Ron Paul gets two new Iowa endorsements ahead of big Debate

Just a day before the big Florida debate, the Ron Paul campaign announced they had received two more endorsements in the first in the nation Caucus state of Iowa.  Both are from Clay County, Kris Thiessen is the Clay County GOP Chairwoman as well as a small business owner (she runs the White Glove janitorial service), and Josh Davenport is the Clay County GOP co-chairman, as well as a former supporter of 2008 Iowa Caucus winner Mike Huckabee.  Thiessen also founded a local Tea Party group.  Both endorsements are obviously quite important, as the Caucuses draw ever nearer, and the debates continue to help shape the field.  Ron Paul has continued to improve his standing in the polls, recently a national poll showed him at 13 percent, and even more recently a New Hampshire poll showed Ron in second place with 14 percent, trailing only Mitt Romney, as Perry has just eight percent support in the Granite State.  No doubt a win in the Florida debate would help him gain even more ground, as he continues to pass the supposed 'front runners' in the polls.  He's already zoomed past Michelle Bachmann nationally, and now he's passed Perry in New Hampshire.  He's been close to passing Romney in Iowa for some time, any day now we could hear that he's done that also.  We're definitely getting closer and closer to 'President Ron Paul'! 

Iowa Straw Poll Results Huge Boost for Ron Paul

Yesterday in Ames, Iowa, the GOP candidates had the biggest Straw Poll of the campaign.  Normally in a Straw Poll, not that many people vote, but the Iowa Straw Poll is different.  Very, very different.  It works much more like an actual Primary and less like a Straw Poll.  There are busses, there are major financial investments, it's a tremendous test of a candidate's organization and appeal.  While there were many candidates making a huge push in Iowa, it ultimately came down to two major candidates, Michelle Bachmann, who is actually from Iowa, and Ron Paul.  In the final standings, Michelle Bachmann received 4823 votes, or 29 percent of the total votes cast (there were in fact well over 16 thousand votes cast, the second highest number EVER), slightly ahead of Dr Paul's 4671 votes, or 28 percent.  However it drops WAY off from there, as Tim Pawlenty scored a very disappointing 2293 votes (less than HALF Ron Paul's tally), 14 percent.  Fourth place was Rick Santorum, who got 1657 votes, or 10 percent, followed closely by Pizza Superstar Herman Cain with 1456 votes, 9 percent of the total votes cast.  Sixth was actually a write in campaign by Rick Perry's supporters, Rick got 718 votes, a poor showing to be sure, but less poor than Mitt Romney's 567 votes, which put him in an embarassing 7th place.  Gingrich (385 votes, 2 percent), Huntsman (69 votes, 0.4 percent), and McCotter (35 votes, 0.2 percent) rounded out the top ten. 

At first blush this might seem like a bit of a disappointment for Ron Paul, after all he didn't win, he tried to win, he wanted to win, but he didn't win, Michelle Bachmann did.  However, there are a number of reasons why that first blush isn't at all accurate, that this is in fact not just a win but a HUGE win for Ron Paul, and they are very much worth noting.  First, the simple fact that Michelle Bachmann is FROM Iowa, a fact she uses constantly in her campaign.  She is the 'favorite son' candidate, and anytime a favorite son doesn't win in a landslide, if an opponent just finishes within 10 points or so of them, that's a victory for the runner up.  Take the classic example of Bill Clinton in New Hampshire, in 1992.  He finished with 25 percent, behind 'favorite son' Senator Paul Tsongas of neighboring Massachusetts, who had 33 percent of the vote.  That 8 point loss was seen as a HUGE win for Bill, a 'win' that gave him huge momentum, the nomination, and the White House.  There are of course many other such examples, but the key point is, you don't have to beat a favorite son candidate, they're extremely tough to beat, but if you can simply finish close to them, its very much like a win.

Another reason why this was a huge win for Ron Paul is because in fact, aside from the Favorite Son Bachmann, Ron Paul DID in fact win huge, VERY huge!  Ron Paul defeated EVERY candidate who isn't from Iowa (Bachmann) by a GREATER THAN 2-1 MARGIN.  That's not just a win, that's a MAJOR landslide!  Tim Pawlenty, who practicly moved to Iowa, who spent a huge amount of money on radio and TV ads, he got less than half Ron's votes.  Rick Santorum, who likewise practically became a resident of Iowa in his attempt to do well at Ames, finished greater than 2 1/2 to 1 behind Ron.  Herman Cain, a fun and interesting candidate, the man who once headed up Godfather's Pizza, got less than 1/3 of Ron's votes.  Of course, the so-called 'front runner' candidates, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, got SPANKED, Rick beaten better than 6-1, Romney beaten better than 8-1 by Ron.  Clearly there is indeed a Front-Runner from Texas, but it ain't Perry, it's Congressman Ron Paul!

