Victory in Iowa!!- The rest of the story.

[spacehabitats]

Dave has given a good summary below, but I thought I would brag a little about one of the alternate delegates to the RNC who won her spot the hard way, my wife.

For months now my wife has been calling delegates from our district. We designed, printed, and sent out two mailers (have you ever stuffed, sealed, addressed, and stamped 1600 envelopes?). She was actually getting some pretty good feedback and we both thought she had a chance.


But I guess we did not understand the GOP politics in Iowa.
For over 20 years now a certain socially conservative, evangelical political organization has had nearly total control over who would become the national GOP delegates from Iowa.

Through great organization, training, dedication and discipline they consistently win 40-60% of the delegate seats to the state convention and always vote as a block. Before the convention they determine a slate of candidates for both the delegate and alternate slots and deliver it by simply placing it on the seats at the convention. There is no secret about which candidates they have selected and no question that those candidates will win. The bottom line is, they have been an unstoppable force in Iowa GOP politics for decades.

A couple of months ago my wife joined their group and made the proper contacts to announce her desire to be a national delegate. She spoke to a couple of their officials who politely said that they would get back to her.

A couple of weeks ago we were told that a deal had been struck and that my wife, and a few other RP delegates, might be allowed on their slate as candidates for alternate. Of course we would have to give up our campaign to have her elected as a delegate, and any financial donation we would make to their organization would be deeply appreciated.

So there it was. A smart person at that point would have taken the deal. And all of the other RP delegates that were elected this weekend did. After all, we did not have anywhere near enough RP delegates to swing the election in any district.

But I will admit, there was something about the whole deal that rubbed me the wrong way.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing the delegates that took the deal. They are all great patriots who earned their slots. I'm not criticizing the evangelicals and certainly not the people that brokered the deal. But I just felt that we had invested too much time, energy, sweat, and money in campaigning for delegate to simply give up. (Although if I had known how hopeless it was, I might have changed my mind.)

I guess the last straw was the "donation".

So we told them thanks but no thanks and we would take our chances.

___________________________________________


Friday night my wife came in fourth in the vote for the three delegate slots from our district; close enough to earn a run off which she narrowly lost.

That caused a lot of heads to turn.

So we turned around and nominated her for alternate.

This time she came in a solid third (no runoff) and won here alternate spot outright. The slate candidate didn't even come close.

As far as I know she was the only delegate/alternate candidate in Iowa to win without being on the slate endorsed by the evangelical "machine".

Afterwards we went to the king-maker to tell him that there were no hard feelings and that we might even think about making that donation now. They really are nice guys and could make very good political allies someday.

In fact, next time we'll probably let them have a few delegates.

 

[No1ButPaul08]

Wow, congratulations to your wife.

 

[speciallyblend]

great job,now we have 2 months to keep educating delegates and by the time the national convention rolls around,hopefully we have opened the correct eyes. The time to act is now,so please continue your great work and now show the delegates that voting for mccain is a losing option. We only have to convert a solid 30-40% the rest will wise up and a strong majority of them already cannot stand mccain,so let's open their eyes and if they fail to see the cliff coming,then so be it!!!

 

[countrykidz4freedom]

Way to win! Loved reading that post, you took the harder route, but oh the joy of knowing you won, by standing on your principles!!! Very inspiring story!!!

 

[spacehabitats]

Thanks

great job,now we have 2 months to keep educating delegates and by the time the national convention rolls around,hopefully we have opened the correct eyes. The time to act is now,so please continue your great work and now show the delegates that voting for mccain is a losing option. We only have to convert a solid 30-40% the rest will wise up and a strong majority of them already cannot stand mccain,so let's open their eyes and if they fail to see the cliff coming,then so be it!!!

Wouldn't that be great! Slowly but surely people's eyes are being opened to the truth.

I know that it is important that we have people at the national convention who understand and support liberty.

That is why we continued our campaign even after Dr. Paul suspended his.

My wife is a very social person and I am sure she will make friends at the RNC.

We all know that these are the people that could help reshape and revive the Republican party. We need them on our side, and so does America!

 

[speciallyblend]

yep

Wouldn't that be great! Slowly but surely people's eyes are being opened to the truth.

I know that it is important that we have people at the national convention who understand and support liberty.

That is why we continued our campaign even after Dr. Paul suspended his.

My wife is a very social person and I am sure she will make friends at the RNC.

We all know that these are the people that could help reshape and revive the Republican party. We need them on our side, and so does America!

now let's continue this line of thinking until the national convention in all states , we now can focus on 15-35 delegates (in each state) with people from the largest grassroots in recent history... never say never and if we have the will,then there is a way 2 months is an eternity, anyone against changing delegate's minds and winning over delegates in this process,should be considered a traitor to this revolution!!!!! or just plain closed minded!!!

 

[Cowlesy]

Awesome report! Thanks for persisting all the way through the process!

 

[spacehabitats]

Never give up!

Persistence and hard work can win the day.
There were other RP delegates there that did not make it, but they should NOT give up. We need them ALL for the next round.

The people that are left in the Campaign for Liberty are the best and the brightest. (By the way, the CFL had a great table at the convention and were giving away copies of "The Revolution: A Manifesto" to many of the delegates. Brilliant!) We are down to "Gideon's band" now, but that is exactly what we need to win.

It is amazing how much we could have accomplished with just a little more organization and persistence. Not every one needs to have the commitment level of my wife, but we DO need people who are willing and able to go a little bit farther.

Many of the delegates (not just ours) did not show up for the state convention. We need to be polite, friendly, articulate, informed, clean, well groomed, and RELENTLESS!

 

[Dave]

Space,

I wanted to tell your story but didn't want to steal your thunder!

Your wife is amazing and earned her trip to National the hard way. NONE of our delegation is more deserving! I'm humbled.

