News from Iowa

[Dave]

You know what fries me right now? As we hear about slick mailings from Benito, radio ads, and thinking about how Lord Xar is putting a LOT of effort into radio ads, and how we're pooling our hard-earned money to try to make a dent in this media circus, what FRIES me right now is that someone dropped the ball with the Des Moines Register. That free media was worth more than the thousands of dollars Lord Xar is eeking together from our earnest souls, and all it would have taken was a few minutes on the phone from the campaign. THAT'S what fries me right now.

I understand that HQ has undertaken damage control on this (me, too!) and it must have helped since Ron Paul was one of only 6 republicans listed in the Register comparison feature on cancer research (I posted about this here yesterday). Hopefully RPs photo and positions continue to appear in these (fingers crossed).

What bugs me is that Rudy hits me with an Iowa visit about 4 days ago, and then a radio ad, a mailing, and a phone call all today. Here we commoners are pooling lunch money for a half-page ad in the Ames Tribune and trying to figure out how to hang signs and pass out volunteer-made DVDs - then we get run over by the big money machine. Here we are choking on the exhaust and trying to figure out what just hit us.

What can we do? Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the game. This must be how it felt when David took on Goliath.

 

[Bossobass]

That's exactly why I emailed Joe, Bosso. And who exactly are you implying that is spewing "negative" at HQ? I certainly was not. I was trying to find out if THEY were planning on running ads. I was not asking for their direction or help! What I was trying to do, without crossing FEC lines, was to find out where best to focus our own ad campaign. For example, if they had decided on radio ads, then it would probably make sense for us to direct our funds and efforts to a newspaper ad. I saw people here keep asking the same question, so I decided to try to get an answer. BTW, I received an answer from Heather and she said they had not decided yet whether to run ads and if they did, hadn't decided on the message.

Just as it is not time to be spewing negative at HQ (which I agree with BTW), it is not time to be spewing negative BS at a fellow Ron Paul supporter who is doing everything in their capacity to help this campaign. Especially when you are flat out wrong in your claim.

Easy there, Lib...

I just quoted your post to underscore the point that Seehusen is the guy to contact about anything to do with Iowa.

Just read the last few pages (before my post) of criticism toward HQ. It accomplishes nothing and irks me when that sort of thing bogs down an otherwise productive thread.

My post was directed at those posts, not yours. I sometimes lack the time to be thorough enough to avoid stepping on toes, which is why I don't post much.

This is a subject that grates on me, the criticism and endless suggestions of what HQ should be doing.

We got our first batch of Iowan phone #s today. We have a phone bank set up here. We raised a nice piece of change for Adopt and Iowan in Greenville last Sat. I'll fly to Iowa and rent a car and stay a few days. In the meanwhile, I'm in constant contact with Pittsburgh on their upcoming rally (because I'm from there originally and still have many contacts for logistical help). I managed to put together a 30 sec ad last night. My car is lettered up and I have someone drive it every day. I monitor meetup groups in SC and NH because I'll be heading to both places to help this fall, and...have never made a single call to HQ.

I tried not to single anyone out and ended up putting my foot in my mouth anyway. It was not my intent to offend you in any way. Sorry for the poor wording.

Bosso

 

[Shatterhand]

Hey, Everyone,

I used to get fried up too by the utter incompetence of the campaign. But then I realized that there's something fun about participating in a farce. Yes! Aren't we having a good laugh? I mean, look at the people running against Dr. Paul. It's some sort of absurd dream. And yet, how amazing to have the opportunity to take part in the grass roots action. Despite the bungling of the campaign, we are giving it our all (and I'm sure we're bungling too). I think we should have some fun doing all this stuff. How else, how else can we write and call and do all the grunt work? Would you want it any other way? I'm having a great time!

 

[Syren123]

I have to agree, Shatterhand..."bungling" is the right word! I've only had to speak directly to HQ a couple of times about scheduling issues and I always got an "I'm overwhelmed and I might get to it" attitude. Oh, okay...I'm just trying to raise money here. No hurry.

It's really not that big a deal...we'll make our end work no matter what they do over there, and it IS kinda fun to be a part of this neophyte effort! Just because everyone at HQ is a complete newb being thrown into the big leagues with no net doesn't mean Ron Paul can't win. On the contrary...we can play an even bigger part and be more influential than supporters normally do and are.

After Clinton won in 92, they made a film of the campaign called "Boiler Room" or something like that. The Ragin' Cajun was the go-go campaign manager and ineffetual hanger-on Stephanopoulos was there saying nothing and nodding his head like he always does....talk about the Perfect Storm of Stupidity...and they STILL WON!!

Let's forget Bill's CFR affiliation for the sake of argument and focus on the fact that all those noobs didn't know what the f they were doing and it still happened.

 

[Badger Paul]

Exactly Satterhand! This is a do-it-yourself camapign, an individual initative camapaign. Minutemen don't wait for orders from HQ, we act! So much of the fun has gone out of politics because campaigns are so centralized and impersonal because they're mostly run on television. That's what makes RP's camapaign so different, because we are the campaign. We're the headquarters and we're the brain trust. If it was the other way around, RP would be dead in the water. Bceuase it isn't, we have a chance, a chance to shake up politics as usual with good old fashion American gumption, imagination and effort. We can be very inspirational to a nation addicted to waiting for Washington to do something. Let's not be the same way when comes to our own camapaign.

