I am sort of on the fence about whether I should attend my first straw poll.  I want to show my support for Ron Paul.  Has anyone attended a straw poll and is anyone plan on attending this year?  If I do decide to go it would be fun to commute with someone from the Metro area.  What says the crowd?

i wish i'd been paying, attention to the date, but i have other plans.  i'd throw a vote in for Ron Paul myself.  

i'd encourage you to go regardless.  if you feel strongly about it, then the herd doesn't matter, right?

Myself and the fiance' are looking at attending. This would be our first straw poll as well, so it will be interesting.

Quoted: Myself and the fiance' are looking at attending. This would be our first straw poll as well, so it will be interesting.

if you don't mind, would you post up with your impressions when you return?  i'm curious what your experiences will be.

-ST13

PLEASE GO!  and please bring as many people as you can to support Dr. Paul!

I'm doing everything I can to help the campaign here in New Hampshire.

I actually called 20 Iowans last night, from a list of registered Republicans given to me by RP2008.  It was the first time I have ever done anything like that in my life.  I don't think I'll make it as a telemarketer.

Straw Polls are pretty fun.  We had one not too long ago, in NH, and Ron Paul won by a landslide.  We hope he can do the same in Iowa.

Let's Win the Iowa Straw Poll!

Coming off the great success of the Rally for Life and Liberty in Des Moines last Saturday, we now need to keep the momentum going with a victory at the Straw Poll in Ames on August 11th.

It’s time to convert our internet energy into real political power.

We need you to be there. We need you to bring your family and friends.  

Thousands of Iowans need to vote in the Straw Poll for Dr. Paul. And thousands more need to come from around the country to participate and volunteer at the event.

The straw poll will be held at:

Hilton Coliseum (see map for directions)

Lincoln Way & Elwood Drive
Ames IA 50011
Date & Time: August 11th, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters, we have purchased 500 tickets for eligible Iowa residents. We will make them available at no charge to eligible Iowan residents on a first-come first-serve basis. In addition to voting, this red ticket will allow you access to the Hilton Coliseum where the candidate speeches will be delivered. Learn more here.

You can also purchase a ticket online

The Ron Paul tent will be at the corner of Lincoln and Beach

Our success in this event will catapult Congressman Paul into the national spotlight.

This need is urgent.



I need you to RSVP right now so we know who’s coming. Please do it right now.



I also need you to Volunteer at the Iowa Straw Poll on August 11th, please help us out and fill this volunteer survey to learn of all the different positions that need to be filled.

Thank you for demonstrating your commitment to freedom in this most practical way.

We look forward to seeing you at the Straw Poll on August 11th and thank you for your support of Congressman Ron Paul.

Joe Seehusen
Iowa State Coordinator
Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee

More details follow. Check often for updates!

What is the Straw Poll?

The Iowa Straw Poll is a Republican Party fundraiser. Each candidate has a brief opportunity to address the attendees, who then vote in a mock election. This year it will take place in Ames, IA on August 11th from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm at the Hilton Coliseum.

Who can vote?

You must meet all voting requirements in order to vote:

Be 18 years of age or older on Election Day, November 4, 2008
Be an Iowa resident
Tickets are $35 however due to the generous contributions of our supporters, we have been able to buy a block of 500 tickets for Iowa residents eligible to vote. If you want one please email [email protected] with the following information:
Your name
Your address
The type of ID you will be using
Once you send this information, you will be sent a voucher to print and bring to the Straw Poll with your ID. There will be a table at the Ron Paul tent where you can redeem your voucher for a ticket.
This poll is open to anyone regardless of party affiliation. Anyone can vote. You will need to bring proof of your Iowa residency; a driver's license, a state of Iowa ID, a student ID, or a military ID will work.

ANYONE can attend and lend support.


Why is the Straw Poll important?

The straw poll is critical for a number of reasons. There is a vast amount of press coverage, and the nation’s eyes will be on Iowa for the day. This is a tremendous opportunity to display Congressman Paul’s strength of support to a national audience. Also, success at the Straw Poll is a strong indicator of success at the Caucus. It is the next big step on our road to the White House. Candidates who fail to perform adequately at the Straw Poll often remove themselves from the race shortly after. Because the Straw Poll requires people to show up and spend their money, it is a truer test of a candidate’s actual support than a phone poll, which requires no real effort on behalf of the supporter.

I’m sold! What can I do to help?

Attend! Show up and vote, or show up and help out! And bring all your family and friends! You can RSVP for the Straw Poll by clicking here .

Spread the word! If you can’t make it, encourage others who can. You can call all your friends, send out an e-mail with a link to this page, mention it on your blog, or bring it up at your next club meeting.

My wife and I are going. RSVP'd on Dr. Paul's website and just received e-mail confirmation that our free tickets will be waiting for us at the Ron Paul tent.

We'll be staying for most of the speeches and activities (especially the NRA rally), but if you were the sort that didn't want to stick around, you could just show up anytime between 10:00AM and 6:00PM, get your free tickets, vote at one of the voting stations, and then be on your merry way.

I am going and I am bringing myself and two newly converted supporters of Ron Paul.  The liberty messsage can not be contained.    

Quoted: Quoted: Myself and the fiance' are looking at attending. This would be our first straw poll as well, so it will be interesting. if you don't mind, would you post up with your impressions when you return?  i'm curious what your experiences will be. -ST13

PLEASE GO! and please bring as many people as you can to support Dr. Paul!

Ask and you shall receive:

Well, I am sorry I am not in the camp of drinking the Ron Paul kool-aid or any other candidates kool-aid for that matter. So we went there with an open mind and had a lot of fun. I will say the Ron Paul crowd was a lively bunch and looked to be very excited about their candidate. They were the most boisterous along with tons of Mitt Romney supporters. The straw poll speeches were pretty good. Though I had to laugh at a lot of the blind faith people have in candidates that talk the talk. Mitt Romney made the mistake of saying he loved the fields of corn and green beans (?), until a supporter corrected him. Though apart from the gun issue and supporting an AWB, I agreed with alot he had to say. Too bad I goto Massachusetts and see all he has done there from his speeches (read: hardly anything he has talked about). I have to say as far as speeches go, we didn’t stay for all of them, but among the best were actually Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and parts of Tom Tancredo’s. I actually got goose bumps when he was talking about getting into a battle and not being restrained by ROE and then he thundered out he has one policy, “WE WIN, YOU LOSE!!!” I thought that was great. I didn’t see Duncan Hunter, Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback and John Cox as I was coming and going, but this was to to see the other tents and their offerings and maybe catch a candidate or two to talk to. I did catch a few blurbs from Mike Huckabee and he seemed to have his s**t straight as well. I thought overall the entire event was very fun and the candidates, whether I liked them or not, were interesting to actually see and hear in person.

I have to say I do like Tancredo so I went by his tent early on to get food and hand in my voucher for my free tickets. We also went later on, and myself and my fiance’ got our picture taken with him (he was the only one we could find as it would have been cool to get more pics, just in case they became the POTUS). Also, my fiance’ asked Tom Tancredo about his views on the 2nd Amendment and he stated he has his carry ‘n conceal, knows all about what the 2nd Amendment really means and that we can breathe a sigh of relief for awhile after the D.C. ban gets overturned for the better.

I had a lot of fun going to the different tents and we tried all the food at the different tents to see who was serving what and man were we pigging out. We made several comments that we were going to vote based on what they fed us.    I have to remark, that Sam Brownback had the best setup as he had Famous Daves catered in and an Air-Conditioned Tent!!!! What a relief, if I was voting on that alone, he would beat every other candidate, hands down! It was pretty funny as each tent we visited you would get a bunch of remarks of so-and-so is the greatest. Of which, I would continue to instigate as I would agree with them, and talk up that candidate even more (making up most things). It was funny and I had a good time instigating the pump-ups, if you will.

In ranking order of supporters, I would have to say Mitt Romney (they were everywhere) was the first, Ron Paul (close second), Sam Brownback and then subdivided amongst the rest. My fiance’ also decided to join the NRA!!! Wow! The guy behind the booth was a little bit of an ass as he was talking to me only, when she asked a question. That kind of pissed her off and she almost walked out. I had to agree with her, that I thought that was pretty crap of him to do that. Also, if you joined as a Life Member of the NRA, it was $250 off!!! Holy crap, I should have done it, thinking back on it now. Also, I think I am turning my fiancé into a bigger gun nut than myself.

