In a July 18-26 trip Earl and his wife Rosemary ("Mrs. E") drove across Iowa discretely spreading the word about Sen. Bayh. Earl described the strategy in his July 31 column:
It was decided that I would mount a "Bayh!" bumper sticker on my rental car as soon as I crossed over into Iowa.All told, the Earls put in 2,216 miles between Chicago, IL and Omaha, NE. They connected with many Iowans, although he noted in an e-mail that "in 2006, most folks had no interest in discussing campaign 2008."That would serve as a travelling billboard for the Senator.
We would also be posting on community bulletin boards the modified Garland Ragland flyer that would introduce Iowans to Senator Bayh.
Mrs. E. had a brilliant idea of placing them also in hotel lobby magazines and complimentary newspapers, and also leaving several in the breakfast rooms of the hotels.
We would both be wearing our "Bayh! Grassroots" badges, and the blue Bayh pinbacks.
We would NOT bring up Evan Bayh unless someone asked us about the badges and pin as THEY would be the ones breaking the ice.
Earl is a Southern Californian who has been active [column 1, column 2] in Democratic politics since 1966. On Nov. 4, 2004 he wrote a letter to his local Democratic club endorsing Bayh as "a proven winner" who "knows how to attract Republicans and Middle America." He posted the first message on the Evan Bayh In 2008 Yahoo! site on Nov. 10, 2004. By the end of July he had contributed 78 columns to the independent Americans for Bayh blog.
Itinerary (Overnights)
Tuesday, July 18...Lisle, IL (Chicagoland side of Iowa)Wednesday, July 19...Dyersville, Iowa
Thursday, July 20...Manchester, Iowa
Friday, July 21...Clear Lake, Iowa
Saturday, July 22...Mason City, Iowa
Sunday, July 23...North Sioux City (At Iowa border, in South Dakota)
Monday, July 24...Indianola, Iowa
Tuesday, July 25...Council Bluffs, Iowa
Wednesday, July 26...Omaha (At Iowa border, in Nebraska)
