Saturday August 13, 2011 I had the opportunity to attend the Iowa Straw Poll, a “respected” indicator of the popularity of the Republican Party GOP candidates. It has been described as part state fair part Republican convention, a comparison that was pretty much right on the money.
Ron Paul Straw Poll
In the months heading up to the straw poll I had seen tickets being sold by the candidates for a donation. These ranged from $10-$30 to attend the event, after all it was a fundraiser for the Republican party. I was not very interested until about a week prior, so I did a Google search for Straw Poll Tickets and was directed to a post on the Ron Paul website saying there were still tickets available. I emailed my name and phone number, and received a prompt reply from Pennsylvania asking how many tickets. They said somebody would follow up with me in a few days.
Not only did someone call to confirm my tickets, but in the 3 days between, I received no less than 5 phone calls to my cell phone with Ron Paul recorded announcements. I don’t remember being notified that attended the Straw Poll would put you on the automated call list, but I figured I would take care of that in time. Finally, Saturday arrived.
I have been a listener to the No Agenda Podcast for a while, and bought a No Agenda shirt from noagendashirts.com for the event. I arrived early – too early it seems – and managed to walk around the Ron Paul compound for a while, and then went to see the other encampments. Ron Paul’s headquarters was situated directly in front of where the actual voting takes place – a strategic spot that sources say cost Paul $31,000 just to be there. Registration was below the entrance to the voting, and was not open yet, so I walked around the complex taking a closer look.
Ron Paul Hot Dogs
I saw the main Ron Paul stage, the enormous food tent, a “Ron Paul Hot Dogs” booth (which unfortunately featured Heinz ketchup), several stands with literature and campaign buttons, and a photo op area. I stopped at one of the literature stands and saw immediately what attracted me to support Ron Paul. Yes he was handing out other pamphlets, but his main focus was a pamphlet that contained the principles of our country – the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. For that remember my podcast Rutter’s Ramblings, you know how much I cringe about how LITTLE our citizens really know about the constitution.
I made my way to the registration area and got in line to receive my ticket. The actual process was interesting.
Now, keep in mind I was a little skeptical about the straw poll when I found out the candidates can (and did) use their own funds to pay for people to attend the poll. After registering, I turned to go back to the encampment area and check out some of the other candidates’ schedules more closely. While I arrived to support Ron Paul, I still wanted to hear what the other candidates were saying and hear them close up. As soon as I was done registering, I was immediately met by one of the legions of volunteers who informed me he would escort me to the voting area. I didn’t feel like protesting since I was probably going to vote for Paul anyway, so I let him lead me up to the voting area. He asked the security guard if he could go in with me, and was told sternly “No.”
If I really wanted to, I’m sure I could have shook the guy off, but it wasn’t a big deal. So I went in, received my ballot (after about 10 minutes of trying to hand key in my drivers license number.) Apparently in the past, people would wash off the hand stamp saying they have voted and would come in again. This prompted the Secretary of State to furnish driver’s license scanners to be used so your license is scanned when you pick up your ballot. Unfortunately, either the scanners did not work with the newer licenses that uses a barcode of some sort, or the operators didn’t know how to use them, so they were keying in the numbers by hand on the blackberry-like screen. And if you have ever seen voting volunteers you will know their eyesight isn’t the best.
I submitted my vote and dipped my finger on the “indelible ink” pad and then went downstairs to receive my complimentary I Voted for Ron Paul shirt.
I headed over to the main Ron Paul stage area to get ready for his appearance. The supporters were slow but steady in arriving, and finally Ron Paul arrived and spoke after 2-3 other representatives from his campaign.
