Iowa Republican Party Leaders Predict Ron Paul Last Place in Straw Poll

[Birdlady]

This is all over the Old Media today. Brownback is also being propped up today after his supposed win of the Drudge Report poll.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/iowa_republicans_see_romney_as_1.html

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian in the truest sense of the word, did not receive a single vote in the poll. The lone anti-war voice on the GOP stage, Paul would be unlikely to earn support, or even notice, of people involved in Republican circles enough to be an elected board member."

[Birdlady]

Well the fact that someone voted for Cox over Ron Paul is really scary to me.

[nullvalu]

OMFG This is such BS! Don't they know this will just make us fight harder?

[camnc79]

Excellent. They will be blindsided when the results are announced this Saturday night.

This is what we need when it comes to negative "press." If these individuals are *really* blindly believing that Dr. Paul will finish last, then that makes our work a little easier this weekend. No excuse for complacency on our side, but definitely what I like to see.

Cameron

[Syren123]

Remember.

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.

[FSP-Rebel]

They polled thirty GOP party hacks, what kind of BS is this?

[Thom1776]

This was a survey asking establishment Republican Party officials who they think will be the top five finishers in the Ames Straw Poll, not who they personally want to win. So it's not surprising at all that of these 30 so-called Republican Porty "leaders" in Iowa, that Paul didn't get any votes.

[nullvalu]

what a bunch of party line hugging pansies.

[bygone]

A poll of your friends isn't exactly a good indicator... unless we say it is ;)

[JPFromTally]

Are these the same people that decided on the Diebold machines?

[Eli]

the party leaders chose the guy who spent the most money in their community. I'm shocked!

[jj111]

Watch the vote counting very closely, volunteers in Ames....

[Highmesa]

This is actually good news.

The lower the expectations are, the better the opportunity for strong media coverage if Dr. Paul does well. Rons' support does NOT come from the party insiders (like this polled), so I wouldn't expect them to think has has much of a shot.

[LibertyEagle]

Oh heck, Romney has already lined the pockets of the Iowa GOP. That's even been in the news.

I don't think for a second, we'll come in last. Where we do place is going to reflect how well we've all gotten out his message and how much campaigning Dr. Paul does this week.

[fluoridatedbrainsoup]

Polls are not for measuring public opinion, Polls are for shaping public opinion. This "prediction" - asks who they expect to win, rather than who they would vote for, so it seems like ACTUAL VOTING is losing importance in the modern-age, and I would thank voting machines and greed for that. Mitt Romney seriously reminds me of somebody who makes love to small boys, and his eyes remind me of Lucifer's eyes. Which is why I understand why our evil media is such a fan: Evil begets Evil.

[Joby]

I'm pretty nervous. I mean, this is really the first big non-internet hurdle of the campaign. I'm just wondering if all the internet support is actually going to be reflected at the end of the vote counting.

[Birdlady]

We need to watch what happens with those voting machines.

I am really scared this is their way of stealing the straw poll. They bring out this stupid poll predicting the results and low and behold, Ron Paul gets 100 votes in the straw poll...

[ghemminger]

This is actually good news.

The lower the expectations are, the better the opportunity for strong media coverage if Dr. Paul does well. Rons' support does NOT come from the party insiders (like this polled), so I wouldn't expect them to think has has much of a shot.

I would aggree with you...Watch those votes because they could definately steal this from us

The insuing mayhem could paint us as whacko conspiracy theorists....terribly effective....we must work hard and keep our emotions in control...

Hope for the best but expect the worst from these people....in 1 MONTH I have lost all confindence in the MSM and the current biased political process :cool:

[Shink]

QUESTION: Are the results of the straw poll guaranteed? What ensures every vote is counted fairly and remains unchanged? I can see this prediction being true IF THEY HIT THE DELETE BUTTON.

[Nash]

This is all over the Old Media today. Brownback is also being propped up today after his supposed win of the Drudge Report poll.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/iowa_republicans_see_romney_as_1.html

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian in the truest sense of the word, did not receive a single vote in the poll. The lone anti-war voice on the GOP stage, Paul would be unlikely to earn support, or even notice, of people involved in Republican circles enough to be an elected board member."

I'm baffled that these pundits still don't get it. Ron Paul supporters are not typical Republicans. They all left the party years ago or are third party or even non-voters.

The republican "base" is tiny these days and when we take over the straw poll and then the party they aren't going to know what hit them.

The typical arm-chair republican isn't gonna go to the straw poll. It's going to be attended by activists and they don't even have to be registered republican. Ron Paul supporters are both activist and not typically republican. It's a perfect storm for a good showing.

