West Des Moines – This weekend, the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition sent out invitations to the top names being floated in the Republican primary for the 2012 presidential race. The group has planned a presidential forum for Monday, March 7th which is likely to be the first of its kind in the nation as the beginnings of a wide open presidential primary take form. Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition President, Steve Scheffler states that the event will shape up to be the largest gathering of pro-family, values minded voters in the spring of 2011. “Candidates considering a run for president must take the Iowa Caucuses seriously and we are the caucus voters.”
The letter sent to candidates reads:
“The Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition is the largest and the most influential group in Iowa politics. In the past election cycle, we made well over 560,000 voter contacts through our VoterTrak program that allows us to identify and reach low propensity conservative voters. We worked hand-in-hand with eight state legislative candidates to put volunteers on the ground in the most competitive districts. Six of the eight will be sworn in as legislators this month. We published and distributed over 300,000 voter guides to churches all across the state to educate voters prior to the November 2nd election. The result was record progress in all three branches of Iowa’s government.
As an organization, we host two large events every year with our statewide membership. On Monday, March 7th, 2011, from 5:30-7:30pm, we will be hosting our annual Spring Kick-Off here in Des Moines as the 2012 presidential cycle begins. This year, the format of the event will be a 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates Meet and Greet Event. It is not a debate and there will be no Question and Answer time, but it will give presidential candidates ten minutes to make a pitch and present their vision as the voters of Iowa begin the process of making their decisions for the first in the nation caucuses.
Last year, in a non-presidential cycle, we had nearly 500 people in attendance at this event, including many elected officials. This year, we expect to see a much larger crowd. This event is an important stop for candidates because over 60% of 2008 GOP caucus goers in Iowa self identified themselves as evangelical Christians. There will be no better opportunity to meet these voters this spring than the 2011 IFFC Spring Kick-Off. Come early and stay late to shake hands and to talk to your potential voters one on one before and after the program.”