Cruz wins Iowa caucus, Rand Paul 5th

Rand Paul Campaign, SuperPAC Speak on Iowa and What's Next - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

February 2, 2016 - "Rand Paul's vote in the Iowa caucus tonight could have been roughly predicted from the most recent polling. It was discouraging for those who hoped for a last-minute surge to third driven by student turnout and over a million voter I.D. and GOTV [get out the vote] calls.

"Paul's campaign issued a statement tonight trying to spin the results positively, which read in part:

Rand Paul had a strong top-five finish by placing ahead of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and the last two Iowa Caucus winners tonight. The voters spoke for the first time, and they showed that they believe everyone in our country should have the liberty to make the most of their lives, not just the well-connected and the political establishment.Whether the issue is constitutional government, a balanced budget, a rational foreign policy, or preserving the entire Bill of Rights for all citizens, Rand Paul is the only one standing up for conservatives and liberty-loving Americans.

Tonight's vote reveals that the race for the White House is wide open. Dr. Rand Paul believes his voice is important to the debate, and calls on ABC and the RNC to make sure he is on the stage next weekend in New Hampshire. The results today demand it.... 

"Matt Kibbe, formerly of Tea Party-identified liberty activist group FreedomWorks and now with the Paul-supporting unaffiliated SuperPAC Concerned American Voters [CAV], ... worked on GOTV for Paul in Iowa.

"While 'we wanted Rand to do better, given where he has been it was a credible showing. I do think that Cruz and Donald Trump and even oddly enough Bernie Sanders were eating away at Rand's potential voting bloc,' Kibbe says. 'It heightens the now obvious divide between the liberty vote and the anti-establishment populist vote'....

"Kibbe is not as viscerally turned off by Cruz as many libertarians are. 'If you look at Ted Cruz' background, his training as a classical liberal is impressive," Kibbe says. 'He's read Mises and Hayek, he's read all the books [libertarians] have read and I believe he deeply understands those ideas'."

"Kibbe admits that 'I'm more ambivalent today because he has flip flopped on criminal justice and he's flip flopped on surveillance and most worrisome is, what is his foreign policy?...'

"Cruz or no, Kibbe says that 'there is still momentum to move forward [with Paul], it was a very credible performance tonight and we [CAV] will be in it as long as Rand is in it.' They are currently involved in social networking efforts in New Hampshire and ground work in Nevada....

"Kibbe says that even voters who are never going to embrace the full vision of movement libertarianism in an intellectual, bookish manner are still capturable by libertarian-leaning politicians."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/02/02/rand-paul-campaign-superpac-speak-on-iow

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Ground game key to Rand Paul's Iowa prospects (video)

Rand Paul's Iowa Hopes - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

January 21, 2016 - "Rand Paul likely needs to pull off a very good showing on February 1 in Iowa if his campaign is to have any future. Ron Paul in 2012 pulled 21 percent, ... though current polling does not bear out his belief that he'll pull anything close to a Ron-like percentage....

"However, his student supporters insist that since this caucus is happening, unlike the last one, while college is in session, that a vast unpolled (since they don't have landlines) student and youth vote is going to make a miracle for Paul....

Daily Caller has more on the campaign's student strategy:

....the campaign has had between 40 and 50 college students in Iowa making phone calls on a daily basis in an attempt to attract the Libertarian-leaning millennials Paul’s father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, managed to captivate during his presidential bids and time in the House.

“We’ve organized all across Iowa on campuses, we’re recruiting what we call our Iowa 10,000 to try and bring 10,000 college students to the caucus – so we feel really good that our grassroots effort are really strong there,” Senior National Advisor Michael Biundo told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “In addition to that, we’ve organized 1,000 precinct captains throughout the state. You need a lot of organization to get people out on an icy, cold Iowa night to spend several hours at the caucus location – and having done it before, having that many precinct captains is a significant milestone a lot of campaigns can’t tout.”

"A Paul-supporting SuperPAC, Concerned American Voters, has raised over $5 million over the course of the campaign and have been focusing their early efforts on get-out-the-vote and voter identification in Iowa....

"Their digital ad strategy hopes to make sure anyone even potentially interested in Paul sees some of their content, and they have launched a half-million digital ad buy for that purpose. They have 30 videos already circulating, and intend to have more than 75 by the end of the month.

"Their calling operation has identified over 37,000 potential Paul caucus voters, who have claimed they either will, are likely to, or might vote for him. Jeff Frazee, a veteran of Ron Paul's campaigns and president of that PAC, predicts an Iowa win would open as yet-closed taps of cash for Paul....

"Another Paul-supporting SuperPAC, PurplePAC, has an ad for Paul they've developed airing on TV in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids now. It will be airing 25 times on the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, six time on Fox affiliate, 33 times on CBS affiliate, and 46 times on NBC affiliate. In Des Moines, it will air 36 times on local CBS, 11 on Fox, 40 on NBC, and 30 on ABC, for a total 227 airings in both markets combined.

"The ad, below, is built around the visual and textual metaphor of liberty as a flame that only Rand Paul will keep stoked:"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/01/21/rand-pauls-iowa-hopes
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Purple PAC suspends Rand Paul campaign

Rand Paul 2016: One of his super PACs goes dark - POLITICO - Alex Isenstadt:

September 29, 2015 - "One of the three super PACs supporting Rand Paul’s presidential campaign has stopped raising money, dealing a damaging blow to an already cash-starved campaign.

"In a Tuesday telephone interview, Ed Crane, who oversees the group, PurplePAC, accused Paul of abandoning his libertarian views -- and suggested it was a primary reason the Kentucky senator had plummeted in the polls.

