Today, each of the Republican Presidential candidates participating in the Ames Straw Poll will speak before 12,000 Iowa Republican activists at the Hilton Coliseum. Though I have my doubts about overall attendance, the Iowa Republican Party claims that more than 40,000 could be in attendance. Whatever the number [will it even break 1999? -ed.], these are certain to be the XX,XXX most committed Iowa Republicans, at least those who are supporting Ames players.

Is it just me, or isn't this the perfect place to roll out an SMS program? An intrepid candidate could stand at the podium, and say, "And to join my campaign, please text AMES to MITT08 (PAUL08, HUCK08, BRNBK, etc. etc.) [here, he holds up his cell phone]. Then please join us by our tent, show us the confirmation message on your phone, to receive your special Ames collectible ______."

This can work because you have a large number of activists who are driven by incentives and looking for swag. Romney has the "best BBQ in Iowa." Hunter has an Elvis impersonator handing out ice cream cones. The candidates could easily wall off one of these incentives for people who gave them their email address or cell phone number. And then have a list of 10-15K Iowa names, many of whom are supporters, but others who are potentially open to supporting you. And SMS is probably the best way to collect mass supporter info off a single speech.

Of course, smart campaigns should have already gotten email addresses for all the folks they are distributing tickets to. This enables them to stay in touch with a large base of activists from now through the caucuses.

As Joe Trippi has pointed out, SMS has special relevance to an event like Iowa. It allows for communication amongst caucus sites, and top-down messaging to all caucus locations at once, something we never had before. The Democratic caucuses in particular features a lot of politicking, with multiple rounds of voting, and much open cajoling. Trippi uses the example of using early exit data to shift votes to a third place candidate to potentially bury a dangerous second place rival, something he experienced in the Mondale-Hart race in '84. The Republicans are more of a straight vote, but one which features speeches beforehand. A text message could be sent at the start of the caucus pushing people on the fence, saying, "Entrance polls show ______ collapsing. Pls mk this pt 2 all our 2s and 3s." You can also segment your list and make sure you're delivering one message to your precinct captains, and another to your regular supporters.

Ames, and the Iowa State Fair, the other mega-event this week, are the logical collection points for this type of information. It's unclear whether candidates will have this kind of opportunity again before the caucuses.