3 posts tagged “caucus”

It's down to the wire in Iowa with just under 3 weeks before the caucuses.  The candidates are descending on small towns across the state, from the Mississippi to the Missouri Rivers, trying to win the votes of every valuable Iowan.

Our little town was campaign central on Friday, Dec. 14, with back-to-back visits from John Edwards and Barack Obama.  Edwards held his event at a local steakhouse, drawing a crowd of about 150.  Obama drew a much larger crowd of 300 and the Delaware County Fairgrounds Community Center.  Both meetings' turnouts were impressive considering they were held on a dreary, icy cold weekday afternoon.  But we Iowans like the political process and come out in droves to be persuaded to give up our precious support.

Katie, Dan, Kaitlin (his girlfriend) and I did our part to make the event a success.  Katie and Kaitlin helped greet and register attendees, as well as distributed supporter cards.  Dan and I, along with a couple of other friends (Seth and Eric), acted as ushers.  What seemed like a simple task got a little harried when it became apparent that the crowd needed twice as many chairs as had been set out.  We eventually packed the building to standing room only.  Seth, eric and I were asked to handle microphones during the Q&A session, which was a lot of fun.

I enjoyed being behind the scenes this time.  While I missed most of Obama's talk, I was able to mingle with some of the national press corps and see first hand how these things are put together.  The Obama "advance" man, Ethan, is like a hummingbird, running from one end of the building to the other and directing each volunteer with precision.  I've been observing his work at all of the Obama events I've attended since May and have been amazed at how he makes everything work.  It was nice to finally meet him.

Eric and I spoke to Obama's Northeast Iowa Field Director, Brent Welder, about what would happen to our group of volunteers once the caucus is over.  We were encouraged to continue to meet on a monthly basis and to be prepared to take an active role in the Democratic general election race this summer.  Of course, our hope is that Obama will be the nominee and that we can take the lead in ensuring his election to the White House in November '08.

So, the countdown clock is ticking and we're all prepared to put in many hours of work between now and January 3.  Our excitement (and anxiety) is growing as we hope and pray for an Obama victory.

Here's a few pictures from Dec. 14 -

1) Obama speaking to the crowd, 2) my friend Betty introducing obama, 3) our Field Organizer, Gen, 4) Dan and Katie, 5) attendees at the Community Center, 6) a news crew, 70 Katie in front of John Edwards' bus

 

Welcome to December in Iowa!  It's all snow and politics, and from the looks of things, will be that way for a while. 
We had a bit of snow and ice last weekend, and then more, and a bit more, and even more today.  There's more forecast for several more days this week.  I doubt we'll see anything but white on the ground until spring.

On the politics issue - WOW!!  The presidential campaigns are going full-speed with only 25 more days until the caucus.  I'm hosting a gathering for members of my precinct on December 13, along with at least 800 other precinct captains across Iowa.  I'll be sharing campaign literature, showing a DVD and talking about how to caucus.  Should be fun.  On Dec. 14, Senator Obama will be in Manchester.  We'll be manning (womaning??) the phones to let our voters know about the event and we anticipate a huge attendance.  (John Edwards will be in town at the same time, and H Clinton is coming that same weekend.  Whew!)

I had the most fun last night.  Mark and I, along with my kids and their friend, attended a rally at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids and heard three great speakers - Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  10,000 people attended, which is huge for Iowa.  I know a lot of the press has been negative about Oprah stumping for

Obama, but I have to disagree.  All the candidates do what they can to get undecided voters to hear their message.  Like Obama said, Oprah may bring people out but he has to still "close the deal".  Rather than criticize celebrities for being political, I rather admire when they use their status to bring attention to a cause. 

Oprah was her usual eloquent self when she talked about her admiration for Obama and what she sees as his ability to bring much needed change to Washington.  She seemed a little uncomfortable in front of such a large crowd, but relaxed and became more passionate as she spoke. Michelle was also compelling and showed again what a terrific speaker she is.  She can really draw people in with her personal warmth and knack for taking huge national issues and making them very personal. 

Of course, the star of the night was Barack Obama.  He spoke for about 20 minutes, repeating the best of his remarks from the Jefferson Jackson Dinner speech.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=tydfsfSQiYc   He had  the crowd on its feet for the entire time and the response was deafening!  My hope is that we can covert these people into caucus goers and send Obama to the White House with a huge mandate. 

You can read coverage of the event here - http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/IOWACAUCUS/712080034/1002/NEWS

The Iowa Caucuses are in 38 days, 7 hours and 25 minutes as I write this post.  Time for all the undecided voters to make up their minds!  I've volunteered to be a precinct captain for Barack Obama as well as a member of the County Leadership Team because I think he's the best candidate for the job.  I'm sending out a letter to residents of my precinct to urge them to participate in the caucus and to vote for Obaba,  My reasons for supporting him are....

1)      Senator Obama makes me hopeful. Hearing Obama speak makes me want to get out and work for change.  He inspires and encourages ordinary citizens to feel empowered to make this country better for everyone.  He says, “In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.”

2)      3) An Obama presidency would transform the world.  The day Obama takes office, the world will see the U.S. in a different light.  Obama intends to sit down with our friends and enemies and talk about the issues that both divide and unite us in the world. “In this election, we have the chance to turn the page on the last six years of being told that the only way for Democrats to look tough on national security is to talk, and act, and vote like George Bush Republicans.”

 

3)      4) Obama will take on the big issues and reach consensus. Obama knows that the only way to get serious work done in the Congress is to reach across party lines and create legislation that both parties can agree on.  The days of deadlock will end.  “I don't want to pit Blue America against Red America, I want to lead a United States of America”.

 

4)      Senator Obama has both the judgment and experience.  Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are two of the most experienced people in Washington and their “experience” has sent thousands of American soldiers into a war that should never have happened.  "I love when people criticize me about my foreign policy experience when they got either snowed into or intimidated into supporting the biggest foreign policy disaster in a generation, and I'm thinking well what good was your experience if you showed such poor judgment?"