Meeting the likely Libertarian Party nominee

The night of February 7th I traveled south to Bradenton to the Mixon Fruit Farms. There a local chapter of the Tea Party was hosting Libertarian candidate Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico. I showed up very early to the event and as soon as I sat down to wait the Governor drove up and exited his vehicle. I quickly rose to address him and could barely put a sentence together for the first time in my life. I had to get a picture after failing to get one the night of the debate with Ron Paul.

After the picture I adorned a Gary Johnson 2012 shirt and helped him pass out literature at the Tea Party meeting for him. It was a delight to meet and speak with him at length I really enjoyed the experience.

Clean up

The day after the primary I traveled around greater Saint Petersburg and collected signs that no longer had any use being in the state. Dan Tucker, the Pinellas County coordinator for the Ron Paul campaign and I collected around 50 signs to recycle and send to the next states in the primary process. The presidential primary in Florida had come to and end.


A shirt we all signed for Ron Paul the night of the USF debate at the Copper Top Pub.

Primary day

Tuesday January 31st was the Florida Republican primary and Ron Paul was competing against Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum for the GOP nomination. I woke up before the sun rose and left my house to place a few last signs.

I then hustled to one of the highest turnout voting locations in Pinellas County at the Sunken Gardens on 4th Street. I spent a long day there greeting people as they came to vote and politely answering questions that anyone had. The day was long but once the polls closed all of us hard working Ron Paul supporters got together at a local Applebee's and watched the votes come in. To our dismay Ron Paul took fourth place in the overall vote count but at the end of the day it was winner take all anyways and Ron Paul did not campaign in the state outside of the two debates.

Planning meeting for the upcoming Florida primary

Two nights after the USF primary debate I attended a meeting with many local libertarian advocates spending their time trying to help the cause. They were not only placing signs but creating giant ones as well. The group got together and discussed tactics and began phone banking. I set up an account and began phone banking myself. We were mostly calling people in Colorado and asking who they were likely to vote for and why. We then placed some signs at strategic intersections.

Banner waving at early voting site

 The following days after the USF primary debate I spent much time outside of the early voting location at downtown Saint Petersburg. The time was spent wearing my Ron Paul shirt and passing out literature about Ron Paul's political positions. I got to meet a lot of interesting people and discuss the issues of the day.

This pamphlet was packed full of information about Ron Paul.

These business cards really made waiters interested.

Night of the USF Republican Primary Debate

The night of the USF Republican Primary Debate was very exciting. The event was packed with excited people passionate about politics. Wide ranges of the political realm were represented outside of the debate hall. When the debate ended Ron Paul visited a local Tampa bar just outside of the university where a large crowd was awaiting him. He gave an inspirational speech to a captivated audience then left a short time later.

After his speech to the patrons of the Copper Top Pub, he left for the airport with his wife.

In the begining...

The second day of my new Road to the White House course was the campaign fair where our professor invited local campaign leaders of all the major presidential candidates of 2012 and the local leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties. We listened to the presentations given by all of the invited guestts and then near the end of class we were given the opportunity to speak candidly with the individuals we were interested in working with and most of the class made their decisions that day on whose campaign to work for. Many sources of local news attended the campaign fair as well. http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_south_pinellas/st_petersburg/students-ready-to-help-presidential-campaigns
I enjoyed the presentation from the Ron Paul representative named Dan Tucker, who acted as leader of the Pinellas County campaign. He and I exchanged contact information and my journey on the road the the White House had begun.