don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Anonymous for Ron Paul
Although I do not always agree with their stance on issues, I think Anonymous, and groups like them, have the potential to be one of the biggest voices of change in our generation. This video gave me chills. The speech is taken from a the great silent movie actor Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator, it was the first movie in which he spoke. It was a parody on Hitler and WWII, but the speech is a very serious and moving monologue that rings true for today. So, without further or do:
don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
Rick Santorum, The Duggars, and Me!
What a day it has been and this last Sunday before the Florida primary. If I did not already know that this is the path I wanted for my life, this internship has certainly solidified it. All that being said, this day has certainly been the most interesting day and not in a place I expected.
I finally got hooked up with my hometown Ron Paul campaign for Manatee County when I went and voted earlier this week. I got an email shortly there after that they would be hosting a sign waving close to where the Rick Santorum Rally would be in Sarasota. I had some things I had to attend to so I ended up showing up a bit later than expected. By the time I got there most of the Ron Paul people had left. I decided I didn't want to film that and I figured I could gain some perspective by mingling with the Rick Santorum crowd. The Rally ended as I was entering and I got some good footage of Rick Santorum's daughter, a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln and people generally mulling out of the building. I also got some film of people taking pictures with whom I presumed to be Santorum's other, younger daughters.
As I was just about to leave I saw a young guy with a Ron Paul sign talking with some of the Rick Santorum supporters, so naturally I began filming. There was a large debate about Ron Paul's stances on civil liberties and individual rights, and the younger guy desperately tried to inform everyone that Ron Paul believed it was up to the states to decide whether or not they wanted something to be illegal because that is what it says to do in the constitution and that forcing what you think is right on other people is not constitutional or right. He started to get ganged up on, so I put the camera down and began debating. As we were all talking, this younger gentleman in a suit and tie walks up and throws his hat in the debate. He informs us that he works in law enforcement so he has an intimate understanding of the issues we are talking about. We heatedly debated for a a solid hour, but with every passing minute it seemed there was another young man that would step up in a suit and tie and assert the same opinion. I didn't know who they all were, but they all had the same socially conservative opinion that was more well informed than usual (barring the one young man who tried to tell me that the words "one man, one woman" were in the constitution). Suddenly a woman carrying a baby walked up and said the bus was leaving and it was time to go. We exchanged pleasantries and I introduced myself (funny how that works sometimes) and he told me his name was Josh.
As they walked away, I noticed the bus they were referring to was Rick Santorum's bus. I then noticed a considerable crowd had gathered around me. I asked the person nearest me "who was I just talking to?" His response was "have you ever seen that show 19 kids and Counting?" I had just had a heated political debate with the Duggar family, pretty much all of them.
I then continued my talks outside for another hour or so with two gentlemen who were very passionate and earnest about their political beliefs. We talked at length about the constitution and our stances on issues and we all found some common ground. It was a very interesting discussion and I'm hoping to see them following this blog so we can keep in touch.
I will be uploading the raw footage as soon as I get a chance, but I will be out of town for the next few days, something came up in the family and I will be flying home to Massachusetts to attend to it tomorrow morning. I'm sad I won't be here for the primaries, but I will be back soon enough.
Don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
Regards
Jaryd Vartanian
I finally got hooked up with my hometown Ron Paul campaign for Manatee County when I went and voted earlier this week. I got an email shortly there after that they would be hosting a sign waving close to where the Rick Santorum Rally would be in Sarasota. I had some things I had to attend to so I ended up showing up a bit later than expected. By the time I got there most of the Ron Paul people had left. I decided I didn't want to film that and I figured I could gain some perspective by mingling with the Rick Santorum crowd. The Rally ended as I was entering and I got some good footage of Rick Santorum's daughter, a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln and people generally mulling out of the building. I also got some film of people taking pictures with whom I presumed to be Santorum's other, younger daughters.
