Team Condi is preparing to be in Iowa for the January 2006 caucus.
Why? To build a team which will reach out and build up the Iowans for Condoleezza Rice team in each of the 99 counties by 2008.
Democrats are debating a change in the primary system, justified by the lack of diversity and minority representation. They sound as if there are no blacks or Hispanic people in Iowa or New Hampshire. They might be surprised that a few of them are leaders of the Iowa Republican Party or are the presidents of Republican women's clubs in Iowa. They might not be on our team now, but they might join us by 2008. So that is why I have been in Iowa four different times in the past year, building relationships.
Underdog candidates with small funds need to set up their plans in order to compete from Iowa to New Hampshire and remain viable. They can ride their momentum if they succeed in winning either state in 2008.
With 10 Republicans on the ballot for the August straw poll in 1999, I saw one of the biggest reasons for having a political gathering to test the political waters for support in a state, which turned out to be the key state of Iowa. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chose not to campaign in Iowa for the straw poll, and for many past elections, the top three winners have gone on to win the nomination.
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I am a volunteer for a presidential candidate, Secretary of State Rice. We have been promoting her as our preferred candidate for the Republican nomination during the past year. She is one of the most viable names for 2008.
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has amassed a war chest of $3 million to campaign for the 2008 nomination. He has 1 percent support in the nation. Compared to Rice at 21 percent in October; that is a huge gap between them. Our group is raising money and building a base of support now across the nation. We have been to four Iowa events and seen the excitement for Condi in Iowa. Also as proof, the Quad City News reported she was at 30 percent among likely caucus voters with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and McCain at less than 20 percent each.
With 10 Republicans again in the open field for 2008, Team Condi might have to prepare for a delegate battle in 2008. And if Rice has not come out to declare herself as a candidate by January 2008, we will have to go to another phase of our "Eisenhower Plan," a write-in campaign in New Hampshire and Iowa. Then she will be more likely to accept the will of the people and declare she will run for president.
Americans for Dr. Rice have been promoting for a year. We plan on being organized for the next two years. With her job approval at 60 percent, she seems to be the most admired Republican in Washington. With star status like that, she has momentum to propel her into the White House in 2008 to finish the work she has started.
Dueker, Fargo, is a Republican activist and volunteer with Americans for Rice, an organization promoting the presidential candidacy of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. E-mail research@americansforrice.com
