Thoughts on Iowa

It’s amusing to see the divergent opinions following Ron Paul’s fifth place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll. His detractors claim that finishing fifth marks him as a non-entity, while his supporters are heartened by a different perspective:

• Gaining 9.1% of the votes when he’s never exceeded 3% in a “scientific” poll is objectively exceeding expectations;
• Ron Paul’s campaign was only in Iowa for a week, while the top four finishers spent significantly more time and money over the past month; and
• Given the grassroots nature of the campaign, the results in Iowa stem from the “message”, not the “machine”

Indeed, on the balance, I am pleased with what I interpret as a successful showing. However, I have some concerns based upon my observations of the past few weeks.

First was the Call Iowa program. On the surface, calling people off voter registration lists sounds reasonable, but I am personally protective of my time and tend to take a dim view towards unsolicited phone calls. I made a number of calls just to try and help out, but ended up far preferring to leave a brief message on an answering machine than having someone pick up the phone. Seems like most people who still have landlines don’t like cold calls any more than I do. Or perhaps all this attention from politicians just gets old if you’re an Iowan :). Next time I’m going to stick to letters.

Second, over the past months of learning about and studying Dr. Paul through his writings and speeches, I have come to far prefer watching him in a conversational/Q&A setting than in a didactic speech. Ironically, I think part of the problem is the high-volume enthusiasm of his supporters. When Dr. Paul is fighting to be heard over the crowd, his delivery becomes more strident, and he loses the well-modulated voice of reason that characterizes his media interviews and discussions in more relaxed settings. It’s not just an issue of acoustic cosmetics, though. When he’s fighting through the applause of his fans, a well-reasoned logical argument can be chopped up into a series of sound bites that individually lose much of their intellectual punch.

Ultimately, Dr. Paul’s message of liberty and our need for a Constitutional government is a logical argument. When he’s preaching to the choir, it’s acceptable to simply recite his beliefs to the screaming fans. But when he’s preaching to skeptics and undecideds, the logical flow of his arguments are essential. And that’s the piece that can get lost in an environment like the Ames Straw Poll, or a televised debate. I expect that as the campaign progresses, he will have more opportunity to interact with voters in more relaxed settings.

In any case, his grassroots supporters need to focus on two words: meaningful conversations. No amount of hootin’ and hollerin’ among the converted can compensate for the fact that there are still a lot of people who have not yet heard, or do not understand, the message of liberty. It’s up to us to engage in questioning, meaningful conversations with family, friends, and colleagues on a daily basis. This campaign is all around us — we’re all living in the same world, experiencing the same challenges, and dealing with the same problems.

Finally, there is one thing that I wish Dr. Paul would do just a bit differently. While his supporters appreciate the wisdom of a noninterventionist (not to be confused with isolationist!) foreign policy, I wish he would explicitly thank the troops for their service in the same breath as declaring his desire to bring them home immediately. I’ve heard him do this on several occasions, and the combination of those two messages is, I believe, at the heart of his compassion for humanity. But when he calls for the troops to come home without acknowledging their sacrifice, there’s a feeling of emptiness on behalf of those who have loved ones over there. Personally, I can’t wait to say, “Thank you for going, and thank God you’re home!”

In the meantime, those of us helping to pursue the message of liberty should take advantage of the written, as well as the spoken, word. While I consistently direct folks with questions to great interviews like Candidates@Google, I cannot get enough of the Ron Paul Library. It’s fully indexed, searchable, and contains decades of his commentary in the Congressional record as well as communications to constituents. I’ve not seen another candidate who has the body of work, and thought, that Ron Paul has made available through his efforts in public service. The guide to practically implementing a Constitutional federal government is there, and empowers us to engage in healthy debate.

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