Carol and Ron Paul
Paul spoke about restoring liberty and restoring the Constitution, which received rounds of standard applause between his key points. Paul spoke about ending the wars and not getting into more of them, a point carried over from the Fox News debate several days earlier. In the debate, when asked about Iran’s nuclear program and whether or not we should take action, he was adamant of not only not going after Iran (even with sanctions) but lifting the embargo on Cuba. He pointed out when the Soviet Union was developing a nuclear program, we didn’t just launch a full-scale attack, we talked. Unlike Barack Obama, who said he would end the wars in Iraw and Afghanistan, I believe Ron Paul would actually do it, and keep our money internal to the U.S. instead of fighting other people’s borders. He said if you are concerned about the economy, you cant just increase the debt, you have to look at your foreign policy and the money spent overseas.
He also spoke about looking at the monetary system and not focusing our economy on a paper money system. He spoke briefly about the Audit the Fed bill, and again emphasized if we want to fix and grow the economy, we have to look at our system and fix it, instead of issuing bail outs, policing other country’s borders, and start focusing internally.
C-SPAN 2012 Election Bus
Listeners of No Agenda will appreciate that I got up close and personal with the traveling C-SPAN bus that was parked in the complex. Tours were offered of the inside of the bus that was supposed to offer “latest technology” C-SPAN was using to keep people informed of the late breaking news and information. While in line, a few people took a picture of my No Agenda T-Shirt, and then asked what it was about. I mentioned the word “podcast” which received a “what?” and then I just said “a radio show on the Internet, check it out at noagendashow.com.” They said “Oh, ok” and went into the bus. Inside the bus was – disappointing. The big “latest and greatest” technology were flat screen LED touch-screen monitors and a landing page that simply let you touch and then sign up for the latest news via their twitter, youtube, and other social media accounts. 2 of the screens I was told “don’t work” so I walked to the end of the bus where they had different devices such as the Blackberry, Android, iPhone, iPad and other electronic devices displaying the C-SPAN app for that device. Again, pretty disappointing. The rear of the bus was reserved for people to be filmed asking the candidates a question which C-SPAN would would put up on their YouTube channel. I didn’t see anybody taking C-SPAN up on the offer, but according to YouTube, looks like some did.
In the days leading up to the poll, I tried to find information and schedules for each of the candidates, but to my surprise there wasn’t an overall “schedule of events” either for the entire poll, nor individually for the candidates. This made it extremely difficult to try and schedule your own time to hear the other candidates speak. I can understand if there wasn’t a “master” schedule, but you would think the attendees would put together a schedule ahead of time for their candidates.
As we know now, Michelle Bachmann ended up winning the straw poll by a mere less than 1%. I really don’t see what her supporters see in Bachmann. Her track record for Republican ideals is less than stellar (and almost non-existent) and she is far less charismatic (or entertaining) than even Sarah Palin. With the exit of Pawlenty and the addition of Rick Perry, I think Ron Paul will gain momentum and quickly surpass Michelle Bachmann as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. With the issues of both the economy and the wars overseas front-and-center, Ron Paul has been keying in on these issues, while Bachmann is busy trying to explain why a wife has to be “submissive” to her husband.
Key Points and Observations
- Candidates can, and do, pay the $30 fee for their supports to attend the straw poll, and even bus them in from key areas of Iowa.
- Once registered at the candidate’s registration area, a volunteer escorts the person to the voting place, not allowing them to even think about voting for another candidate, since they can’t even visit their events.
- There are too many kids and too much of a “family” atmosphere. This is supposed to be an indicator of the election, bringing your 5 kids under 10 to the event seems a little bizarre.
- Groups and associations such as the NRA, Pro-Life, etc. are allowed to attend to also raise funds and awareness.
- If you say the word “Iowa” in your speech you get a round of applause, say it at the end and you get a standing ovation.
- Candidates aren’t interested in answering questions, only making speeches. Unlike their other appearances, the opportunity to ask the candidates a question are slim to none.
- The food tent is the most popular attraction, even more than the candidates’ speeches
- All in all, the Ames straw poll has a good track record, according to the New York Times, I’m just not sure how long the rest of the country will actually take notice, and eventually the straw poll will end.
Ron Paul videos from the Iowa Straw Poll
Sorry for the shakes, shot with a zoom and no tripod
Straw Poll Photos
