ABC News - Rand Paul Banks on College Students to Win Iowa

News Article

By Jessica Hopper

Presidential hopeful Rand Paul spent part of last week back in college, touring universities throughout Iowa as part of his campaign's strategy to win the state by banking on attracting young voters.

At a stop at the University of Northern Iowa, while the senator was live-streaming his day, Paul told ABC News that he felt a little bit like he was on a reality television show.

"I guess you can call it fun," Paul said. "I'm sure I've said four or five things probably that you know shouldn't say on TV."

Paul made those remarks shortly after he answered a question on his live stream about whether he is still running for president.

"I wouldn't be doing this dumb-ass live streaming if I weren't," he said. The campaign later turned the candid remark into a tee shirt.

The live stream and Paul's social media presence are part of his campaign's strategy to go where the young people are.

"I've got three teenage sons and they don't watch any broadcast news. They don't watch any cable news. They just simply get the news from their friends. They get the news from comedy channels," Paul said. "So we try to get out there to the venue where kids are and I think that will also help us."

Going where the kids are last week meant going to colleges across Iowa. Each of the tour stops began with loud music playing and a screen with a campaign logo that includes an image of Paul wearing Ray Ban shades. A campaign video of students standing with Rand was also played and Paul was often introduced by the local Young Republicans student leader or a Students for Rand leader.

Paul calls these young voters "a natural constituency."

"Young people I think gravitate to a candidate who's less likely to take them to war, less likely to put them in jail for a marijuana offense and also less likely to have the government collecting all their phone records," Paul said. "In fact, I think I'm the one who will stand up for them on all three fronts: privacy, less war and also criminal justice reform."

Some of the schools that hosted Paul have also hosted his GOP rivals like Donald Trump and Rick Santorum, while others haven't seen a candidate in years.

"I don't really know too much about the candidates," said Tiffany, a senior at Upper Iowa University who asked that her last name not be used. "I think it's nice that he actually took the time to think about a small school and to come out here."

It's also strategic. The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Feb. 1, while schools are in session. The Paul campaign is hoping to get 10,000 students to caucus for them. The campaign claims to have 1000 students already agreeing to caucus for them in Iowa. At each stop, after Paul gave his stump speech to students, a member of his campaign team would come on stage and explain the importance that these students could have in presidential politics.

"It matters what happens here and you have an outsized say in picking not just the next president but the next person who will be the most powerful leader in the world, so avail yourself of this opportunity," Steve Grubbs, chief strategist of Paul's campaign in Iowa, told students at the University of Northern Iowa.

Campaign aides urged students to fill out a card with their contact info and asked those who got in line to take a photo with Paul to pledge to caucus for the senator.

Still, Paul has his work cut out for him.

Zach Nullmeyer, a student at Wartburg College in Waverly Iowa, left undecided after listening to the Republican presidential candidate.

"A lot of the attention in the media goes to Donald Trump and it's nice to hear about people in the Republican Party that are not Trump," Nullmeyer told ABC News.

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