Hate to Contradict, but...

[Brian4Liberty]

Sorry to contradict all of those who believe that Iowa is so important, and no offense to the Great State of Iowa, but the results of the Iowa Caucus are almost meaningless. It is only 40 delegates, and those will be split up between the Candidates.

It is nothing more than a media spin opportunity. A candidate could come away with zero delegates and still easily win the Republican nomination. The media can spin it anyway they want, but it would be foolish to believe them. A real indicator will be Super-Tuesday, and after that doesn't decide a clear winner, the Texas vote will be big.

The biggest (and best) thing that could come out of this is that Ron Paul comes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd, and proves all of the mainstream media polls wrong!

It's not over if we don't "win" Iowa! This is going all the way to the Convention, and it will be wide open!

 

[Son of Detroit]

It IS important solely because of the media hype. Whoever does good in Iowa has tons of momentum heading into the next states. Same with NH.

 

[FreedomLover]

Sorry to contradict all of those who believe that Iowa is so important, and no offense to the Great State of Iowa, but the results of the Iowa Caucus are almost meaningless. It is only 40 delegates, and those will be split up between the Candidates.

It is nothing more than a media spin opportunity. A candidate could come away with zero delegates and still easily win the Republican nomination. The media can spin it anyway they want, but it would be foolish to believe them. A real indicator will be Super-Tuesday, and after that doesn't decide a clear winner, the Texas vote will be big.

The biggest (and best) thing that could come out of this is that Ron Paul comes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd, and proves all of the mainstream media polls wrong!

It's not over if we don't "win" Iowa! This is going all the way to the Convention, and it will be wide open!

Yes, but Iowa was never about delegates, it is solely about getting a good start in the race (momentum) and using the media to shove that win or second/third place down everyone's throat for the next few days. So you're right, it is about media "spin," but as we all know, media spin is still very effective, and we should welcome it if it's in our favor.

Iowa is just meant to winnow the field anyway.

 

[SovereignMN]

Momentum is everything in politics. Iowa is important.

 

[shadowhooch]

Momentum is everything in politics. Iowa is important.

Yep, I have a lot of people I know that will be voting on "Super Tuesday" that are waiting to see if Ron Paul does well or not. Their vote does depend on momentum.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Momentum is everything in politics. Iowa is important.

Momentum is big in football too. Iowa is like the first possession of a game. Rarely means anything in a competitive game.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

It IS important solely because of the media hype. Whoever does good in Iowa has tons of momentum heading into the next states. Same with NH.

If you are depending on media hype to win, then we are in trouble!

And if Ron Paul comes in first, the media will be saying that Iowa is meaningless...

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Yep, I have a lot of people I know that will be voting on "Super Tuesday" that are waiting to see if Ron Paul does well or not. Their vote does depend on momentum.

And it could also motivate people to come out to vote against the winner of Iowa... winning Iowa could help or hurt a candidate. Unpredictable.

 

[RonPaulFTFW]

you miss the point.

its a wave effect where more and more people vote for who they THINK is winning.

 

[freedom-maniac]

Iowa is important, but not crucial. I think that can be agreed upon by both sides here.

 

[FreedomLover]

And it could also motivate people to come out to vote against the winner of Iowa... winning Iowa could help or hurt a candidate. Unpredictable.

No, not really.

More people get behind winners then losers, and the media, no matter how evil you think they are, will report who the winner is in each state no matter who it is. I doubt they'll spin it to mean Iowa is "meaningless" but instead, just as you said, Unpredictable.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

its a wave effect where more and more people vote for who they THINK is winning.

Granted, there are many lemmings who want to follow the crowd, as determined by the media or Iowa. But I would give the majority of people the credit of going with "their" candidate no matter what happens in Iowa.

IMHO, the hype over Iowa is created by and for the media. They can and will spin the results any way they want. It's like an exaggerated version of the media sponsored polls that we continually hear about. The difference being that Iowa results in a few delegates being decided...

 

[Brian4Liberty]

I doubt they'll spin it to mean Iowa is "meaningless" but instead, just as you said, Unpredictable.

Lol! I just had a vision of how they would say it, and I agree, the specific "words" are meaningless. It will be the dismissive sneers, eye rolling and sarcasm they will use when they have to announce that Ron Paul just won (placed or showed) Iowa.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Iowa is especially important to me because I want to see where Paul's support really is, and how far off the "media polls" are.

Really, though, Bill Clinton got less than 3% in Iowa and went on to win. It will be a lot harder for us, because we'll have to fight the whole way. I'm just wondering what sort of mass we have right now.

But seriously, the people saying the sky will fall if he doesn't get 3rd are over-hyping things. If he does get 3rd, you guys better not stop working. It's going to take a lot to do this, and we'll get no media help at all.

 

[Wwillywoo]

Iowa is important to us because it may prove that the msm is way off the mark on their treatment of RP. It can move RP into the "first tier" where he can no longer be ignored.

Having said that, it is not the end of the world if RP does not finish as well as we think he might. Iowa's sructure and rules are somewhat different as I understand it. Iowa is more likely to test the number of committed and motivated supporters who will give up an entire evening to caucus for their candidate rather than ordinary voters who might make a trip to the polls if they have time.

New Hampshire on the other hand is a different story.

 

[dspectre]

If you think that the old media is going to accept RP win or lose, think again.

If you think that the old media is ever going to sway RP's way, you might want to consider giving up.

It's not impossible, but I find it highly unlikely that the old media's tone will change.

 

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

Iowa is important to us because it may prove that the msm is way off the mark on their treatment of RP. It can move RP into the "first tier" where he can no longer be ignored.

The media isn't misinformed, or slow to figure things out. Breaking the fundraising record, and raising more than any other republican candidate is all out there. They know Paul has support. They are complicit. It's not a coincidence that the media seems to use the same crappy talking points against him. They are complicit. Ron, himself called Fox war propagandists. They will not start treating him like a legit candidate no matter what happens in Iowa.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

I would rather swim downstream to the nomination, than upstream. Doing well in Iowa will help Paul get a head of steam faster, and independent of MSM spin. Paul needs to win in January to keep from being blacked out of coverage and inclusion during the crucial weeks before super Tuesday, as the media has already done to most of the Democratic field.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Iowa is especially important to me because I want to see where Paul's support really is, and how far off the "media polls" are.

Really, though, Bill Clinton got less than 3% in Iowa and went on to win. It will be a lot harder for us, because we'll have to fight the whole way. I'm just wondering what sort of mass we have right now.

But seriously, the people saying the sky will fall if he doesn't get 3rd are over-hyping things. If he does get 3rd, you guys better not stop working. It's going to take a lot to do this, and we'll get no media help at all.

Exactly, the "sky isn't falling" on the Ron Paul Revolution (or the Ron Paul GOP nomination) no matter what comes out of Iowa.

And when I said the whole Iowa thing is media hype, of course I also include the fact that it is a ratings generator for them too. Ratings and money is always a motivation, sometimes even bigger than spin and propaganda...

 

[jarmoore]

If RP places 1st or 2nd, the MSM would risk losing their credibility (what miniscule amount it has left) if they continued down the "RP is a second tier" bullshit path. So basically if we do good in Iowa we get to shove it down their throats.