Press Conference on Iowa Straw Poll

[Dave]

I literally just found this. I'm hauling my butt out the door right now! Bye.




Straw Poll Press Conference


The Republican Party of Iowa will be holding a press conference on Thursday, July 19, at 11:00 a.m. to announce details of the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames on August 11. Chairman Ray Hoffmann and Executive Director Chuck Laudner will be discussing special guests and speakers, the program and how voting will work.

The Republican Party of Iowa is located at 621 East Ninth Street, Des Moines, Iowa, 50309.

[risiusj]

Keep us filled in on what is going down.

[Dave]

I'm Back! Wow, I'm glad I went to this. It was for the press but nobody tried to throw me out. I think being 40 and wearing a suit and tie helped.

Here's a quick summary of what I learned - I learned a lot! I'll post more details later this afternoon and try to upload some of the documents I have.

Several 'outside groups' will be participating this year and have their own tents and events going on. These include FairTax, the NRA, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, OneVote '08, and American Solutions (this is Newt Gingrich!). C-Span and Fox News will also have official tents outside. I'm not thrilled with the location of the Ron Paul tent but the prime spots went for big money at an auction. We're frugal, remember.

Laura Ingraham will be the Master of Ceremonies.

Ron Paul will be the 4th speaker out of the 8 candidates - after Cox and before Huckabee.

There are 11 names on the ballot, including Giuliani, McCain, and Fred Thompson.

I have the full schedule of events. Things begin with a FairTax Rally at 9 AM and end with the announcement of results at 7 PM.

Tickets for getting into Hilton will be given out in equal amounts to each of the campaigns. This is a separate ticket from the ticket that gives voting privileges. The campaigns get to decide what to do with their allotment of Hilton tickets.

This is the first year that the tents are to be north of Hilton instead of in the parking lots on the south side.

Security will strong and be handleds by Ames Police, Story County Sherriff, Iowa State Patrol, and Homeland Security. Plus the candidates' own security.

The goal is 40,000 people to attend. Numbers of votes should be higher this year as they have addressed credentialing bottlenecks from 1999.

They have addressed the traffic jam problem from 1999 and think things will be much better this year.

1/4 to 1/3 of eventual Iowa caucus attendees are anticipated to attend and vote in the Straw Poll.

They anticipate a lot more undecided voters to show up than in the past with all the outside groups participating. Estimated thousands. Sounds good for us!

The program inside Hilton will be piped into the adjacent C.Y. Stephens Auditorium which holds 3,000 people. It will also be piped into the candidates' tents.

There was talk about there being some kind of concert event but that details won't be available until the end of the month.

This event is physically larger than a National Convention.

In 1999 you had to be a registered Iowa voter (not sure if you had to be GOP). Now you just have to prove you're an Iowan.

There will be no 'undecided' box on the ballot.

They don't physically have the tickets yet from the printer.

The paper ballots will be machine-read but will be retained if re-counts are necessary.

[Noodles]

Bravo, good man!

[cujothekitten]

Great info, thanks for going to this and looking forward to more details.

[DeadheadForPaul]

Thanks for attending this.

Sounds like we need some major foot soldiers on the ground

Do you guys think that Iowans would be turned on or turned off by the fact that many of us are coming from out of state? They could either think "wow, this guy traveled from California just to make sure people vote for Dr. Paul" or they may think "who are all these outsiders who are trying to influence our election?"

Im thinking about making the trip

[Noodles]

Just rereading. Is Newt Gingrich seriously considering a run?

[Oddball]

Super info, Dave!

Great job!

[Shatterhand]

Great information. Thanks.

:D

[Lord Xar]

FairTax and NRA should be Right on Board with Ron Paul -- I wish they just would commit... great work by the way... how is it looking out there, strong Ron Paul support...???

[beermotor]

I don't think Newt is going to run. He may be setting himself up for a Veep chance. I think he views FT as being bigger than him. If FT tanks, he might try to step in. But I don't think these later candidates are going to be looked at favorably, frankly.

[njandrewg]

"The goal is 40,000 people to attend"

Get on the phones, there is no reason we can't convince 20,000 people to attend. Thats 1 person per meetup member. Talk to them how important it is to attend and that the winning of the iowa will help propel the campaign to front runner status

[Badger Paul]

Good work Dave!, Actually I like the idea of just showing proof of Iowa residence. I think that helps RP a lot because now people who are not Republicans can turn out and vote for RP if they don't mind paying the $35 to do so.

