Dreams v. Reality: The Ron Paul Blimp Story
EmailABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf reports: It was almost too good to be true, even according to the organizers at www.ronpaulblimp.com.
The harebrained idea started in an e-mail or online chat somewhere among Ron Paul supporters unaffiliated with the campaign.
"Let’s get a Ron Paul blimp," the thinking went. Score free media coverage because this is, if anything, a nontraditional campaign tactic.
And so the blimp dream was born. A website was set up. Shares in an LLC were sold to skirt campaign finance law. A blimp was procured and enormous decals were ordered.
Everything was on course to have the blimp wend its way up the East Coast for a triumphant and media friendly float over Boston Harbor as Ron Paul supporters railed against taxes and commemorated the Boston Tea Party below and gave Ron Paul a "moneybomb" online.
But then the problems started. From idea to execution blimps ordered by corporate sponsors are usually many months in the designing and production. The Ron Paul Blimpers were to be airborne in one.
Turns out it takes longer than expected to get the 200 foot long decals for a blimp. And getting them overnighted to North Carolina is not like ordering Christmas presents from Amazon. There are homeland security issues with that large of cargo.
So the launch date, originally scheduled for Monday, Dec. 10, was delayed to Tuesday. Then Wednesday. Then Friday (view pictures from the launch HERE). All the while organizers promised the blimp would be in Boston for the tea party — even though Paul, himself concerned with breaking election law if he got too close to his independent, rascally supporters, elected to spend the weekend at home in Texas.
Add to all that the bad weather set to descend upon the same East Coast airspace the blimp was set to float in and the problems multiply.
Time for Plan B — Boston is a no-go. The zeppelin will now head not north to Boston and the early primary state of New Hampshire, but south to the another, slightly less early primary state of South Carolina, then maybe catch the Seattle vs. Carolina NFL football game on Sunday and then maybe the huge media markets of Florida.
The story of the Ron Paul Blimp is an evolutionary saga.
Keep live track via streaming GPS at www.ronpaulblimp.com. But be prepared for an evolving flight plan.
Here is how organizers put it in an email Thursday night:
"The current schedule has it passing over Raleigh at 1 pm, Greensboro at 3pm, Charlotte at 5pm and landing in Chester, SC around 6pm. It will spend the night in Chester and then head to Columbia, SC in the morning."
"The launch time and scheduled route are assuming weather conditions are agreeable. Simply to take the blimp out of the hanger requires the wind speed to be under 15 knots. Current expectations are that the wind will be under that speed."
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As one of the contributors and proponents of the Ron Paul Blimp, which was conceived on the Daily Paul website, I was dissapointed that its flight plan was changed due to poor weather, but the fact is, it still flies and may help Dr. Paul gain more support in the southern states where he needs it. The Tea Party Rally will still take place this Sunday 16th in Boston on the Common and at Fanuel Hall, regardless of weather! Thousands of faithful Ron Paul supporters gathering on Boston Common in the face of a Nor’easter should convince the MSM and the country of our resolve and dedication to Dr. Paul!
Posted by: Uniblogger | December 14, 2007, 11:07 am 11:07 am
well the blimp and also now abcnews get international attention.
greets from the netherlands :)
Posted by: european | December 14, 2007, 11:14 am 11:14 am
The media lacks objectivity again and again toward Ron Paul. The subtle adjective,”harebrain,” reveals the author’s prejudice against the liberty and creativity of the supporters of Ron Paul. No other candidate the voluntary supporters like Ron Paul because Ron Paul is the most consistent candidate of all the presidential candidates.
Posted by: David Allen | December 14, 2007, 11:51 am 11:51 am
How is a hot-air balloon a good symbol for a Presidential candidate? Waste of money…
Posted by: Sean O'Brien | December 14, 2007, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
Sean O’Brien: It’s not a “hot-air balloon” rather an airship or a blimp. It’s not associated with the official campaign, rather raised and executed solely by his supporters.
I gave $10 and consider it an investment because if elected Ron Paul can save lives, billions of dollars, and put some income taxes back in my pocket. And I need it, brother. We all need Ron Paul.
Posted by: madmambodog | December 14, 2007, 1:45 pm 1:45 pm
Your right, as often occurs, adjectives like “harebrain,” reveals the prejudices of the establishment writers. However, this “harebrain” idea has already generated millions of dollars of publicity, promoting the tea-party fund raiser on Sunday. Thus, the writer sounds like a fool. The media exposure on Monday will then followed by a one hour interview with Dr. Ron Paul on Tuesday will start to wake up the masses who will join the revolution. Restore the Republic and our constitutional rights.
