On Monday I got an interesting letter in my mailbox. As most of you should be aware, I’m the driving force behind the Wicomico County Republican Straw Poll being held this coming Monday (which helps to explain the busy week in my last post.) The letter in question was hand-addressed from Ron Paul’s campaign.
I had contacted all of the campaigns regarding sending a representative to the event, and Ron Paul’s workers had gotten back to me regarding doing just that. So I thought this was a confirmation, but instead the note was a little different. This is what it read:
Dear Wicomico County Republican:
While the Republican primary election is still several months away, you have a change (sic) to indicate your support for the GOP nomination at the Monday, September 24, 2007 Wicomico County Republican Club straw poll. Club members and guests are welcome. It will occur at the monthly club meeting in the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce building at 144 E. Main Street in downtown Salisbury. The social period begins at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:30. Representative (sic) of Presidential and Congressional candidates will make presentations and then you’ll have a chance to register your preference. And you can purchase additional votes with the money going to the club’s efforts to get Republicans elected.
As you think about the best candidate and the best person to be the next president, give serious consideration to Dr. Ron Paul, a ten term Texas Congressman, who believes in liberty and freedom. Who? Dr. Ron Paul, the only true conservative whose philosophy follows true Republican thinking. Smaller government, adherence to the Constitution, avoiding foreign entanglements, and individual liberty.
Well, you may be saying he hasn’t got a chance and he’s not even showing up in the poll numbers. It’s true that he’s not showing up in the mainstream polls but most polls rely upon land-line telephones and not on cell phones like many Ron Paul supporters use. Additionally, the traditional news media are not providing coverage to Ron Paul’s campaign and therefore he is not well known and therefore is showing up poorly in the polls. The news media won’t cover him until he shows up higher in the polls but he won’t show up high in the polls until the news media give him coverage. It’s a vicious cycle. But among Internet users and freedom believing Americans, Dr. Paul is a champion. And in many recent straw polls he is the leader. Check out the
enclosed sheet(website).Dr. Paul is the man. Momentum is building. Yesterday (which would have been September 13th – editor) was the most successful fundraising day in the campaign’s history. If you believe in traditional Republican values and smaller government and getting out of Iraq and stopping American intervention in foreign nations and individual liberty, then we seek your support for Ron Paul. Cast your vote at the Wicomico County Republican Club meeting on September 24.
I believe you need a couple commas in that last paragraph and a proofreader – not necessarily a spell-checker because the wrong words were spelled correctly. And doesn’t that paragraph about being so low in the polls sound just a little bit like a conspiracy theory? Anyway, it’s obvious they got the information on the event I sent to each campaign, so a plus for them. Moreover, they’ve been by far the most responsive campaign since they also sent me a package with 300 palm cards and other items. It’s more than I’ll ever need for this event but we have others coming up.
Also, as I sit here I recall that I had placed in my original note to the Presidential campaigns that we were having our recent Crab Feast as another event where plenty of GOP supporters would be. Guess whose signs were there bright and early?
What also surprised me about it was that apparently someone hand-addressed a number of similar letters to others in the club. We had an officers’ meeting tonight where I was told about them getting a similar letter. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose it just looks less professional.
With all that said there is one question that bears asking. Given the response my requests received from the Paul campaign, along with what is apparently passionate support from the true believers in the Congressman from Texas, what kind of turnout and results will he get in our version of the GOP Straw Poll? We’ll all find out Monday night.
Crossposted on RedMaryland.
