Meha Ahmad writes:
7:00 a.m. (12 hours to caucus): Ignored my alarm.
7:30 a.m. (11 1/2 hours to caucus): Rushed out the door 15 minutes late.
8:30 a.m. (10 1/2) hours to caucus): I was at Panera Bread, where it was rumored loads of Republicans spent their mornings. I sat with locals from Scott County, schmoozing with Republicans and Democrats. Everyone has an opinion in Iowa. There were also "split households" where members of the same family were voting not only for different candidates, but different parties. One woman joked that her husband won't give her a ride to the caucus unless she caucuses for Republican candidate Romney. Meanwhile, her son planned to caucus for Democrat Barack Obama.
9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.: Iowa State Senator David Hartsuch came to Panera Bread. One of the most personable people I've ever met, he reminds me nothing of distant Illinois politicians. Hartsuch, a Huckabee endorser, showed us the caucus ropes, gave me great insight into the campaign, and he shuttled my fellow classmates and I to various places, including Mitt Romney's Bettendorf campaign office. There he introduced me to at least a half dozen people—other politicians, Romney's campaign coordinator, volunteers, caucus-goers—all of whom helped my article move along further. Meanwhile, I can hardly get an Illinois politician to reply to an email, let alone get them to spend the morning showing me around.
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (2 hours to caucus): LUNCH! Oh, and internally losing my mind over the stress of trying to sort through 30 pages of notes and transcribing an hour of interviews into a coherent article.
6:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.: Arrive early at Republican caucus to find Romney/Huckabee/McCain/Thompson/Paul/Giuliani/Hunter (more than unlikely).
6:20 p.m. (40 minutes to caucus): Interviews.
6:35 (25 minutes to caucus): I snag some swag, i.e., a Mitt Romney foam mitt, Ron Paul stickers.
7:00 p.m. (Ding ding ding!): IOWA CAUCUS. The ballots are cast.
10:00 p.m.: Obama (Democrat) and Huckabee (Republican) are declared winners.
10:01 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.: Finished article, time to sleep.
And this was just Day 2. Day 1, our hotel was on fire. Never a boring day in Iowa.
Meha Ahmad is an undergraduate journalism student from Bridgeview, Illinois.
Posted by awiens at January 4, 2008 8:16 PM
