Dave
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Head PR Honcho for RP HQ.
News from Iowa
- Thread starter Dave
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Head PR Honcho for RP HQ.
ThePieSwindler
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Dave - what is your assessment of the situation on the ground. Do you think Ron Paul will be able to scrape together more than 1000 votes?
Badger Paul
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Some to keep in mind that I read online today:
Other than Romney, no one else was running TV ads in Iowa other than RP I believe.
Other than Romney, no one else was running TV ads in Iowa other than RP I believe.
Ron Paul Fan
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I'm pretty sure that's wrong though because another poster in Iowa has seen Huckabee and Hunter tv ads and I've seen Tancredo tv ads.
Dave
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Now that the Ames fervor is simmering down I thought I'd bring this thread back to life for the long haul to the Iowa Caucus.
I met a lot of you in Ames. I was the guy in the tan slacks and green shirt holding a 4x8 and greeting people as they approached the RP tent. I had a lot of fun, baked myself dizzy, and got to do about 10 interviews with various media, including Radio Iowa, an Australian paper, and the uber-liberal German magazine der Spiegel (it's funny to see yourself misquoted in a language you don't even speak). I was also attacked by a couple of war-mongers but I just let it bounce off. People really enjoyed the quotes that were up on the black signs behind me. Props to whoever did this.
A few things surprised me at Ames: Since Huckabee and Brownback were after the same voters I didn't think they would go 2-3. Prior to Saturday I thought Tancredo would make a surprise showing and take 3rd with Huckabee 2nd and Brownback 4th. The churches must have really cranked out their people. I was hopeful that RP could knock out T. Thompson. I also knew Hunter would do poorly but didn't think he would finish so low.
RP at 5th was a tremendous result and certainly no surprise after looking around Saturday. In fact, I think anyone could have predicted this just by wandering around the tents that afternoon. You could tell Tancredo's anti-illegal immigration stance got a lot of people to come to Ames and his tent. You could easily tell that Romney had the thing won and that Huckabee and Brownback had huge throngs. You could tell that Huckabee's crowd rivaled Brownback's even though it was obvious that Huckabee spent much less money. You could see that Cox and Hunter were bombing by their lame tents. You could tell is wasn't going to happen for T. Thompson as his nice tent was so sparsely populated. The RP presence was great but I knew a notable chuck of it couldn't vote. There's no reason to think the polls were rigged - you could tell the results with your own eyes.
The other big surprise was the crowd. Having been to this thing before, I could tell the crowd wasn't very big. That night in Hilton I was shocked to hear how few votes were cast! I think there are 3 reasons for the poor turnout:
Thanks to everyone who helped make Saturday such a big fun success. There's too many of you to mention and I know I didn't meet everyone. Everyone in Ames Saturday knows who Ron Paul is now!
Onward!
I met a lot of you in Ames. I was the guy in the tan slacks and green shirt holding a 4x8 and greeting people as they approached the RP tent. I had a lot of fun, baked myself dizzy, and got to do about 10 interviews with various media, including Radio Iowa, an Australian paper, and the uber-liberal German magazine der Spiegel (it's funny to see yourself misquoted in a language you don't even speak). I was also attacked by a couple of war-mongers but I just let it bounce off. People really enjoyed the quotes that were up on the black signs behind me. Props to whoever did this.
A few things surprised me at Ames: Since Huckabee and Brownback were after the same voters I didn't think they would go 2-3. Prior to Saturday I thought Tancredo would make a surprise showing and take 3rd with Huckabee 2nd and Brownback 4th. The churches must have really cranked out their people. I was hopeful that RP could knock out T. Thompson. I also knew Hunter would do poorly but didn't think he would finish so low.
RP at 5th was a tremendous result and certainly no surprise after looking around Saturday. In fact, I think anyone could have predicted this just by wandering around the tents that afternoon. You could tell Tancredo's anti-illegal immigration stance got a lot of people to come to Ames and his tent. You could easily tell that Romney had the thing won and that Huckabee and Brownback had huge throngs. You could tell that Huckabee's crowd rivaled Brownback's even though it was obvious that Huckabee spent much less money. You could see that Cox and Hunter were bombing by their lame tents. You could tell is wasn't going to happen for T. Thompson as his nice tent was so sparsely populated. The RP presence was great but I knew a notable chuck of it couldn't vote. There's no reason to think the polls were rigged - you could tell the results with your own eyes.