There is however some bad news to report, and it may actually be the reason why Ron didn't just win first place straight out at the Straw Poll.  It seems that since the debate on Thursday night, the big guns have been turned on Ron.  His comments at the Debate against going to war with Iran have sparked tremendous outcry from certain pro-war talk radio folks, most notably Rush Limbaugh, who basicly called Ron Paul and his supporters crazy.  Its ironic that he would so mean-spiritedly attack the only candidate in the race who wouldn't have put him in jail for his own past drug use.  Dick Morris called Ron a 'flake'.  Also, Glenn Beck has both attacked Ron and actually endorsed Bachmann (he said that as of right now, he would vote for her, of course he can't fully endorse anybody until Sarah Palin announces her intentions).  The long knives are out, and they just might sting a bit, but the good news is they're running scared, they're using up their firepower early, and Ron has got plenty of time to absorb their incoming fire, and come back stronger than ever.  The American People are on the side of Peace and Prosperity, Freedom and following the Constitution.  As such, these vicious attacks are merely one more obstacle to overcome on the road to the nomination, and the White House!

So for all those reasons, and more, Ron Paul is better positioned to become the Republican nominee, and the next President of the United States, than any other candidate in the race.  If you thought he 'couldn't win' before, yesterday proved that couldn't be further from the truth.  He most definitely 'can' win, and there's an excellent chance that he WILL win!  Stay tuned to the Gladiator Blog for continued Campaign 2012 updates, this campaign is really getting good! 

Shocking New Iowa Poll

Less than a week from the hugely important Iowa Straw Poll, comes news from Rasmussen that the race for First Place in Iowa is tighter than expected.  Michelle Bachmann remains in the lead ever so slightly, with 22 percent of the vote, while Mitt Romney is second with 21 percent, but the huge news is the third place result.  Congressman Ron Paul has ZOOMED into not just third, but a very strong third, with 16 percent of the vote, just six points behind the leader!  Governors Rick Perry and Tim Pawlenty round out the double-digit candidates with 12 and 11 respectively, with Gingrich at 5, Cain 4, and Huntsman 2.  For some reason Governor Palin was not mentioned in this poll but Perry was, despite the fact that both 'could' enter the race but neither have so far.  This poll strongly suggests that Ron Paul has not just a chance of winning on Saturday, but in fact a very strong chance.  Another aspect of the poll has even more good news for Congressman Paul, as 28 percent of all Likely Caucus Voters are 'Absolutely Certain' to vote for the candidate they are currently supporting, and among that sizable portion of the Iowa electorate, Ron Paul is actually in FIRST place, with 27 perent of the vote!

This is indeed a good news day for Congressman Ron Paul, this poll shows not only is he gaining strongly in Iowa, his radio and TV ad campaign is paying major dividends, and he is very well positioned to finish in the top two in the Straw Poll, in fact he may have the best chance of any candidate of winning!  Of course between now and the Straw Poll on Saturday, there is the GOP Presidential Debate in Iowa on Thursday, which I believe will be televised on the Fox News Channel, for those who would like to watch it live.  As we all know, Ron tends to do very well in debates, very often winning the post-debate polls by sizable margins.  Any kind of boost in his numbers from this debate could really go a long way toward assuring a Victory in the incredibly important Straw Poll vote Saturday.  Stay tuned to the Gladiator Blog for updates as we get closer to the big Saturday vote in Ames!  

New Leader in Iowa

As you may have heard recently, Michelle Bachmann is the new leader in Iowa, having overtaken Mitt Romney, but what you may not have heard are the numbers, that are really quite surprising.  While Michelle does have real momentum, she currently has just 21 percent of the vote, certainly not an overwhelming lead.  The good news truly begins with Mitt Romney's numbers, which are now down to 18 percent.  Not only is he sinking like a stone, but he's close to being passed by Ron Paul, who has zoomed up himself, to 14 percent, scoring a very strong 3rd place, his best showing ever in any Iowa poll.  Sarah Palin, having not even announced a candidacy, is beating everybody else, with 11 percent.  Some other notable names have seemingly had their campaigns fall apart in Iowa, with Herman Cain and Tim Pawlenty each now garnering just 2 percent support, behind even Newt Gingrich's 8 percent and Rick Santorum's 5 percent, and Jon Huntsman's 3 percent, and tied with Rick Perry's 2 percent. 

