually pretty good.


"Millions of people will still vote for the interchangeable Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama next year, and millions of people will still vote for John McCain or whichever candidate the Republicans decide to trot out. But there is another Republican, a little known Texas congressman named Dr. Ron Paul, who represents the perfect chance for tired, bored, or fed-up Americans to turn this election completely on its head."

Check it out here.

First of all, thanks again to everyone who turned out on Saturday. For those of you who couldn't join us, we're off to a great start. More than 30 people attended our first meeting, and we got a slew of great ideas and volunteers.

One of the most important things we'll be doing is setting up stations across the state to make yard signs, etc., readily available. Some folks who want to serve as hubs will also lead local activities, such as attending candidate rallies and handing out flyers. I'm also looking to get a small group of people together to establish some departments, so there are more people to go to for help. Will keep everyone posted.

A quick report on some early activism; two wonderful Ron Paul supporters attended an Obama rally last night, and handed out some of the flyers available on the Toolkit page. 100 flyers in 10 minutes, and an important tip: hand out flyers once the line starts moving--people are more likely to take them.

With signs coming in (this week), t-shirts in the works, one speaking invitation forwarded to Dr. Paul's people, and flyers going out, we've officially gotten off the ground. Stay tuned for more.

The Ron Paul Revolution folks went to greet Dr. Paul at the airport in Arizona this weekend; it's just an awesome idea--you get to support him in a public place, signs waving, enthusiasm obvious. I know where I'll be the next time he lands in New Hampshire.