DES MOINES, Iowa -- Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), still disappointed at being left off the main stage at last week's GOP presidential debate, expressed disapproval of polling criteria during a campaign stop at a barbershop on Monday afternoon.
“You can’t convince me that in a 12-person race, in a caucus, where very few people show up, that the polls are accurate,” Paul said, speaking to reporters after his appearance.
Paul pointed to the Kentucky gubernatorial race in November, where polls showed Democrat Jack Conway had the advantage. “Every poll said the Democrat would win by 5” percentage points, he said. “The Republican won in the last week, in a two-person race.”
With only two weeks until the Iowa caucuses, Paul emphasized that his campaign is putting together a grassroots army focused on Iowa college campuses. He said he has nearly 100 volunteers at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines making phone calls and trying to recruit students.
“We don’t think it’s reflective in the polls because a lot of younger people don’t answer their phone and aren’t doing any kind of polling,” Paul explained “In fact, I’ve yet to meet a college student who has ever taken a presidential poll.”
Paul blamed the Republican Party for his exclusion from the main stage debate in Charleston, South Carolina. He was offered a spot in the undercard debate, but declined.
He said leaving him off the main stage disenfranchised the voters of Iowa and New Hampshire. He also said his campaign was right to skip the Charleston undercard debate.
“I think they dealt us a dirty, rotten, no-good deal,” Paul told reporters. “We made the best of it. I think in the end, we probably had more coverage, if you added my 48 hours in New York City, if you added it all up. Our Twitter town hall actually was trending.”
Last week's Des Moines Register/ Bloomberg Politics poll, showing Paul with 5 percent in Iowa, or fifth place in the GOP field, was not used to determine eligibility for the prime-time debate because it was was released after the deadline.
“We think we will be in the next debate,” Paul said with a smirk. “If you look at the polling from the Des Moines Register, we should have been in the past debate. It would be a big mistake to exclude anybody that has a national campaign. And believe me, if they thought I was loud the last time, they are going to hear from me if there’s any problem with them trying to push us out again.”
Paul sat in a local barber’s chair, calling for criminal justice reform, and listening to people tell their stories about struggles reintegrating into society because of their criminal records.
“I’ve been working with the other side for several years now on all of these issues above and beyond the presidential campaign,” Paul said.
Paul went on to explain that he has proposed at least 10 criminal justice reform bills endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus that would expunge criminal records for non-violent offenders who have “done their time” and deserve a “second chance.”
About 50 voters gathered into the Platinum Kutz barbershop, standing between barber chairs, asking questions with the buzzing sound of clippers in the background. Many voters at the event admitted they were undecided at this point, some saying they had never voted for a Republican.
“I’m normally a Democrat, but this year, it’s a little bit up in the air,” said Jarvis Weoos of Des Moines, a barber at Platinum Kurtz. “My top person at this point is Hillary. If I voted for a Republican, it probably wouldn’t be Rand,” he said.
Moe Cason, who catered the event, said he is a longtime Democrat who has recently switched parties.
“I’m still deciding,” Cason explained. “I know this season I will not be voting Democrat.”
Cason, who currently has two jobs, is working toward opening his own restaurant. The Navy veteran said he was impressed to see Paul at his local barbershop.
“Rand Paul is one of my top candidates,” Cason said. “It says a lot for Rand to come to a barbershop, I don’t think any other candidates would do this."
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