New Hampshire's r3VOLution

In case you missed it, I went to New Hampshire this weekend. It was a spur of the moment thing. I just couldn't help myself. I don't recall a moment in my life when I ever considered going to New Hampshire to stump for a candidate... I enjoy campaigning for myself and for friends of mine in Cheshire, but New Hampshire? Nope.

But when I surf the tubes and come across stuff like this...well, I was a fan of Dr. Paul a long time ago... and to see this grassroots effort taking shape... to see this r3VOLution taking form... I just couldn't resist any longer.

I had to jump in the car and see it for myself.

So quick summary of the weekend... I got to Rye (just south of Portsmouth) around 10pm on Friday. I chatted with other RP supporters for a bit, then was brought to a nearby house and given a private bedroom (which frankly surprised me... I was expecting dorm rooms and the like and would've been fine with that). On Saturday, we canvassed for about five hours, including a bit of sign waving. I found a few RP supporters among what I'd call likely GOP primary voters... and lots of support (such as independents) outside that group. But since independents can vote in the NH primary... despite RPs low poll numbers, I think he stands a chance.

Also on Saturday, one of my fellow supporters went to a Mitt Romney event and asked a few questions.

Throughout the weekend, I heard only two people up on the air with radio ads: Hillary Clinton and... Ron Paul! So he is making use of the $18,000,000+ he's raised so far this quarter.

Today we decided to skip the canvassing (which btw, I didn't get a negative reception at all... quite the contrary, people were very supportive of my effort... although they were getting annoyed with all the phone calls) and went to (what I gather is) the biggest mall in NH. It's in Manchester.... we had a 20-30 person sign wave. I left after three hours to return to CT... it was a ton of fun. Most people were either holding 2' x 4' signs or asking people if they wanted to learn more about Ron Paul's platform. And if they said yes, we gave the passers-by a copy of the US Constitution. Fun, fun! For part of the time, I was holding a broken down cardboard box that read "Will work for freedom." Ha! But the best part of the wave was when two guys pulled out a Ron Paul sign 10' x 20'. They needed PVC piping to hold it up! It was great. The head of security said he hasn't seen anything like it... and while he was trying to make sure we didn't inadvertently cause any traffic problems, he even said the enthusiasm of the group was rubbing off on him.

As for where the Paulites called home... in casual conversations, I heard New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, California and on and on. There were more states, but that's what I recall off the top of my head. And yes... several even quit their jobs. The sacrifice of some was really astounding.

Anyway, it was a great time. I had a lot of fun. And whether I'm right or wrong about Ron Paul, in my heart I felt as though I was taking advantage of the gift granted me by the young men of Valley Forge and Yorktown.

I had a fantastic time and loved every minute of it. Go Ron Paul!

Tim White