 

[LibertyEagle]

Bosso...

No problem. You just quoted me is all, when you made your statement, so it was logical to think you were referring to me.

Let's keep going. And Bosso, I enjoy your posts. You stay on top of the game and seem to always keep pointed in the WIN direction. I always find your posts very encouraging and a reminder to myself to get back focused again. So please keep up the posts when you have time to do so.

 

[LibertyEagle]

I understand that HQ has undertaken damage control on this (me, too!) and it must have helped since Ron Paul was one of only 6 republicans listed in the Register comparison feature on cancer research (I posted about this here yesterday). Hopefully RPs photo and positions continue to appear in these (fingers crossed).

What bugs me is that Rudy hits me with an Iowa visit about 4 days ago, and then a radio ad, a mailing, and a phone call all today. Here we commoners are pooling lunch money for a half-page ad in the Ames Tribune and trying to figure out how to hang signs and pass out volunteer-made DVDs - then we get run over by the big money machine. Here we are choking on the exhaust and trying to figure out what just hit us.

What can we do? Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the game. This must be how it felt when David took on Goliath.

That reminds me. I think I'll donate another $100 to the Iowa ad campaign fund. We can do it, folks. The other guys are all plastic. We're the substance. I know it, you know it and soon everyone else will know it too.

 

[Dave]

Yesterday I posted a link to the youtube video made by the mother of 7 little kids whose family participated in a parade south of Des Moines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vsGoc6MCu8

This amazing woman then got an idea and called the Iowa State Fair, gave them $30, and got "us" entered into the huge Iowa State Fair Parade. They asked how many people we would have in our group and I think she told them 500!

For everyone coming to Iowa for the Aug. 5 debate and/or Aug. 11 Ames Straw Poll and looking for things to do in between, this will be a great opportunity to show our support - the parade is in Des Moines on the evening of Aug. 8.

Keep your eye on www.paulforall.com for details.

What a great example of someone just taking the initiative and getting something done. She takes care of 7 little kids - the rest of us don't have an excuse.

 

[goldenequity]

Ames text

Please feel free to use any or all of this text in your Ames efforts.

"Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing."

Is our government protecting our individual rights and the traditional values of the Constitution? The answer is most clearly "no."

What are Constitutional traditional values?

Looking across history, they are most certainly not aggressive bloated government, a collapsing monetary system, weak borders, wire-tapping, or preemptive wars. America desperately needs leadership to reverse the size of government, lower taxes, encourage free trade, and get out of foreign entanglements, our bank accounts and our bedrooms.

Who can begin reversing decades of bloated and corrosive legislation from the administrations and parties who have lost sight of our Constitution and traditional core values?

We must elect a candidate, who will pursue a humble defensive foreign policy and who will bring our soldiers home and I mean all. That means saving almost five hundred billion dollars a year. A half-trillion saved and not spent. Compound that annually.

Is a half-trillion dollars then saved for entitlements, federal pork and earmarking? Don’t even think about it!

In his 20 years in Congress, Ron Paul has not once voted to raise taxes or congressional pay. Professional lobbyists do not even darken this Congressman’s door. He is known amongst his colleagues as “Doctor No” for refusing any legislation that spends tax money on anything not endorsed specifically by the Constitution.

He wants the money to stay with you, to be spent locally, to prosper your own State and local community. It’s your money. Improve and use it to take personal responsibility for your own lives and local communities. In your prosperity, give to community charities instead of demanding the Federal government help the poor and unfortunate among you.

This was the strict and liberating intention of our founding fathers and the Constitution.
There was no income tax…none. It worked so well for so long, that our country’s prosperity exploded exponentially and was the envy of all other nations of the world.

Stop being a good Republican. Stop being a good Democrat. Start being a good American.

As the only Republican candidate who solitarily opposed the war in Iraq and loudly protested the corrosive effects of the Homeland Security Act upon our Civil Liberties, let's give Ron Paul a chance, to lead us out of this mess. Our country is literally going broke trying to sustain a policy of policing the world and a bloated Federalized system of government.

Please go this weekend to the Ames Iowa Poll and cast your straw vote for Ron Paul.

Thank you so much.​

 

[LibertyEagle]

typo --- "amoung" should be among.

This also needs rewording... "Saved for entitlements, federal pork and earmarking?"

 

[goldenequity]

Done!

typo --- "amoung" should be among.

This also needs rewording... "Saved for entitlements, federal pork and earmarking?"

Done!

 

[Dave]

Romney paying for phone calls into Iowa!

I just got another live phone call on behalf of "I'm backing off my plans for the Ames Straw Poll" Romney - offering me a free ride and tickets to the Ames Straw Poll. I pressed the gal and found it she's calling from some telemarketing company in Maine - not a volunteer or a supporter.

