Ron Paul with 'strongest presence' in Ames, Iowa Parade

[Dave]

Ames, Iowa (home of the infamous Straw Poll) had a big Independence Day Parade. Romney and Brownback were there in person! But read this:

"Supporters of presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Tom Tancredo also attended.

Perhaps the strongest presence, however, was that of supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a libertarian opposed to the war in Iraq and the Internal Revenue Service.

"This is the first time in my life that I have 100 percent belief in a candidate," said Roland resident Colleen Chapa, who worked a tent for Paul. "He's a man of integrity; he doesn't play the political games.""


Here's the full story from the Ames Tribune:

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=18554809&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554432&rfi=6

Congratulations and thanks to the Ames meetup and everyone who helped with this event.

[maiki]

Good article! I agree with you that Ron Paul needs to spend more face time in Iowa, but it is great that his supporters are making themselves known. :)

[angrydragon]

Even more good stuff. I agree with Roland, Ron Paul is a man of integrity and intelligence. Someone truly needed as President for the US and the world.

[beermotor]

this is awesome news!

I love the Romney-bashing in that article, too. Frontrunner in Iowa indeed. Wait until Ron Paul wins the straw poll and places (and possibly wins) in the Caucus. That will be a major wakeup call to the rest of the country.

[belian78]

i really feel that Ron's gonna take the Ames straw poll, and NH. After that, let's see who calls him 'obscure'. :cool:

[paulitics]

"Perhaps the strongest presence, however, was that of supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a libertarian opposed to the war in Iraq and the Internal Revenue Service." That is poetry!.

[Electrostatic]

Hmmmm.... The population of Ames Iowa is over 50,000 all by itself.... Wouldn't it be funny if we canvassed the entire city and got more Ron Paul voters just from Ames than all the "Top Tier" candidates were able to bus in using their "warchests"???

You always here about how all the candidates have their own propaganda tents set up to try to lure voters to their cause... I think if we could get the people of the town itself to support ours (with signs in the yard, ect..) it would send a very powerful message.

Note: According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames,_Iowa only 14.6% of the population under the age of 18...

That leeaves about 42500 eligible...

If 50% are die hard Dems (which I kinda doubt) that still leaves 21250.
If 50% of those are either completely enamored with a "first tier" candidate or are too apethetic to walk down the street (which I also kind of doubt) that still leaves over 10000 potential votes in the city itself....

Whatdya think about that?

[JoshLowry]

Someone email Rupert!

This newspaper is ripe for an acquisition.

[torchbearer]

Action plan?

[MozoVote]

Electrostatic, now THAT is an interesting idea. In order to do it though, would require round-the-clock neighborhood walks. It might be possible though, with say 100 people willing to take their 2 week vacations in .... uh, AMES! :cool:

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

You know what the campaign needs? Stickers. Little 3" stickers that come 1000 to a roll. Gotta have these before the Straw Poll, and good to have them for these parades. The kids always take them and the parents see them at least while doing laundry. When I've worked on campaigns -- and I've been on dozens -- there's always a contest in parades to see who can better cover the kids with stickers. They're cheap too.

Definitely before the Straw Poll, we'll need, what, 20,000?

[Electrostatic]

Lol, Scribbler, I just got a visceral image of a kid plastered with so many stickers (for different candidates) looking all confused because he can no longer move...

with a big ass "Join Rudy" bumper sticker covering his mouth and a "I'm with Fred" yard sign duct taped with a stick to his back...

[maiki]

Something like this? http://www.customizedstickers.com/indoor-labels.php#prices

Anyone got ~1000$

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

Lol, Scribbler, I just got a visceral image of a kid plastered with so many stickers (for different candidates) looking all confused because he can no longer move...

with a big ass "Join Rudy" bumper sticker covering his mouth and a "I'm with Fred" yard sign duct taped with a stick to his back...

It gets close to that, awfully close. 'Cept the kids are loving it.

[Badger Paul]

Super job Dave! You and the other Iowan RP supporters are doing an excellent job of getting Rp's name out there. Keep up the good work.

Let us know if there's any kind of PayPal account or way us non-Iowans can contribute to your efforts.

[Dave]

Hmmmm.... The population of Ames Iowa is over 50,000 all by itself.... Wouldn't it be funny if we canvassed the entire city and got more Ron Paul voters just from Ames than all the "Top Tier" candidates were able to bus in using their "warchests"???

You always here about how all the candidates have their own propaganda tents set up to try to lure voters to their cause... I think if we could get the people of the town itself to support ours (with signs in the yard, ect..) it would send a very powerful message.

Note: According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames,_Iowa only 14.6% of the population under the age of 18...

That leeaves about 42500 eligible...

If 50% are die hard Dems (which I kinda doubt) that still leaves 21250.
If 50% of those are either completely enamored with a "first tier" candidate or are too apethetic to walk down the street (which I also kind of doubt) that still leaves over 10000 potential votes in the city itself....

Whatdya think about that?

Good points and I agree we need to give some focus to Ames and Story County (with the short drive-time), though it's not quite as target-rich as you might think. Iowa State Univ is in Ames and has almost 30,000 students, most of whom won't be on campus (unfortunately) for the August 11 Straw Poll. I don't know how many students are counted in the 50,000 figure - it was always a big controversy when I was there. Also, being a college town, Ames is much more democratic than most Iowa cities.

I think Des Moines and especially its suburbs may be an attractive target for us and they are only 45 minutes away. But Ames will be worked hard, as well. The meetup there is in good hands.