News from Iowa

[Dave]

Good article on moving primary/caucus dates

Here's an excellent article on the still-unfolding changes to the primary/caucus calendar. Sounds like Michigan is trying to move forward which causes all the other dominoes to drop...the first contest (Iowa) may end up being as early as January 3!

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/OPINION01/708280367/1036

 

[LibertyEagle]

Dave,

What are the Iowa Meetup groups doing these days to get the word out to Iowans?

 

[Dave]

In Iowa today you'd hardly know there was a debate last night - the media is all atwitter about Fred's visit. He'll be all over Iowa for the next 3 days and his first stop is this afternoon in Des Moines. The massive Fred Thompson bus is already sitting downtown about a block from Ron Paul's Iowa HQ. It's all painted up with stuff about unity, security, and our core principles, etc. Wish I had my camera.

I thought about checking it out but I don't want it to look like people are interested. Besides, I've got better things to do - I'm volunteering at Ron Paul HQ today.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Dave,

What is, or is there, a concerted plan to get the word out to iowans? What is Seehusen or the Meetup groups doing or planning? Anything?

 

[Dave]

Drew Ivers named Iowa Campaign Chairman

A small photo of Ron Paul in today's Des Moines Register with the following news:

"Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has named Drew Ivers as his Iowa campaign chairman, giving the Texas congressman a veteran conservative organizer in the leadoff caucus state. Ivers, a research scientist from Webster City, joins Paul Dorr, Paul's Iowa field director, at the core of a largely volunteer campaign staff. Ivers was Iowa chairman for Pat Robertson in 1988 and Iowa chairman in 1996 and 1999 for Pat Buchanan."


This is really exciting news for the Ron Paul campaign. This guy's experience, connections, and energy would blow your mind. This is a big coup for the campaign and while it's getting late in the game this is an incredibly positive development that has already energized the volunteers.

 

[UCFGavin]

A small photo of Ron Paul in today's Des Moines Register with the following news:

"Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has named Drew Ivers as his Iowa campaign chairman, giving the Texas congressman a veteran conservative organizer in the leadoff caucus state. Ivers, a research scientist from Webster City, joins Paul Dorr, Paul's Iowa field director, at the core of a largely volunteer campaign staff. Ivers was Iowa chairman for Pat Robertson in 1988 and Iowa chairman in 1996 and 1999 for Pat Buchanan."


This is really exciting news for the Ron Paul campaign. This guy's experience, connections, and energy would blow your mind. This is a big coup for the campaign and while it's getting late in the game this is an incredibly positive development that has already energized the volunteers.

don't know who that is, but if dave likes it then i like it!

 

[M.Bellmore]

Dave,

What is, or is there, a concerted plan to get the word out to iowans? What is Seehusen or the Meetup groups doing or planning? Anything?

Attention Iowans:

I am trying to coordinate a mass flood of Ron Paul to college football stadiums on October 27th. Turns out Michigan State (my state) is playing Iowa. Please check out the end of this thread:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=14294

Please sign up to do this! A flyover like at UofM would be great, but having RP at as many stadiums as possible is the goal for the 27th.

Thanks!

 

[Dave]

This is the 9/25 press release:

Paul campaign: Purple Heart recipient, Christian organizer, veteran Republican activist joins Ron Paul 2008
9/25/2007

CONTACT: Paul Dorr

DES MOINES, IOWA – Drew Ivers, PhD (Iowa State), has been named the Iowa Campaign Chairman for Ron Paul 2008. Dr. Ivers brings a wealth of conservative political and leadership experience to the Paul campaign.

Dr. Ivers is a genetics scholar trained in the Iowa educational system and a Purple Heart honoree for his service in Vietnam. He has been an Iowa Republican party activist for 30 years and is a four-time Republican National Convention delegate. Dr. Ivers is also a two-time Republican State Central Committee member and served on many Iowa campaigns including those of Roger Jepsen, Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, and Ronald Reagan. He served as Iowa State Campaign Chairman for Pat Buchanan in 1996 and 2000 and Pat Robertson in 1988 which also led to the creation of the initial Christian Coalition of Iowa (now known as the Iowa Christian Alliance).

“Drew Ivers’ success as Iowa Chairman in three widely-watched Presidential campaigns makes him the perfect choice to help communicate to Iowans that Dr. Paul is staunchly pro-life, pro-taxpayer and a champion of liberty and the Constitution,” said national campaign manager Lew Moore.

“The other Republican candidates are good men," said Dr. Ivers, "but when it comes to a record of fidelity to the Constitutional principles of “Limited Government”, they are still all students compared to Ron Paul. And with 65-70 percent of Americans polled now opposing the War in Iraq, if the Republicans nominate a pro-war Republican they may just as well hand the White House over to Hillary Clinton."

