Will Ron Paul Annouce in Iowa?

Ron Paul speaks to supporter in Des Moines after the 2010 GOP convention as campaign aide Jesse Benton looks on. Paul's next speech in Des Moines might be the start of his Presidential campaign.

Various sources in the local and national media are reporting that Dr. Ron Paul will announce his 2012 Presidential bid during a stop in Des Moines tomorrow.  Paul has been teasing supporters with 2012 talk for months to raise money for his PAC and has repeatedly said that he’d consider a third bid if he felt there was support for his issues – particularly on the monetary system.  Some of the suspense was taking away when Paul RSVP’d “yes” to the first televised Republican debate scheduled for next Thursday in South Carolina.   Paul’s speech, whatever the topic, will take place at 3:45 at the Des Moines Airport Holiday Inn.  Dr. Paul is in New York City today, so he may preempt the Iowa announcement by throwing his hat into the ring on tonight’s Colbert Report.  Paul’s entrance to the race means that there will be two freedom candidates on the stage as CPAC straw poll bronze medalist Gary Johnson made his campaign official last week.

The way things are shaping up, it seems Dr. Paul will run hard in Iowa this time around.  During the 2008 campaign, Paul visited the state a mere 9 times, with some of those little more than flying into Des Moines to conduct a press conference then flying out.  In a state where voters expect to meet the candidates face-to-face, Paul had to rely on an aggressive ground game to make up for his lack of attention to the state, but efforts fell just shy of clinching one of the “three tickets out of Iowa” for the good Doctor.  Since 2008, it seems Paul (or at least his political advisers) has seen the benefits of a strong presence in Iowa.  Paul returned for standing-room-only speeches at Iowa State University and the U of I, headlined a Campaign for Liberty regional conference, keynoted a state GOP fundraiser, and lent a hand to several state legislative candidates who now have big government Republicans practically tearing their hair out.  If their is a broad field of neoconservatives, Paul could have an outside shot to slip away with the “gold” next January.  (Yes, the caucuses are scheduled for February but the shenanigans of the Florida GOP are going to significantly push the calendar up.)

An Open Letter to Iowans for Tax Relief

Iowans for Tax Relief is much criticized by those of us in the freedom movement, particularly after they excluded Ron Paul from their 2007 candidate’s forum, but they have been hitting the right notes lately.  They put out a mail piece last week attacking Tax Hike Terry’s casino tax plan and yesterday took the governor to task for line-item vetoing important tax relief measures from a spending bill.

While ITR is in the right on both issues, one has to wonder where they were last fall when the offending politician was campaigning for office against two staunch advocates of limiting government.  So to help our friends from Muscatine, Iowa Freedom Report offers this letter of advice:

Dear Iowans for Tax Relief,

We don’t mean to disturb you with this unsolicited advice, but we received your mail piece last week urging us to oppose Governor Branstad’s casino tax-hike proposal and today we read that you are also criticizing the Governor for vetoing portions of the budget that would reduce the tax burden on working people and small businesses.  While you’re right on all counts, we are a bit confused.  We seem to recall your organization endorsing and supporting Mr. Branstad in the past election.  In the future, would it not be more effective to support a candidate for governor who would not raise taxes at all, rather than support someone with a record of tax increases then complaining about it after the fact?

Best regards,

Iowa Freedom Report

Kent Sorenson Speaks in Butler County Thursday

Sen. Kent Sorenson, shown here with Ron Paul, will be in Aplington Thursday, giving people in Northeast and North Central Iowa a unique opportunity to hear his freedom message.

Freedom Senator Kent Sorenson (R-Indianola) will make a rare speaking appearance outside of his district this week.  The Butler County Republican Party has announced that Senator Sorenson will deliver the keynote address at their annual Spring Fundraiser.  The event will be held at the Aplington Recreation Complex (the golf course clubhouse) at 6 pm this Thursday April 14.  Tickets cost $15 for individuals and $40 for families, payable at the door.  In recognition of the special occasion and to help promote Sorenson’s message of less-government-not-more, Iowa Freedom Report will be offering a limited number of tickets at the reduced rate of $10.  Please contact us at editor (at) IowaFreedomReport.com to make the arrangements.  Iowa Freedom Report will provide your ticket and take care of paying the money to local party leaders.

Kent Sorenson is only in his first term as a Senator after serving one term as a Representative.  He is symbolic of Ron Paul’s declaration that “freedom is popular.”  Sorenson had no help from the mainstream GOP, yet beat a Democrat incumbent during the Obama-led sweep of 2008.  With help from Dr. Paul and the freedom movement, who were impressed by Sorenson’s record on spending and gun rights, he took down another incumbent to join the Senate in 2010.  Sorenson’s uncompromising freedom message and rising popularity has dramatically altered the Republican caucus in the legislature.  Previous Republican-held legislatures continued the business as usual policies of expanding government.  Now, GOP legislators know they must follow Sorenson’s lead to capitalize on his popularity and are actually advocating cuts.

If your conscious does not forbid you from giving a small amount of money to the Republican Party, please come out and join Iowa Freedom Report in welcoming Mr. Sorenson to northeast Iowa.

Libertarian Party Convention To Be Held May 7

The Libertarian Party of Iowa has announced the date and venue for their 2011 state convention.  The convention will be held on Saturday, May 7.  The Hilton Garden Inn – Des Moines/Urbandate (actually Johnston) will be the site for the 2011 state convention. The Hilton Garden Inn is located on 86th Street just North of I-35/80.  It was also the site of the  state convention in 2008 and 2009.

