Rand Paul super pac speaks out on Iowa caucus and moving on to NH

[Joeinmo]

Matt Kibbe, said Rand's campaign did tremendous considering the conditions (media, Trump etc)

More here


http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/02/ra...c-speak-on-iow

[65fastback2+2]

"It heightens the now obvious divide between the liberty vote and the anti-establishment populist vote."
bingo. and it seems no one really saw it coming.

[ds21089]

"It heightens the now obvious divide between the liberty vote and the anti-establishment populist vote."
bingo. and it seems no one really saw it coming.

I think it's because they found a way misdirect all the blame to the media instead of government. The people polling high would just keep calling out the media on things, but never necessarily saying we need to restrain government. It's just as how Sanders blames everything on corporations and not the government's involvement with them. The media actually knows a lot of people dislike them and thus painted Trump and Cruz like they were attacking them. By doing this, it made people think, "oh wow the media is attacking them. they must be anti-establishment. They must be legitimate candidates!"

[squirl22]

Matt Kibbe, said Rand's campaign did tremendous considering the conditions (media, Trump etc)

I agree with this statement. People here do not seem to understand or recognize what obstacles are constantly being put in front of Rand, the biggest being the media, who does not cover him. But, the Cruz campaign, which I still believe is connected to the Bush's and the establishment as a way to bring down Rand and coopt his message and his supporters.

But the media talking points...people spouted these back to me when I was phone banking in Iowa...the things people say and think are not their own thoughts, it's what they have heard or been told somewhere else and they just adopt them. Also, the people of Iowa are no better informed than anyone else. They have all of these candidates in person but most of them never take the time to go seem them and they do not do their own research or read about them. They wait for the "voices" to spout out some phrase and repeat it over and over and they adopt it as their own. Seriously I do not know if this can be countered other than to ban TV and radio from Iowa for a month. (or wherever the next vote is taking place). Force people to educate themselves..other wise it is very very difficult.

[July]

"It heightens the now obvious divide between the liberty vote and the anti-establishment populist vote."
bingo. and it seems no one really saw it coming.

I think he is very right about that. This was seen in the tea party days, with the socon and populist/reactionary wings of the movement. Rand was up against a lot of competition for those demographics, with almost every candidate save Bush and Hillary claiming to be anti establishment.

Not to mention the toxic political environment of today, with ISIS, recent mass shootings, etc. There were just so many unfortunate current events that made it a really difficult political climate.

Not saying Rand is/was perfect and didn't make any mistakes, and that it wouldn't have been nice to finally win a state, but it's still hard to blame him with so many contributing factors.

[Brian4Liberty]

Rand Paul Campaign, SuperPAC Speak on Iowa and What's Next

Paul's campaign issued a statement tonight ...

Rand Paul had a strong top-five finish by placing ahead of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and the last two Iowa Caucus winners tonight. The voters spoke for the first time, and they showed that they believe everyone in our country should have the liberty to make the most of their lives, not just the well-connected and the political establishment.Whether the issue is constitutional government, a balanced budget, a rational foreign policy, or preserving the entire Bill of Rights for all citizens, Rand Paul is the only one standing up for conservatives and liberty-loving Americans.

Tonight's vote reveals that the race for the White House is wide open. Dr. Rand Paul believes his voice is important to the debate, and calls on ABC and the RNC to make sure he is on the stage next weekend in New Hampshire. The results today demand it. "Every election we are told by the party establishment that the times are too dire or risky to try freedom as a solution. They say that the message of liberty and personal responsibility must wait until next election. But tonight, the people of Iowa proved that the time is now. We have never been more hungry for personal freedom and a restrained government. I'm grateful to my supporters here in the Hawkeye state, and I look forward to continuing the fight for liberty in New Hampshire," said Dr. Rand Paul.

I also spoke by phone tonight with Matt Kibbe, formerly of Tea Party-identified liberty activist group FreedomWorks and now with the Paul-supporting unaffiliated SuperPAC Concerned American Voters [CAV], which also worked on GOTV for Paul in Iowa.
...
Cruz or no, Kibbe says that "there is still momentum to move forward [with Paul], it was a very credible performance tonight and we [CAV] will be in it as long as Rand is in it." They are currently involved in social networking efforts in New Hampshire and ground work in Nevada.
...
"Ron [Paul] did an incredible amount of education to a huge new population and if you look at younger guys like [congressmen] Justin Amash and Thomas Massie, I see tremendous opportunity for what I call libertarian populism, a combination of rage against the machine overlaid with serious ideas, solutions and principles and that to me is the answer. This is not an academic affair," Kibbe says. "I think if we go back to citing footnotes from Mises we've failed the liberty movement."
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More: http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/02/ra...c-speak-on-iow