If 20% of the Ron Paul faithful were half as skilled and dedicated as her we would take over the GOP state-by-state in just a few years.

The evangelical group has absolute control over some congressional districts here. They have a few cracks in others. There were a small number of delegates/alternates elected who were not on the slates - even another one of our RP supporters (though he didn't have to work as hard as your wife to pull it off in his district).

Congratulations to both of you!

 

[rich34]

That's a nice story and congrats to your wife, but the thing that kills me is the Christian organization that is apparently running the show out there and likewise probably in a lot of other states.

One quote comes to mind when referring to the last days...."even the very elect shall be decieved..." Jesus Christ...The very elect is his own people.

I'm sure most of the people in that organization are well meaning decent people that are just misguided into believing that they are making the right choice, but their ignorance or pride kills me. As long as they think their making the "right" choice it don't matter to them.. As the saying goes ignorance is bliss!

 

[spacehabitats]

Wow, I did not realize...

Space,

I wanted to tell your story but didn't want to steal your thunder!

Your wife is amazing and earned her trip to National the hard way. NONE of our delegation is more deserving! I'm humbled.

If 20% of the Ron Paul faithful were half as skilled and dedicated as her we would take over the GOP state-by-state in just a few years.

The evangelical group has absolute control over some congressional districts here. They have a few cracks in others. There were a small number of delegates/alternates elected who were not on the slates - even another one of our RP supporters (though he didn't have to work as hard as your wife to pull it off in his district).

Congratulations to both of you!

I thought that we had even lost a couple of spots that were slate candidates. (Like from District 2?)

Anyway, I didn't mean to overstate her accomplishment. What all the insiders (including non-RPers) were telling me Friday night made it sound like this hardly ever happens.

I did not realize that another RP delegate made it through off the slate, and I am even more surprised that "a small number" of other candidates made it through without their approval.

No wonder they were looking a little tense.

Do you think this represents the rumblings of a major shake up in the Iowa GOP power structure?

If so, I hope that WE capitalize on it and not the Neocons.

 

[spacehabitats]

Yes, it is tragic.

That's a nice story and congrats to your wife, but the thing that kills me is the Christian organization that is apparently running the show out there and likewise probably in a lot of other states.

One quote comes to mind when referring to the last days...."even the very elect shall be decieved..." Jesus Christ...The very elect is his own people.

I'm sure most of the people in that organization are well meaning decent people that are just misguided into believing that they are making the right choice, but their ignorance or pride kills me. As long as they think their making the "right" choice it don't matter to them.. As the saying goes ignorance is bliss!

Yes, it is tragic that so many "well meaning decent people" have expended so much time and energy (and political capital) on what will be a lost cause if they do not rearrange their priorities.

They have been allowed to maintain their power because they do not threaten the political/economic powers that are taking over our country and destroying the middle-class.

The global fascists are more than happy to let us (including the Christian organizations) to focus on the social conservative issues like abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage; as long as we let them have their way with our economy. They know (and we had better figure out fast) that the people that control the purse strings ultimately control everything else.

Even the one-issue voters will have to realize that they can't afford to cede control over our currency, the economy, and civil liberties and still think that they will be allowed to call the shots on "Right to Life".

Ain't gonna happen.

 

[Badger Paul]

Way to go Iowa!

Tell Dave and everyone from Iowa congratulations and thanks for all their hard work.

Just think, a year ago, all eyes were on Iowa and the straw poll. It's only been a year and yet it feels like a long time.

 

[Melissa]

Yes, it is tragic that so many "well meaning decent people" have expended so much time and energy (and political capital) on what will be a lost cause if they do not rearrange their priorities.

They have been allowed to maintain their power because they do not threaten the political/economic powers that are taking over our country and destroying the middle-class.

The global fascists are more than happy to let us (including the Christian organizations) to focus on the social conservative issues like abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage; as long as we let them have their way with our economy. They know (and we had better figure out fast) that the people that control the purse strings ultimately control everything else
Even the one-issue voters will have to realize that they can't afford to cede control over our currency, the economy, and civil liberties and still think that they will be allowed to call the shots on "Right to Life".


Ain't gonna happen.

+1 and great job to your wife some people in Indiana tried to get a shot but we could not even get on the slate.

 

[Dave]

I thought that we had even lost a couple of spots that were slate candidates. (Like from District 2?)

Yes, a couple of our candidates who were on the slates did lose, though not in CD 2. In the end, we had no candidates on the slate in CD 2.

Anyway, I didn't mean to overstate her accomplishment. What all the insiders (including non-RPers) were telling me Friday night made it sound like this hardly ever happens.

You can't overstate her accomplishment! It's huge!! And in her case it wasn't a fluke (which happens from time to time). She absolutely EARNED it - more so than any of the rest of us! I'm envious!

I did not realize that another RP delegate made it through off the slate, and I am even more surprised that "a small number" of other candidates made it through without their approval.

They are stronger in some CDs than others. They won everything in the 3rd, including nominating committee and elector. 9 for 9! I know off the top of my head of 5 cases where a slated candidate was defeated. I would be surprised if there are not a few others that I'm not yet aware of. Remember that the "evangelical group" also captured 43 of the 44 at-large Delegates/Alternates on Saturday since they controlled (9 of 10, I believe) the nominating committee. Of the 74 elected delegates/alternates I'd say around 90% were from the slates.

No wonder they were looking a little tense.

Do you think this represents the rumblings of a major shake up in the Iowa GOP power structure?

Yes, but maybe not the way you're thinking. I think the "evangelical group" enhanced their power this weekend since they captured both seats on the Republican National Committee.

Huckabee is clearly the front-runner in Iowa for 2012.

If so, I hope that WE capitalize on it and not the Neocons.