Rand Kicks off State Wide Tour of Iowa

[Matt Collins]

From a RANDPAC e-mail:

Senator Rand Paul Kicks off State Wide Tour of Iowa

WASHINGTON, DC - On August 4, 2014, Senator Rand Paul will travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa to kick off a three day tour of the hawkeye state. Multiple events are open to accredited media. Monday, August 4 Iowa GOP Council Bluffs Victory Office 231 South Main Street Council Bluffs, IA51503 12:30 p.m. Iowa GOP Sioux City Victory Office 2526 Glen Avenue Sioux City, IA 51106 3:00 p.m. Steve King for Congress Fundraiser The Barefoot Bar 24457 178th Street Okoboji, IA 51355 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 5 Cerro Gordo GOP Fundraiser Mason City Airport Restaurant 9184 265th Street Clear Lake, IA50428 8:00 a.m. Iowa GOP Cedar Rapids Victory Office 1340 Blairs Ferry Road Hiawatha, IA 52233 10:30 a.m. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for Congress Fundraiser The University Club 1360 Melrose Avenue Iowa City, IA 52246 Noon Von Maur Corporate Headquarters Tour/Speech 727 Veterans Memorial Parkway Davenport, IA 52806 2:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m. media avail Iowa GOP Davenport Victory Office 311 W. Kimberly Road Davenport, IA 52806 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 6 Westside Conservative Club Breakfast Machine Shed Restaurant 11151 Hickman Road Urbandale, IA 50322 7:15 a.m. Iowa GOP Des Moines Victory Office 2775 86th St. Urbandale, IA 50322 8:30 a.m.

[ssunlimited]

Sounds awesome but why now and what for? With that if they do an Iowa polling Rand's polling should rise.

[Crashland]

Sounds awesome but why now and what for? With that if they do an Iowa polling Rand's polling should rise.

Why now? I say why not? The presidential race is already on. Rand should take as much of a head start as possible. By the time all the other candidates wake up, time will be at a premium.

[ssunlimited]

Why now? I say why not? The presidential race is already on. Rand should take as much of a head start as possible. By the time all the other candidates wake up, time will be at a premium.

I thought the presidential race won't start until 2015 when people announce themselves as candidates for president?

[orenbus]

I thought the presidential race won't start until 2015 when people announce themselves as candidates for president?

There is a lot of groundwork that has to happen before that.

[ssunlimited]

There is a lot of groundwork that has to happen before that.

Oh? Tell me more.

[brandon]

Oh? Tell me more.

He's building relationships with the existing political infrastructure. He's not going door to door talking to joe sixpack just yet. He's meeting with the Republican leaders, so when 2015 comes around he already has existing alliances.

[Crashland]

Rand has been going across the country making all the connections that he will need to be tapping later when the time comes. A national campaign doesn't just spring up from "Draft candidate X" movements. And the primaries are more regional in nature. You don't want to announce your candidacy and then have to figure out how you're going to put together your organization in each state. It needs to be a well-oiled machine ready to go. The earlier, the better.

[ssunlimited]

OH! I get it now! He is basically trying to get more support that if he succeeds, then he has a better chance of becoming president. Its a strategical move. Its more like plan this now to see if this works out rather than worry about it later after you announce your candidacy. Thanks guys.

[Crashland]

OH! I get it now! He is basically trying to get more support that if he succeeds, then he has a better chance of becoming president. Its a strategical move. Its more like plan this now to see if this works out rather than worry about it later after you announce your candidacy. Thanks guys.

Um, ok.

[Matt Collins]

He's building relationships with the existing political infrastructure. He's not going door to door talking to joe sixpack just yet. He's meeting with the Republican leaders, so when 2015 comes around he already has existing alliances.

Early money + opinion leader support = success at the polls

[Mr.NoSmile]

This is all assuming the folks within Iowa don't just turn and vote for Christie, Rubio, Bush or whoever is pushed as the frontrunner come election time. Getting name recognition right now matters if it sticks later.

[r3volution 3.0]

hxxp://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/07/28/rand-paul-three-day-iowa-itinerary/13297371/

Rand Paul, the national GOP front-runner in the 2016 race for the White House, will tour Iowa from end to end next week, testing his attractiveness to voters in every congressional district here.


After three quick toe-dips into the presidential waters of Iowa in the last year, the U.S. senator from Kentucky is going all in, road-tripping to a slew of party events and candidate events from Aug. 4 to 6 to gauge how well he can turn out a crowd here.


Paul, who has said he won't make up his mind on whether to run for president until the first few months in 2015, has a tenuous lead nationally over the potential GOP presidential pack.

...Rand Paul, the national front-runner..

I never get tired of hearing that.

[trey4sports]

we've come a long way...

[jct74]

From end to end: Rand Paul launches campaign-style barnstorm across Iowa

By Ashley Killough, CNN
Mon August 4, 2014

Omaha, Nebraska (CNN) -- Sen. Rand Paul kicks off a three-day swing Monday across Iowa, holding campaign-style events and fund-raisers with local politicians as the potential Republican presidential contender barnstorms the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Paul's route will take him through nine cities from the state's western border to its eastern edge. The Kentucky Republican will also help the state Republican Party open multiple offices ahead of the midterm elections.

