Maryland State Fair Day 4 - Monday, August 27, 2007

First -- a reminder that there is a YouTube event planned for Tuesday at 
6pm at the Ron Paul truck in the parking lot across from the 
fairgrounds.  Wear your RP tee shirts, and bring signs if you have them.

My third day at the fair -- I had earlier helped at the Republican booth 
on Friday and Saturday.

Some random observations:

* Our RP traffic was higher on Saturday than on Monday.

* Many of the RP folks on Saturday who stopped by the Republican booth 
were on a mission to vote in the straw poll.

* Booth traffic on Monday was relatively light -- though it did have 
some spurts of activity.

* On Monday, it would have helped to have several additional RP folk 
working York Road with signs, and taking turns handing out slim jims to 
those entering the Fair.

* We've been the most consistent of all other candidates in having 
volunteers in the booth.  Rudy had one guy there on Saturday for a 
while; Fred Thompson had some folks there on Saturday evening for a 
YouTube kind of thing; Romney had some guys there last night, though 
they were Republican Party officials as opposed to Romney campaign 
volunteers.

* If I had to guess, RP is probably coming in 3rd or 4th in the current 
voting, behind Fred Thompson, Rudy, Romney, and close to McCain.  The 
other candiates will fall well below the top 4.

* Many of those voting do so on purely a name recognition basis -- since 
RP does not have the name recognition as the 'name' candidates, he 
doesn't get that many of the 'walk-in' votes.

* There will probably be more than 1,000 votes cast, and less than 3,000.

* The Republicans have 4 petitions for folks to sign, against the gas 
tax increase; against the sales tax increase; against illegal 
immigration; FOR the 2nd amendment.  These petitions are all very 
popular, with the immigration one topping the list.


I got to the fair around 2pm, figuring that it would be pretty slow.... 
and it was. The Republicans had two folks staffing the booth at that 
time, so I made it 3. After a short time, another RP volunteer showed 
up... (Thanks Hillary!).  She and I talked briefly, and agreed that she 
would stay to man the booth, and I would go outside to hand out slim 
jims to those entering the fair.

So... I grabbed a stack of slim jims and a Ron Paul yard sign and headed 
out to the front gate of the fair. The weather was hot, but not brutal 
(like Saturday). The fair has an awning/tent that is placed for shade 
for those waiting for the parking lot shuttle that they run for cars 
parked out in the boonies... The tent/awning is placed perfectly -- I 
could stand in the shade, wait for folks to get close, and then approach 
them with the slim jim.

Traffic was light, so it took a while to hand out the 50 or so slim jims 
that I had in hand.  After a couple of hours, I headed back inside to 
stock get another stack of slim jims and check with Hillary to see how 
things were going.... and to enjoy some of the air conditioned comfort 
supplied by the Exhibition building.

I bought a bottle of water ($2), and rested a bit.  Hillary was doing 
fine job and working well with the other Republican women staffing the 
booth.  Hillary said she'd stay until 6pm -- so I went back out to the 
tent/awning with more slim jims.

Most folks accept the slim jims politely, and begin to read it as they 
wait in line to purchase their tickets to get into the fair... so it is 
an effective location -- at the very least it raises name awareness for RP.

Fair traffic began to pick up around 5:30pm or so...  I stayed outside 
until 6pm, then headed back to the Republican booth.  (Having another RP 
volunteer to hand out slim jims at the entrance would have been a Good 
Thing). Hillary had left some 15 minutes earlier, and I met a new round 
of 4 Republican staffers... the booth was now crowded.  Unlike Saturday, 
when most of the Republicans were Fred Thompson supporters, the 
Republicans last night were more in Romney's camp.

I tried to talk with them about prospects, etc. One of them was a real 
hawk -- talking up the coming war with Iran, etc. I made no headway with 
him -- we were talking in completely different languages.

Talking to another of the Republicans -- this one a member of the RNC -- 
I tried to make the pitch that the only Republican who could win would 
be one who was against the war.  His response was that the war won't be 
that big an issue a year from now. (It sure will be if Bush goes into 
Iran!!) I suppose time will tell.

On a down note -- on Friday or Saturday, one of the Republicans who had 
been to Iowa for the straw poll commented on how some of the RP 
supporters in Iowa had been rude to the Romney folks. Admittedly, this 
is just hearsay, but rude behavior of any kind is just hugely counter 
productive.  The MD Republicans have been cordial hosts for us in the 
booth, and it bears repeating that we owe them a big thank you for 
letting us piggy back on their efforts at the fair.

In general, I think our presence at the fair and in the booth is winning 
us respect from the Republican regulars -- they would LOVE to be able to 
tap into the RP energy.

A reminder again, tonight, we're supposed to have the YouTube thing 
going at the RP truck at 6pm -- please bring your RP tee shirts, and signs!!

I like Pam's tag:

The Revolution Starts NOW!!