These numbers are shocking, and are really quite awesome for America when you think about them.  The front-runner stands at just 21 percent, and only 7 points ahead of Ron Paul.  Sarah Palin leads all the other candidates except for Bachmann, Romney, and Paul, without even running a campaign.  If she ran, and she got the Bachmann vote, which one would assume that she would, she would in fact have a very commanding lead.  If she doesn't, then Ron Paul is VERY well positioned to beat Mitt Romney and possibly even win the whole thing!  I was surprised when I read today that Ron Paul wasn't seeking re-election to the House, but having seen these new numbers I now understand why.  He has a far better chance to win the Iowa Caucuses, and the GOP nomination (and thus the Presidency, since the GOP nominee will obviously be a heavy favorite against the failed Presidency of Obama) than most people realize right now.  These numbers are fascinating, we have a new leader in Iowa, Mitt's numbers are tanking, Ron Paul is zooming up, Sarah Palin is still in a strong position, these numbers are great news for Ron, Sarah, and most of all America!

Major Iowa Campaign News

There has been a lot of news out of the state of Iowa in the last week or so, some better publicized than others.  You may have heard, for example, that Mitt Romney and Michelle Bachmann are now statistically tied, with Romney at 23 and Bachmann at 22.  You may not have heard that Ron Paul is now tied for 4th there, up from an earlier poll showing him further back.  There is other very important news out of Iowa that you may not have heard also.  Most importantly, the head of the Winning Iowa Campaign in 2000, Mr. Doug Wead, has joined the Ron Paul Campaign!  This is the man who won Iowa for George W Bush in 2000, back when Bush was running as a Conservative, someone who believed in less government, no nation building, etc. basicly back when Bush was running a Ron Paul style campaign.  It's no surprise that someone who helped Bush win back when he was campaigning as a genuine Conservative would now be supporting a man who is, without question, a genuine Constitutional Conservative.  This is a HUGE gain for the Ron Paul campaign, as not only is this guy a proven winner in Iowa, he also happens to be an EXTREMELY high profile Christian leader.  As a Christian myself, I'm happy to see folks like this fellow in a prominent leadership position.  Certainly the Christian vote is VERY huge in Iowa, so the support of this bigtime fellow could very easily be a game-changer in the weeks and months to come.

Another major piece of news out of Iowa that you may not have heard, is that they 'sold land' at the Iowa Straw Poll, and Ron Paul got the Prime Real Estate!  You may not know what that means, and having never actually been there myself I can only imagine it myself, but if you can imagine thousands and thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of Iowans in one place, and Ron Paul now has the biggest and most central booth of all!  From everything I've heard, this is a HUGE deal, as last time around Ron had a little booth way out of the way, where you might never have even seen it if you weren't already a Ron Paul fan, whereas now he has a big, central booth that you pretty much have to walk right by so you can't miss it.  One Paul supporter noted that he may have actually spent more time at the Romney booth than the Paul booth in 2008, even though he was a bigtime Paul guy even back then, just because the booth was so much better.  This is the SAME booth that Romney used in 2008, the same booth that George Bush used in 2000, the Ron Paul campaign spent 31 thousand dollars to gain this prime position, and it was well worth it.  No other campaign was able to spend nearly as much, and this is because Ron has been doing so extremely well fund-raising, although again, you never hear that in the lamestream media, all you hear about is Romney. 

So while Romney is the guy they all want to talk about, and Bachmann is the flavor of the month, the fact is that Ron Paul is laying some MAJOR groundwork to not simply compete strongly, but to WIN the GOP nomination, and the Presidency.  Stay tuned to the Gladiator Blog for more campaign 2012 updates!

Shocking Straw Poll Results!