The other big surprise was the crowd. Having been to this thing before, I could tell the crowd wasn't very big. That night in Hilton I was shocked to hear how few votes were cast! I think there are 3 reasons for the poor turnout:
- Awful heat and humidity
- Absent Giuliani, McCain, and F. Thompson
- GOP malaise about their candidates and their prospects
Thanks to everyone who helped make Saturday such a big fun success. There's too many of you to mention and I know I didn't meet everyone. Everyone in Ames Saturday knows who Ron Paul is now!
Onward!
Dave
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I worked the Iowa GOP booth at the Iowa State Fair yesterday for Ron Paul (we got to have 2 people behind the desk on this one day and several Iowa RP supporters took a shift). It was also Brownback's day to have 2 people.
On my way in to the grounds I saw Hillary giving her stump speech. The crowd was very large - much larger than for any GOP stump speech I saw. She worked the democrat booth across the hall from our booth and it was gridlock with all the people and media/cameras. Barf.
I had a nice visit with the Iowa chief for Brownback. It was fun to hear him try to explain to everyone how thrilled they were with their 3rd place finish in Ames. I don't buy it. I talked to some of the Brownback interns that were working the booth - they were from Ohio and spending their summer in Iowa. The campaign gives them a free apartment and $20 per day for food.
Giuliani was there, too, but I never saw him. McCain had been there the day before. These guys are trying to get something going here after skipping Ames. Giuliani commercials are running a lot.
We passed out a lot of RP info and visited with a lot of Iowans. I had a nice talk with the head of the Iowa GOP (and some of the other staffers). He thought things went well for Ron Paul in Ames and I reinforced that and shared our enthusiasm for Ron Paul with him.
On my way in to the grounds I saw Hillary giving her stump speech. The crowd was very large - much larger than for any GOP stump speech I saw. She worked the democrat booth across the hall from our booth and it was gridlock with all the people and media/cameras. Barf.
I had a nice visit with the Iowa chief for Brownback. It was fun to hear him try to explain to everyone how thrilled they were with their 3rd place finish in Ames. I don't buy it. I talked to some of the Brownback interns that were working the booth - they were from Ohio and spending their summer in Iowa. The campaign gives them a free apartment and $20 per day for food.
Giuliani was there, too, but I never saw him. McCain had been there the day before. These guys are trying to get something going here after skipping Ames. Giuliani commercials are running a lot.
We passed out a lot of RP info and visited with a lot of Iowans. I had a nice talk with the head of the Iowa GOP (and some of the other staffers). He thought things went well for Ron Paul in Ames and I reinforced that and shared our enthusiasm for Ron Paul with him.
poppop_schell
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Someone previously said:
There's no reason to think the polls were rigged - you could tell the results with your own eyes.
My reaction?
I am sorry but there is MUCH hard evidence that the total vote was undercounted given the number of $35 tickets sold. There were also no fundamental controls NECESSARY for a fair vote count. No independent verification that there were no votes already programmed before start of the voting, no independent verification that the paper ballots inside the Diebold machines equaled the total reported by computer printout and that the distribution of votes among the candidates was equal to the paper ballots locked in the Diebold machines. Most important, after you had your ID check to verify your were an Iowan, you did NOT have to sign any voter verificiation list like what is REQUIRED in regular elections so as to be able to make sure the Computer reported totals equaled the totals on the voter verification lists.
WADR, unless you've been involved in fair and verifiable elections like I have, you don't know how many basic controls were missing thereforre allowing for vote fraud.
BTW, the legal action is NOT over. It must be made public or Ron Paul could well be the choice of most GOPers but NOT show up in the voting because of poor vote count controls.
IF you can't be 100% sure that your vote actually was recored for your candidate, then why are we making this huge effort to get Ron Paul elected???
There's no reason to think the polls were rigged - you could tell the results with your own eyes.
My reaction?
I am sorry but there is MUCH hard evidence that the total vote was undercounted given the number of $35 tickets sold. There were also no fundamental controls NECESSARY for a fair vote count. No independent verification that there were no votes already programmed before start of the voting, no independent verification that the paper ballots inside the Diebold machines equaled the total reported by computer printout and that the distribution of votes among the candidates was equal to the paper ballots locked in the Diebold machines. Most important, after you had your ID check to verify your were an Iowan, you did NOT have to sign any voter verificiation list like what is REQUIRED in regular elections so as to be able to make sure the Computer reported totals equaled the totals on the voter verification lists.
