Not even three years ago, the chairman of the Iowa Tea Party was a 26-year-old college student studying “turf grass management’’ — as in golf courses. Taking two years off to work odd jobs had left him without enough credits to graduate. He was broke.
That is the tantalizing opening to Beth Reinhard’s report for National Journal on Ryan Rhodes, the man that all the presidential wannabes bow to. Here’s what Reinhard found during her time in Iowa.
“Now, potential presidential candidates know Ryan Rhodes on a first-name basis. And by virtue of his status as a movement leader in the state with first dibs on the presidential race, he’s poised to play an outsized role in helping to choose the 2012 Republican nominee.
‘The Iowa Tea Party’s 2-week-long statewide bus tour in June aims to train hundreds of voters to participate in the Iowa caucuses and showcase presidential candidates along the way. It’s an ambitious goal for a loosely organized group with a web site still under construction.
“’This isn’t about just getting people out to a rally,’’’ said Rhodes, who at 28 could still pass for a student at Iowa State University. “’This is about getting people to do more than just vote. Our goal is to make a difference. If candidates are talking about our issues, we win.’’’
“Unlike the broader movement, tea party activists in socially conservative Iowa are likely to be as concerned about abortion and gay marriage as they are about deficit spending.
“’If people are passionate about something, we don’t want to stifle it,’’’ he said in a recent interview in a trendy Des Moines bar. Older Republican activists who spot the dimpled Rhodes greet him like their grandson. “’We’re not one-issue voters.’’’
“Rhodes never expected to be at the forefront of presidential politics. When he started college, he was more interested in partying and going to football games. He was found guilty of underage drinking in 2002. A couple years later, he left college and floated from one job to another: chef, construction worker, clothing store salesman, pizza delivery guy.
“His unlikely road to grassroots activism began with a protest over a campus blood drive after he returned to Iowa State in 2007. A handful of students were accusing the Red Cross of discriminating against gay men by refusing to take their higher-risk blood.
“To Rhodes, the protest smacked of political correctness, and he plunged into movement conservatism. He read Barry Goldwater’s “The Conscience of a Conservative.” William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” and Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.” He started going to church. He interned at the Leadership Institute, a boot camp for conservative activists in Virginia.”
