Iowans Showing Support for Rick Perry

During my visit to Iowa for the Presidential Debate and Ames Straw Poll, I was very pleased to see a variety of different groups supporting Governor Rick Perry for President.

At the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, an Iowan was giving information out about Gov. Perry.

When I arrived at the straw poll, there was a group of people wearing maroon shirts that said "Americans for Rick Perry." I stopped and talked with them, and I was surprised that all of them were Iowans. They expressed to me that they admired and respected Gov. Perry for his role in providing jobs for Texans.

During the straw poll, I saw several students from the University of Texas that were there supporting Rick Perry. These young and vibrant students were excited to be supporting Governor Perry and felt that he is a man of integrity and accountability who cares for the education of young people.

As I continued walking, I saw two men that were wearing shirts that said "Veterans for Rick Perry." These two men expressed their admiration of Rick Perry and recognized that Governor Perry was also a service member. See video and transcript from the interview below:

Adryana Boyne: Hello we are here with VOCES Action and TexasGOPVote, and I am so glad to be in Ames, Iowa during the speeches and straw poll. I found these two people, Veterans for Rick Perry. So first of all, I want to introduce Dan Shelley and John Brokhard. Now, Mr. Shelley, can you tell me why did you founded this organization, Veterans for Rick Perry?

Dan Shelley: Yes, I have known Rick Perry since 1987, twenty-four years Ive known him as that fiscal conservative that cares about families, care about small business, and he cares about the things that are important to me and my family. During this twenty-four year period, hes got that long established credibility within the communities. We trust him. He was able to help us in Texas to create jobs and keep jobs.

Adryana Boyne: Do you have many members who are Veterans for Rick Perry right now that youve started this organization?

Dan Shelley: We started the Facebook page just this week about, I think it was three days ago, and we have over a thousand friends already on Facebook.

Adryana Boyne: So they can go to Facebook and join your group?

Dan Shelley: Absolutely. You dont need to be a veteran because veterans, families, people that are in support of creating jobs and family values I think are going to be very pleased to be on Rick Perrys team.

Adryana Boyne: Now I see with you Mr. John Burkhart, can you tell me a little bit more about when you served and where you served?

John Burkhart: I served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. I was wounded twice, lost a lot of friends in there, and thats why not only am I a member of this group, Im also a member of this group trying to get the information out that theyre building an education center at the Vietnam Wall…All of that memorabilia thats been out there collecting for years is going to be on there, and theyll rotate through this museum. Some of the things were doing is were trying to get information and pictures of every veteran thats on that wall that lost their life. The reason being is that on their birthday, theyll show their picture as to how theyd be if they were here, and the other thing is its putting a face with that information on the wall. One of the neat things theyre going to do is when you enter the museum, theyre going to hand you one of the veterans information. You go through, and you see what they did, what they went through and everything else. Theres a tremendous amount of Hispanics that are on there. Ive known about four of them personally, and my goal is to get as much information as we can, and we need to reach out to the Hispanics and everyone else. Its not just that you know one person, you may know somebody else, but if you know somebody that will get us a picture, wed love to have it, and wed really appreciate it.

Adryana Boyne: Thank you very much.