Convention planning is still taking place, but expect to see past candidates speak of their experiences, future candidates put in a plug for their campaigns, an awards ceremony to recognize those who did outstanding things for the party in 2010, the usual business and housekeeping stuff, and a possible guest speaker. “The best thing about all conventions,” says party secretary and former candidate for Governor Kevin Litten,  “is usually just talking to similar minded people about how they have promoted liberty and how you can promote it better.”

The convention will begin at 9 AM. Lunch will be at noon and the business meeting will begin at 1 PM. The business meeting has been and always will be free to members. A donation of $25 is asked to cover expenses of lunch, munchies, room, and materials. Please RSVP to Timothy Hird at hird.tomothy@peoplepc.com <mailto:hird.tomothy@peoplepc.com> or Ed Wright at eb4gp1@netins.net <mailto:eb4gp1@netins.net> by April 30th . Checks can be mailed to the PO Box at:

Libertarian Party of Iowa
P.O. Box 480
Des Moines, Iowa 50302

Any agenda items such as proposed bylaws or requests to speak should be sent to Ed Wright. Break away sessions or discussion groups are possible but should be planned for the morning. If you carry and need to use the restroom, a gun wrangler will be designated.

We’ve also been informed that Iowa Freedom Report will be receiving an award of some type for promoting the message of the Libertarian Party.  While this site is strictly transpartisan in editorial philosophy, we did endorse several of the LP’s candidates in the last election cycle and were one of the few media outlets in the state to give them coverage on an equal basis with the major parties.

Daily Iowan Urges Leftists to Caucus Libertarian

In an article published yesterday, Shawn Gude, an editor with the University of Iowa’s Daily Iowan urged campus leftists to shed partisan labels and unite with libertarians to support Governor Gary Johnson in the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.  The full article is available online here, with some of the interesting quotes pulled out below:

There are few things that pollute our political system more than vacuous partisanship. . .

I have an alternative for the disillusioned left: What if instead of reflexively backing Obama, we threw our vim and vigor behind Gary Johnson’s presidential bid? What if liberal Democrats in Iowa caucused for Johnson next February — not simply to scuttle the Republican field, but to mount a substantive challenge to Obama’s policies? . .

I know many of my ideological compadres have a visceral disdain for libertarians. But a strong showing by Johnson — buoyed by broad left-liberal support — would be a boon for several reasons.

Issue-based alliances between libertarians and the political left are needed to confront the bipartisan consensus of militarism, corporatism, mass incarceration, an unaccountable executive, and the erosion of civil liberties. The odious amalgam has become the norm that, save for a radical change, will only become more entrenched.

That’s where Johnson comes in.

The left won’t be amenable to Johnson’s agenda on most fiscal and economic issues. (I also find his enthusiastic cheerleading for school vouchers and support for privatized prisons as New Mexico governor deplorable.)

But he supports limiting America’s military footprint abroad, legalizing marijuana, and halting civil-liberty curtailment.

Contrast that with Obama’s horrendous record on foreign policy, drug policy, and civil liberties. I don’t think you’d see Johnson trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed before a military commission or tacitly accepting the inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning.

Gude seems to dismiss the possibility of supporting another potential candidate with libertarian sympathies, Congressman Ron Paul.  Paul has taken a risky stance in his recent trips to Iowa, aligning himself with anti-gay bigots, which has earned him some “atta-boys” from mainstream Republicans but quizzical looks or even outright disdain from freedom activists.  Paul will need to tread carefully with college aged voters if he wishes to keep them in the fold in 2012.  Just in Johnson County, the home of the U of I, Paul’s percentage of the vote was 5% higher than his state average.  Unlike the average GOP voter, today’s youth are more likely to get riled up over wars and violations of privacy than they are over their friends making a different lifestyle choice than they do.  The energy and passion of free-thinking young people could be a boon to whichever campaign puts forth the effort to reach them.

At Iowa Freedom Report, we are not endorsing in the Caucus because of the likelihood of having two candidates who are solid on the issues, but we welcome the alliance of honest progressives and libertarians.  It is often these groups that can forge real “bi-partisanship” by honestly acknowledging their difference as well as opportunities to for collaboration such as Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders’ work on auditing the Federal Reserve or Justin Amash and Dennis Kuchinich’s resolutions ending the war in Libya.

Ron Paul: “I am off to Iowa” (and New Hampshire)

Texas Congressman and two-time freedom candidate for President is looking more and more like he’ll give it a third try.  Having just visited Iowa twice in March, the good doctor will be back again next week.  In an email to supporters, Paul says;

The 2012 political season is starting to heat up, and I am pleased to announce two important trips next week.

On Monday, I will be making two stops in Iowa. The first event will be at the Dordt College Campus Center, located at 498 4th Avenue NE in Sioux Center.

I will be giving a public lecture on Liberty and family at 10:00 am CT, and the public is most welcome.

Then, I will fly east to Cedar Rapids, where I will speak to students at Kirkwood College at 3:00 pm CT. The event will be in Iowa Hall on the third floor, Rooms A&B.

Both of these events are in key areas for us, and we need to work hard to build support.

I hope you can attend, as it would sure help me to demonstrate the strength of our message. Carol will be traveling with me, and she would love to see all of you!

In the rest of the email, Paul announces that the second trip will be to New Hampshire on April 15th.  With Americans focused on meeting the deadline to file income tax returns (actually moved to April 18th this year), the 15th has long been a key day for tax protesting by members of the Libertarian Party and the freedom movement.  In recent years, many Republicans have joined the tax protests.

Of course another member of the Paul family, Senator Rand Paul was in the state last weekend.  Iowa’s Campaign for Liberty has the full story with exclusive photos and links to many of the mainstream media outlets who covered the event.