What is in the water of Jefferson County? (Ron got 49% there)

[sailingaway]

http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2012/01/04/two-routes-to-caucus-victory/

[Fermli]

Here's a response I got in a RP thread on another website, supposedly from someone who lives there. Seems to confirm what the article states about the county.


Jefferson County, Iowa a weird place. Part normal small town Iowa with pig farmers, factory workers, WalMart, and insurance jobs. Other part Maharishi University of Management with their green living, organic food, transcendental meditation, David Lynch weekend, and World Peace Assemblies.

The resulting mix is that we have lots of entrepreneurship, good organic Indian food, and the occasional visit from Oprah, Howard Stern, or Russel Brand. Back in the day I would have been name dropping George Harrison and Andy Kaufman. Pretty odd for a town of 10k in the middle of nowhere.

[damiengwa]

Good question, we need to have a serious discuss of what activity took place here. nearly 50%!!! are u kidding! CASE STUDY TIME!!!!

[pauliticalfan]

Sounds like the perfect place to live.

[Sola_Fide]

Hehe...freedom brings all kinds together. That's for sure:)

[steph3n]

Here's a response I got in a RP thread on another website, supposedly from someone who lives there. Seems to verify what the article states about the county.

So it is the turmeric and coriander in the water, and maybe a little hing :D


1115

[szczebrzeszyn]

Good question, we need to have a serious discuss of what activity took place here. nearly 50%!!! are u kidding! CASE STUDY TIME!!!!

I've said it before - wasn't that the ONLY county he won in Iowa in 2008? Would prove it was not an accident :)

[eduardo89]

Jefferson County fluoridates their water.

[user]

Wasn't this the only county RP won in 2008? It's mostly thanks to the TM community there.

[muh_roads]

Wasn't this the only county RP won in 2008? It's mostly thanks to the TM community there.

Yes it was. I think it is a college area maybe?

[kylejack]

2008, Jefferson County:

Paul 36
Huckabee 31
Romney 16

The only county we won in 2008.

[Karsten]

2008, Jefferson County:

The only county we won in 2008.
In IOWA. We won counties in other states, Nye County, NV for one.

[damiengwa]

Seriously, what happened there?!!? Do i need to truck some Jefferson county water up here to new england and make a ton of bagels, with Jefferson water. Could Ponce De Leon have been right? Could there be a liberty fountain of youth in Jefferson County?!!?

[Karsten]

Seriously, what happened there?!!? Do i need to truck some Jefferson county water up here to new england and make a ton of bagels, with Jefferson water. Could Ponce De Leon have been right? Could there be a liberty fountain of youth in Jefferson County?!!?
Could be as simple as passionate supporters spreading local word of mouth in a small town. MUCH harder to do in an urban area. Believe me. I dedicated my life to grassroots activities in California in 2007 all year. Ron Paul gets 3% in CA including a poor showing in my area as well.

[kylejack]

In IOWA. We won counties in other states, Nye County, NV for one.
Yes, obviously, in Iowa.

[damiengwa]

In IOWA. We won counties in other states, Nye County, NV for one.


I don't know i fyou heard, but.....we won't be able to pull the delegate steal from NV this time around....they bound em all!

[Shotdown1027]

We won in in 2008 and we won it big in 2012, but it has to do with demographics, not good campaigning. It's because of the Transcendental Meditation movement, which is headquartered in Fairfield.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204368104577136890939606290.html

In the US Presidential elections of 1992, 1996, and 2000, you'll notice the county gave a VERY strong vote to third party candidate John Hagelin--who was the "Natural Law Party" candidate, whereas that candidate got around .5% in every other county.

Hope this answers your question :D

[damiengwa]

We won in in 2008 and we won it big in 2012, but it has to do with demographics, not good campaigning. It's because of the Transcendental Meditation movement, which is headquartered in Fairfield.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204368104577136890939606290.html

In the US Presidential elections of 1992, 1996, and 2000, you'll notice the county gave a VERY strong vote to third party candidate John Hagelin--who was the "Natural Law Party" candidate, whereas that candidate got around .5% in every other county.

Fuck, then it IS something in the water (not reproducible elsewhere.)

[JoshS]

The Natural Law party, wow. Wish I had known.

[damiengwa]

The Natural Law party, wow. Wish I had known.

Natural law is the shitz...

[slamhead]

Could be as simple as passionate supporters spreading local word of mouth in a small town. MUCH harder to do in an urban area. Believe me. I dedicated my life to grassroots activities in California in 2007 all year. Ron Paul gets 3% in CA including a poor showing in my area as well.

I canvased my precinct in SoCal in 2007 and was able to increase Pauls support to 8%.

[Dsylexic]

the maharshi people are naturally anti war.and many of them have travelled the world ,and as mark twain said,travel is fatal to prejudice.so it is obvious they dont fall for the warmongering.

[sailingaway]

I don't know i fyou heard, but.....we won't be able to pull the delegate steal from NV this time around....they bound em all!

When I said that a ways back someone else said if you have enough votes, you can change the rules....