[UCFGavin]

Dave, do you know if the meetup groups are going to be there helping get people to the RP tent?

[Scribbler de Stebbing]

How does F-ing Thompson get on the ballot? Can I get on the ballot too? FT is going to get some votes. Better start peddling his 20 hours of proven work for the abortionists. Iowa is very prolife, its GOP almost exclusively prolife.

I feel a blog article coming on . . .

[LibertyEagle]

Yeah, I find that extremely odd too. Fred Thompson has yet to declare his candidacy. What's he doing on the ballot?

[Dave]

I've scanned and uploaded the materials provided at the Iowa GOP press conference to the Des Moines meetup site. Here's the link:

http://files.meetup.com/507643/Iowa%20GOP%20-%20Ames%20Straw%20Poll%20Info%20-%207-19-07.pdf

I'll try to post more comments and responses to questions later tonight.

[Avalon]

Guys, FT being on the ballot is nothing but a good thing. Very few who would actually vote for RP in this poll would switch to FT when given the chance. Let him split votes of the uninformed with Romney and the other three clowns.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

god.. I really hate FT... Why would a beautiful woman like his wife want him?? ohh yea.. Cha-Ching! $$$

[njandrewg]

Bush had 7418 people in the straw poll? Those numbers should be easily achievable.

Why are they expecting 40,000 voters, when in the past only 24K showed up?

[cujothekitten]

Bush had 7418 people in the straw poll? Those numbers should be easily achievable.

Why are they expecting 40,000 voters, when in the past only 24K showed up?

Maybe they think there's more pressure this campaign season than in the past so more people will show up.

[Dave]

Do you guys think that Iowans would be turned on or turned off by the fact that many of us are coming from out of state? They could either think "wow, this guy traveled from California just to make sure people vote for Dr. Paul" or they may think "who are all these outsiders who are trying to influence our election?"

Im thinking about making the trip

I think if it's known a FEW people came from out of state that it sounds cool. But if an Iowan meets person after person who's not from Iowa it will begin to creep them out. Instead of thinking a few out-of-staters is a novelty they will think 'Jeez, there's none of US here'. Kind of 'this isn't my crowd'. If I met 1 in 25 RP supporters that was from outside Iowa I would think that was neat. If I met 10 in 20 that was from outside Iowa I would think 'this is weird'.

Don't lie, but generally I wouldn't recommend making clear that you're from out of state. We want Iowans to feel they're in the company of Iowans supporting Ron Paul. If some are from out-of-state but attend college in Iowa I would wear your college t-shirt and explain that you go to Iowa State, Iowa, Drake, etc.

[MsDoodahs]

Nothing wrong with wearing your Iowa college tee shirt even if you don't go to college there, either. :D

[Dave]

Just rereading. Is Newt Gingrich seriously considering a run?

He has spent a LOT more time in Iowa than Ron Paul. More than Gilmore, Hunter, Giuliani, and about the same as McCain. I don't think he's doing this for sport. Some people think he's just trying to promote his book and raise his speaking fees but I've met him personally and I've been convinced for months that he will run. He's said he won't make a decision until late September but it was just reported by ABC today that he said there is a 'great possibility' he will run for president.

Now look at Ames. His 'American Solutions for Winning the Future' outfit has rented tent space outside with the candidates and is hosting 'workshops' throughout the day. He's not running but is all over Ames like a wet blanket? Nonsense. Newt is running for president.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

I saw that Fred "the access man" Thompson will be on the ballot..ugh

Will it work to our advantage?

[FreedomLover]

Isn't Newt a flip-flopper on the war in iraq?

Either way, if he splits the neocon war vote even furthur, then good for him running.

[DeadheadForPaul]

I saw that Fred "the access man" Thompson will be on the ballot..ugh

Will it work to our advantage?

Yes. It will split the neo-con vote

[LibertyEagle]

Here's the problem, there are a lot of blinded to the war, traditional conservatives, that are leaning towards Fred Thompson and would also lean towards Newt Gingrich. They aren't neocons, but are still stuck on the propaganda they hear nightly about how every Muslim on the face of the earth wants to kill us. They have been told over and over, that the Koran instructs Muslims to kill all the infidels and establish Islam as the true religion of the world.

