Navy Vet thinks that previous Freeper conventions have not made a difference - but I must disagree. How can any person know where we would be right now were it not for conservative activism? Maybe we could have done better in the past, and maybe we can take lessons from previous experiences to do better in the future. Maybe it's even a losing battle and the question is simply whether or not we "go down swinging".
We *do* need to work hard to get some real value out of this convention. And, taking some value from Navy Vet's feedback, we should already be starting to think "outside the box".
At our last convention we decided to support Bill McCollum for US Senate; MinuteGal spearheaded the effort and repeatedly contacted the McCollum campaign staff to offer our state-wide organisation to aid the campaign. They always said 'thank you' but there was never a follow-up. I went to the headquarters here in Orlando and made a plea for a coordinated effort. Once again they thanked us and promised to contact us... they NEVER did.
McCollum lost the race - quite handily as I remember. We FReepers could not have been surprised.
Our efforts are not wasted, although they did not succeed in this instance. The failure was solely by the McCollum campaign; the next time we make an offer, this can be our cudgel: ignore us at your peril. McCollum is talking about running for Senate again; we need to take him to the woodshed or tell him to sit down and shut up!
Because one does not make immediate gains does not mean the effort is a failure; the American way is to build on past failures.
I agree that we have a steep mountain to climb; I agree that as public frustration grows there is a danger of more aggressive intervention against the burgeoning federal govt.
Let us stand in the gap!