Maybe someday the RP campaign can pay for some targeted calls into Iowa but for right now everyone making phone calls into Iowa and not getting a paycheck for it should be proud of themselves.

 

[Dave]

This is a riot. I don't belive for a minute that T. Thompson was ever going to draw 'hundreds to thousands' of bikers, etc. to a street dance the night before the Straw Poll.

That said, I think bikers are a great audience for Ron Paul. I know the Iowa Coordinator is pursuing ABATE, etc.



Ames, Ia. - Tommy Thompson's presidential campaign has canceled an Ames street dance designed to attract motorcyclists to the Republican straw poll in a spat over fees the city planned to charge for security and other costs.

A campaign worker said that the city's fees were too high and that it appeared local officials were trying to discourage the event.

Thompson, a Republican and former governor of Wisconsin, had planned to hold a "Power of the People" rally Aug. 10, the night before the GOP straw poll, in downtown Ames. It was expected to attract motorcyclists, a group the campaign has worked to cultivate as supporters.

Thompson campaign aides said they are now planning a smaller event at an indoor restaurant in downtown Ames instead of the street dance.

...

Sanfelipo, who worked with city staff to negotiate details of the event, said city reimbursements, including security costs, would have equaled about $2,000.

She said it wasn't just the money that caused the campaign to pull out of holding the street dance.

"It was a combination of the money and the combination of the fact they were turning this into something very negative," she said. "We wanted it to be something lighthearted, and small-town, and a street dance. For them to scare everybody and make them think it was a gang war and have all this police presence is not what we were after."

Ames Police Commander Jim Robinson said the department suggested four to six officers should be hired as security, and work for about five hours at $38 per hour.

Susan Gwiasda, an Ames spokesperson, said the city requested additional security amid challenges with pinning down the campaign on how many people would attend.

"I think it was the uncertainty and the number of people attending because the numbers were hundreds to thousands," she said.

 

[Noodles]

so much for the right of the people to peacefully assemble...

 

[Akus]

What Is Xanadu?

 

[Johnnybags]

TT on Utopia?

This is a riot. I don't belive for a minute that T. Thompson was ever going to draw 'hundreds to thousands' of bikers, etc. to a street dance the night before the Straw Poll.

That said, I think bikers are a great audience for Ron Paul. I know the Iowa Coordinator is pursuing ABATE, etc.


6 officers for 6 people and a couple curious pedestrians? 2k, good call Tommy, save the ammo for a pupu platter for 6 and some Mai Thai's

 

[LibertyEagle]

This is a riot. I don't belive for a minute that T. Thompson was ever going to draw 'hundreds to thousands' of bikers, etc. to a street dance the night before the Straw Poll.

That said, I think bikers are a great audience for Ron Paul. I know the Iowa Coordinator is pursuing ABATE, etc.

Dave, are there a lot of bikers in Iowa? If so, there's a guy in Austin that should be pulled into this effort to get them on board.

 

[Dave]

What Is Xanadu?

I've been waiting weeks for someone to ask this. I use this as a metaphor for utopian paradise. Xanadu was the summer home of Kubla Kahn's Mongol empire. He was the grandson of Genghis Kahn. Marco Polo partied there in the 13th century.

Now back to your regular scheduled programming...

 

[Dave]

RP up to 1% in new Iowa poll

KCCI TV in Des Moines just released these results from a poll taken July 23-25 of 600 likely Iowa voters. It's interesting that only Romney, F. Thompson, and Ron Paul went up since May, though the margin of error is 4 points. It's interesting to see how McCain and Giuliani are being punished for skipping the Ames Straw Poll. Even more interesting is that we're only 1 point out of second place among those who will be in Ames.

Also - 71% disapprove of Bush and 70% say the Iraq war isn't worth it. Think Iowa will be a red state in '08? Only if Ron Paul's on the ticket!

I also find the movement of Richardson to be interesting. Here's the story:

http://www.kcci.com/politics/13763159/detail.html

DemocraticCandidates
July KCCI Poll May KCCI Poll Change
John Edwards 27 26 +1
Hillary Clinton 22 28 -6​

Barack Obama 16 22 -6

Bill Richardson 11 7 +4
Joe Biden 3 2 +1
Dennis Kucinich 2 2 Unchanged
Chris Dodd 2 2 Unchanged
Mike Gravel 1 1 Unchanged​

Undecided not read 16 10 +6​

RepublicanCandidates

July KCCI Poll May KCCI Poll Change

Mitt Romney 25 16 +9
Fred Thompson 14 9 +5
Rudy Giuliani 13 17 -4
John McCain 10 18 -8
Newt Gingrich 6 6 Unchanged
Mike Huckabee 2 2 Unchanged
Tommy Thompson 2 3 -1
Tom Tancredo 2 3 -1
Sam Brownback 2 2 Unchanged
Duncan Hunter 1 1 Unchanged
Ron Paul 1 - +1​

Undecided not read 22 22 Unchanged




​

 

[Shatterhand]

Ron Paul only plus 1? Should I stop writing letters to Iowans now or later? Should we stop the Call Iowa program? What about all those Straw Poll DVDs? What do you guys want us to do?