[RonRocks]

I found this video on Fairfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzfSJSNC5V8

Seems very progressive, in a San Francisco way (another region RP does very well) :)

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Switch the 'Free State Project' from Romney/McCain-loving New Hampshire, to the 'Free County Project' and its supporters can move to Jefferson County, Iowa.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

What's in the water in Iowa? Santorum beat us, but he won like 62 counties, while we got 18 and Romney 17

[J_White]

this is from a post i saw on DP.

This was written by Roger Leahy and posted in a minor subtopic hidden from the eyes of most RP supporters back in 08 on RPF. This thread was recently bumped, but deserves to be seen by many more people. What is written below includes many excellent ideas worth replicating for every meetup group and individual in the country.

From Roger Leahy:
We have received compliments from the RP campaign staff, and inquiries from Ron Paul supporters in other states wanting to duplicate our success.

This has prompted me to recall those various ingredients. They have included:

An early rally in person by Dr Paul in August where 500 persons heard his message at the town square.

Enthusiastic travel and participation in the Straw Poll in Ames by local RP supporters.

Building a list, mostly locally with help from the campaign, of about 150 local RP supporters.

Having a fantastic Meetup organizer in Brian, who has inspired us on a daily basis with national RP news and setting up local RP events.

Staffing a booth on Saturday mornings at the Farmer’s Market from August through December where we were available to discuss Ron Paul.

Staffing booths at the monthly Art Walk to promote Ron Paul.

Lots of local signs for Ron Paul, including 4’ by 8’ signs on the main roads and far more yard signs than any other candidate.

We set up a small local office on the town square, with internet and phone, where literature, buttons, signs and bumper stickers were available 24/7.

All these materials were provided free to the public and were sponsored by local donations.

We dropped Ron Paul literature on Sundays at church parking lots, and distributed RP literature on door knobs around town.

Weekly and Ads and occasional inserts were placed in the local (daily and weekly) newspapers for the past couple of months.

A focus on local areas of concern, particularly health freedom, restoring civil liberties, opposition to the Patriot Act,

restoring the Constitutional limited Federal government, a humble, non-interventionalist foreign policy, etc.

We met weekly over lunch for organizational meetings that were open to the public.

We help Public Ron Paul meetings in the public library about monthly, showing videos and giving talks.

Held a speech competition to choose and selected two great young speakers to talk for Ron Paul at the caucus.

We outfitted 2 pick-ups with 4 by 8 Ron Paul signs and parked them prominently on the main highways or on the town square.

We bought some RP magnetic signs and put them on our car doors.

We emailed and called our lists of friends and business associates to explain the importance of supporting Ron Paul.

We directed our efforts mostly to our friends, who were largely Democrats, Independents, or non-political folks.

We tried to win over Obama and Edwards supporters, in fact some of our Ads contrasted Ron Paul with them.

We made a strong effort to get people to register Republican just for voting for Ron Paul, even if they switched back the next day.

We communicated often via emails (sometimes dozens per day) sharing ideas and inspiration (allowing folks to opt out if they wished).

Although we had a Meetup Group (totally open and un-monitored), only about 1/3 actually joined it. The rest we just emailed directly.

We emailed and talked with each other continuously and inspired each other continually with Ron Paul news and links.

What we did not do:

We had very little contact with traditional Republicans or the conservative Christian community.

We did not make phone calls to Republican or any registered voter lists. (we tried it, but found it disappointing.)

We did not focus on Ron Paul’s positions on abortion or immigration (unless asked about them).

When I wrote the above list, I was pretty impressed with our local activities.

We have such a core group of Ron Paul patriots, and we are not going to settle for less than a transformation of our country.

We wish tremendous success to the Ron Paul Revolution in New Hampshire and up to the Convention.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to inaugurate President Ron Paul?

GO RON PAUL!!

Roger

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?78806-THIS-is-how-they-won-Jefferson-county

[Aden]

In Jan 2008, somebody from Jefferson County posted a thread here explaining that they won because they flooded the local papers with Paul ads and letters. It was a detailed post and the thread garnered quite a few responses.

[erowe1]

It's mostly thanks to the TM community there.

Yep.

[Pennsylvania]

Free County Project?

[ZanZibar]

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x93/sonicspikesalbum/Campaign%20VI/800px-2008primarycounties.png

[SisCyn]

Somebody needs to look at Lee County, which is that extreme SE Iowa corner south of Johnson county. Paul won there, too, and it was not due to Maharishi U. Highest unemployment rate in Iowa and traditionally union Democrats.

[SisCyn]

BTW, Lee county was one that Pat Robertson won back in the 80s.

[SisCyn]

http://www.dailygate.com/articles/2012/01/04/news/dgc1751311.txt

[Omnica]

What's in the water in Iowa? Santorum beat us, but he won like 62 counties, while we got 18 and Romney 17
How did he win so many counties!!?

Because you didnt need a photo ID to vote in Iowa

[Omnica]

So Dr. Paul won in Iowa in 2012

almost as many counties as he did nationally in 2008.

That is quite an improvement!!

