Edwards Energizes Union Supporters on Morning of Caucus

Edwards supporters have been using the Des Moines United Steel Workers Union Hall as a campaign call center, and Edwards stopped there this morning for a quick “thank you.” A standard mix of Springsteen, CCR, Tom Petty, and The Rolling Stones played while campaign volunteers waited for the candidate. When he got there, you could tell he finally slept—his 36 hour tour ended last night at his John Mellencamp rally.

Iowa First Lady Mari Culver quickly introduced the candidate, and he gave a short speech outlining basic differences between himself and his Democratic competitors. “Two other campaigns believe that their money will make them inevitable,” he said before explaining that his relationship with overlooked citizens is more powerful than Clinton and Obama’s campaign finances. “We see you, we hear you, we embrace you, and we’re going to lift you up.”

He used familiar language, paused for raucous campaign chants, and even asked his supporters to go with him to New Hampshire after he wins here in Iowa. The rowdy gathering that packed the small room seemed ready to get back to work immediately after Edwards left. Labor’s support for Edwards—the crowd chanted “John loves labor, labor loves John” before he got off the bus—coupled with faithful supporters from 2004 and disenchanted Obama/Clinton Democrats are what keeps him competitive in this race. The latest polls are so close that when results come in tonight, Iowans may deliver him a surprise first or second place that will build momentum for his New Hampshire campaign. Some may even follow him there.

Iowa Democratic Veterans' Caucus Endorses Obama on Eve of Caucus

Supporters braved the now famous early January Iowa cold to fill the gymnasium at Hoover High School in Des Moines, Iowa tonight. The event began at 10 p.m. with a caucus trivia session which quizzed rally goers on caucus terms and rules. They also provided them with the information that they needed to get to their precinct caucus tomorrow evening. Since Obama is relying so heavily on first time caucus goers, his staff is doing all that it can to educate as many uninformed potentials as possible.

After the informational session, an Obama staffer introduced Kent Sovern, the Iowa Democratic Veterans' Caucus organizer. He announced that his organization has switched its endorsement from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, because they believe he has a better chance to win the national election in November. Michelle Obama then took the stage to introduce her husband.

A visibly fatigued Barack Obama walked onto the stage and encouraged his caucus virgin supporters to prove the pundits wrong and brave the cold tomorrow to caucus in support of their candidate. He said nothing new and stuck to safely repeating his message of hope about the future. He hoarsely led his campaign chant, "Fired up, ready to go!"

Obama understands the key to winning is making sure these first timers get to the caucus, and he's doing all that he can to make that happen.

A View from Behind

Tonight was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Three other fellow bloggers and I decided we wanted to get to the Hillary Clinton Rally early to get a great spot.  Well, great spot is quite an understatement - seeing that we were able to sit right behind the stage and meet with the Clinton family after the rally.

In addition to the extreme coolness of being able to be right in the thick of things, it was quite exciting to view a political rally from a candidate's eyes.

The early bird really does get the worm or, in our case, the best seat in the house!

Among the attendees, some notables were Ted Danson and wife Mary Steenburgen, General Will Clark, and Madeleine Albright.

In the closing hours on the campaign trail in Iowa, candidates are most certainly reaffirming their messages and Clinton was no different.  She insisted that as President, she will work for universal healthcare, veteran's benefits, improving education, investing in alternative fuels in addition to others.

As I tuck away my autographed material and enjoy the few drops of excitement, I anticipate the change of events with tomorrow's caucus.

Insurgent Huckabee Summons Ghost of George Wallace from '68

Caution, Iowa: Republican Earthquake Approaching

As the hours wind down until the decisive Iowa caucus, the Republican Party finds itself in the quandary it has long sought to avoid -- the inevitable rift between social/religious conservatives and corporate conservatives. No two candidates in recent memory have more epitomized each than the former Baptist minister, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and the former venture capitalist, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

The fault lines were quite stark in the past two nights, as Huckabee's "Chuck and Huck" event Tuesday night bore absolutely no resemblance to Romney's rally in West Des Moines this evening. The Huckabee crowd, whooping shouts of "Hallelujah" and "Amen, Mike," was decidedly blue-collar, working class supporters out to cheer on their anointed champion. On the other hand, Romney's crowd was staid, plaid, and polite, but their candidate elicited about as many raucous cheers as Don Imus would at a Rutgers home game.

Of course, a Huckabee victory would set off tremors in the Republican Party that might lead to a wholesale tectonic shift should be continue to gain support. While Romney might patch up the bruised Reagan coalition, Huckabee would simply tear it apart.

