Rand Paul’s plan to win Iowa caucuses: Support from 10,000 college students

The Iowa caucuses are approaching on Feb. 1, and this year in particular, college students could have a big impact on the results. In both 2012 and 2008, the Iowa caucuses were held on Jan. 3, when most students were at home for the holidays. This year, they will occur while school is actually in session.

“Iowa students have effectively been disenfranchised from voting in the caucuses for nearly the past 20 years,” explained Alexander Staudt, a University of Iowa student. “They either leave the state for winter break and cannot vote when the caucuses were held in January, or they are not home during the school year when their home state has their caucus.”

There is one candidate hoping to take advantage of the increased student turnout: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

Paul’s campaign has set a goal of recruiting 10,000 Iowa college students to caucus for the senator, which if reached, would most likely win him the Republican caucus.

For comparison’s sake, a record 30,000 young voters (under 30) turned out to support Obama in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, according to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. In 2012, Ron Paul had the largest youth turnout in Iowa with approximately 8,800 young voters caucusing for him.