Monday, August 15, 2011

The 2011 Ames Straw Poll Photo Tour, Vol. 4

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Ames 2011 52 Voices of Conservative Women

Also on the bus down to Ames were women from Voices of Conservative Women. Their tent was across the sidewalk from the FairTax tent and they were fundraising by selling kernels of corn that you could dump into a jar labeled with your favorite candidate.

Ames 2011 51 Cool Conservative

Also in the tent were some other conservative women’s groups and they had very heavy traffic. This is something I would call “the Sarah Palin” effect as I’ve noticed just how many women have become involved in tea parties and politics since 2008.

Ames 2011 53 Georgians for FairTax

Behind the Tea Party stage, the Georgians for FairTax had a small tent. It wasn’t a good location and was also hurt by the poor attendance at the Tea Party stage.

Ames 2011 54 Save Our American Republic

Save Our American Republic suffered the same fate. They are a 9-12 Project associated group in Iowa.

Ames 2011 55 AARP

AARP had a big tent full of chairs, tables, wicker couches, and television screens of C-SPAN covering the speeches. They also had a somewhat scary inflatable Uncle Sam out front. To the ire of of one of my bus mates, the pro-Obamacare organization had a cardboard cutout of Ronald Reagan you could have your picture taken with.

Ames 2011 56 Iowa Energy Security Banner

You couldn’t escape the energy lobby anywhere you went. These signs were all over the walkways.

Ames 2011 57 Iowa Energy Forum Bus

The bus the energy lobby had was next to the misting fans so popular with children. People who signed up to ride this bus in were given a tote bag of freebies including a digital camera. All they had to to do was watch a half hour presentation in return. Amazing how much money was put into this lobbying effort.

Ames 2011 58 Ron Paul Tents

The Ron Paul tents covered a considerable area and his red shirts could be seen everywhere. They really thought they could win the poll and catapult him into the lead. Compared to four years ago, the Paulians were much better behaved.

Ames 2011 59 Big Screen

This massive outdoor screen was erected by the energy lobby. Their efforts were on a par with any of the presidential campaigns present.

Ames 2011 60 Sarah Palin Fan

This spectacle caught the corner of my eye. While I saw more than a few Rick Perry stickers on people, the draft Sarah Palin lobby were few and far between.

Ames 2011 61 Al Shea Banner

Another micro-candidate I’d never heard of and I can’t remember how his name ends. The wind was a constant foe for taking pictures of banners, but a welcome friend cooling us off. It doesn’t really matter, he’s not going to be the nominee.

Ames 2011 62 Food Lines Again

Here is one line for free food extending for a long distance. You can glimpse another parallel line on the right going to a different food tent. Half an hour or more was the typical wait.

Ames 2011 63 Obamacare

Obamacare borders on being a four letter word these days. Though the recent 11th Circuit court ruling makes it more likely it will be overturned, people aren’t resting.

Ames 2011 64 Antiwar Sign

Anti-war and anti-taxes is what the Paul supporters are all about. And by no taxes, I mean NO taxation at all. They are much closer to being anarchists than libertarians in what they say, but the behavior is more disturbing. Glassy eyed fanatics worshiping Doctor Ron is how I’ve heard them described and I have to agree. A friend of mine remarked on how they reminded him of brown shirts in 1930’s Germany. Another four years ago made a similar comparison.

Ames 2011 65 Solar RacerAmes 2011 66 Solar Racer 2

Inside the green energy lobby’s air conditioned tent there was free kettle popcorn to be had. While I di partake of that, the solar powered race car was far more interesting. Built for $150,000 it hit top speeds of over 70 mph with the potential to hit higher. It is retired and being replaced by a new smaller one to meet new government regulations.

Ames 2011 67 Marching Band

A marching band was present in the afternoon and I have no idea who they were affiliated with. It used to be you always had marching bands at political rallies, but that is a thing of yesteryear. It was nice to see and hear them.

Ames 2011 68 Palin Fans

A small band of devoted Sarah Palin fans getting organized. They fanned out to circulate in the crowds shortly after this was taken.

Ames 2011 69 Bachmann Goes to Speak

Michelle Bachmann heading to the coliseum to give her candidate speech. I nearly got run over while taking this picture. Not by golf carts with security, but by photographers and video camera people from the media. I had no idea they could run so fast with heavy equipment like that outside of a war zone.

To be continued…

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