Posted by: Greg | December 14, 2007, 2:43 pm 2:43 pm
Which other candidate has generated this much excitement and support from the people? Which other candidate has raised as much campaign cash from regular people? Despite the media blackout that continues to this day Ron Paul IS the most popular candidate running today. I would say that would make him the front-runner. The front-runners are not the candidates that the mainstream media constantly shoves down our throat. One of the great things to come from this campaign is the exposure of blatant media bias to a large portion of Americans. It will be that group of proud, patriotic Americans that will reclaim liberty from the corporate tyranny that is running the economy into the ground and causing the deaths of patriotic US soldiers, the bombing of innocent civilians and destroying the constitution in the name of the intentionally undefined “global war on terror”.
An $11.5 million haul this quarter while the other Republiscum are begging for money from their supporters. The quarter isn’t even over yet and the Ron Paul money bomb is on this weekend! This is a bottom-up revolution so you won’t see it covered by the top-down corporate controlled media!!
Posted by: RonPaulForTheLongHaul | December 14, 2007, 2:56 pm 2:56 pm
Thank you for covering this story. Now lets see some footage!
Posted by: Eric | December 14, 2007, 2:59 pm 2:59 pm
The author also used the words, “his independent, rascally supporters,”
“Rascally supporters”??
Etymology: Middle English rascaile foot soldiers, commoners, worthless person, from Anglo-French rascaille, from Old French dialect (Norman & Picard) *rasquer to scrape, clean off, from Vulgar Latin *rasicare
Date: 15th century
1 : a mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person
2 : a mischievous person or animal
— rascal adjective
It is evident that it is you, Z. Byron Wolf, that is being dishonest in your discription of Ron Paul supporters. It’s these kinds of attacks that inspire Ron Paul patriots to work even harder. Thanks!
Posted by: Greg | December 14, 2007, 3:06 pm 3:06 pm
The dream has become a reality — the blimp is flying today!
Some things don’t work out exactly like you hope, but with a large, well-organized, and quick-reacting grassroots network, Ron Paul supporters can adapt to changing conditions and make the most of any situation.
Harebrained idea? You’re writing about it, aren’t you?
Posted by: Doug D | December 14, 2007, 3:07 pm 3:07 pm
you make a great point of how the mainstream media is now being exposed as the corporate-owned bias, spin machine that it is. Thousands of Ron Paul supporters, if not more, trusted the media before this blatant exposure of their agenda.
I suspect that what we can mainstream media will go the way of the dinosaur very soon, losing not only enormous profits, but the brainwashed television and newspaper readers all across the country. This is serving as their wake up call. Thanks mainstream media. You’re doing us a big favor exposing yourself like this.
Harebrained idea, indeed! This airship/blimp idea was conceived out of love–love for the message of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness supported by a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Posted by: Elleanee | December 14, 2007, 3:07 pm 3:07 pm
The Old Media resents Ron Paul supporters referring to them as the MSM and even less the Old Media. They resent Ron Paul supporters and all their attention seeking “antics” from the money-bomb to the blimp. They especially resent that Ron Paul has survived so far as a candidate despite their efforts to negatively stigmatize Ron Paul.
They must have all been in the same meeting for all the media outlets to parrot the same thing about Ron Paul having no chance. But this negative conditioning they exposed to their audience has so far been proven wrong thanks to Ron’s supporters. They are left to harping back to their national polls to give validity to their weakened claim.
The Old mainstream media will be bullied into becoming ROn Paul’s lap dog as long as Ron has his vibrat supporters.
Posted by: msmPwned | December 14, 2007, 3:29 pm 3:29 pm
It is we who cannot conform to what we know to be sub level standards. We tend to create our own standards, typically far higher than what normal people consider, acceptable. Such is the phrase, “Good enough for government work.” We set new standards all the time, just to have them bureaucratically destroyed, or worse, subsidized, with lower standards, & tons of red tape. Now, we work as one, for a common goal. A goal shared by the many, the proud, the strong, the self governing. Once again, the people, will show the world how it’s done, again. The keystroke is mightier than the IED.
Posted by: nlitwhiler | December 14, 2007, 4:09 pm 4:09 pm
The RP blimp will be headline news everywhere and everyday, no matter where the weather takes it. It’s even making international headlines. It’s all over the internet. You can’t put a price on the publicity it is drawing. It is a brilliant, de facto and bonifide success story. It has been a fantastic grassroots coup to think up this *hairbrained* idea and to fund it in such a short period of time. The neocons are just envious of Ron Paul’s support.
Posted by: Debbie | December 14, 2007, 4:56 pm 4:56 pm
Guiliani did a scoop and dump operation of our fallen 9/11 heroes the firement.
Posted by: xdream | December 14, 2007, 4:56 pm 4:56 pm
He should campaign it is a “green” ship. Powered by the hot air coming from the Democrats and the rest of the Republican party.
