2008 Iowa Caucuses - The Race Starts Today

I'm writing this to encourage everyone who lives in the state of Iowa to consider caucusing tomorrow night. Of course I would also encourage everyone to caucus for Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) as I am a precinct captain for his campaign here in Dubuque, but I understand that he is not an ideal candidate for everyone.

If you don't caucus for Barack Obama, please consider caucusing for someone in one of the parties. There is unprecedented diversity in the field of presidential candidates for the Democratic Party containing the first viable black candidate, the first viable woman candidate and an very experienced and qualified Hispanic candidate. And the general consensus is that ANY of the top three could leave Iowa tomorrow the winner.

On the other side of the aisle, the Republican Party is in a very real transition period which has resulted in being FIVE candidates who have a real chance at earning the nomination and each has their own specific path to the nomination.

It has been a long, long time since we have had a moment like this. We're looking at a situation where 1-2 votes in any given precinct in Iowa could have an enormous effect in the results. Some are calling this process undemocratic. I disagree to a point. In many aspects, this is the process at it's finest. Iowans are not easily convinced of anything. Most of us do not respond well to TV ads of any sort, and if that is the cause, then we are just disgusted with negative ads. We don't want to be told through the TV who we are supposed to vote for. We want to know that our leaders are real people just like us who are just trying to do some good in the world. We do want "to kick the tires," and "look in the mouths" of these candidates. I've read stories about Iowa voters who absolutely refuse to make a decision until they've shook the hand of each candidate FIVE times. And with the number of candidates in each race this year, that is a lot of campaign events.

We Iowans also tend to value hard work and we want to see this in our presidential candidates. Campaigning in Iowa is hard work for a candidate. John Edwards just wrapped up a span of 35-36 hours of straight campaigning driving around on a tour bus, making 3 AM campaign stops across the state. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are making upwards to 5-6 campaign stops in a single day. Obama was in Dubuque last night and I believe that his previous stop was an event in Council Bluffs on the other side of the state. I hope he didn't drive because I've made that drive before and it sucks.

This is not to say that the Iowa Caucuses in their current form are not flawed. The caucuses can leave too many voters out in many, many ways. You can't vote absentee in a caucus leaving out those who travel south for the winter or those serving in the armed forces with out a say. The caucuses have been stigmatized as being arcane and confusing which can exclude many who could caucus but do not desire to because they do not understand what they would be getting into. Finally, the concept of a caucus itself is exclusionary especially in today's political climate of PC-ness. I think it's safe to assume that most people would rather drive carpet tacks into their gums than face the prospect of standing in a room with all your neighbors and being counted with a specific cause or candidate.

Another criticism of Iowa and New Hampshire kicking off the primary season is that the populations of these two states are fairly homogeneous demographically and the process would be better served by using states that are more representative of the US population such as Ohio or Michigan. I can't said that there is not merit to these criticisms but because the the primary calendar has been compressed so much this year, I think that we actually increased the importance of these two races in the process. I think the idea of a rotating, regional primary system has merits but as Edwards mentions in his stump speech, it's a fantasy to think that those with power will be willing to give it up just because they are asked to. I believe the results of Iowa and New Hampshire will validate the results in the Democratic race, especially if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton are nominated. If these two "white" states pick an African American as their preferred candidate or Iowa who has NEVER chosen a female for a higher office (Governor, Senate, House of Representative) choses a female as their choice, it will definitely send a message to the rest of the country that we take this process seriously and in our opinion, this candidate is the best choice in our opinion.

For good or bad, the Iowa caucuses is what we have for this election cycle and tomorrow they are kicking off one of the most exciting nominating processes we have seen in years. Because the issues potentially facing the next president are magnifying the importance of this election (i.e. multiple Supreme Court nominations), I encourage ALL Iowans to stand up and be counted

If you need to know where you caucus do the following:

Democratic Party:
http://www.iowafirstcaucus.org/caucus_finder.php

Republican Party:
Go to above link, find your Precinct Number then go to:

http://www.iowagop.net/countycontacts.asp

Click on your county and find your precinct number and location in the chart