The fact he's placing well in every other straw poll is a good indicator that's he going to poll well at ames. I find the denial of this interesting.

I'm sending people to the straw poll who aren't typical republican voters. Actually they aren't even republican. They just happen to be students at ISU and the happen to hate the war. They'll be logging a vote for Paul. They don't even know if they actually would vote for Paul in a real election (they are way lefty) but that's not the point.

When every democrat, libertarian, former naderite, paleo-con and anarchist in Ames infiltrates the straw poll and votes for Paul the GOP is going to be left scratching their heads at how their poll got hijacked. It's gonna be hilarious.

[RockEnds]

I just attended a town meeting with Senator Grassley this morning in Davis County, Iowa. Grassley is a Republican Senator and a big war supporter.

Someone was there filming for YouTube. I met the kid last night at the Paul rally, but I didn't get his name--sorry. Grassley made him state his business so everyone would know he was anti-war and posting on the internet.

As soon as Grassley announced that, one of the good ol' boys said he didn't mind being on YouTube, and asked if "all this money we're spending on the war" would be better spent in other places. Right On!!

My question to Grassley was about Iraq, and he was stammering by the time he was done speaking with me. I didn't mention Dr. Paul. I didn't have to. Everyone in the room knew me and read my letter to the editor two weeks ago. They knew my choice of candidates. Grassley finally started quoting Hillary Clinton to me, and I stopped him and told him I was not a Democrat, I was a registered Republican. His jaw dropped hard. It was really fun!!

I heard no pro-war statements from anyone in the room, although I couldn't stay to the end. It lasted longer than scheduled. The next question after mine was what to do about the orphans created by the deaths of US military personnel. Then a police officer asked why he can't deport illegals.

When my baby's daddy called for me to come home so he could get to work, everyone smiled at me and nodded approvingly.

I think the Republicans are scared spitless about the Straw Poll.

Those of us in Iowa just need to stay in the public eye this week, stand strong, and stand proud.

[angelatc]

Are these the same people that decided on the Diebold machines?

That's my thought too.

[disinter]

It wouldn't have anything to do with all those folks being on Romney's payroll, would it?

http://iavaluesnotforsale.blogspot.com/2007/07/romney-tries-to-buy-iowa-votes.html

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

Luckily, the IA GOP Leaders only get one vote apiece. And luckily, all the independents, democrats and libertarians ALSO get one vote apiece. They're just going to look like fools.

Romney probably will come in first, and it would be huge to come in second. Third would be good too. Anything less than fourth place is a loss for us, IMO.

[LastoftheMohicans]

I just attended a town meeting with Senator Grassley this morning in Davis County, Iowa. Grassley is a Republican Senator and a big war supporter.

Someone was there filming for YouTube. I met the kid last night at the Paul rally, but I didn't get his name--sorry. Grassley made him state his business so everyone would know he was anti-war and posting on the internet.

As soon as Grassley announced that, one of the good ol' boys said he didn't mind being on YouTube, and asked if "all this money we're spending on the war" would be better spent in other places. Right On!!

My question to Grassley was about Iraq, and he was stammering by the time he was done speaking with me. I didn't mention Dr. Paul. I didn't have to. Everyone in the room knew me and read my letter to the editor two weeks ago. They knew my choice of candidates. Grassley finally started quoting Hillary Clinton to me, and I stopped him and told him I was not a Democrat, I was a registered Republican. His jaw dropped hard. It was really fun!!

I heard no pro-war statements from anyone in the room, although I couldn't stay to the end. It lasted longer than scheduled. The next question after mine was what to do about the orphans created by the deaths of US military personnel. Then a police officer asked why he can't deport illegals.

When my baby's daddy called for me to come home so he could get to work, everyone smiled at me and nodded approvingly.

I think the Republicans are scared spitless about the Straw Poll.

Those of us in Iowa just need to stay in the public eye this week, stand strong, and stand proud.

I remember a few years back I got a mailing from Ron Paul. He was soliticing support for his Foundation, The National Endowment for Liberty. The mailing mentioned some videos entitled, "At Issue" featuring some prominent people. I'm pretty sure Chuck Grassley was one of them. I think they served in the House together.

[Darren McFillintheBlank]

..

[Badger Paul]

Remember the poll is open to all Iowans, not just registered Republicans. That to our advantage.

[xita]

I LOVE THIS NEWS.

I want the expectation for Ron Paul to Be Dead Last.

We need feet on the street to walk door to door to get out the vote and talk to people about Ron Paul.

If we blow away expectations - they'll all be dumbfounded.

