MrOrange
07-01-2007, 02:25 AM
Hey all, This is my first post to the board, but I thought I'd give you a small first hand account of the Iowa event on Saturday, my first ever politically active venture... AND I WANT MORE if this is how it is.
Des Moines, Iowa
June 30, 2007
The amount of Ron Paul support for the Iowa "Life and Liberty" celebration was staggering and more than I could have imagined, especially given the short notice for organization (props to the Iowa and national campaigns). The Hyvee Center in downtown Des Moines, Iowa was packed with more than 1000 for Ron Paul's presentation. But that does not even come close to the story the news media should have reported.
Hundreds of RP faithful canvassed downtown prior to the event, a spontaneous army, from both coasts and in between, excited to spread the Dr. Paul's message of Hope for America. Bullhorns sounding, parades of supporters chanted the name and message of our candidate.
Bewildered but curious drivers craned their necks to see what all the excitement was about as we serpentined our way through the streets. Some honked their horns in support. Some honked their horns because our parade sometimes took too long to cross the street. Waving the Stars and Stripes my arm got tired. But a curious and enthralled Iowan rallied to prop the flag higher than I could. "You have to hold it straight up, like this," he said. He joined us for the rest of the march.
We canvassed the streets and passed out literature and invitations to anyone we saw, always politely and courteously. We targeted the area just outside the arts festival and got maximum exposure for Dr. Paul. Some politely declined, as is the custom in the upper midwest. Many happily snapped up the invites. Some stopped for discourse. One rather eccentricly feminine fellow will never forget the name Ron Paul. "Vote for Ru Paul" he shouted, before his friend corrected him.
No matter how they remember, one thing is for sure, thousands of Iowans now know his name. I saw a Chris Dodd volunteer table across the street from the corner I was working. Posted in front of a storefront plastered with carefully placed Dodd signs a couple volunteers handed out blue balloons for Mr. Dodd. Sadly, one balloon escaped and floated away, a fitting metaphor for the lighter-than-air non-substantive message of the other campaigns. Regardless of whether Dodd is a Democrat, his display nor anyone elses that day could match the mobile mass we brought to downtown Des Moines.
Back at the Hy Vee center, just outside the building, just before the OTHER forum broke, throngs of supporters pumped signs and chanted "Ron Paul" in unison at the direction of the bull horn. We sang the Star Spangled Banner then marched inside chanting, past the table holding clever little foam baseball mitts for Mr. Romney and past the metal-detector protected entrance to the Tax Relief forum. The other campaigns' volunteers positioned stiffly at their tables looked sick as they watched hundreds for Ron Paul file past them into the "Life and Liberty" celebration held in the room right next door.
Inside... well you know the rest. Some of those videos are up. Ron Paul did his usual thing, eliciting standing ovations and loud roars as he spread his message of hope, a return to the constitution.
I will say this. I expected better coverage of Ron Paul's side of the event from the local media. I thought somehow this would be different than the other times. Maybe the content has yet to come out on the web (I did not see the local late news casts). They were certainly recording something. One cameraman (I think from the FOX affiliate, definately a mainstream outlet) was recording as we paraded downtown. Earlier, a news chopper had hovered above the parking lot as we began to assemble (we gave him a heavy dose of RP signage to look down on). Another affiliate rolled tape inside the Hyvee as Dr. Paul spoke. They could not have had any shortage of material to pass on to their viewers. Hopefully, they did or will use it.
Any way. Great day! I'm exhausted. Thanks for reading. I hope this was at least a picture of the REAL story in Des Moines on Saturday (who really cares about Mitt Romney's religion?) There will be plenty of videos and stills coming, I'm sure (there were cameras everywhere), which will put this account to shame. Unfortunately, I only got a few pics and they didn't turn out very well. Enjoy the "underground" coverage and revel in the Ron Paul rEVOLution. Cheers.
Adam from the Twin Cities.
Des Moines, Iowa
June 30, 2007
The amount of Ron Paul support for the Iowa "Life and Liberty" celebration was staggering and more than I could have imagined, especially given the short notice for organization (props to the Iowa and national campaigns). The Hyvee Center in downtown Des Moines, Iowa was packed with more than 1000 for Ron Paul's presentation. But that does not even come close to the story the news media should have reported.
Hundreds of RP faithful canvassed downtown prior to the event, a spontaneous army, from both coasts and in between, excited to spread the Dr. Paul's message of Hope for America. Bullhorns sounding, parades of supporters chanted the name and message of our candidate.
Bewildered but curious drivers craned their necks to see what all the excitement was about as we serpentined our way through the streets. Some honked their horns in support. Some honked their horns because our parade sometimes took too long to cross the street. Waving the Stars and Stripes my arm got tired. But a curious and enthralled Iowan rallied to prop the flag higher than I could. "You have to hold it straight up, like this," he said. He joined us for the rest of the march.
We canvassed the streets and passed out literature and invitations to anyone we saw, always politely and courteously. We targeted the area just outside the arts festival and got maximum exposure for Dr. Paul. Some politely declined, as is the custom in the upper midwest. Many happily snapped up the invites. Some stopped for discourse. One rather eccentricly feminine fellow will never forget the name Ron Paul. "Vote for Ru Paul" he shouted, before his friend corrected him.
No matter how they remember, one thing is for sure, thousands of Iowans now know his name. I saw a Chris Dodd volunteer table across the street from the corner I was working. Posted in front of a storefront plastered with carefully placed Dodd signs a couple volunteers handed out blue balloons for Mr. Dodd. Sadly, one balloon escaped and floated away, a fitting metaphor for the lighter-than-air non-substantive message of the other campaigns. Regardless of whether Dodd is a Democrat, his display nor anyone elses that day could match the mobile mass we brought to downtown Des Moines.
Back at the Hy Vee center, just outside the building, just before the OTHER forum broke, throngs of supporters pumped signs and chanted "Ron Paul" in unison at the direction of the bull horn. We sang the Star Spangled Banner then marched inside chanting, past the table holding clever little foam baseball mitts for Mr. Romney and past the metal-detector protected entrance to the Tax Relief forum. The other campaigns' volunteers positioned stiffly at their tables looked sick as they watched hundreds for Ron Paul file past them into the "Life and Liberty" celebration held in the room right next door.
Inside... well you know the rest. Some of those videos are up. Ron Paul did his usual thing, eliciting standing ovations and loud roars as he spread his message of hope, a return to the constitution.
I will say this. I expected better coverage of Ron Paul's side of the event from the local media. I thought somehow this would be different than the other times. Maybe the content has yet to come out on the web (I did not see the local late news casts). They were certainly recording something. One cameraman (I think from the FOX affiliate, definately a mainstream outlet) was recording as we paraded downtown. Earlier, a news chopper had hovered above the parking lot as we began to assemble (we gave him a heavy dose of RP signage to look down on). Another affiliate rolled tape inside the Hyvee as Dr. Paul spoke. They could not have had any shortage of material to pass on to their viewers. Hopefully, they did or will use it.
Any way. Great day! I'm exhausted. Thanks for reading. I hope this was at least a picture of the REAL story in Des Moines on Saturday (who really cares about Mitt Romney's religion?) There will be plenty of videos and stills coming, I'm sure (there were cameras everywhere), which will put this account to shame. Unfortunately, I only got a few pics and they didn't turn out very well. Enjoy the "underground" coverage and revel in the Ron Paul rEVOLution. Cheers.
Adam from the Twin Cities.