During the Iowa caucuses, each caucus meeting will allow a two-minute speech to be delivered by a supporter of each of the presidential candidates. These speeches can play an important role in influencing the vote; in the past I’ve heard a figure of 17% of caucus-goers being undecided up to the night of the caucus.

In Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 2008, the caucus speech appears to have played a major role in bringing about Ron Paul’s 40% showing there.

The grassroots folks at rp2012.org have come up with a contest called Operation Stump for Paul, which encourages people to deliver the two-minute speech they themselves would make at the Iowa caucuses and upload these speeches to YouTube. The top three entrants will win cash prizes, and of course their speeches can help inspire the actual speeches that Iowa Paulians will deliver on caucus night.

Here’s a brief description of the program; be sure to click on the video and read the full video description on the YouTube page, where you can find the full contest rules. Good luck! (Did I mention I’m one of the judges?)