Rep. Ron Paul returns to Iowa next week

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul will return to Iowa next week with town hall meetings in three cities on the western side of the state.

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Paul will begin the day with an in-studio taping with WHO-Radio’s Jan Mickelson before traveling to a noon town hall meeting at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

He will appear at 2 p.m. at River’s Bend Convention Center in Sioux City and at 4 p.m. at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer.

The Iowa appearances come on the heels of a national and ongoing spat between Paul and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is also hoping for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. The Paul campaign rolled out an ad in which their candidate’s long-term conservative credentials, including support of President Ronald Reagan, was contrasted with the fact that Perry is a former Democrat that supported Vice President Al Gore’s presidential bid.

Perry’s campaign was quick to respond, releasing a 1987 letter written by Paul and distributed by the Libertarian Party News. In the letter, Paul was critical not only of the GOP in general, but of Reagan specifically for government spending. The following press release from the Paul campaign quoted Reagan saying that “Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.” The remainder of the release also created threads of consistency between Reagan and Paul.

It seems the flap may have escalated during last week’s GOP presidential debate when Reuters’ cameras caught a finger-wagging Perry and somewhat shocked Paul in the midst of what appears to be a confrontational exchange.

The Paul campaign, which has rolled out numerous constituency groups in the past few weeks, also added a “Youth for Ron Paul” to its coalition-building efforts. Citing the fact that people age 18 to 29 broke nearly two-to-one in favor of President Barack Obama over U.S. Sen. John McCain during the 2008 general election, the Paul campaign noted that it is targeting the demographic for 2012.

“Young people have the passion, energy and dedication to carry on the freedom message. Real change will come from the next generation,” Paul explained at the time of the announcement. The constituency group is, according to the Paul campaign, an outgrowth of Ron Paul’s youth organization, Young Americans for Liberty, and that organizations national field director, Edward King, will lead the effort.

“In 2008, Ron Paul’s youth campaign registered more than 26,000 supporters and organized 500 college chapters,” said King. “Since then, Ron Paul’s youth support has grown exponentially. Young people want to live free. I have witnessed countless disaffected college students and former Obama supporters discover Ron Paul over the last few years.”

An official kick-off of the youth constituency will take place on Sept. 23 at Louisiana State University.