“I relish the thought of a series of national debates between Mrs. Clinton and Dr. Paul and will be pouring my energy into helping Iowa Republicans see the power of his nomination,” continued Ivers.

Dr. Ivers joins Paul Dorr, Iowa Field Director, of Ocheyedan and a host of passionate volunteers in Ron Paul’s campaign.

Interested Iowans can contact the Ron Paul 2008 Iowa campaign office at (515) 280-1136 or [email protected] for more information.

-30-

 

[Dave]

Ron Paul Iowa Chairman receives ICA award

Ron Paul Iowa Chairman Receives Iowa Christian

Alliance Award at Saturday Night’s Banquet



​

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Meghann Walker
October 1, 2007

CLIVE, IOWA – Drew Ivers, PhD, was awarded the prestigious Friends of the Family Award by the Iowa Christian Alliance, Saturday evening, September 29, 2007. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the ICA’s annual fall banquet in Clive. Dr. Ivers is Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul’s campaign chairman for the state of Iowa.

Ivers was introduced to the audience by ICA President Steve Scheffler. Past NRA President, former Des Moines assistant chief of police, and former state Republican Party Chairman, Kayne Robinson presented the actual award. Ivers and Robinson have previously served together on the Iowa Republican Party’s Central Committee.

While making the award Robinson enthusiastically mentioned Ivers’ past service as Iowa Chairman for Pat Robertson and for Pat Buchanan during two campaigns.

Dr. Ivers is a Purple Heart honoree for his service in Vietnam. He has been an Iowa Republican party activist for 30 years and is a four-time Republican National Convention delegate. Dr. Ivers is also a two-time Republican State Central Committee member and served on many Iowa campaigns including those of Roger Jepsen, Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, and Ronald Reagan.

Ivers’ remarked after the banquet, “I was pleased to receive the recognition from fellow Christians, some of whom followed my leadership in past Iowa campaigns. I invite them to follow me again as I help advance the cause of the most pro-family, constitutionally faithful candidate running for the Republican nomination this fall in Iowa – Ron Paul.”

Ivers concluded, “As many evangelicals sort out their concerns about Israel and the Middle East, I want to advance Congressman Paul’s long held opposition to our trouble-some foreign aide policy which is contrary to our forefathers admonitions to avoid foreign entanglements. Such aide in the Middle East frequently has negative consequences. (I.e. Years of foreign aide to Sadam Hussein.) And as Dr. Paul reiterates, we need justice for 911, not an endless War in Iraq which most Americans now oppose. As a combat veteran who has experienced this all before, I know Ron Paul is right. It is time to bring the troops home.”

Interested Iowans can contact the Ron Paul 2008 Iowa campaign office at (515) 280-1136 or [email protected] for more information.

-30-​

 

[risiusj]

I can't wait to hear this guy talk tomorrow at the Ames Meetup/Team Ron Paul meeting.

 

[Dave]

GOP tentatively looking at Jan. 3 as caucus date
10/5/2007

By IowaPolitics.com Staff

The Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee discussed holding its caucuses on Jan. 3 during a conference call Friday night. However, sources say that date remains tentative until the RPI can work in unison with the Iowa Democratic Party.

The GOP likes Jan. 3 -- opposed to Jan. 5 -- to pay respect to New Hampshire by giving more time between the caucuses and first primary in the nation, RPI officials said after the call.

An official decision should be announced when both the RPI and Iowa Democratic Party can stand at the podium, RPI Executive Director Chuck Laudner said.

After Friday's meeting, Laudner called IDP Executive Director Mike Milligan to share the wishes of the majority of the RPI committee.

 

[Mastiff]

Just found this thread. I'm in Cedar Rapids. The efforts here are pretty subdued. We have 100-150 people in meetups between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, but they aren't very active.

I apologize for not reading all 80 pages of posts on this thread, but does the caucus system in IA affect our strategy, or should it? If I understand right, it's NOT statewide popular vote, so we need to get the word out to the small towns if we want to win here. Am I correct? How are delegates assigned across the state?

I'm wondering if the meetups should specifically target smaller towns around the state, either with direct canvassing or direct mail. In Linn county, you can buy addresses from the auditor. The whole county costs $65. I haven't gotten much interest from other meetup people here, so I was thinking of just buying the addresses for my city for $10 and mailing out tri-folds.

Some higher level organization would be great to distribute mailing addresses and maintain a common message. A dedicated postcard for direct mail would be good to save postage.

 

[frasu]

I just found this comment on DesMoines Register dot com
Romney leads GOP, Thompson moves into second

RP looks like he is in for just 4%... hmm

 

[LibertyEagle]

Just found this thread. I'm in Cedar Rapids. The efforts here are pretty subdued. We have 100-150 people in meetups between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, but they aren't very active.

