Archive for January 3rd, 2008
January 3rd, 2008
Mike Huckabee won an astounding victory in Iowa tonight. The Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor bounded from relative obscurity to GOP frontrunner in just months.
He did this without the aid of an expansive, well-funded campaign that presidential candidates generally depend upon. And he did it while promoting his own Christian conservatism and despite a series of campaign missteps over the last couple weeks.
When a Huckabee campaign representative stepped before the 314th precinct and argued that Huckabee is just “like us,” I wondered whether this was an attempt to neutralize concern that Huckabee is too extreme.
Two Huckabee supporters I talked to at the precinct caucus said it’s not Huckabee that’s off the page. Rather, they said, it’s the others to the left of him.
“I don’t think he is off the page as much as Americans are off the page or the general national media (is off the page),” said John Gerdes, a 29-year-old accountant. “I don’t think California is ‘on the page’ by any means, and yet the media kind of portrays that as the general consensus in America.”
Gerdes continued: “In looking at all the candidates, I think that he exemplifies my beliefs and what I think a president should stand for. He is the candidate who hasn’t really changed his views on anything. You know, a lot of times candidates kinda test out the waters; they say one thing then go back on it. He hasn’t done that.”
Brooke Vaske, a 26-year-old teacher, concurred.
“I share a lot of the same values that he has,” she said. “I guess being from the Midwest, (I feel) that he would represent us well. I think the man who spoke as a representative was just indicating that we are the heartland and that (Huckabee’s) representing us and that’s what we want our country to be portrayed as.”
Indeed, most voting Iowa Republicans agreed.
January 3rd, 2008
A good reporter always must be cognizant of whom he or she is talking to, and how that person is likely to perceive — and respond to — any particular question.
This is especially true in politics, where the subjects of interviews tend to see the world — and, by extension, answers to questions — at least partly in partisan terms.
But we’re all human, and we therefore fumble. So it goes that I probably should have anticipated the response I got from Adrianne Branstad, a 27-year-old homemaker in West Des Moines, when I asked her if the extraordinary enthusiasm of Iowa voters on Thursday night may have been because they’re “ticked off” about the status quo.
Branstad also is Republican caucus chairman in the city’s 314th precinct. The status quo, of course, is the Bush administration.
“Gosh, I wouldn’t say ‘ticked off,’” she said.
“We’re so lucky to have (the nation’s first caucus) here in Iowa,” she continued. “There are so many candidates, you can’t go anywhere without running into one. It’s so energized. They’re here so much. It’s hard not to be involved.”
January 3rd, 2008
With the benefit of additional reporting, I’d like to revisit observations I made earlier tonight.
A Democratic caucus chairman told me after voting that he encouraged his members to show up as early as 6 p.m. to begin voter registration. He said this is probably why so many Democrats packed the school before the first Republicans showed up.
By the end of the night, there appeared to be more than 1,000 people gathered to vote in the school (I could not nail down an exact number). There were four rooms of voting Iowans — two Republican precincts and two Democrat precincts.
Half or more than half of these people were Democrats, organizers said.
January 3rd, 2008
Sorry for the delay in posts.
Here’s the vote total in the 314th precinct of Des Moines, GOP caucus. Romney won the precinct, though Huckabee reportedly won the state:
Mitt Romney: 170 votes
Mike Huckabee: 105 votes
John McCain: 88 votes
Rudy Giuliani: 40 votes
Fred Thompson: 25 votes
Ron Paul: 19 votes
More later …
January 3rd, 2008
Mike Huckabee’s representative said Huckabee is just like the rest of them.
“I would urge everyone in this room to support someone who is like us,” he said in his closing remark.
This may have been an attempt to neutralize concern that Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, is an extreme conservative (as he sometimes is portrayed).
January 3rd, 2008
The Republicans have voted, all depositing their picks in one of two large wooden boxes placed on the gym floor, but they haven’t yet counted the votes. First, they’re going to pick party delegates.
Now for the Mitt Romney representative. She told the crowd her candidate would “absolutely honor the office of president.” She also said he would “defend the unborn” (despite his pro-choice past).
She also hit on illegal immigration, a GOP flash point, by saying he would “secure our borders.”
“If we do not have that in Washington, as we have not in the last dozen years, we will lose our nation,” she said.
Orson Swindle, a friend of John McCain, won a round of applause when he stepped before the crowd. (He told me afterwards that he also happens to know Rockford’s own John Borling, a retired Air Force general and previous political candidate.)
January 3rd, 2008
The Giuliani lady continued to say that her candidate is “frank” and has “character.”
“He is a link between the parties,” she said. “He can bring the parties together in Washington.”
As to abortion, she said simply that he has been “proactive” about the issue.
“He actively addresses it,” she said.
The former mayor supports the right to an abortion.
January 3rd, 2008
It’s 7:45 p.m. and the precinct 314 Republicans are finally preparing to vote.
Over the last 20 minutes, one by one, representatives for each of the GOP candidates stood on the empty gym floor before the crowd and made the case for their candidates.
Rudy Giuliani’s lady kicked her remarks off on a defensive note, joking about whether she should be here before Republicans at all.
As you may know, Giuliani isn’t exactly a strident conservative. Moreover, he all but forfeited Iowa in his race for the nomination.
“Somebody asked me whether I’m in the right place,” she said. “I’m in the right place.”
January 3rd, 2008
It’s nearly 7:30 p.m. and the Republicans of precinct 314 are finally settling down in the gym and preparing to vote.
I’d say there are 300-400 people in here, most of them seated among the bleachers.
The school color is orange: Orange mats on the wall. Orange stripes on the wood floor. A tiger paw painted in the center.
January 3rd, 2008
A Democratic organizer just complained to a school staffer (I previously misidentified him as a volunteer) that the Dems need more space in the school.
He wants the staffer to open up additional rooms, but the staffer refused. The Dem said he would call the school board and demand more space, but the staffer said he already spoke to his superior, somebody named Jim Wallace, and that he turned a thumbs down.
The Democrat replied, “Then we’re just going to break the fire code,” and walked away in a huff.
Subsequently, another Dem walked over and got abrasive with the staffer. He said all the people waiting for space are taxpayers and that they’re entitled to better service. The school, he complained, must be more “flexible.” Again, the staffer reiterated that he is simply following orders.
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