A day in Ames

Today was an Ames day.   I spent the morning running around Ames.  I went to the Chamber of Commerce to get some maps and ask about camping.  Then I stopped by the Hilton Coliseum to see what it looked like inside.  I missed an opportunity to talk with the staff because I was pretending I was a spy, sneaking in and out.  I thought I must have been pretty sneaky, but then I realized they probably just didn’t care.

 Right now, we’re thinking of having all of the out of staters meet in a park near the Coliseum, so I stopped by to take a look.  I think it will hold about 200 cars pretty easily, with good space to gather if the weather is clear.  If it rains, then I’m not so sure.  It’s also a good location because we can make a little parade as we walk to the coliseum.  A lot of us will be human billboards and be assigned to different streets for the day.  I’m hoping there are enough of us so that we can all take turns – maybe 2 hours max on sign duty.  We’ll have to wait and see though..

After checking out the park, I went up to the northwest corner of town.  At the Ames meetup last night, I was shown a map that divided the town by Republican voters, and the northwest corner was the strongest Republican area.  This is important because we’re trying to figure out which areas should receive the 13,500 dvd’s.  The northwest corner is pretty affluent, 3 or 4 bedroom houses with swingsets in the back yards, and upper middle class cars in the driveways.  I’m guessing that the folks who live there are in their mid to late 30’s, 1 or 2 kids, and both parents work.

  Just south of that are older homes – probably built in the 70’s and 80’s.  Lots of them have those little country style “God bless America” signs or wooden flags, or eagles.  Good cars, but not fancy ones, and well cared for plants on the front stoop.  Jeff, the dvd-meister and I talked about it, and we decided that we should distribute the dvd’s among the older homes.  My reasoning is simple (please forgive the generalities…)  People who have a really big house and two fancy cars, and 2 children have probably bought into the system.  Whether they like it or hate it, it’s what they know, so I’m not so sure that they can allow themselves to listen to Dr. Paul’s message.  Folks in the older homes are much more likely to have a child/grandchild in Iraq, have become disillusioned by the government, and are old enough to know that things are not better than they were 40 years ago.  That’s my reasoning, anyway.  I’d love to hear your opinion. 

 After driving around, I drove down to Des Moines to meet Jeff Lins for dinner.  Jeff is the guy who led the team of editors in making the 13,500 dvd’s for Iowans.  He caught me up to speed a little on what’s going on in Iowa and who’s who among the folks.  It was great to finally meet him after working with him for so long.

 And that’s what I know tonight.

My first Meetup – Ames, Iowa

After an 8 hour drive, and a quick stop to introduce myself to Suzanne and her family, I headed up to Ames to meet with the Ames meetup group.

Having lived in the wilds of Japan for the last year and a half, I was eager to meet Ron Paul supporters face-to-face. I was not disappointed. I gotta say, Ron Paul draws the most interesting and unique characters! And I mean that in the best possible way. The majority of the folks in attendance were college students. Honest to Pete, they were so bright eyed and full of enthusiasm, I just wanted to hang out with them and drink beer. And I rarely even drink!

One thing I was particularly curious about was the role of out-of-stater’s in the Straw Poll. This turns out to be a bit of a touchy subject, and I’m really grateful that everyone was so honest. The story goes that at the last Iowa caucus, Howard Dean supporters showed up in droves, all wearing orange vests, with something of a “take no prisoners” attitude (or if your an Iowan, another equally valid word might be “obnoxious”). Apparently, the overly enthusiastic behavior of the supporters smothered Mr. Dean’s chances, and he dropped from 1st place at the beginning of the week to a rather dismal showing in 3rd place on the day of the caucus. Needless to say, Iowans are bit leery of foreigners.