WADR, unless you've been involved in fair and verifiable elections like I have, you don't know how many basic controls were missing thereforre allowing for vote fraud.
BTW, the legal action is NOT over. It must be made public or Ron Paul could well be the choice of most GOPers but NOT show up in the voting because of poor vote count controls.
IF you can't be 100% sure that your vote actually was recored for your candidate, then why are we making this huge effort to get Ron Paul elected???
Roxi
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I believe i have said that in a previous post, and how many of those tickets "sold" were included in the numbers each of the candidates sent out in the mail and people didn't show up, it got nearly 100 degrees, and remember the state fair was going on too at the same time in des moines, i have no inkling if that affected the numbers.
and i thought the ID scanning was the way to keep count of how many votes there were individual from the machine totals... (not sure on this either)
all i know is there were a lot more romney and brownback people than there were RP supporters, and a great chunk of RP supporters like me were from out of state. I heard SO few saying they were from Iowa... I would also say based on my perception of the response to huckabee here I wasn't shocked to learn hed gotten 2nd. He did well in the debates, they have shot him up a bit in the national media, and he came across as a homegrown ozarks farm boy grown up to be pastor grown up to be presidential candidate... americas golden boy.
Choose your battles, Dr. Schell. It only hurts us if we make a big stink about a poll (not an election) in which, even if we did a full manual recount, we gain no votes. Now I take it you believe we would gain a large number of votes, but I see very little curiosity from others here as to what the people WHO WERE THERE think about this. Take it from me or any of the other peolpe who were responsible for monitoring the vote: the final results match pretty well what we observed. If we challenge the results, we will only embarass our candidate and his campaign, and that will hurt us, not help us.
This was not the election, it was just a poll, and we still have a LOT of campaigning to do, and we can't afford to undermine our efforts. Especially since complaining about the results gives a negative spin to the results, when in reality, they were very impressive, all things considered.
As for the extra tickets that were purchased, those were pre-purchased by the other campaigns. Almost nobody bought their own ticket individually. But turnout was WAY lower than anyone expected, so these other campaigns wound up with a bunch of unused tickets on their hands. No big conspiracy at all.
This was not the election, it was just a poll, and we still have a LOT of campaigning to do, and we can't afford to undermine our efforts. Especially since complaining about the results gives a negative spin to the results, when in reality, they were very impressive, all things considered.
As for the extra tickets that were purchased, those were pre-purchased by the other campaigns. Almost nobody bought their own ticket individually. But turnout was WAY lower than anyone expected, so these other campaigns wound up with a bunch of unused tickets on their hands. No big conspiracy at all.
Dustancostine
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The Brownback and Huckabee people actually called the RP people and said that they had extra tickets and that if RP supporters needed them to go over to their tents and they would let them have them.
--Dustan
--Dustan
I sure didn't hear about that. Even so, the candidates expected a turnout of 25,000, so I doubt they got rid of anywhere near that many tickets.
Also, I myself, the other Ron Paul observers, and the observers for other campaigns, kept watch on the counts in all the machines throughout the day. We would have known if they had shredded ballots and reduced the number. There's simply no way they could have done that. Everyone knew the count almost minute-by-minute.
Also, I myself, the other Ron Paul observers, and the observers for other campaigns, kept watch on the counts in all the machines throughout the day. We would have known if they had shredded ballots and reduced the number. There's simply no way they could have done that. Everyone knew the count almost minute-by-minute.
Dave
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Things have been relatively quiet in Iowa since Ames (on the GOP side. The dems are still crawling all over with Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson, and Biden all here this week). but GOP action is starting to pick up again now.
Brownback and Huckabee are back in Iowa this week. They're the only GOP doing the Lance Armstrong presidential forum.
Giuliani has been running tons of commercials and Romney has started back up, as well. Giuliani skipped Ames but he obviously learned from McCain in 2000 that you can't skip the Iowa Caucuses. I got another slick mailing from Giuliani this week, too.
Brownback and Huckabee are back in Iowa this week. They're the only GOP doing the Lance Armstrong presidential forum.
Giuliani has been running tons of commercials and Romney has started back up, as well. Giuliani skipped Ames but he obviously learned from McCain in 2000 that you can't skip the Iowa Caucuses. I got another slick mailing from Giuliani this week, too.
LibertyEagle
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Dave,
Do you know why Dr. Paul is not participating in the Armstrong presidential forum?