Posted by: Daleg671 | December 14, 2007, 6:44 pm 6:44 pm
Personally, I feel calling “MSM” old media is actually too polite – let’s call a spade a spade – about about the CM – the CORRUPT MEDIA! THANK YOU LORD that there is no regulation of the internet or the neocons would have this medium controlled too – Betcha the Corrupt Media never dreamed of the day when WE THE PEOPLE would have an alternative to their rubbish. One thing I can’t help but wonder is how some of those that work at those Corrupt Media Corporations can stand it and can keep themselves from boarding this Freedom Train?
Posted by: Freedom Rings | December 14, 2007, 9:29 pm 9:29 pm
It is still going to work. Maybe it is gong where it is suppose to go. It’s a bird, it’s a plane no it is the Ron Paul Blimp!
Posted by: Glen | December 15, 2007, 12:34 am 12:34 am
Am I the only person who detects eerie similarities between Ron Paul supporters and those who once worshiped Ross Perot? Don’t you guys get it? If you’re not rich all ready, their policies won’t help you.
As for the blimp itself- interesting concept, though I imagine that there are better ways to campaign. But I applaud the Ron Paul campaign for its innovation… even if Dr. Paul’s platform utterly terrifies me.
Posted by: Walker Yeatman | December 15, 2007, 4:33 am 4:33 am
If “FREEDOM AND LIBERTY FOR ALL” utterly terrifies you, I really do feel sorry for ya. Government is taking out Freedoms and Liberties from us constantly and it needs to STOP. VOTE RON PAUL……..YAY
Posted by: Connie | December 15, 2007, 9:15 am 9:15 am
glen, what should scare you is the
“fear inducing” policies of the media and our government. You should fear the Weapons of Mass Distraction and the Stupdification of this nation. What should utterly terrify you is the warnings from our founding fathers and how asleep we all have been:
IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
President, Thomas Jefferson
“The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest.”
Abraham Lincoln
“You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out… If people only understood the rank injustice of the money and banking system, there would be a revolution by morning.”
Andrew Jackson
“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.”
James Madison
Posted by: heidi | December 15, 2007, 1:22 pm 1:22 pm
sorry Glen, my message was for Walter.
Posted by: heidi | December 15, 2007, 1:24 pm 1:24 pm
My name is actually Walker, with a k, but that’s beside the point. My fear is that Ron Paul will undermine the very authority that Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and James Madison- and many others, I might add- knew was imperative. He’s running on an extremely libertarian platform, and that itself horrifies me. Not to mention the fact that he’s interested in withdrawing from the world (anyone remember the isolationists of the 1920′s and 1930′s?). But, again, I have to applaud Ron Paul, because while I find his platform completely distasteful, he’s actually innovating, instead of trying the same old methods to whip up support. Maybe other, more sane politicians will pick up on Dr. Paul’s ideas.
Posted by: Walker Yeatman | December 15, 2007, 5:47 pm 5:47 pm
Better yet, Woodrow Wilson sold out to the 1913 “Creature from Jekell Island”. We don’t need the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Federal Reserve running this country.
Posted by: Glen | December 15, 2007, 8:59 pm 8:59 pm
The blimp is awesome! I hope it comes to my state.
Posted by: squirrelbrewer | December 16, 2007, 2:32 am 2:32 am
It is a harebrained idea. But if it get some coverage on CNN and the like and if it helps voters to associate an event with Ron Paul, example: “Ron Paul, isn’t he that blimp guy”.
Then right on… harebrained ideas are better than no ideas.
Posted by: Eric Nordstrom | December 16, 2007, 12:41 pm 12:41 pm
It is fascinating how one of the most notable evens in politcal history can be called harebrained. Imagine a group of people who are passionate enough to support a candidate to create a company that will get millions of dollars of free media. Free media as the only way on this planet to end run “the pre canned, status quo, cookie cutter, media politiCom complex” that has brainwashed themselves and their fellow americans that they have no choices other than that which is presented by the complex. God Bless them. I can’t begin to count the number of people who have said “I want to vote for someone who can win”… because they have abdicated to this politiCom. How sad to throw your vote away for someone you can not believe in. Did that work for us all last time when we ended up with Bush and an approaching millitary dictatorship? Give yourself the gift of choice. Google Ron Paul. And keep launching those harebrained blimps.
Posted by: cmiller | December 16, 2007, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm
I can’t believe people write to these media sites and bash them. It just doesn’t make sense to me, Ron Paul has some great idea’s, a great American and great human being. One of the reason he doesn’t get the coverage that he deserves is that the people that cover him don’t want to here it from the supporters. It’s lose lose for them.
The bigger complaint should be to the right wing media such as fox news that doesn’t support true republican ideas. They clearly have a bias for Mrs. Clinton, and she is suppose to be Liberal.
Posted by: Ryan | December 16, 2007, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm