Posted on 12/06/2011 7:14:19 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Rep. Ron Paul rarely makes news, and his candidacy is frequently ignored by Beltway reporters. But headlines, his aides say, are overrated. In fact, the Texas Republican’s low-key autumn was strategic. As Paul’s competitors stumbled and sparred, he amassed a small fortune for his campaign and built a strong ground operation. And with January fast approaching, his team is ready to surprise the political world and sweep the Iowa caucuses.
“This was a movement when he first started running in 2008,” says Trygve Olson, a senior Paul adviser. “Now it’s turned into a highly professionalized campaign, but the energy from that last run is still there, and at the heart of what’s keeping up his momentum.”
The latest polls back up that confidence. In the influential Des Moines Register poll published over the weekend, Paul placed second. Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, captured 25 percent of likely Iowa GOP voters, but Paul garnered 18 percent, two points ahead of Mitt Romney, who in 2008 placed second in the caucuses.
If Paul wins Iowa, the upset could upend what many politicos say is a two-man race between Gingrich and Romney. According to state GOP insiders, a Paul victory is a real possibility. In background conversations, many say Paul is much stronger than outside observers believe, with deep and wide support among a frustrated electorate. With Herman Cain’s departure from the race, operatives see Paul potentially collecting a quarter of caucus attendees.
“Ron Paul is definitely for real out here,” says Tim Albrecht, the communications director for Iowa governor Terry Branstad, who has not endorsed any GOP candidate. “He is going to get 18 percent in the caucuses no matter what. If there’s a snowstorm, he’ll probably win, since he has such dedicated, passionate supporters. The question is whether he can move higher than that.”
Paul, for his part, thinks that he can close in on Gingrich, who has seen a recent bump in both state and national polls. “We’re getting pretty close to it being within the margin of error,” Paul told CNN on Sunday. “I think we continue to do what we’re doing. We’ve had the flavors of the month up and down so far this campaign. I’d like to think of myself as the flavor of the decade.”
Indeed, Paul’s consistency, his strategists say, is integral to his strength, especially in Iowa, where GOP voters have shuffled through an array of favorites. “Iowans, after testing Bachmann, after testing Perry, after testing Cain, and now Gingrich, are realizing that Ron Paul, all along, has been their candidate,” says Fritz Wenzel, Paul’s pollster. Unlike many primary fights, “this is becoming a race about principles,” he says, “and Ron Paul has stood up for true conservative principles for decades, not just in the last month.”
But campaign strategy, of course, has also played a major role in sustaining Paul’s poll numbers. The campaign combines a strong online presence, centered on volunteer organization, with prolific fundraising. Perhaps more important, however, is Paul’s “traditional” strategy in Iowa, which combines a heavy candidate presence with constant mailings and outreach.
“He’s run the most traditional caucus campaign of the year,” Albrecht says. “Multiple mailers, multiple ads, and multiple visits. Rick Perry has run ads, but hasn’t really visited. Mitt Romney has taken the shy approach, and Newt Gingrich hasn’t been here as often.”
“We’re following the traditional model because it works,” says Drew Ivers, the campaign’s Iowa chairman. “This is the fifth time I’ve chaired an Iowa campaign, and in this state, you can’t beat grassroots politics. The caucuses are like a business meeting. You don’t just come and vote; you go to participate. You need committed supporters; we have them.”
Steve Grubbs, who recently worked as Herman Cain’s Iowa director, has seen the enthusiasm for Paul up close. “I was driving down Interstate 80 two weeks ago and saw a hitchhiker carrying a Ron Paul sign. I didn’t pick him up, but I’m sure a Paul supporter gave him a ride,” he says. “I spot them everywhere, wearing their T-shirts and carrying signs.”
You’ll also find thousands of Ron Paul backers on the web — on message boards and on social-networking sites — talking about Paul and his criticism of U.S. foreign policy and the Federal Reserve. As Paul’s team invests in the ground game, it is taking care to intertwine its above-ground legwork with that web world. And it’s paying off, his advisers say, not only through donations, but in building a cohesive network of voters. An early example of its power came in August, when Paul nearly won the Ames straw poll, finishing a close second to Michele Bachmann.
“Ron Paul’s Internet operation is to Republicans in 2012 what Barack Obama’s Internet operation was to Democrats in 2007 and 2008,” Olson says. “It’s very grassroots and national, with thousands of very active supporters who spread the message in every state. That energy is the undercurrent to what’s happening on the ground, where people are going person to person.”
Still, even with the top-tier showing in Iowa polls and recognition by Iowa operatives of their on-the-ground prowess, Paul’s advisers aren’t taking anything for granted. In coming weeks, “Ron Paul is going to be living part-time in Iowa,” says Dimitri Kesari, Paul’s deputy campaign manager. The entire focus will be on coordinating turnout and stoking enthusiasm. Over 500 college students, for example, will move to Iowa over the holidays to participate in an initiative called “Christmas Vacation with Ron Paul.”
“He’s a different kind of candidate,” Kesari acknowledges, a “highly organized outsider.” But in January, he could also be a winner. And Iowans, at least, wouldn’t be surprised.
— Robert Costa is a political reporter for National Review.
Daniel Hannon - UK Minister disagrees with you. please fell free to dispute any of these clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZA0-9_8DIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZX8D7grPDg
Lay off the sugar and pot kids?
This 60 year old vet Who has ran a succesfull business for the
most of his life is starting to look at Ron Paul.
Do I smoke pot? not in 40 years,
Should it be illegal? No, Why? you cant legislate morality and over the years I Have seen more lives destroyed with booze than pot. Prior to the “war on drugs” we had less people
using than we do now.
If Paul is so anti military why is one of his strongest areas of support the military?
Lastly I wonder at the denigration of Paul ie.
Paultards,Rupaul etc. seems to be right out of the lefts playbook
He’s unelectable and unsuitable to be President.
He is correct in his criticism of the federal reserve.
He is correct in that we need to scale back our foreign interventions. Going to happen sooner or later anyway because were flat broke.
This is something a lot of folks on FR do not want to hear.
He has a ceiling , even among disgruntled Republicans. I think him winning Iowa is fine; somebody has to stop Gingrich early on.
If I were having a dialog on FR with a UK Minister your reply would make sense, I did however post to you.
Paul is not as trust worthy as you think he is, that is the issue between us not what a foreign national thinks.
The problem with Paul is that his foreign policy sucks. The problem with the rest of the candidates is that their domestic policy, and some of their foreign policy, sucks.
Just so you know Daniel Hannan is considered the Ron Paul of the UK - nuff said.
Paul blames America for 9-11-01, even the traitor in the wh hasnt done that yet!
He is citing directly from the 9/11 Commission Report findings for what it is worth.
The denigration of Paul here has nothing to do with the left playbook, it has to do with his anti Semitic pro Muslim rhetoric, 9/11 truthers BS and surrender monkey approach...
Oddly enough all that is IN the lefty playbook...
And that means what that Paul jumps on any chance to blame America? A discredited report by a bunch of Washington thugs means what to the normal person on the street. Even the most dense knows that the USA was not irrepressible for 9/11 it was the terrorist who were responsible.
If you want to support a guy who uses every opportunity to blame America it is your right, I find him a danger in general and if he were to be elected we are in deep trouble.
He wants to gut the military, end CIA, FBI, open boarders (no fence of any kind)....well you are supporter you know what he wants.
Oh, and please don’t use “the military supports him”, that has been debunked time and again.
I am a married, 71 year old grandfather of 5. I do not live in my mother’s basement. I am not in an institution. I am still working full time as a consultant, and thanks to the fact that the company I contract with is afraid to hire, I am having the best earning years of my life.
I have grandchildren for whom I would give my life in an instant. This country is in a crisis. I have become a Ron Paul supporter. If I am willing to die for my grandkids, I can easily take the CR@P my fellow Freepers can dish out.
The more I see the way this election is going, the more convinced I am this is our last chance, short of civil war, to save it. I am now part of the mile deep, inch wide, support for the crazy man. I don’t know what line you have to cross to be Zotted, and if this crosses that line, than so be it.
If that is the case, my last request would be for my fellow Freepers to just consider if things are really as bad for America as we all seem to be crying about that we are serious about preparing for blood in the streets and how in the H@11 can you continue to so glibly spout off about the “dope crazy, foreign policy nut” supported by dope crazed kids in their mom’s basement?
At this point in time I consider the FED and Washington Elites to be a clear and present danger to my grandkids. The loss of our Constitution of more pressing danger that the presence of some nukes in Iran. Either it is as bad as most on FR are sensing it is, or we are all engaged in an armchair circle jerk.
If you have read this far, I thank you for your attention. I respect a reasonable discussion. You can save your own 12 old tantrums for the very few other kids on the block.
U.S. Govt incompetence by the INS, FBI, and other agencies allowed 9/11 to happen.
of course the terrorists are to blame first and foremost - but please dont be so naive and blind. the FBI ignored warnings, the INS ok’d visa applications that a blind man would deny, etc.
And you support the “Drug War”, especially in light of what we just found out with Fast n Furious, the money laundering, etc?
I have never done drugs, but at this point I think it is safe to say the “Drug War” is a failure and needs to end.
If not for Iran I might have voted for Paul...
I think you are correct, it is as bad as people are sensing so that is why I would never support a “blame America first” candidate for president.
all I know is that his latest TV ad sounds more like it it promoting a Monster Truck Pull at the fairgrounds. SUNDAY!SUNDAY!SUNDAY!
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