It’s good to know this. What does it mean in a practical sense for those of us who don’t have Iowa driver’s licenses? Hmmm. Good question. Here’s what I know so far:

We are necessary. Unlike the other campaigns that throw money at every situation, we are volunteer oriented. Without you and you and you, this thing ain’t happenin’. And from what I’ve seen so far, the Iowan supporters of Ron Paul really, really want you here. They’re just trying to find the line between using your skills and energy to full advantage without scaring the somewhat skittish Iowa fauna <smile>. As long as we all continue to share and focus on the same goal, I am confident we will find the right balance…

Anyway, here are my notes from the meeting:

About the Straw Poll:

The day before the poll, the doors to the Hilton Coliseum are opened, and there’s a mad rush to claim the valuable wall space for campaign slogans and signs. John Kurr is the leader of the effort for this SignageRace2008. I don’t know the details of his plans yet, but will let you know as soon as I can. I suspect that this is an area that out-of-staters can really help with.

On the day of the straw poll, we will have a tent set up. You can see the location of the tent in the GOP’s Iowa Straw Poll Info file. This file also has the schedule of events and other goodies. Jeremy DeWitt is in charge of the outdoor signage. This is a hugely ginormous deal and it will probably be one of the main focuses of out-of-staters. Yes, we will need signage, and I’ve proposed to Jeremy that we have Burmashave type signage. I’ve seen some really awesome slogans on http://www.ronpaulforums.com that would fit the bill perfectly.

On a side note, notice the unusually interesting shape of our tent area. We are not square pegs, and our site perfectly reflects that – how did they know? <sly grin>

On Friday, the 10th, the bright eyed college students are holding a fundraising concert, dubbed “RonStock 2008”! I hope that everyone who comes for the event will turn out for the show – it will be a blast – I have no doubt of it! Please look at their myspace page for more info… I’m sure to be there, and if you’re lucky you might see me sipping a nice dark ale – I try to do that once every 3 years whether I need to or not!

On a more humorous note, there was some lively discussion on whether or not slim jims are flyer inserts or tasty meat products. I couldn’t stop laughing, because I remember thinking the same thing when I first heard the term. I remember thinking, “Now that… is creative!”.

Ok, that’s all I know now. More tomorrow…

Come in, she said. I’ll give you shelter from the storm…

In the excitement to go to Iowa, I forgot one little detail – where will I live?!  John Kurr, the leader of the meetup sent out a call asking for a place of repose for this weary traveler.  

I got an almost immediate response from a woman named Suzanne, who lives in between Ames and Des Moines.  She offered me a place to stay and the comforts of her family’s home while I am in Iowa.   Isn’t that amazing?  She’s never met me, but she was willing to open her home to me.  This is a kindness that has become all too rare in today’s world, and I thank God that people such as Suzanne still exist.

 I will drive to Iowa on Thursday.

I’m going to Iowa! Where is Iowa, exactly?!

Actually, I do  know where Iowa is; I’ve driven through it on I-80 countless times on my way back and for to the east and west coasts.   Vast stretches of corn and soybean fields, really down to earth people, wide open skies.  That’s what I remember.  We’ll see how well memory serves…

A little personal and Iowa background, if I may be so bold…

 In early June, I was living in Japan at a Buddhist temple when I was contacted by Jeff Lins in Iowa.  He had started a project to distribute 30,000 dvd’s to the people of Iowa.  30,000 dvd’s about Dr. Paul.  He had a tight deadline, and needed help finding editors to put the dvd together.  Could I help?  You bet.   I sent out a plea for help to various mailing lists, meetup groups, etc. and was promptly inundated with offers of help.  In all, I received over 50 responses from professional editors, amateur editors, non-editors.  The support was unbelievable and lifted me about 3 feet up off the ground in elation.

With the help of about 6 editors, Jeff managed to create a dvd.  You can see the video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2284724646717174405.  He ended up with funding for 13,500 dvd’s which are supposed to arrive this Friday.  I am simply amazed that a group of volunteers could get together and create something so quickly.  The dedication of these folks was truly inspiring, and I send a big “thank you” to everyone who helped with this project.

 Anyway, when I arrived in the States on Saturday, the 14th, I immediately called Jeff and asked if I could help out in Iowa.   He talked to the other folks in the meetup, and they invited me to come to Iowa to help coordinate the out of state volunteers.  

Oh, happy day!   I’m goin’ to Iowa!