Monday, August 15, 2011

The 2011 Ames Straw Poll Photo Tour, Vol. 3

Volume 1

Volume 2

Ames 2011 38 Famous Dave's BBQ

On the bus there was talk of Pawlenty being given a terrible location near the entrance. The moment the Famous Dave’s BBQ signs were visible any disadvantage was gone. It was a brilliant move to have them cater and it made the tents a big draw.

Ames 2011 39 Pawlenty Tents 1

The lines to get in were lengthy and from what I could see were as heavily trafficked as any candidate’s tents.

Ames 2011 40 Pawlenty Stage

Most of the candidates had big stages for bands to play music. This was a change from last time when only Romney and Huckabee did.

Ames 2011 41 Dairy Queen

What, Dairy Queen too? That’s a killer one two punch of free food. Sadly for Pawlenty free food did not buy votes.

Ames 2011 42 FairTax Sign

I really liked the design for the FairTax signs. They stood out amongst all the others.

Ames 2011 43 FairTax Tent 3

It seems like quite a few organizations were giving away iPad 2’s. While I don’t know how many entered the drawing, the FairTax petition got 3000 signatures on Saturday. That was a huge success for us.

Ames 2011 44 Crowd

There were a lot of people at the Straw Poll and that added to the state fair feel of the occasion.

Ames 2011 45 David and Ed FairTax

Finally found my father and his friend Ed coming out of the Cain area. I wouldn’t see them again for hours.

Ames 2011 47 SoapboxAmes 2011 48 Soapbox Schedule

The Iowa Republican Soapbox was an interesting collaboration with Google to stream interviews with candidates and attendees on the Net. They also gave away an iPad 2. The videos are still up at their web site and youTube channel.

Ames 2011 49 Crowd 2

A staggering amount of people attended. At least I was staggering…

Ames 2011 50 Windmill Blade Signatures

On the bus we had an activist going to protest against wind turbines due to a project up by the Twin Cities. She was hopeful we would write anti-wind power slogans on the blade. I found a whopping one and it was a call to build more nuclear plants. Alternative energy is the touchy feely fad of the moment and it is in full swing.

To be continued…

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