Iowa Strategy: Make it a long nite

[damiengwa]

Is there any way to slow down the caucusing in Iowa in order to drag the process out late into the night? Why do this? Paul's support is energetic, and demographically younger. Is there a way to filibuster this, and drive less enthusiastic people to just leave and go home?

I know, very mischievous, but hey, alls fair in love and politics.

[1836]

Bad idea.

[damiengwa]

Just running it up the flagpole to see if any one salutes. ..

[PauliticsPolitics]

Well, you certainly do not want to drag on and on in a fashion which is annoying. If you are clearly stumping for Paul, you are representing him. So at the caucus, you need to be popular, not annoying. You also want to be elected as a delegate, so again, be popular.

[gls]

Also, the pundits keep saying that Paul might win "if the weather is bad enough." Is there any way to rent out some sort of weather machine to make this happen? Or maybe a bunch of us could get together and do some sort of special Native American interpretative dance?

[69360]

OWS may do just that

[Xenophage]

You need to show up with a majority. That's the only key to winning. Have more people at the caucus who support Ron Paul than any other faction.

That's what we did in Wasilla, Alaska. There were over a hundred people at the caucus, and Ron Paul people made up slightly over half of them. We elected ALL of our delegates, and passed a bunch of proposals to send to the state convention for changing the party platform and passing resolutions.

Our particular district was very strong for Paul, though, and we were SUPER organized. We met as a group every week, planned everything we were doing, from sign bombs to canvassing to letters to the editor, and we worked together to make sure we knew what we were doing on caucus night.

Later, we connected with the other groups in the state to coordinate at the state convention. We had 1/3 of the delegates at the State convention, which is an amazing number, but it wasn't a strong majority, and we got defeated.

[JoelYrick]

I wouldn't encourage this, but I do remember the caucuses going a little fast. In many precincts, no speeches were made at all. I didn't know how to make that happen during the caucus last time. People were frustrated because things got started ridiculously late and they just wanted it to end.

[1836]

Well, you certainly do not want to drag on and on in a fashion which is annoying. If you are clearly stumping for Paul, you are representing him. So at the caucus, you need to be popular, not annoying. You also want to be elected as a delegate, so again, be popular.

Right. When you are at these things you need to be respectful and kind to everyone, even if you do not like their opinions. Remember, Republicans -- even "mainstream Republicans" -- often agree more with Ron Paul supporters than we realize.

The key to being involved in the Republican Party is accepting, up front, that whether or not everyone agrees with everything you say, you must be respectful and kind to them if you expect them to be the same to you.

The Golden Rule applies.

So I would say, emphatically, no, do NOT drag out the caucus night. Work on people, but in a kind and respectful manner. Show respect for their candidates, too.

If someone supports Rick Santorum at your caucus meeting, you might lament that Santorum didn't get better media coverage, and encourage them to support Ron Paul because he has a better chance of winning the nomination and a better chance to stick it to Newt and Mitt, who are big-government "conservatives." You might say that just like Santorum, Ron Paul supports homeschoolers, he supports states' rights, he supports the family.

You do not win in politics by being an ass to everyone who disagrees with you.

[damiengwa]

[QUOTE=gls;3819635]Is there any way to rent out some sort of weather machine to make this happen? /QUOTE]

Ever hear of HARP?

[RonPaulCult]

I think we should figure out all of the people who are not supporting Ron Paul in Iowa - go into their homes while they are sleeping - and dip their fingers into warm water. They will PEE their PANTS!

[yaz]

Tell people the election is on a different night?

[ZanZibar]

That's what we did in Wasilla, Alaska. Was Palin there? :confused:

[1836]

Was Palin there? :confused:

http://cdnet.myxer.com/tn/c/915735/big/?t=20081007172836

[ZanZibar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr3tZ6V3k1A&feature=player_embedded

[Nate-ForLiberty]

http://cdnet.myxer.com/tn/c/915735/big/?t=20081007172836

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvm2MdoU7nHhOiYR9XIxsLIAJ-cqqcP7mWAlC3XWPl6uZRGA6KjNF1alzbRw

[Xenophage]

Was Palin there? :confused:

I've said it many times around this board but I'll relate my personal experiences with Palin again since you asked :)

Sarah Palin went to my mom's childbirth classes many years ago (not sure which kid she was preggo with). She was involved in some local PTO stuff, and we knew the family, saw them at the store and at the schools etc. Back in the early 90's a proposal for Wasilla's first sales tax came up, and my dad was very active in some libertarian political groups back then. He and a friend of his entered into a debate with the mayor of Wasilla, John Stein, and Sarah Palin (I don't know if she held any official office at the time or not). It was televised locally and held at the local bowling alley (small town!). Sarah and my dad didn't get along in those days since they were on opposite sides of this issue.

Years later Sarah decided to run for mayor and she called my dad to tell him how RIGHT he had been about the sales tax issue. One of the caveats of passing the sales tax was that it would never increase, and my dad had argued that it would likely increase over time as the bloating bureaucracy expanded (as all taxes tend to do). Well, lo and behold, it went up. So, my family supported her in her mayoral bid.

I don't recall a lot about the time she was mayor, but she was generally considered a good conservative politician and she had very big approval ratings in our very conservative small town.

When she ran for the Governorship, she was seen as the conservative alternative to big-government Republican incumbent Frank Murkowski. There was some Democrat also running but nobody cared, because there are so few Democrats in Alaska. I voted for her then, too.

During her reign as Governor, however, her actions didn't match her rhetoric, and it was extremely disappointing. She shut down the natural gas pipeline project with some ridiculous negotiations that went nowhere with the pipeline company, and then proceeded to pass massive RETROACTIVE (unheard of) taxes on all the oil producers in the state (because they were too greedy and making too much money). Oil development plans that were underway all got shelved. When she made her famous "Drill, baby drill," remarks it made me sick, because she has never been a friend of energy development. She pandered to the environmental lobby and the left.

So I don't trust her. The end.