[GunnyFreedom]

Sounds like the perfect place to live.

That's what I was thinking.... Mmmm Libertyville...

[nano1895]

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x93/sonicspikesalbum/Campaign%20VI/800px-2008primarycounties.png
There's going to be a sea of red this year

[RockEnds]

I have some family in Jefferson County. They're evangelicals, and they voted Paul as well. It wasn't just the MIU, but the college certainly was responsible for getting the word out there.

[Watch]

I think you guys are looking WAY into it.
The reason Jefferson County loves RP is because it's Jefferson County.
Duh!!

[po14015]

I would say it is because of a person who I believe is a member of this forums and is a great patriot. He worked extremely hard to get as many Ron Paul Patriots as possible to the caucus. They were well organized, and I plan on emailing him to get the secret to their success.

Another thing they did was blanketed the small newspapers with Ron Paul Super Brochures. It was extremely cheap. And this works. Someone in S.C. did this as well, and I have gotten telephone calls because of it.

If I get more info, I will post it.

In Liberty,

Curt

[parocks]

Good question, we need to have a serious discuss of what activity took place here. nearly 50%!!! are u kidding! CASE STUDY TIME!!!!

Agreed. Jefferson County is the County we won last time.

[parocks]

I would say it is because of a person who I believe is a member of this forums and is a great patriot. He worked extremely hard to get as many Ron Paul Patriots as possible to the caucus. They were well organized, and I plan on emailing him to get the secret to their success.

Another thing they did was blanketed the small newspapers with Ron Paul Super Brochures. It was extremely cheap. And this works. Someone in S.C. did this as well, and I have gotten telephone calls because of it.

If I get more info, I will post it.

In Liberty,

Curt

Putting the Superbrochures in the local newspapers instead of the us mail seems more economically efficient. Or just better.

Based on the evidence, it does not appear that the supervoters are responding particularly well to the Ron Paul message, at least not as much as people who have never voted, Independents, young people, etc. Somehow they were able to support Ron Paul even without getting a superbrochure.

[Omnica]

What is a supervoter?
And what is a superdelegate?

[Nate]

We won in in 2008 and we won it big in 2012, but it has to do with demographics, not good campaigning. It's because of the Transcendental Meditation movement, which is headquartered in Fairfield.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204368104577136890939606290.html

In the US Presidential elections of 1992, 1996, and 2000, you'll notice the county gave a VERY strong vote to third party candidate John Hagelin--who was the "Natural Law Party" candidate, whereas that candidate got around .5% in every other county.

Hope this answers your question :D

+rep

Winner. I worked in the Iowa war room for the '08 campaign & this is the 100% truth. Because of the TM movement there, we basically didn't have to do much to win it & this time with the money & resources the '12 campaign has I was expecting Paul win that county handily. I think Jefferson County is the single strongest case for everybody really concentrating on their local area, building their community into one where the liberty message is easily received. I have friends in Fairfield & I'm seriously considering buying property there.

[PismoPam]

It was the independents who voted for Ron Paul in Jefferson County.
As for volunteers, several people worked 4 or more hours a day for Ron Paul, in addition to their regular jobs and family commitments.
The grassroots office had free signs, buttons, wristbands, flyers.
In one month we went from about 200 supporters on our google docs list to 600.
The donated office space was in a great location, where we formed a permanent billboard.
Volunteers kept the office open from 9 to 9 for a whole month, every day but Christmas.
We distributed 9000 super brochures in the local papers for about $300, then one generous donor purchased enough to blanket Lee County papers also. Many volunteers are small business owners who are very aware that they are being squeezed out of business by the powers that be, no matter what party is in office.
Yes, Jefferson County has a very unique peaceful perspective.
But the dedication and effort can be duplicated elsewhere.
Freedom brings us together.
;>)

[libertybrewcity]

What is a supervoter?
And what is a superdelegate?

I believe a supervoter is just a made up word this election cycle for independents and republicans targeted with the superbrochure.

A superdelegate is usually a party insider or politician who is automatically given a delegate vote during the national convention. The Democratic Party has many more than the Republican Party does.

[BrianH]

In the City of Fairfield, 616 came to the GOP caucus. There fully 59% (364/616) were for Ron Paul. In one precinct (FF2) 86% (82/95) were for Ron Paul. In Jefferson County as a whole the count was 49% (408/840) for Ron Paul. I predict Fairfield's Precinct 2 will be the record for Ron Paul in the nation this year! How did we do it? I have noticed there are many in the community who have been very proactive on the issues of Peace, Liberty, the Constitution throughout the six years I have lived here. I was so charmed that one of the nations most widely read papers the world over - the Wall Street Journal chose to showcase the tiny town of Fairfield on their front page for a story on the day of the Iowa Caucus in 2008. This year we made page 5 on the day before the caucus and they focussed exclusively on our support for Ron Paul. There was essentially only one Presidential campaign active in Jefferson County this time around. 2008 WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119932860523364137.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

2012 WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204368104577136890939606290-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

[CaptainAmerica]

We won Jefferson County in 2008...that county is good!