by James Buchanan

It seems like the Ron Paul Campaign has a pat response to anyone who suggests that they run nation-wide ads now. They just keep saying “It’s too expensive.” If you leave a message for the campaign finance manager, you don’t get a call back.

This is a bizarre response. If you’re running in a nation-wide political race and you can’t afford national advertising, then you might as well give up.

The truth is that Ron Paul is running his campaign much like Giuliani or Romney, saving up money for a last minute push. Unfortunately, Ron Paul is NOT going to win if he runs his campaign like everyone else.

Ron Paul is unique and has a huge appeal. While it’s true other candidates have received donations which are less than what they’ve spent on ads; Ron Paul is the only candidate who is likely to receive MORE back in contributions relative to what he spends on ads. The key point is to run nation-wide ads EARLY while it will still do some good. Ron Paul also needs to raise his percentage support to something respectable –like 15 percent– as soon as possible.

The Ron Paul campaign is in serious trouble right now. The polls claim that he is only at “one to three percent.” Even if you assume this number is under-reporting things by two or three times, Ron Paul is still in the single digits. This is unacceptable. Something has to be done.

Winning in New Hampshire is pointless if you’re unknown to the rest of the nation. Pat Buchanan won in New Hampshire and went on to lose the primary to Bob Dole. The current tactic of spending money only on a few early primaries is short-sighted and a victory will be seen as a “fluke” not some miracle that will overcome national poll ratings of three percent.

Giuliani and McCain have both fired campaign officials who were not performing. If either of them had been stuck at three percent in the polls, you can bet they would have changed tactics or fired their campaign manager in a heart beat. The Ron Paul campaign just missed its mid-October fund-raising goal by over 100%. Something has to change.

In advertising, you have to spend money to make money. Whether it’s a new consumer product or a presidential candidate, you have to have confidence that when people hear about the product, they’ll want it.

One Internet article that discusses commercial advertising states that nation-wide commercial time can be bought for $100,000 for a 30 second block. So one million dollars could buy ten 30-second commercial ads or 30 ten-second commercials.

A ten second commercial should not be that hard to make. Many of Paul’s supporters are very Internet and computer savvy. Paul could even hold a contest to see which supporter can make the best ten-second commercial. There are two big issues in the 2008 election: the Iraq War and illegal immigration. It only takes ten seconds to say:

“I’m Ron Paul. If elected president, I will pull our troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, and I will enforce immigration laws and never approve an amnesty.”

While this narration is going on, a video of cheering crowds waving Ron Paul signs could be played. To maximize the effect of the commercial, the following lines could appear in red letters at the bottom of the screen (scrolling three lines at a time like illustration above):

Only an anti-war Republican can beat Hillary

www.RonPaul2008.com

Thankfully, political advertising has a discounted rate. As an example, consider the MoveOn.org ad in the New York times. This ad was placed at 38% the normal advertising rate. This means Ron Paul could run 2.5 times as many ads if the same discount applied. So instead of 30 ten second commercials, Ron Paul could run 75 ten second commercials on nationally-broadcast TV shows.

Ron Paul should spend one million on nation-wide ads now. Ron Paul needs to rally people all across America to join his campaign. So far, Paul has ignored most of America. The largest state in the union, California has yet to see a Ron Paul ad. All the wealthy California residents, who are strongly opposed to the Iraq War, have not been “tapped” for their tremendous fund-raising potential.

Ron Paul’s campaign is almost 100 percent Internet so far, which is why he is stuck at three percent. Almost nobody watches the Republican debates. Paul can’t rely on the debates getting him anymore than three percent support. He NEEDS to go MAINSTREAM NOW!!!! Running 75 commercials on 25 nationally syndicated shows would be a good first step.

I strongly suggest that everyone reading this article, who feels the Ron Paul campaign is making a HUGE mistake not running national ads now, should e-mail the Ron Paul campaign at:

mail@ronpaul2008.com