Huge success for Ron Paul in ND--a statistical 3-way tie for second place. We missed first place by 140 votes!

I can't tell you how insane the last 2 wks have been. I've
eaten 2 meals with my family in the last two wks and averaged about 5
1/2 hrs sleep. Never got more than 7 hrs.

2 wks ago HQ sent over a campaign worker--that was a BIG help. Then a
week ago they sent a 2nd person--he is a great guy. He's atheist and
we've had some VERY interesting discussions about religion. I don't
think I could have had these discussions but for dh's disaffection.

Anyway, a week ago the campaign decided to have RP visit ND. It was a
huge, I mean HUGE, HUGE event. He visited Bismarck and Fargo in 4 hrs
(actually weather delayed him, so he had a little over 4 hrs on the
ground.) Since the announcement of his visit I did 3-4 newspaper
interviews and 6 radio interviews plus handle all the
logistics--booking space, security, music/lights, publicity, etc.

On the day of his visit I did a radio interview at 7:30am, then into
Fargo to set up. We planned for 500, hoped for 750, we had 1200!!! And
then he was 45 min late, so we had to do some fancy juggling, esp with
the media. I'd planned a 1 minute introduction, ended up talking about
7 minutes. Dh gave me some good ideas on what to say ("People say RP can't win. But everyone said that the NY Giants could win the Superbowl." huge applause "The Giants proved everyone wrong and tomorrow ND will show everyone that RP CAN be elected." bigger applause) Did pretty good, I think.

Got through the rally, press conference, perfunctory picture taking,
then raced to the plane. I flew with them to Bismarck. Gave an intro (my
original 1 min) then news conference, then raced him to the airport.
After he left, I did a "Live at 5" interview for one news station, then
a 2nd live interview at 6.

8 1/2 hrs on my feet (except for the 40 min in the plane) in HEELS
and my feet weren't killing me. Can I tell you how wonderful Danskos are? I was so happy to get them on EBay last year and they
were worth their weight in gold.

I've gotten pretty good at putting on make-up and doing my hair while
talking on the phone (thank heavens for phone headsets!) Many days I had 2
calls on my landline (call waiting) and the cell phone all at once.

Yesterday of course was the big day. The GOP office screwed up and didn't get
information on the RP speakers to the 47 district chairmen, so I had to call all of them plus
answer 100 incoming calls, race home and change for the caucus. Spoke
to a group of about 1000, then cast my vote and waited for counting.
Another 5 1/2 hrs on my feet in dress shoes. My calves are aching a bit
today.

We came in 3rd place--21% of the vote. At first I was really bummed, I was
so sure we'd be second, hoped for 1st. BUT we came in first in 6
districts, 1st in several precincts. And we were a STRONG 2nd in most
other districts. We only came in 3rd or 4th in 4-5 key districts. We
only missed 2nd place by 140 votes. And then I looked at all the other
Super Tuesday results, and we were the BEST state for RP today. MN got
14% and all the rest were single digits. Only one other state had RP in
third place--UT with 3% of the vote.

So while it wasn't the BIG win I'd hoped for, it was the best of anyone
else. And I did most of it myself--until they sent 2 campaign workers.
AND I did it in about 6 wks, whereas most states had months.

But it's FINALLY over! And it was FUN! I cannot tell you how wonderful
all the volunteers were. 2/3 of them were under 30 and they were all so
SMART, very well informed, articulate, politically savvy (not to
mention computer savvy--they could run circles around me with their
computer skills.)

Dh was just wonderful through it all. He even did the laundry last week
(I did have to put sticky notes on each basket to make sure bleach and fabric
softener got used with the right loads) and made sure to save a plate
of food for me, gave me back rubs and ran interference when the boys
started getting wild.