Do you know why Dr. Paul is not participating in the Armstrong presidential forum?
FluffyUnbound
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I haven't heard anything, but don't you think that the framing of the Armstrong forum is statist and therefore it's sensible for Paul to avoid it?
"How will the government stop cancer?" is a question that contains within it the statist assumption that one role of the government is to stop cancer. You can show up and say that the state shouldn't be involved in medicine, but that takes about ten seconds to say and then you're pretty much done with your contribution to the forum. You also have to know that if he showed up and said that he'd be mocked and abused for doing so.
Dave
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No clue but it's not really relevant now since only Brownback and Huckabee will be there. Here's the Register story on most of the candidates skipping this event. It sounds to me like Armstrong is contemplating his political ambitions.
LibertyEagle
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Dave, did you forget the link?
Dave
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Yes - sorry. Thanks for looking out.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/NEWS09/708250326/-1/caucus
Dave
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On the Op-Ed page today the Des Moines Register had a nice 5x6 photo of RP greeting his sign-waving supporters at the Ames Straw Poll. My heart jumped.
Then I see that it accompanies a negative piece by the top dog at the Register called "Why the negative campaigns? Look in a mirror for the cause":
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/OPINION01/708260331/1035/OPINION
The story doesn't mention RP but the connection between negative campaigns and the RP photo comes through clearly. "Here's a photo of a negative campaign in action" seems to be the message.
I'm sure she'll offer a similarly cynical review of the democrat candidates in action. Right?
Then I see that it accompanies a negative piece by the top dog at the Register called "Why the negative campaigns? Look in a mirror for the cause":
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/OPINION01/708260331/1035/OPINION
The story doesn't mention RP but the connection between negative campaigns and the RP photo comes through clearly. "Here's a photo of a negative campaign in action" seems to be the message.
I'm sure she'll offer a similarly cynical review of the democrat candidates in action. Right?
Dave
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A fellow Ron Paul Patriot had his letter published in the Des Moines Register today:
Regarding Richard Doak's, "Who will defend Constitution?" (Aug. 19 column):
The genius of the Constitution was not in the separation of powers as Doak suggests. The Constitution was written to limit the powers of the federal government.
Doak says, "Read the Constitution more closely." OK. "Amendment Ten: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The authors of the Constitution realized some things are done most efficiently by a free people, rather than dictated by a central authority.
These things would include education, retirement preparation, health care and help for those of us unable to help themselves.
If you look at the terrible job our government has done in these areas it's easy to see they were right. While all the other candidates would call for reform of our government's programs, only Ron Paul sees we must truly phase them out, while not pulling the rug out from under those who have planned their futures around them.
If Doak expects the Constitution to protect the civil liberties he treasures, he should also expect our liberty to be defended when we save for retirement or education, rather than having it confiscated and given to someone else.
- Fritz Groszkruger,
Dumont.
His letter was in response to an earlier column on defending the Constitution that had this to say about Ron Paul:
"The Republican exception is maverick Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who makes restoration of constitutional rule a major theme of his long-shot campaign."
(The full text is http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/OPINION01/708190333)
The historical writings of this liberal columnist seem less enthusiastic about other parts of the Constitution and the letter-writer gives him some education.
Regarding Richard Doak's, "Who will defend Constitution?" (Aug. 19 column):
The genius of the Constitution was not in the separation of powers as Doak suggests. The Constitution was written to limit the powers of the federal government.
Doak says, "Read the Constitution more closely." OK. "Amendment Ten: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
The authors of the Constitution realized some things are done most efficiently by a free people, rather than dictated by a central authority.
These things would include education, retirement preparation, health care and help for those of us unable to help themselves.
If you look at the terrible job our government has done in these areas it's easy to see they were right. While all the other candidates would call for reform of our government's programs, only Ron Paul sees we must truly phase them out, while not pulling the rug out from under those who have planned their futures around them.
If Doak expects the Constitution to protect the civil liberties he treasures, he should also expect our liberty to be defended when we save for retirement or education, rather than having it confiscated and given to someone else.
- Fritz Groszkruger,
Dumont.
His letter was in response to an earlier column on defending the Constitution that had this to say about Ron Paul:
"The Republican exception is maverick Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who makes restoration of constitutional rule a major theme of his long-shot campaign."
(The full text is http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/OPINION01/708190333)
The historical writings of this liberal columnist seem less enthusiastic about other parts of the Constitution and the letter-writer gives him some education.
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