"'I have stopped raising money for him until I see the campaign correct its problems,' said Crane, who co-founded the Cato Institute think tank and serves as its president emeritus.... 'I don’t see the point in it right now,' he added.

"PurplePAC has been in existence for around two years, but over the summer Crane transformed it into a Paul-focused vehicle. It joined two other super PACs, America’s Liberty and Concerned American Voters, that were expressly designed to support Paul.

"In July, PurplePAC announced that it had raised around $1.2 million - the vast majority of it coming from Jeff Yass, a Philadelphia options trader.

"Crane said the organization currently had over $1 million cash on hand, but no longer wanted to ask for contributions.... The libertarian views that catapulted Paul to national prominence had 'disappeared,' Crane said....

"'I want to grab Rand by the lapels and say, "What are you doing?"' Crane said. 'I’m a big fan of Rand Paul. But whatever motivates his campaign, I don’t get it.'

"The decision comes at a perilous time for the Kentucky senator, who has fallen in polls and struggled to raise cash. Paul has raised just $13 million between his campaign and the three super PACs – a fraction of many of his rivals. There are also fresh questions about how much America’s Liberty will be able to raise going forward. Last month, Jesse Benton, a longtime Paul aide who helped to oversee the group, was indicted on charges that he concealed payments to an Iowa state senator while working for Paul’s father, Ron, on the 2012 presidential race....

"Sergio Gor, a Paul spokesman, noted that the two super PACs that were originally set up to help Rand Paul - America's Liberty and Concerned American Voters - “remain active and ongoing.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/rand-paul-superpac-purplepac-dark-214221
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Jesse Benton charged with bribery over 2011 case

Rand Paul 2016: Jesse Benton, Super PAC head, indicted in payment scheme - Politico - Kyle Cheney, Katie Glueck, & Manu Raju:

 August 5, 2015 - "A close confidant of Sen. Rand Paul was indicted Wednesday for an alleged conspiracy to bribe an Iowa state senator in 2011 to shift allegiances to Paul’s father, Ron, then a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Jesse Benton, a longtime aide to the younger Paul who’s now helming a super PAC supporting the Kentucky Republican’s 2016 presidential bid, faces charges of conspiracy, obstructing an investigation, submitting false campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission and making false statements to the FBI. Two other operatives, John Tate and Dimitrios Kesari, also face charges connected to the alleged payoff....

"'Senator Rand Paul is disappointed that the Obama justice department chose to release this just prior to the highly anticipated first Republican presidential debate,' said a campaign spokesman, who asked not to be identified. 'It certainly appears suspiciously timed and possibly, politically motivated. Additionally, these actions are from 2012 and have nothing to do with our campaign'....

"According to the Justice Department, the three operatives paid more than $70,000 — concealed as legitimate campaign expenditures — to then-state Sen. Kent Sorenson in order to shift his support from Rep. Michele Bachmann to the elder Paul. Sorenson made his switch public on Dec. 28, 2011, in Des Moines. The three operatives also coached Sorenson to lie when asked whether he was offered money for his support, according to the indictment....

"The super PAC Benton runs, America’s Liberty PAC, is one of three pro-Rand Paul presidential super PACs. The other two are Concerned American Voters, run by Jeff Frazee and Matt Kibbe, and Purple PAC, run by Ed Crane. America’s Liberty PAC, however, is the one super PAC that’s been sanctioned by the Paul campaign, and on its website it describes itself as the “only Super PAC endorsed by Senator Paul.”

"The fresh headlines of the scandal, which came one day before the first Republican debate, could impact not only Paul’s presidential ambitions, but also his reelection bid for his Senate seat. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Wednesday blasted out a story on the indictment with the subject line 'Hey Rand, We’ll See You When You Drop Out Of The Presidential Race!'

"Benton, 37, had been a rising star in GOP politics and is a Paul family member. (He is married to Ron Paul’s granddaughter, who is Rand Paul’s niece.) With his deep ties to the libertarian movement, Benton has long had clout among the conservative grass roots."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/rand-paul-2016-jesse-benton-super-pac-121034.html
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Super PACs raise $6 Million for Rand Paul

Libertarian Donors Put up $6 Million for Rand Paul GOP Bid - ABC News - Julie Bykowicz, Associated Press:

July 27, 2015 - "Deep-pocketed libertarians are giving big to help Rand Paul win the Republican presidential primary.

"Three super PACS supporting the libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator said they raised a combined $6 million through June 30. That's on top of the nearly $7 million that Paul's campaign reported pulling in between his April announcement and the end of last month.

"'There are some very wealthy libertarians out there, and they're all going to be hearing from me,' said Ed Crane, president of one of the pro-Paul super PACs, called Purple PAC. 'It's a strong potential base for Rand.'

"Paul's top backer so far is Jeff Yass, managing director of high-frequency trading firm Susquehanna International Group, who split a $2 million contribution last month between Purple PAC and another pro-Paul super PAC, America's Liberty.

"Yass and Crane know each other through the Cato Institute, a free market think tank in Washington that began in the 1970s with the backing of billionaire energy executives Charles and David Koch. Crane is a co-founder, and Yass is a board member.

"Joining Yass in the $1 million donor club is George Macricostas, head of a data center company called RagingWire. Those two accounted for most of America's Liberty's $3.1 million in fundraising so far this year.

"A third super PAC, Concerned American Voters, has not yet filed a fundraising report, but its leaders said they've raised $1.9 million. Scott Banister, a tech investor in Silicon Valley, is among the donors....

"Paul is one of an expected 17 Republican presidential candidates, and he's in the top half of the class for fundraising."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/libertarian-donors-put-million-rand-paul-gop-bid-32717080
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