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bedsitter23The thing about the Iowa caucus is that it goes on for two years and then it's suddenyl done.
Where's the souvenirs?
Okay for one, you can buy an endorsement from a major Conservative spokesman.
For those with cash to spare, there's the Ames Straw Poll Experience. For $18,000, even an absolute nobody can get the largest tent there, a guaranteed main stage speech, and up to four articles written about you in the Des Moines Register. Can you beat the high score of Thad Mccotter? 35 votes?
Still, this is recession timers, so most of us are stuck with just the t-shirt.
Not that Raygun isn't one of he most awesome companies in Iowa. Their jokes are probably too Iowacentric for the most of you. For example, "No Sleep Til Brooklyn (Iowa)" - as worn by Adam Richman on Man vs Food, only is funny if you know where Brooklyn, Iowa is.
Still, as someone whose bookshelves are filled by a real who's who of both parties, whose mail is filled with campaign fliers, and drives by a major campaign Headquarters every day; there are always some kind of souvenirs for the taking.
The book tours are the most obvious. Right before election time, the major politicians make their way to the local Barnes & Noble and Borders (RIP), you know, just to promote their book. Gingrich's stop in 2007 and Palin and Pawlenty's multiple stops through Iowa this Spring and Fall, were just obvious "Don't mind us we are just browsing" sojourns to see how many people in Iowa might show up at their events.
Still, those events generally happen before an announcement. Newt Gingrich has taken this to the next level.
You probably know (duh) that Newton is running for President. However, you may not be aware that he is out supporting his documentary about Ronald Reagan.
Nothing wrong with that, except he is doing both at the same time in Iowa.
To his credit that means he can run tv ads that show the Gipper and Newt side-by-side, certainly a positive asset if you are a potential Republican Presidential candidate. Like the Bachmann and Palin movies of four months ago, it's not a campaign ad, but it's just as good.
Of course, where this gets odd is that Gingrich appears to be using his campaign as a way to sell videos. The confusion comes in when Gingrich sells these in Iowa, and potential voters think they are giving money to the campaign, and they are giving it to Newt directly (where he can spend it how he sees fit, regardless of campaign laws).
I suppose at the end of the day, it's probably not enough to be worked up about (especially Iowans start to abandon the good ship Gingrich (His favorability has went from +31 to +12 to -1 according to PPP numbers) and remember back to when he was a marginal candidate who'd rather spend time in the Mediterranean than in Eastern Iowa).
Where's the souvenirs?
Okay for one, you can buy an endorsement from a major Conservative spokesman.
For those with cash to spare, there's the Ames Straw Poll Experience. For $18,000, even an absolute nobody can get the largest tent there, a guaranteed main stage speech, and up to four articles written about you in the Des Moines Register. Can you beat the high score of Thad Mccotter? 35 votes?
Still, this is recession timers, so most of us are stuck with just the t-shirt.
Not that Raygun isn't one of he most awesome companies in Iowa. Their jokes are probably too Iowacentric for the most of you. For example, "No Sleep Til Brooklyn (Iowa)" - as worn by Adam Richman on Man vs Food, only is funny if you know where Brooklyn, Iowa is.
Still, as someone whose bookshelves are filled by a real who's who of both parties, whose mail is filled with campaign fliers, and drives by a major campaign Headquarters every day; there are always some kind of souvenirs for the taking.
The book tours are the most obvious. Right before election time, the major politicians make their way to the local Barnes & Noble and Borders (RIP), you know, just to promote their book. Gingrich's stop in 2007 and Palin and Pawlenty's multiple stops through Iowa this Spring and Fall, were just obvious "Don't mind us we are just browsing" sojourns to see how many people in Iowa might show up at their events.
Still, those events generally happen before an announcement. Newt Gingrich has taken this to the next level.
You probably know (duh) that Newton is running for President. However, you may not be aware that he is out supporting his documentary about Ronald Reagan.
Nothing wrong with that, except he is doing both at the same time in Iowa.
To his credit that means he can run tv ads that show the Gipper and Newt side-by-side, certainly a positive asset if you are a potential Republican Presidential candidate. Like the Bachmann and Palin movies of four months ago, it's not a campaign ad, but it's just as good.
Of course, where this gets odd is that Gingrich appears to be using his campaign as a way to sell videos. The confusion comes in when Gingrich sells these in Iowa, and potential voters think they are giving money to the campaign, and they are giving it to Newt directly (where he can spend it how he sees fit, regardless of campaign laws).
I suppose at the end of the day, it's probably not enough to be worked up about (especially Iowans start to abandon the good ship Gingrich (His favorability has went from +31 to +12 to -1 according to PPP numbers) and remember back to when he was a marginal candidate who'd rather spend time in the Mediterranean than in Eastern Iowa).