All of this division within the conservative electorate hasn't been seen since the 1968 election, when George Wallace was barnstorming the country preaching the gospel of white populism to all who would hear him. Huckabee -- sans the segregation issue Wallace is most identified with -- seems to be conjuring up crowds of a similar demographic makeup. These supporters, long suspect of political candidates promising them action on red-meat social issues, seem drawn to Huckabee's message of social conservatism and economic, well, liberalism, in a way reminiscent of Wallace in '68. While Wallace wasn't railing against integration, he was attracting blue-collar whites from out of the woodwork to hear his unusual mix of policies.

And while George Wallace certainly wasn't a Republican and wasn't running neck-and-neck with any major presidential contender, he received enough support to further separate culturally conservative voters from their previous party.

In the '68 election, it was Richard Nixon who represented the establishment conservatives, the Wall-Street types who didn't care for Wallace's demagoguery or, for that matter, his populist economic policies for the working class. These days, it's Romney attempting to hold on to "the Reagan coalition of economic, social, and military conservatives" that he mentioned as the three core foundations of his support, but it's obvious, both in his personal background and in the appearances of his rally attendees, that he has succeeded most at attracting the first part of those three pillars.

Huckabee, meanwhile, can channel the Biblical language to entice religious conservatives to his cause by campaigning against homosexual rights and against abortion rights. But his economic message is altogether different. Chuck Norris even praised Huckabee's proposal for a "Fair Tax" because he mentioned how rich he was and how he was willing to pay a bigger tax share so working-class families could be eased of their tax burden.

To borrow Romney's favorite phrase, Huckabee is certainly failing Reagan 101.
But as for Wallace 101, Huckabee might stand to receive better marks.

Six-year-old defies the theory that young people aren’t engaged in politics

Des Moines, IA – Mainstream media has referred to college students as apathetic, elusive and disengaged when it comes to politics. As a member of the so-called “millennials” and a political nerd, I have consistently disagreed with this assessment as disproportionate of the truth. Yet after telling many of my friends that I would be spending my New Year’s at the Iowa Caucus and getting blank stares in return, I wondered if the media were correct. The past few days in Iowa, however, confirmed that there are a large number of students who engage themselves politically, and I was impressed to meet other students – some as young as six – participating in the festivities afforded by the approaching Iowa Caucus.

The “Huck and Chuck” rally – a play on Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and supporter Chuck Norris’ names – on Tuesday night in a local Des Moines ballroom (site of the famous "Dean Scream" of 2004) drew an impressive crowd of Iowa voters and out-of-state observers.



Students from Manchester College in Indiana arrived in the “first-in-the-nation” state this past Sunday to observe, blog and even volunteer for different candidates as part of a January course in political science.

Leonard Williams, professor of political science at Manchester, said he typically takes his students in this course to Washington D.C., but this year, given the relative unpredictability of the presidential race, chose the Caucus instead. The students, much like our Louisiana State crew, are attending different rallies for as many candidates as possible, but most admitted they were not there last night for Huckabee. “It’s all about Chuck,” said Jason Ray, Manchester freshman. Huckabee himself said to the crowd, “As much as I’d like to believe you all are here for me, I know better.” He introduced the man best known for his role on the 90s television series Walker, Texas Ranger and the Total Gym advertisements to the applauding crowd.



There were, however, many supporters there for Huckabee, including 6-year-old Ashley from Flagstaff, Arizona. Ashley is a Flagstaff home school student and is the youngest member of John Echols’ political science home schooling program. Echols had his students, ages 6 to 17, conduct research on every presidential candidate, Democrats and Republicans alike, and then hold an election to see which candidate they would support. “We chose [Huckabee] when he was still a second-tier candidate,” Echols said, citing the grass-roots support Huckabee has received since that time as a main reason for his recent surge in the polls.

Rachel Blanchard, age 12, said she liked Huckabee because, “He’s pro-life; he’s for home schooling; and he’s for one man, one woman,” factors that the Flagstaff students and chaperones all looked for. The students then raised money for the candidate, and over the past two days, made more than 3500 phone calls for Huckabee to Iowa voters. They relaxed at the Tuesday night rally and danced to The Boogie Woogers band and Huckabee on the guitar.



Although many of the Manchester students volunteered for the Democratic campaigns of Obama, Clinton, Edwards and Richardson, they were just as excited to be involved with the rally and the entire Caucus this year. “I don’t think a lot of people our age have an idea of the impact Iowa has on the race,” said Kristi Sattison, sophomore. She was excited to be in a setting so different from Indiana, which hosts a primary rather than a caucus system, and to learn so much about the candidates. After all, “You can’t learn everything from a textbook.”

