Lessons from visiting the GOP candidates' Iowa field offices

[EBounding]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/iowa-week/?#livepress-update-21318701

Interesting blog post on the robustness of different campaign operations when the 538 team arrives unannounced.

Christie:

Santorum:

 

[hells_unicorn]

LOL Poor Santorum, he went from 1,100 precinct chairs to a couple of foldout tables and laptops and a tiny picnic basket. Too funny!!

 

[CPUd]

Santorum's campaign so broke they don't even have a pot to piss in. Trump's campaign uses their offices to store stage equipment, they're not really making any calls out of there, because they think they can start that up at the end of January.

Christie's is very telling- all that signage and nowhere to put it.

 

[LatinsforPaul]

(Paul’s campaign asked that I not take any pictures.)

SMART! The rest of the campaigns are going to be blindsided on February 1.

 

[VictorB]

I don't see a real distinction between the writer's Tier 2 and Tier 3 office descriptions other then the fact that he needed to break them into those tiers for the sake of writing the article. Also the fact that no Republican has a Tier 1 office smells fishy.

 

[EBounding]

Christie's is very telling- all that signage and nowhere to put it.

I'd put a Christie Fathead on my lawn.

 

[LatinsforPaul]

I don't know but this looks like first tier to me...

 

[Jackie Moon]

LOL Poor Santorum, he went from 1,100 precinct chairs to a couple of foldout tables and laptops and a tiny picnic basket. Too funny!!

Santorum's campaign so broke they don't even have a pot to piss in. Trump's campaign uses their offices to store stage equipment, they're not really making any calls out of there, because they think they can start that up at the end of January.

Christie's is very telling- all that signage and nowhere to put it.

I can understand Christie not putting much in to Iowa, but for Santorum and Huckabee Iowa is all they have.

We didn’t see any volunteers in these offices (Christie’s is in Johnston and Huckabee’s is in Urbandale), just a handful of campaign staff.

Santorum is clearly working hard in Iowa; his schedule is packed with events. But if his Urbandale headquarters is any indication — it was big and empty (and used to belong to the Scott Walker campaign) — Santorum may not have much infrastructure supporting him.

I didn't expect either one to do well, but assumed they'd at least be going all out for the small chance they can produce a showing in Iowa.

I had said before that if I were them I wouldn't drop out yet either until after the caucus, just in case they can pull a miracle.

But this makes it look like they are either out of money, or the people there have given up... or both.

 

[KEEF]

Santorum's campaign so broke they don't even have a pot to piss in. Trump's campaign uses their offices to store stage equipment, they're not really making any calls out of there, because they think they can start that up at the end of January.

Christie's is very telling- all that signage and nowhere to put it.

Maybe Santorum could go over to Christie's head quarters to steal that oversized Christie head, cut it's mouth out and then use that for their pot to piss in?

 

[CPUd]

Santorum is almost definitely out of money, and could drop out before caucus day.

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Santorum is almost definitely out of money, and could drop out before caucus day.

Pretty sure Santorum is just trying to pay down his 2012 campaign debts. He won't drop out until his donations completely dry up and he is faced with taking on more debt.

 

[thatpeculiarcat]

Pretty sure Santorum is just trying to pay down his 2012 campaign debts. He won't drop out until his donations completely dry up and he is faced with taking on more debt.

I would imagine he is just racking up more debt anyway with having another campaign, and this one being not nearly as successful. I doubt this run has made any headway for paying off anything.

Santorum raised $22 Million last time. As of September of 2015 he raised $1 Million for this campaign. I doubt he has raised much more than $100,000 since then.

 

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

So very, very sad when a tool of the establishment doesn't even realize that he was used and then discarded.

 

[invisible]

So very, very sad when a tool of the establishment doesn't even realize that he was used and then discarded.

He's probably still waiting for and expecting that magic poll to come out, and his surge from behind to start. Eventually he might figure out that the media isn't going to be spreading santorum this year. He'll just go back to being a lobbyist.

 

[hells_unicorn]

He's probably still waiting for and expecting that magic poll to come out, and his surge from behind to start. Eventually he might figure out that the media isn't going to be spreading santorum this year. He'll just go back to being a lobbyist.

Honestly, I hope I never see the guy in the news again. It was embarrassing how badly he turned out as a senator, and before losing his seat he made one of the most idiotic campaign videos in Pennsylvania's entire history by using his cred with the WWE. Apparently he was aping Donald Trump long before either one of them had presidential ambitions.

 

[Jackie Moon]

Santorum is almost definitely out of money, and could drop out before caucus day.

He's probably still waiting for and expecting that magic poll to come out, and his surge from behind to start. Eventually he might figure out that the media isn't going to be spreading santorum this year. He'll just go back to being a lobbyist.

Yeah, like I said I didn't blame him for sticking around because if a couple other candidates had fallen before Iowa he might have had a chance to pick up their supporters.

And I agree with Rand when he said in the NH Union Leader video that having the undercard debate really hurt Santorum, and that he should have been complaining about it from the beginning.

But seeing where he is at this point, it looks like they've literally packed it in and can't keep the lights on. So I wouldn't be surprised if he were out before the debate on the 28th.

 

[LatinsforPaul]

I'm sorry but the Paul campaign in Iowa is DEFINITELY Tier 1...

 

[trey4sports]

Yes! We had the bell in Iowa in '11 as well!