[Dave]

FairTax and NRA should be Right on Board with Ron Paul -- I wish they just would commit... great work by the way... how is it looking out there, strong Ron Paul support...???

Most Iowans have never heard of Ron Paul. The support is deep, but not very broad, i.e. those of us on board are passionate but we need a lot more on board!

Much work must be done to spread the word to Iowans - we only have 3 weeks left to Ames.

[Dave]

Dave, do you know if the meetup groups are going to be there helping get people to the RP tent?

All the Iowa meetups are 100% focused on the Aug. 5 debate and Aug. 11 Straw Poll - there will be lots of events that week and opportunities to help. If we can get them to Ames we'll certainly get people the last yard into the tent.

It's going to be a party you don't want to miss.

[Dave]

Yeah, I find that extremely odd too. Fred Thompson has yet to declare his candidacy. What's he doing on the ballot?

I actually asked this at the press conference. I was told that they thought he would be a declared candidate by the day of the Straw Poll. I don't think he will be (he'll wait until after Ames so as not to 'snub' Iowans) and I don't get the explanation.

I don't think this helps us at all and in fact presents a great danger. Fred is well ahead of Ron Paul in the latest Iowa-specific polls. Anyone who finishes behind him will be embarrassed since Fred 'skipped' the Ames Straw Poll and they will be thoroughly discredited by the media.

It's true Fred won't steal any votes from RP and will steal some from the others. This is good, but he better not steal too many - anyone who finishes behind him will be humiliated.

[FreedomLover]

How many Iowan meetup members are there?

[Dave]

Bush had 7418 people in the straw poll? Those numbers should be easily achievable.

Why are they expecting 40,000 voters, when in the past only 24K showed up?

40,000 showed up in 1999 but only 24,000 voted.

I'm sure a lot of people show up to this thing but don't buy a $35 ticket or get one from a campaign, hence they can't vote. It has also been reported that there were bottlenecks in the credentialing process last time. The fire marshal barred access to Hilton due to overcrowding and most of the polling stations were inside Hilton. It has been reported that lots of people didn't get to vote, especially busloads of Forbes supporters (get on it, conspiracy theorists).

They have taken steps to address this by adding lots more polling and credentialing stations and spreading them out in Hilton plus two other neighboring buildings. This is why they expect more votes to be cast than last time.

[Dave]

How many Iowan meetup members are there?

461 as of this afternoon. I'm sure there are some people in more than one but I think we can safely say it's over 400.

[LibertyEagle]

It's true Fred won't steal any votes from RP and will steal some from the others.

I think you're wrong here, Dave. I've met conservatives (yes, real ones), who know there is something very wrong going on in our country, wouldn't consider voting for Giuliani or Romney, but Fred is another thing entirely. He talks the talk. Federalism, small government, etc. Fred is most definitely a major threat to stealing Dr. Paul's votes. Or, we could look at it another way. Once we get the word out about Dr. Paul, the vast majority of Fred's base will move our way. I really believe that. BUT, they will not do that, unless they know about him. That's our biggest hurdle right now.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

We need to create a trickle down effect. You know, the snow ball effect? We need to make passionate supporters out of each and EVERY new convert! This can be accomplished with logistics.. we need the "vehicle" of spreading the message... videos, online resurces, views ...

[Dave]

I think you're wrong here, Dave. I've met conservatives (yes, real ones), who know there is something very wrong going on in our country, wouldn't consider voting for Giuliani or Romney, but Fred is another thing entirely. He talks the talk. Federalism, small government, etc. Fred is most definitely a major threat to stealing Dr. Paul's votes. Or, we could look at it another way. Once we get the word out about Dr. Paul, the vast majority of Fred's base will move our way. I really believe that. BUT, they will not do that, unless they know about him. That's our biggest hurdle right now.

What I meant is that I don't think anyone who travels to Ames and spends their $35 to vote for Ron Paul will change their mind when they see Fred on the ballot. Supporters of other candidates, some of whom just took the free ticket for an entertaining day, just might vote for Fred instead.

Otherwise - certainly Fred can take some supporters that might have gone with RP.

[JosephTheLibertarian]

Will Ron Paul be there?

[Dave]

Will Ron Paul be there?

Absolutely!