. . . And Mike Huckabee, Too!

At Mike Huckabee's "Huck and Chuck" rally today in Des Moines, Iowa, the former Arkansas governor spoke as the friendly neighborhood preacher. Start with a joke, put in some business, throw in another joke, more business, and close with a joke. He followed a painfully self-loving three piece classic rock cover band and briefly outlined his platform. Fair tax, the sanctity of marriage, and beefing up defense spending so that we'll be so strong no one will want to mess with us (seriously).


Huck's speech was the low point of the night. He joked about his supporters disabling Romney supporters' cars on Thursday (caucus day), then introduced the main event. "A great American hero," Chuck Norris!

Chuck took the stage to wild applause. With his wife by his side, he mentioned that supporting Mike Huckabee was so important to them that they left their six year old twins in California to be with the Huck. He then explained every detail of the commercial that he shot with the governor, just in case we missed it.


Chuck Norris has a gripe with the media. Evidently, it is unfair that Huckabee is referred to as a Baptist minister. It should be Governor Huckabee. We don't call Mitt Romney Businessman Romney. I was not aware that "Baptist minister" was a derogatory term.

Someone asked Chuck Norris if he was tougher than Mike Huckabee. He answered, "I work out on the Total Gym, but I'm not as tough." The crowd went wild.

After Chuck, Janet Huckabee took the stage and announced, "I can't wait to be your first lady, because it is going to be too cool." To show how cool a Huckabee White House would be, Mike retook the stage with the bass guitar that was conspicuously missing from the opening band. He announced a special guest on the rhythm guitar--MSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough(I'm not making this up)--and they launched into an excited version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama." And no, Watergate does not bother them.

After a couple of songs, Chuck Norris related the evidently hilarious story about how he choked out a Marine while taking a picture with him during a USO trip. All the other Marines in Iraq heard about it and also thought it was hilarious. Then Chuck shared his favorite Chuck Norris Fact. "They were going to put Chuck Norris's face on Mount Rushmore, but the granite was not tough enough for his beard," said Mr. Norris through an ecstatic grin. Where is Bruce Lee when you need him?

Mike Huckabee's new spokesman is wildly popular and seemingly loyal, but his speech is disorganized, his vibe narcissistic, and his presence distracting. Then again, when a campaign event is more about the candidate's bass solo during "Roll Over Beethoven" than the candidate's message, he fits right in.

Staying Hot in 10 Degrees

Des Moines, IA – When trying to understand the Iowa caucus, the average voter will invariably be confused. Ask around to caucus-goers and campaign managers alike; the nature of the caucus is as hard to understand as any political process. “The Caucus is a curious political beast,” said Doug Gross, Senior Advisor in Iowa for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. Curious, doesn’t even begin to describe the difference between Democratic and Republican caucuses, the viability dynamic, and second-choice factor afforded to voters in Iowa. Candidates and their camps must take these factors into account to determine their campaign strategies in the state. Gross said the key to winning the Caucus is to “organize, organize, organize and get hot at the end.”

Jerry Crawford, Senior Advisor in Iowa for the Hillary Clinton camp agreed with Gross, saying that it’s not enough to get hot; to have enough momentum to pull out a victory, a candidate needs to get hot as close to the date of the Caucus as possible. “It’s hard to stay hot, if you get hot too early,” said Crawford, citing the fall of Democratic contender Howard Dean in the Iowa Caucus in 2004. Dean was a dominating force in Iowa early in the race, but a late surge by Senator John Kerry ultimately handed Dean a loss in Iowa. “Just the late Iowa polling gave [Kerry] an increase in New Hampshire,” Crawford said. “Romney has the same potential,” he added, reminiscing about the early months of the campaign when Romney was largely disregarded as a frontrunner.

Both advisors also agreed that Iowa, as in past years, will provide a slingshot to propel the candidates who finish first to a victory in the New Hampshire primary. “The maximum impact of Iowa is about five to six days,” said Gross. Because the primary falls on January 5, a mere two days after the Caucus, the winners in Iowa – and even candidates who simply do “better than expected” – will have a huge advantage in New Hampshire, if not an insurmountable one. For frontrunners Obama and Clinton on the Democratic side, and Romney on the Republican side, a loss in Iowa would decrease their chances in future primaries. For now, all candidates are focusing on getting hot in ten degree weather.