There were tents there for some pretty interesting “ideals” such as the Arab-American for President, some local Alan Keyes dude, fight Chronic Disease (they were in green shirts on the floor), The Bull Party (I had a get a mug with good 'ol Teddy, though the organization was for something else), a RINO T-shirt booth, alot of other booths and they had a booth for Fred Heads. Though I told the guy (at the Fred Heads booth) I would take him seriously when he finally announced. He took quite an exception to that, and that was returned in kind with a small remark from me. Nice coordinator they have there. But overall the whole event went pretty good. I was actually going in expecting some political fights between people/groups and was quite surprised and relieved with only witnessing one minor spat, between some really young girl and an older gentlemen, talking about Bush of all things. The conversation ended with the girl flipping the dude the finger, and the guy calling her a lib (which I though was pretty funny from both sides). Intelligence and education showing at a grand level.

I have to say I went in with an open mind, had a great time, took nothing seriously, still didn’t drink any cool-aid and looking forward to doing it again in the future. We got a ton of information about different groups, candidates and viewing the Ostrich Mobile sealed the deal for the “carnie.” That was pretty funny by making fun of what I consider the sheeple masses by blind voting, supporting or ignoring what happens around you (without educating yourself) and I am glad I took the time (had the time actually) to go and find out more. The only downside is I missed the NRA rally, that sort of sucked but we found stuff to do anyways and the HEAT was IMMENSE, it was something like a HI of 105 from 95, with a humidity of 70%, jeez this is Iowa not Arizona!

Ceadmin, I agree with you about Tancredo's speech being the most rousing. I'd never heard him speak before, and his speech was hands down the best one of the four candidates that we heard (Romney,Cox and Paul being the others). Romney was a close second, although he seemed almost a little TOO slick. The opening "green beans" comment didn't help matters either.

We started the morning off at the Ron Paul tent to get our tickets, and were going to wait around for Ron to give his "pre-speech speech" and press the flesh with his supporters, but it was so oppressively hot that we left early to go vote in air-conditioned Hilton coliseum.

The NRA "rally" was nothing of the sort. Wayne LaPierre gave a speech/video presentation to a 90% empty Hilton coliseum at 11:30. Oh well, at least we got two NRA hats out of the deal.

Glad some of you guys went, that's really cool!  Personally I don't care for Ron Paul but I'm glad you showed up to the event and lent your support in the process  Tancredo seems like a pretty decent guy, although I doubt he's got a real shot.  I also liked Duncan Hunter on immigration from the debates.  Not sure who's the best on the 2nd, that may be Ron but too much of his other policy is in outerspace for me.  I'm hoping that someone besides Romney or Rudy get the nod, but with Fred still out I'm not holding out much hope

Quoted: Ceadmin, I agree with you about Tancredo's speech being the most rousing. I'd never heard him speak before, and his speech was hands down the best one of the four candidates that we heard (Romney,Cox and Paul being the others). Romney was a close second, although he seemed almost a little TOO slick. The opening "green beans" comment didn't help matters either. ........ The NRA "rally" was nothing of the sort. Wayne LaPierre gave a speech/video presentation to a 90% empty Hilton coliseum at 11:30. Oh well, at least we got two NRA hats out of the deal.

That's exactly what my fiance said right after the speech! Haha....

It didn't seem during the day, many people were concerned with the 2A and how candidates stood. Nor did the candidates say anything about it, at least the ones I heard. Which I think is sad and overall sucks. Maybe I didn't miss anything from the NRA afterall.  

Results are in...

Mitt Romney
4516
31.5%

Mike Huckabee
2587
18.1%

Sam Brownback
2192
15.3%

Tom Tancredo
1961
13.7%

Ron Paul
1305
9.1%

Tommy Thompson
1039
7.3%

Fred Thompson
203
1.4%

Rudy Giuliani
183
1.3%

Duncan Hunter
174
1.2%

John McCain
101
1.0%

John Cox
41
0.1%

14,302 Total Votes
26,000 Total Tickets Sold

I was just reading Mike Huckabee's website, actually pretty dang good IMO.

www.mikehuckabee.com/

Quoted: i'm tired of settling for the lesser of two evils.  i won't vote for that guy no matter what he says or does.

My name is yammerschooner and I approve of this message.

Quoted: I was just reading Mike Huckabee's website, actually pretty dang good IMO. www.mikehuckabee.com/

Thanks for posting that. I think I agree with almost everything he says about his stance on issues. I might have to take another look at that guy.