In a surprising LANDSLIDE, Texas Congressman Ron Paul scores a HUGE victory in the Louisiana Straw Poll that Mitt Romney won just last year.  This strongly suggests that, despite the name-ID feuled polls the lamestream media likes to produce suggesting Romney is the front-runner, the engaged, rank and file members of the Republican Party are in fact quickly souring on Romney, while they're rapidly warming to Dr. Paul!  Other candidates with strong performances include John Huntsman, who had 382 votes, better than everyone else except for Ron's 612, and Michelle Bachmann, whose 191 votes was less than a third of Ron Paul's overwhelming total, but still better than most of the field so she can take some satisfaction in that.  Other notable totals include Herman Cain at 104, Mitt Romney at 74, which means he sank from first last year to FIFTH this year, as voters got to know him better.  Newt Gengrich scored 69 votes, Sarah Palin only 41, very disappointing indeed for the Governor.  Rick Santorum got 30 votes, and Tim Pawlenty 18.  So a HUGE weekend for Ron Paul, solidifying once again his status as a MAJOR contender for the GOP Nomination in 2012, and a very poor showing for Mitt Romney, a man who won this event last year, but scored a very weak 5th place this year.  It seems the grass roots are more interested in Ron Paul, and to a lesser extent Michelle Bachmann, than they are folks like Mitt Romney and Newt Gengrich, both of whom performed WAY better last year than this.  A huge straw poll event, and a huge win for Ron Paul, no doubt due in part to his stand on Poker, an issue he actually mentioned briefly during his Convention Speech on Friday, before today's vote.  He is the only major candidate who supports our right to play Poker legally, and that will definitely play a significant role in this campaign.  Looking forward to the Iowa Straw Poll in August, as well as many other major events in the 2012 Campaign Season! 

Major Straw Poll This Weekend

For those of you who don't yet know, there's a major straw poll this weekend down in Louisiana.  It's the Republican Leadership Conference, which holds a Straw Poll each year.  Last year Mitt Romney won by ONE VOTE over Ron Paul, I think Sarah Palin came in 3rd.  Can Mitt win again, or will Ron gain some major campaign momentum by winning an event Mitt won last year?  Or will someone else altogether surprise them all, like Michelle Bachmann or Herman Cain?  It's high drama on the Bayou!  Stay tuned to the Gladiator Blog to find out the full results, which from what I understand will be available on Sunday, although actual voting has already begun, so if you want a say in who the next President is but you don't live in Iowa or New Hampshire, you might want to head down to this event and help your favorite candidate score some major Campaign Momentum!

Major Campaign 2012 News!

There's so much news I don't know where to begin!  First, the bad news.  In the wake of his announcement, it seems that Mitt Romney is opening up a bit of lead on the other contenders, actually getting to 30 percent of the vote in one poll if Sarah Palin doesn't run.  But speaking of Sarah Palin, it seems that she's been on the receiving end of an attack from Michelle Bachmann's new Campaign head, Ed Rollins!  Why was Ed Rollins first act as chief of her campaign, to go out and attack Sarah Palin in an interview?  That of course has led to a bit of a feud between the two camps.  Of course ultimately Michelle Bachmann is another Gary Johnson.  Gary would've done well if Ron Paul hadn't run, but since Ron is running there's just no reason for anybody to support Gary.  So it is with Michelle Bachmann, she no doubt could do well if Sarah Palin doesn't run, but if Palin does run then there's no reason for anybdoy to support Bachmann, and she will do extremely poorly.  Granted there was a poll on Bill O'Reilly last night showing her ahead of Palin 60-40 in a head to head contest, but that's an online poll taken before Sarah Palin got in.  If she gets in, those numbers would change DRAMATICLY. 

On a happier 2012 front, it seems the Ron Paul campaign keeps picking up steam!  He recently got another major endorsement in Iowa, another State Representative has endorsed Ron's candidacy, this time Freshman State Rep Kim Pearson!  A fellow Tea Partier, she won a VERY tough race last go-round, and now she's supporting Ron Paul for President!  For all of you Iowa readers, watch that name, Kim Pearson, you might be seeing it for Senator or Governor one day, and if so, please remember to give her your full support!  That's not all the Ron Paul news though, because he also picked up a major endorsement in New Hampshire as well!  State Senator Jim Forsythe has not only endorsed Ron Paul for President, he's actually agreed to be the Chairman of Ron's New Hampshire Campaign!  Of course New Hampshire's legislature is a citizen-legislature, so they have lots and lots of free time, State Senators from other states might be too busy to do something like that, but not in New Hampshire!  This is a HUGE plus for Doctor Paul, so now his Iowa and New Hampshire campaigns are really starting to take off!  Stay tuned for more 2012 updates!