Going Undercover at a Ron Paul Campaign Event

Written by: Michael Kuykendall on Nov 28, 2007 10:29 AM EST

A report from an undercover liberal/progressive at a Kansas City area Ron Paul campaign event.

Last night the inestimable Murph and I put on our crack journalist hats and attended a meeting of Ron Paul supporters presenting campaign training for Missouri and Kansas. We wanted to get a feel for how well they are prepared, how many supporters they have, and also, of course, simply for the thrill of doing undercover work as a card-carrying member of the DNC at a GOP campaign event. You never know when some aggressive staffers will attempt to manhandle you out of the building or something.

My first impression was the size of the crowd- Johnson County, Kansas, which covers a bunch of Kansas City suburbs just south of the city, is about as red as a place can get. It is the fastest-growing and most populated county in the state, and ranks 43rd in highest per-capita income in the entire country. There are places here where Hummers, Porsches, and Ferraris are a common sight. The turnout for this particular event, billed as grassroots training, was pitiful considering the blood-red status if the area- Murph counted 35 people when we walked in, with 5 or so stragglers coming in late.

Ever since I started having regular running battles with Ron Paul supporters on this site and elsewhere, I have wondered who these folks are. It's not like Ron Paul has always had a huge, nationwide grassroots following, so who are these people? Where did they come from?

Here's my unscientific, pseudo-sociological assessment of the crowd last night; there were 4 or 5 "crazy old men"(you know the type, those guys who seem to have lost the acquaintance of not only a comb, but clearly a chunk of their sanity), quite a few young guys with that ill-dressed, brush-cut look that screams former Bush supporter, and a smattering of NASCAR types ranging from just out of high school to one foot in the grave. Suffice it to say Murph and I were clearly the only guys with fashion sense in the whole room, despite the 25% or so attendees under 25.

If I were to sum the crowd up in one word, it would be fringe.

One guy seemed like a professional handler of some kind, and a few of those standing seemed to be campaign staffers . The handler arranged the seating and stood in the rear, arms crossed, ensuring everyone signed in on a notepad.

 They were gathering primarily name and phones numbers, and of course we provided fake info. Who wants GOP robocalls, after all?

The speaker was one of those soccer mom types, and she was clearly unprepared for the meeting. Actually Murph and I split after 15 minutes of watching her fumble her login to the Ron Paul website on the large projector screen (even stopping to login to her Yahoo mail for her username!) The purpose of the gathering was to watch three 40-minute training videos, but once we saw they were easily accessible online, the tedium got the better of us and we left. You can find those videos on the Ron Paul website with registration, or go here to view them without providing personal data.

As to the presentation, the main theme seemed to be contacting as many Republicans and Independents as possible, and making sure they were registered with the GOP so they can vote in the primaries. Per "soccer mom" it seems anyone with GOP connections can buy Republican voter lists online for the entire Kansas City area for $400, though she said the intention was only to buy specific targeted neighborhoods. She actually said that the central office instructed them not to "mess with Democrats" at all, which makes sense. They would have to sell the Republican party to these voters, attempting to entice turncoats to participate in the KS/MO primaries. My guess is that dog won't hunt.

One astute older gentleman in what seemed like a bright yellow raver shirt asked the $64,000 question; why put a lot of effort into the primaries when it's likely the early primaries (Nevada, Michigan, Florida, and South Carolina just to name a few) will crown the nominee prior to Super Tuesday, February 5th? None of the presenters or staff could answer this, which is likely why the meeting seemed so slapdash and unorganized.

Overall, it seemed clear that the Ron Paul operation is relying on fringe groups culled online for their grassroots efforts. It was also clear that the campaign was just hitting the ground in the KC metro area, and that the primary effort here might very well be wasted.

In my personal opinion, any group that unprofessional and disorganized is hardly a threat. I expected swarms of folks wishing to learn about Dr. Paul's campaign. What we got was a bunch of disparate crazies and an ill-prepared soccer mom. If Ron Paul finds a way to outlast the early primary states, it's likely he'll get crushed in the KC area without a huge amount of help from the national party apparatus.

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