AGNES PIETRYKA-MASNIK writes:
One Bettendorf resident received more than 16 mail pieces from Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign for president. I don't think any Iowa residents are complaining about of lack information about presidential hopefuls. I couldn't even imagine all the other campaign literature Iowans receive. It may be that the Clinton campaign, with a reported $100 million raised, had the resources to run a stellar campaign, but lacked the homegrown volunteer support and passion possessed by other candidates.
Senator Barack Obama, the first black candidate to win the Iowa caucus, surged Thursday evening with 38 percent of support of caucus-goers. Senator John Edwards came in second, just barely ahead of Hillary Clinton; each had about 29 percent.
As a first-time caucus observer, I had the opportunity to spend caucus day at Clinton's Davenport office with the campaign. Like most elections, caucus day is about making sure all your pledged support turns out. Clinton even flexed her campaign muscle by bringing in Retired Army General Wesley Clark to make phone calls to the undecided likely caucus-goers.
I spent part of the day canvasing a precinct in Davenport with two out-of-state Clinton volunteers, watching them knock on about 30 doors of mostly senior women. I was surprised that the Davenport office was stocked with volunteers, and even more surprised that I didn't even meet anyone from Iowa. One Michigan volunteer mentioned that she spent New Year's Day walking door-to-door in support for Clinton. An Arizona supporter made up her mind at the last minute to fly to Iowa to work for Clinton when watching the close poll numbers reported over the Christmas holiday.
At Bettendorf Middle School, where the gym was packed, Obama's candidacy had overwhelming support in the three precincts gathered there. Obama awakened a new demographic of young and independent supporters. At the caucus, one union political-affairs representative from California even raised a concern of possibly losing some support to other candidates because there weren't enough chairs for elderly Clinton supporters.
P.S. If you asked me for one bit of advice when making your first trip to Iowa, it would be this: Bring warm boots ... it's freezing out here!
Agnes Pietryka-Masnik is a graduate student in journalism from the Chicago area.
Posted by awiens at January 4, 2008 10:15 PM