[Wyurm]

wow, they are really making this far too easy for us. They set the bar at 0. Ron Paul bought 500 tickets for people that couldnt afford them (Probably not required to vote for him, but ethically it would be expected). So he's certainly going to get at least one vote which would bump him up above the bar.

Edit: unless they can make the Diebolds say he got a negative vote that is.

[inibo]

Interesting idea, but I wonder if it would even be possible to pull it off


Protecting Ron Paul, the Rest of the “2nd Tier” and America

Citizen Vigilance Essential


As things stand today, about 60 citizen camera crews and about 200 citizen volunteers are needed to conduct a “citizens’ exit poll” to double check the easily rigged Diebold electronic voting machines which the Iowa GOP intends to use to “count” the vote at the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll on August 11, 2007 – just a week from now.

If you can possibly attend and/or donate to help with this “citizens’ exit poll” – see the action items at the end of this update – but first:

Picture this:

Next Saturday, from 10 am to 6 pm, more than 25,000 residents of the State of Iowa will arrive on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. They will be 18 years of age or older. They will be there to choose one man from a list of eleven men as their choice to be the next President of the United States of America.

At one of 60 vote stations they will receive a paper ballot. They will pencil in an oval next to the candidate of their choice. They will enter the paper ballot into a machine that will scan the entire ballot and record the vote. After voting, each voter will place a thumb into a container of purple ink.

After scanning each ballot the machine will deposit the ballot into a “black box” within the Diebold machine. At 6 pm each machine and black box are transported to a centralized “tabulation” room. The door to the room will be closed to the public.

The ballots are not removed from their black boxes or counted. Instead, a button on the machine is pressed. In response, the machine ejects a slip of paper showing the number of votes recorded by that machine for each candidate. The results are tabulated. Someone then leaves the room and announces the results of the vote to the assembled media representatives. Each person casting a vote will have paid $35 to do so. The ten men on the list are all Republicans. The Iowa Republican Party is sponsoring the event, which is known as the Ames Straw Poll, also the Iowa Straw Poll.

NOTE: During every August in which the Republican presidential nomination is undecided Ames plays host to the Ames Straw Poll, which gauges support for the various Republican candidates. The straw poll dates back to 1979, and is frequently seen as a first test of organizational strength in Iowa by the national media and party insiders; as such, it can be very beneficial for a candidate to win the straw poll and thus enhance his aura of inevitability or show off a superior field operation. Ames is a city located in the central part of Iowa, about 30 miles north of Des Moines. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 50,731. For more information go to www.google.com and enter “Ames Straw Poll.”


Now picture this:

On the list of eleven candidates will be the so-call party insurgents or second tier candidates, including Ron Paul, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, and Mike Huchabee.

Vote fraud is a problem, even in America, where elections have been stolen from non-party favorites by political parties. One such event occurred in Iowa in 1995. See “A House Without Doors, Vote Fraud in America,” by James J. Condit, Jr., published in the November 1996 edition of Chronicles Magazine.

“Political parties,” according to Thomas Jefferson, “are by their nature, corruptive.”

The Iowa Republican Party will use 60 Diebold computers to record and count the votes.

NOTE: A study by computer scientists at the University of California paid for by the Secretary of State of California (publicized last week, July 28, 2007, in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times) showed that the Diebold computers were easily hacked, easily rigged, -- and totally unreliable for conducting elections.

The UC study confirmed the results of several other authoritative studies from MIT, Cal Tech, Princeton University, and numerous other sources. A search of “Diebold Princeton University” on YOUTUBE will yield a 9 minute demonstration. Adding “FOX News” to the search will yield another 3 minute demonstration by the Princeton scientists.

Los Angeles Times 7/28/07
“Scientists prove Diebold computers easily rigged and totally unreliable in elections…”

The New York Times 7/28/07
“Computer scientists from California universities have hacked into three electronic voting systems used in California and elsewhere in the nation and found several ways in which vote totals could potentially be altered, according to reports released yesterday by the state.”

United Press International 7/28/07
“. . . computer experts . . . found several ways to change the vote totals by breaking the codes to Diebold Election Systems . . . the New York Times reported Saturday.”

HBO Documentary 10/06
“Hacking Democracy” shows actual hacking of Diebold computers in Leon County, Florida”

The Diebold computers being used to “count” the votes at the Iowa Straw Poll could be used to steal the election from Ron Paul or one of the other party insurgents by, say, “stuffing the ballot box“ with “votes” for a party favorite(s) by thousands of phantom voters, or by transposing some set percentage of votes from one or more of the insurgents to one or more of the party favorites, thereby showing the insurgent(s) such as Ron Paul with far fewer votes than he actually received.