As I was just about to leave I saw a young guy with a Ron Paul sign talking with some of the Rick Santorum supporters, so naturally I began filming. There was a large debate about Ron Paul's stances on civil liberties and individual rights, and the younger guy desperately tried to inform everyone that Ron Paul believed it was up to the states to decide whether or not they wanted something to be illegal because that is what it says to do in the constitution and that forcing what you think is right on other people is not constitutional or right. He started to get ganged up on, so I put the camera down and began debating. As we were all talking, this younger gentleman in a suit and tie walks up and throws his hat in the debate. He informs us that he works in law enforcement so he has an intimate understanding of the issues we are talking about. We heatedly debated for a a solid hour, but with every passing minute it seemed there was another young man that would step up in a suit and tie and assert the same opinion. I didn't know who they all were, but they all had the same socially conservative opinion that was more well informed than usual (barring the one young man who tried to tell me that the words "one man, one woman" were in the constitution). Suddenly a woman carrying a baby walked up and said the bus was leaving and it was time to go. We exchanged pleasantries and I introduced myself (funny how that works sometimes) and he told me his name was Josh.
As they walked away, I noticed the bus they were referring to was Rick Santorum's bus. I then noticed a considerable crowd had gathered around me. I asked the person nearest me "who was I just talking to?" His response was "have you ever seen that show 19 kids and Counting?" I had just had a heated political debate with the Duggar family, pretty much all of them.
I then continued my talks outside for another hour or so with two gentlemen who were very passionate and earnest about their political beliefs. We talked at length about the constitution and our stances on issues and we all found some common ground. It was a very interesting discussion and I'm hoping to see them following this blog so we can keep in touch.
I will be uploading the raw footage as soon as I get a chance, but I will be out of town for the next few days, something came up in the family and I will be flying home to Massachusetts to attend to it tomorrow morning. I'm sad I won't be here for the primaries, but I will be back soon enough.
Don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
Regards
Jaryd Vartanian
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Promised Videos!!!
This is some of the raw footage I took from the Debate Rally that was mainly in support of Ron Paul (as will be readily apparent in the video). I am planning on editing together a short documentary about my experiences on the campaign trail. I shot some more video today while I was talking to people who were taking advantage of the early voting in Pinellas County. I will be voting myself tomorrow in Manatee County. Maybe I will see some of you out at the polls!
don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Debate: The Rockstar Entrance
The presidential debate at USF in Tampa was a very unique experience and one I will not soon forget. Being unfamiliar with the area and following a somewhat shoddy GPS system, I ended up coming through the back way. I was greeted by a small group of Rick Santorum supporters as well as a plethora of signs without people attached to them for all the candidates. I pulled into a parking lot, and still did not see a whole lot of action. This was somewhat disheartening, knowing Florida was losing half its delegates this year I thought maybe the apathy for such a small number of delegates had boiled over into poor attendance. As I walked up Holly drive, I began to wonder what other things I could do in Tampa that night, then I rounded the corner. There was a multitude of people holding signs and yelling and screaming. At first I was outside of clear eye shot and it all looked like a red white and blue blur. But as I got closer I began to see that 99% of the people were there holding signs in support of Ron Paul. It was absolutely mind-blowing how vastly all the other candidates supporters were outnumbered.
The crowd was chanting for Ron Paul, back and forth across the street. There were people of all ages and what appeared to be all sorts of backgrounds. There were several vehicles including a Jeep, a Hummer, a Corvette and what appeared to be some sort of six wheeled, decommissioned military vehicle driving in circles past the crowds covered in Ron Paul Paraphernalia. If you had been living under a rock and not listening to the news, you would think Ron Paul was the only viable candidate and all the others were a joke based on the number of people who showed up. There were quite literally more people who showed up to support Terry Jones (The Quran burning priest from central Florida who is now running for president apparently) had more supporters.
As time went on, everyone was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the candidates, most were sorely booed, most vehemently Rick Santorum. Jeers such as "sell out" and "phony" were chanted throughout the crowd. Shortly after Santorum showed up Dr. Paul and his wife pulled up. They both rolled down their windows and greeted the crowd enthusiastically. The crowd was energized and excited by his arrival.
