New Pro-Paul Group Pushes Video Shares and 'Blue Republican' Plan

A newly established organization is supporting Ron Paul’s presidential bid in Iowa.

Endorse Liberty, an independent expenditure group established just days ago, is targeting ads to Iowa Republicans on Facebook. On its face the goal is simple: persuade Iowa Caucus voters to support Paul. However, the effort also serves to educate voters on the best way to support his candidacy in other states.

“Watch this video to see why so many people believe Ron Paul will be one of the greatest Presidents in American history,” notes an ad seen by conservative and Republican voters in Iowa on Facebook today.

The ad links to a lengthy 12 minute video on YouTube featuring a clickable button that allows people to post a message in support of Paul on their Facebook pages. An “Endorse Ron Paul” button displayed at the end of the video enables a video share on Facebook. The video has been viewed around 20,000 times since it was posted December 21, two days after Endorse Liberty was officially established, according to the Federal Election Commission.

But that’s not all: Once the Paul endorser enables the Facebook share, he is automatically taken to another YouTube video providing detailed instructions of how to best serve the Paul campaign in other caucuses and primaries across the country, in some cases by registering Republican, for instance.

That video suggests that “Blue Republicans” could be key to Paul winning the GOP nomination. According to the BlueRepublican.org website, “Blue Republicans are people who have never before thought of joining the Republican party, but are going to do so for one year to ensure that Ron Paul wins the Republican nomination for President in 2012.”

Rick Perry’s and Mitt Romney’s campaigns are also combining persuasive messaging on Facebook with voter action through ads targeting Iowa Republicans. In an array of Facebook ads, Perry is pushing a variety of videos, while Romney’s camp is promoting an endorsement by the Des Moines Register in some ads.

However, both campaigns are also using Facebook ads to encourage Iowans to caucus for them on January 3. Romney’s caucus-specific ads link to a page on the campaign site featuring upcoming Iowa events and instructions on how to caucus for the former Massachusetts governor.

Perry’s camp, however, is putting a new spin on the “donate your status” tactic by asking supporters to dedicate their Facebook timeline cover images to Perry, in addition to the more standard Facebook and Twitter profile image dedications.