Now picture this:

On Tuesday, August 7, 2007, a letter is delivered to the Iowa Republican Party and the State and County Boards of Elections. The letter is signed by various good-government and election reform organizations and holders of $35 tickets that entitle them to vote in the Ames Straw Poll. The letter says that unless the following 10-point program is agreed to, a court order will be sought to enjoin and prohibit the Ames Straw Poll until the reforms are agreed to:

1. From the time the voter votes to the time the results of the vote are publicly announced, all paper ballots are never out of the view of the public.

2. Instead of being deposited into a black box, each completed paper ballot is deposited into a numbered, clear-plastic, container that is in clear public view all day. The number on the container matches a number on the machine. The numbers are 4 inches high, black on white.

3. Each candidate on the ballot has the Right to have an observer present for an inspection by the County of each container. The single inspection is scheduled to take place 9:55 am at each of the 60 vote stations.

4. Surrounding each vote station at a distance of 30 feet from the numbered clear plastic container is a rope beyond which any person can quietly stand to quietly observe the clear-plastic containers and the number of voters.

5. As the voting period ends, each ballot box is set on one of two 72” cafeteria-style tables that have been set up at each of the 60 voting stations. There, the ballots are separated and hand counted.

6. Besides two members of the staff of the County or State Board of Elections, each candidate has a Right to have a representative participate in the counting process. All county and candidate Counters must agree on the candidate allocation of each vote. Once all Counters are in agreement on the allocation of all votes, the result of the count is read aloud for public consumption.

7. The paper ballots are then returned to the numbered, clear-plastic containers, which are then transported to a central location, -- never out of view of the county and candidate observers or the general public.

8. At the central location, the containers are placed inside an area that has been roped off. Within the roped off area, chairs have been set up for the county and candidate counters.

9. As each numbered container arrives at the central location, the results of the hand-counted vote is read aloud by one of the County observers and entered into a computer for projection onto a screen in the room and for posting on the County and State websites.

10. After the results of the vote from each of the 60 vote stations is read aloud, the cumulative totals from the hand-counts are agreed to by the county and candidate Counters, read aloud and entered into the computer for projection onto the screen in the room and for posting on the County and State websites. This process is continued until the results of the vote at all 60 vote stations have been read aloud and added to the prior total.

NOTE: The Ames Straw Poll is the very first contest that has any meaning in the run up to the Presidential election. The People need to do everything possible to insist that elections are fair and votes are counted properly. Besides the possibility of a court order on the side of a fair vote count there is a serious effort underway by Citizens For a Fair Vote Count and the “Vote In Sunshine Project” to conduct a “Citizens’ Exit Poll” that would include a signed, notarized affidavit by the voter stating who he/she voted for. For more information about the Citizens’ Exit Poll go to www.votefraud.org.

The Iowa Republican Party can be expected to resist this “open and honest vote count” process at the Straw Poll. Therefore, Citizens For a Fair Vote Count urgently needs 200 volunteers to help conduct the double-check on the easily rigged Diebold machines at Ames this Saturday (August 11, 2007), and they need some funds for the printing of “exit poll” pamphlets, signs and paper ballots and the tents. There will also be filing fees and other costs associated with any legal action. Please volunteer and/or contribute to help us accomplish this vital step for honest elections everywhere. A breakthrough is needed now.

NOTE: Whatever gets painted on the canvas of history depends on the people we see when we look into the mirror.
Here is what you can do:
1. If you live in Iowa, make sure you are in Ames next Saturday to VOTE. Talk to your friends and relatives; pool your money and car pool. How or whether you are registered to vote makes no difference. All you need is proof that you are 18 or over and that you live in Iowa.

2. Whether you live in Iowa or another state, be in Ames next Saturday as a volunteer. To VOLUNTEER, click here.

3. Whether you live in Iowa or another state, and whether or not you are in Ames next Saturday as a volunteer, please
DONATE money to cover expenses.

To donate to the Citizens for a Fair Vote Count “Vote in Sunshine” effort at the Ames, Iowa Straw poll: go to www.PayPal.com , hit the tab that says: “Send Money”, then send to: action@networkamerica.org.
You will have the option to use VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, etc.

OR by sending a check/money order to:
Network America, PO Box 11555, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211

To donate to the WTP Foundation, please click here: Donation.

4. Whether or not you live in Iowa and you would like to SHARE A RIDE with someone else to Ames, click here.
(You will be directed to the volunteer page)

5. If you do not live in Iowa, but you know people who do, let them know how important it is for them to vote in the Ames Straw Poll. FORWARD THIS MESSAGE!


http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/UPDATE/Update2007-08-05.htm