AMES, Iowa (CNN)– He may be low down in the national polls, but Ron Paul is winning the early sign wars on the road to Ames. The home of Iowa State University is in the political spotlight today, as it hosts a crucial Republican straw poll.

As we drove north on Interstate 35 from Des Moines to Ames, Ron Paul signs started sprouting up alongside the highway. Upon exiting the interstate and riding along US 30 into Ames, the number of Ron Paul signs increase in number. I witnessed Paul supporters along side the highway putting signs into the ground. Paul is a Republican Congressman from Texas who two decades ago ran for President as a Libertarian. He’s low down in all the national polls, but he does have strong and passionate supporters who make themselves heard on the internet.

In second place in the sign wars on the road to Ames is Sam Brownback. Signs and banners for the Republican Senator from Kansas were sprouting up alongside the highway. Brownback is also far down in the national polls but he’s hoping for a strong showing today in the Ames straw poll.

– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser