Until now, meet-and-greets and small retail stops have been the norm for Paul's campaign. Ron Paul shifts to town hall strategy

Ron Paul will make his 2012 election cycle town hall debut on Thursday, kicking off a new phase of his campaign.

Marking a shift away from a strategy for the past two elections that has focused on rallying already committed supporters, Paul’s campaign has begun a new outreach to undecided voters in New Hampshire and Iowa.


The economy-focused town hall hosted by New England College on Thursday will be his first effort to do this. His campaign will follow with a series of town halls it is putting together itself for the fall.

“It just takes him to the people, and they get to ask him questions firsthand,” said Jared Chicoine, Paul’s New Hampshire state director.

While town-hall style meetings are a staple of almost any White House bid, they’re new territory for Paul. During his 2008 campaign, large rallies packed with Paul die-hards made up most of his time on the stump. Even this year, meet-and-greets with supporters in Iowa and small retail stops in New Hampshire have been the norm.

In Iowa, the shift to town halls comes as Paul’s campaign needs to leverage its strong second-place finish at the Ames Straw Poll into a more locally-focused caucus campaign.

“That’s been our plan all along, to shift our strategy to a 764-precinct campaign,” Iowa’s state director, Drew Ivers, told POLITICO. “The caucuses are much more of a grass-roots exercise.

“We didn’t do many of those in 2008,” he added. “This is different.”

Small house parties are also becoming an increasing focus of the campaign. One in Rye, N.H. last week, hosted by a politically undecided couple, attracted about 35 people, only a few of whom were already supporters. Many of the house parties are open to local reporters. Along with the town halls, they are expected to provide more easy access for a local media increasingly taking interest in Paul’s campaign.

“The downside is you have a smaller group, but the upside is you have more undecideds, which we really want,” Ivers said. “It’s a trade-off, but one we’re definitely prepared to make.”