I seriously don't understand why people aren't active. Is something amiss with the Meetup organizers, have they just lost interest in the campaign, or do they not really understand how very little time we have and what is at stake?

 

[Mastiff]

I seriously don't understand why people aren't active. Is something amiss with the Meetup organizers, have they just lost interest in the campaign, or do they not really understand how very little time we have and what is at stake?

Well, it's pretty easy to sign up for a meetup. It doesn't mean you actually want to do anything or spend any money.

Speaking of which, anyone want to help me man a gun show table next month?

 

[Liberty]

Just found this thread. I'm in Cedar Rapids. The efforts here are pretty subdued. We have 100-150 people in meetups between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, but they aren't very active.

I apologize for not reading all 80 pages of posts on this thread, but does the caucus system in IA affect our strategy, or should it? If I understand right, it's NOT statewide popular vote, so we need to get the word out to the small towns if we want to win here. Am I correct? How are delegates assigned across the state?

I'm wondering if the meetups should specifically target smaller towns around the state, either with direct canvassing or direct mail. In Linn county, you can buy addresses from the auditor. The whole county costs $65. I haven't gotten much interest from other meetup people here, so I was thinking of just buying the addresses for my city for $10 and mailing out tri-folds.

Some higher level organization would be great to distribute mailing addresses and maintain a common message. A dedicated postcard for direct mail would be good to save postage.

This is very disappointing considering the majority of Iowans are against the war.
I had a phone conversation last week with a 70 year old man from Haverhill, IA and he indicated his friends are Romney supporters. I told him Ron Paul is the only candidate that will bring the troops home now and end this war. I hit several other points and hopefully he will talk to his friends about Ron Paul.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Well, it's pretty easy to sign up for a meetup. It doesn't mean you actually want to do anything or spend any money.

Speaking of which, anyone want to help me man a gun show table next month?

The United States is pretty large, you might want to narrow down a bit where the gun show is.

Better yet, would you please edit your profile to include the state that you live in?

 

[Dave]

Just found this thread. I'm in Cedar Rapids. The efforts here are pretty subdued. We have 100-150 people in meetups between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, but they aren't very active.

I apologize for not reading all 80 pages of posts on this thread, but does the caucus system in IA affect our strategy, or should it? If I understand right, it's NOT statewide popular vote, so we need to get the word out to the small towns if we want to win here. Am I correct? How are delegates assigned across the state?

It certainly affects our strategy - it's a much greater commitment to get someone to participate in a local republican meeting at a specific time for a few hours than to simply show up and vote in a primary.

I think you're confusing the Iowa democrats' caucus process with the republicans a bit. Second-tier democrats can improve their odds a bit by focusing on the rural areas since it takes fewer voters to be 'viable' in a precinct. Republicans just vote by secret ballot - none of this 'viability' business on caucus night.

Since Iowa goes first, the results of the caucus vote are more important than the number of delegates 'won'. In fact, nobody really knows how many Iowa delegates a candidate has won on caucus night since each precinct independently elects its county delegates and candidate preference may or may not be a factor in that - plus some of the candidates will have dropped out by the time of the county, district, state, and national conventions.

I'm wondering if the meetups should specifically target smaller towns around the state, either with direct canvassing or direct mail. In Linn county, you can buy addresses from the auditor. The whole county costs $65. I haven't gotten much interest from other meetup people here, so I was thinking of just buying the addresses for my city for $10 and mailing out tri-folds.

Some higher level organization would be great to distribute mailing addresses and maintain a common message. A dedicated postcard for direct mail would be good to save postage.

We have higher-level organization in Iowa! The campaign has an office in downtown Des Moines led by the immensely capable Dr. Drew Ivers (see earlier posts). Lots of volunteers like myself are helping out there. I'll PM you, Mastiff.

 

[Dave]

Ron Paul to appear in Iowa on October 27th!

The Iowa GOP now has this on their website so I thought I'd share the news that Congressman Paul will appear at the Republican Party of Iowa's Reagan Dinner on Saturday, October 27th. This is a fundraiser for the Iowa GOP and tickets are $100. Also scheduled to participate are Thompson, Tancredo, Hunter, Huckabee, and Brownback. I would not be surprised if some additional candidates decide to participate as well - I think that all have been invited.

This event is at Hy-Vee hall in Des Moines - home of the June 30th Ron Paul rally that kicked off so much excitement! It will be great to have Dr. Paul back in Iowa. I don't know right now whether additional Ron Paul events will be planned around this visit.

Here's the link:

http://www.iowagop.net/inner.asp?z=5

 

[bbachtung]

Giving everyone in a meet-up group in Iowa who doesn't feel like doing much one assignment would likely reap untold benefits at the caucuses. That assignment is: make sure that all of your friends and family go to the caucuses and support RP. Turn-out (and willingness to stay through the evening) will be key to winning (or placing well) in Iowa.