Ron Paul Scores Over Nine Percent in Iowa
Paul decisively breaks out of “one to two” percent zone

By James Buchanan

Ron Paul just scored over nine percent in the Iowa straw poll –the first Republican event with a large number of voters. The winner of the straw poll, Mitt Romney scored 32 percent, suggesting that Republicans haven’t yet found a candidate, whom a majority will support. The Iowa primary will be held in January. Ron Paul’s decent showing should finally put him on the radar screen for Republican voters.

Paul has been battling a news black out by the mainstream media, who have previously dismissed him as “insignificant” with only one or two percent support. Ron Paul has built up a huge following on the Internet and has the greatest momentum of all the candidates. The mainstream media will either have to start giving Ron Paul some news coverage now or they’ll have to invent a new excuse to keep ignoring him.

The Iowa straw poll requires a $35 entry fee from each Iowa resident who wishes to vote. Ron Paul’s campaign raised enough for 500 tickets, but most of his 1,305 supporters had to buy their own tickets. Brownback, Romney and other candidates were buying tickets for all their supporters. The Iowa straw poll is therefore heavily slanted to the richest candidates. Also at $3 per gallon for gas, even the trip to Ames, Iowa is a bit expensive for many people, which is why some candidates bused in supporters from other towns.

Despite this significant financial hurdle, Ron Paul was able to get over 9 percent of the vote –decisively breaking out of the one to two percent zone. Ron Paul placed in the top five beating out Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, who avoided this straw poll because their liberal views on many key issues tend to alienate voters in conservative states.

There is a cloud of controversy over the use of Diebold voting machines in the Iowa straw poll. These machines have a notorious record for “fixing” elections and being easily hacked. There was also a 90 minute delay (supposedly caused by one machine breaking down) which raised further suspicion. The use of Diebold machines should always raise vote-fraud concerns. Despite the Diebold problem, Ron Paul scored a major success by getting over 9 percent.

Ron Paul has been fighting a media black out. His appearances on the Daily Show, Colbert Report and Bill Maher Show have gained him some fame. His outstanding performances in the Republican debates have gotten him the most attention. Paul is the only Republican candidate, who wants to enforce immigration law and pull our troops out of the pointless quagmire in Iraq. All the other Republican candidates are neocon warmongers who want to stay in Iraq forever.

This is the third straw poll, where Ron Paul has done well. In June, Ron Paul finished second in a Utah straw poll with 5.4 percent of the vote, placing second behind Mormon candidate Mitt Romney. In July, Ron Paul scored 17 percent of the vote in a straw poll in Georgia, finishing second behind Fred Thompson. The straw polls in Utah and Georgia involved only a few hundred people each. The Iowa straw poll however is the first large event involving thousands of voters, which gives a clue about how the election might shape up.

Jamie Kelso attended the Iowa straw poll and reports that the Ron Paul supporters were wildly enthusiastic, marching around the event four times chanting “Ron Paul.” Some people wearing Mitt Romney T-Shirts also chanted “Ron Paul” suggesting that they had been won over by Ron Paul’s speech at the convention. No other candidate had supporters who even came close to that sort of enthusiasm. A number of people at the convention told Kelso that they felt committed to vote for other candidates who had bought their tickets, and they regretted having made those commitments after realizing Ron Paul was the best man there.

Kelso also noted that there was a consensus among most people at the event that Ron Paul had done amazingly well. Paul had spent roughly $250,000 in Iowa versus over nine million dollars by Mitt Romney. Paul made two appearances in Iowa versus up to 35 appearances by some of the other candidates. Despite this huge discrepancy, Ron Paul got roughly a third of the votes Romney got, and Paul’s supporters were much more enthusiastic.

Sam Brownback for example made a huge effort in Iowa, spent a large portion of his available funds, bought $35 tickets for his supporters, and he placed only slightly ahead of Ron Paul. If the ticket price had been waved in the Iowa straw poll, it seems likely Paul would have gotten 20 percent if not 40 percent of the vote.

Still, 9 percent in Iowa is a major milestone. Ron Paul was excluded from a presidential debate in Iowa just a few weeks ago because he was too “insignificant.” The mainstream media and big-name pollsters will have a hard time dismissing Paul now. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of their doctored polls where they claim Paul’s support is only at one or two percent.

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