"It's very important for Sen. Paul to hear the concerns of average Iowans as well as job creators," said Steve Grubbs, Paul's chief Iowa strategist and a longtime political operative in the Hawkeye State.

As Paul lays the groundwork for a potential presidential campaign, he has kept Iowa a top priority. This is his fourth trip there since the 2012 presidential election.

Paul will leave the state on Wednesday, a day before the start of the Iowa State Fair, a popular venue for presidential hopefuls. A small swarm of other potential GOP contenders will travel to Iowa this weekend to attend a popular event for social conservatives. But Paul won't be there, preferring to give the candidates he's been helping some breathing room and allow them to be the focus.

...

read more:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/04/politics/rand-paul-iowa/

[Bastiat's The Law]

It's great to see him traveling the state! I approve of the schedule. There's 99 counties to hit before the election.

[jct74]

Rand Paul Courts Iowa With Corny Tie

By Arlette Saenz
Aug 6, 2014 6:13pm




URBANDALE, Iowa – Take one look at Sen. Rand Paul‘s tie and you’d think the Kentucky Republican is already running for president.

In homage to the state of Iowa, Paul donned a maroon tie bearing ears of yellow corn this morning as he spoke at the Westside Conservative Club Breakfast here. The breakfast was one of the final stops on his three-day, eight-city tour through Iowa that had him crisscrossing the state, going everywhere from Okoboji to Hiawatha, spanning the entire length of the state.

“We’ve done a lot of driving. We’ve seen a lot of corn,” Paul joked as conservative activists ate breakfast at the Machine Shed restaurant, a ritual stop for Republican politicians.

Paul is among the flurry of candidates dropping into Iowa this month, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, hoping to leave a lasting impression one year before the presidential race heats up in the state that is traditionally the first stop in the race to the White House.

...

read more:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics...ith-corny-tie/

[jct74]

Rand Paul, in 'corn tie' and cowboy boots, takes time for Iowans' questions

Jennifer Jacobs
5:22 p.m. CDT August 6, 2014

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul made a point to tell Iowans Wednesday morning that he was wearing his "corn tie" - a red tie patterned with yellow cobs.

An Iowa man asked him: "Do you have 50 ties?"

"By coincidence, I have a corn tie and by coincidence I have one in the shape of South Carolina. I don't know why," Paul answered, drawing a laugh from the audience at the Westside Conservative Club's breakfast meeting at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale.

Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has repeatedly said he won't decide until sometime in early 2015 whether he'll seek the White House in 2016. But all the signs point to yes, as Paul works hard to make deep connections in the states that serve as presidential testing grounds, including Iowa and South Carolina.

Unlike Tuesday's mad dash to events in four cities many miles apart, Paul's final day of his three-day Iowa tour was more leisurely. He was on stage at the breakfast club for a total of 47 minutes, speaking to Iowans and answering their questions on several topics, including Syria, immigration, how to attract voters to the GOP, marriage and birth control.

The corn tie was a gift from a doctor who came to Paul's Iowa City stop on Tuesday.

...

read more:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/sto...-tie/13666081/

[Vanguard101]

Can't wait for him to come to texas to give him a big hug

[Matt Collins]

Can't wait for him to come to texas to give him a big hug

Because everything is bigger in Texas?

[mosquitobite]

We should all make sure he has some sort of tie for each state. That could be a cute gimmick that sticks.

[francisco]

We should all make sure he has some sort of tie for each state. That could be a cute gimmick that sticks.

Great idea!!

My state (Oregon) is probably easy--a fir tree, like on our license plates. Or maybe a salmon, a bicycle, or a bottle of craft beer.

All states weigh in.

[mosquitobite]

Great idea!!

My state (Oregon) is probably easy--a fir tree, like on our license plates. Or maybe a salmon, a bicycle, or a bottle of craft beer.

All states weigh in.

Indiana could also be corn, but some other ideas would be popcorn, basketball, Indy 500?


Kentucky could be the Derby of course.

The race thing is kinda fun since that's kind of a good analogy with politics.

[philipped]

GO! RAND! GO!

[mosquitobite]

Bump! What if each of us here at RPF did this tie thing?

[francisco]

Bump! What if each of us here at RPF did this tie thing?

OK, I officially volunteer to obtain the Oregon Tie.

I think someone here has an "in" with Thomas Massie, and maybe can get the ties to Rand through him.


Meanwhile, at risk of derailing the thread, anyone here with a scientific bent might be reminded of The RNA Tie Club

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_Tie_Club

[mosquitobite]

OK, I officially volunteer to obtain the Oregon Tie.

I think someone here has an "in" with Thomas Massie, and maybe can get the ties to Rand through him.


Meanwhile, at risk of derailing the thread, anyone here with a scientific bent might be reminded of The RNA Tie Club

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_Tie_Club

I messaged Thomas, he said just to mail it to Rand's Congressional office since they're on recess right now.

[mosquitobite]

Bump - mine went in the mail today!