Everyone made their way to the watch tent, which was built to hold 1000 people, specifically Ron Paul Supporters. This tent was filled in about 15 minutes and people were turned away, including myself. Me and my colleagues decided to head to where the planned after party was to be held, The Copper Pot Pub. It was a small, friendly pub that had a great variety of beer and very excellent wings. The debate was fun to watch, I will go into a deeper analysis with my next blog.
After the debate was over there were rumblings that Paul himself would show up at the pub, but most didn't believe it would happen (I love the guy, but I couldn't help thinking it might've been past his bedtime). When suddenly, who shows up in the back door but Ron Paul himself. The place erupted and I swear I had never seen so many camera phones whipped out in such a short amount of time. He grabbed a megaphone and addressed the crowd who hung on his every word. He thanked us all for our support, mentioning that if the election was only decided by people under 30 he would win handily to which everyone cheered. He then was whisked away by his security team to go onto who knows what, but assuredly out somewhere fighting for liberty...or possibly just taking a nap.
This whole experience has re-energized me and has me very excited for the primaries. I took a lot of footage of the festivities last night and I will be uploading that in short order, probably tonight. I am new to this whole blogging thing so I will either attach it to this blog as an addendum of some sort or create a new thread. Hope to see more of you on the campaign trail!
Regards,
Jaryd Vartanian
Follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
for updates on events, campaign stops, and a possible road trip to an out of state primary in March!
The crowd was chanting for Ron Paul, back and forth across the street. There were people of all ages and what appeared to be all sorts of backgrounds. There were several vehicles including a Jeep, a Hummer, a Corvette and what appeared to be some sort of six wheeled, decommissioned military vehicle driving in circles past the crowds covered in Ron Paul Paraphernalia. If you had been living under a rock and not listening to the news, you would think Ron Paul was the only viable candidate and all the others were a joke based on the number of people who showed up. There were quite literally more people who showed up to support Terry Jones (The Quran burning priest from central Florida who is now running for president apparently) had more supporters.
As time went on, everyone was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the candidates, most were sorely booed, most vehemently Rick Santorum. Jeers such as "sell out" and "phony" were chanted throughout the crowd. Shortly after Santorum showed up Dr. Paul and his wife pulled up. They both rolled down their windows and greeted the crowd enthusiastically. The crowd was energized and excited by his arrival.
Everyone made their way to the watch tent, which was built to hold 1000 people, specifically Ron Paul Supporters. This tent was filled in about 15 minutes and people were turned away, including myself. Me and my colleagues decided to head to where the planned after party was to be held, The Copper Pot Pub. It was a small, friendly pub that had a great variety of beer and very excellent wings. The debate was fun to watch, I will go into a deeper analysis with my next blog.
After the debate was over there were rumblings that Paul himself would show up at the pub, but most didn't believe it would happen (I love the guy, but I couldn't help thinking it might've been past his bedtime). When suddenly, who shows up in the back door but Ron Paul himself. The place erupted and I swear I had never seen so many camera phones whipped out in such a short amount of time. He grabbed a megaphone and addressed the crowd who hung on his every word. He thanked us all for our support, mentioning that if the election was only decided by people under 30 he would win handily to which everyone cheered. He then was whisked away by his security team to go onto who knows what, but assuredly out somewhere fighting for liberty...or possibly just taking a nap.
This whole experience has re-energized me and has me very excited for the primaries. I took a lot of footage of the festivities last night and I will be uploading that in short order, probably tonight. I am new to this whole blogging thing so I will either attach it to this blog as an addendum of some sort or create a new thread. Hope to see more of you on the campaign trail!
Regards,
Jaryd Vartanian
Follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
for updates on events, campaign stops, and a possible road trip to an out of state primary in March!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
My first post
In this blog I hope to document my time working for The Ron Paul Campaign in the 2012 presidential election. I will be posting thoughts, opinions as well as experiences on the trail and in the trenches working with the men and women of the campaign. I will be trying to post as many relevant pictures as I can, so if I fail in that respect or go overboard, let me know. I am excited about the road ahead, you'll be hearing from me soon.
-Jaryd Vartanian
Don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
-Jaryd Vartanian
Don't forget to follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
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