I just got back from campaigning in Iowa

[SheilaT]

for Howard Dean, and it was an amazing experience.

Saturday I drove up to Des Moines with three other people from Kansas -- two of whom post here on DU. There were at least four other carloads of folks from this area, and probably more. Volunteers were there from all fifty states and the energy was amazing.

I did phone banking and made signs to be posted in the caucuses. I had more video cameras pointed in my direction than I thought existed. I chatted with Jeff Greenfield this morning at breakfast.

Here are a few impressions of the experience and the campaign. First of all, people in Iowa are really tired of all the phone calls and door to door canvassing from all the campaigns. Most of my attempted calls resulted in reaching someone's answering machine. Everyone who can is probably screening calls. Which may well account for the sudden (and in my opinion bizarre) shift in the polling. That and the fact that many young people who are expected to turn out for Dean only have cell phones and thus are not reachable.

I was working along side people of all ages. I'm a middle-aged housewife myself (55), but I saw lots of kids in college and a good number of people at least twenty years older than I am. This last part is probably significant because I gather that normally almost all the volunteers on the campaigns are young people. I'd say at least half of the people I saw helping out in Des Moines were 30 or over.

One phone banker was an 11 year old girl, and she told me that two days ago when she was calling she got 35 people to commit to going to the caucus and definitely vote for Dean. I worked along side a college student from Vermont who got into wonderful conversations with people about what a great governor Dean was and gave detailed reasons why he deserved their vote.

All of us volunteers were exchanging stories about talking to our hotel clerks or to restaurant workers. Yesterday evening I was in a store and had a conversation with the clerk who helped me who was eager to go to his first caucus, and I gave him a pitch for why he should support Dean. I hope he does.

Today at lunch, the waitress noticed my Dean badge, and showed me her Dean pin and said she'd be voting for him.

The Kerry headquarters was two blocks from us, and very little seemed to be going on there. One independent documentary maker said he was very impressed at the energy of the Dean campaign and that he wasn't seeing anything like it elsewhere.

I have never before worked on a presidential campaign and I'm still very up from this experience. If the number and enthusiasm of the volunteers is what wins elections, no one stands a chance against Dean.

[Egnever]

1. That was great!

Thank you both for your hard work and your wonderful report!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Go back!

They need rides to caucus!



:D

[shance]

3. Thanks for the great feedback***

n/t

[stickdog]

4. Thank you for both your report and your hard work. (nt)

[hellhathnofury]

5. Thanks a great story, really making me look forward to going to NM.

Go back! Stickdog is right, they need rides and childcare, that tax credit just isn't cutting it.

[babzilla]

6. way to go SheilaT

thanks for all that you do!

[RevolutionStartsNow]

7. Hey Sheila, was that 11-year old phone banker named Sara?

If so, I met her when I was there. My 12-year old daughter Stephanie traveled with me to Iowa, and she and Sara became fast friends! Sara's mom is the campaign office masseuse, how cool is that -- she comes from her nursing job and works the night shift at Des Moines HQ, working the kinks out of the tense backs and shoulders of the poor staffers.

[SheilaT]

8. YES! It was Sara.

Isn't she fantastic?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

10. She's adorable

and so enthusiastic. She and my daughter recounted their respective stories of meeting Dean and other politicians; Sara had a great story about meeting Clinton at the Harkin picnic and getting his autograph but "omigod", one of her nonpolitical friends came over and used the pen to write a note! Lame! :)

Listening to these adolescents talking about taking back the country made me wildly hopeful about the future...

[Bush loves Jiang]

13. Nurses: Love 'em or hate 'em...

I became good friends with a few nursing students in a class I was required to take with them even though I'm an IT student. At the same time, two of my shrillest (albeit least intelligent) right-wing critics are retired nurses. :-P

Guess most of the apples are good though.

[liberalnurse]

9. Hello Sheila T.

I was there too until 3pm. I was putting the labels on the door hangers. I was in the "new recruits" video room most of the time. Then went out with a canvas group until I froze again....I don't think I really thawed out from yesterday!

Yes, let me piggy-back your scenario. The energy is incredible. The community is hopping and folks all around see Dean support/volunteers and are pleased to share they support Dean. They too feel the power!

Thank you Sheila! :yourock:

[nofurylike]

11. thank you, SheilaT and all! beautiful, touching piece!! n/t

[SheilaT]

12. Another wonderful thing

was that the volunteers were from all over. I personally spoke with people from Minneapolis, Washington DC, California, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio,, Vermont, Texas, Oregon, and probably many more states but I didn't exchange that information from everyone. There were three bus loads of people from Texas there.

I don't know when I've had so much fun before.

[dfong63]

14. hip hip hooray for Dean volunteers!!!

[slinkerwink]

15. great post!

:yourock:

[radfringe]

16. I realize you were working for Dean...

and, in a way, on behalf the Democratic party -- this would limit you to talking to people who generally support Dem's --- but what was your overall "guess-timation" on people's opinion of Bush*?

were there many "waffelers" -- i.e. may or may not vote for Bush* but it depends on who the Dem nominee will be?

[cthrumatrix]

17. excellent report.....the Dr and America thanks you

[JaneQPublic]

18. Thanks for the report!

It was a really good read.

[End Evil]

19. That sounds wonderful!

I don't see how Dean will NOT win Iowa ... when one is honest about all the circumstances involved with the caucuses.

[creativelcro]

20. Great report! I have a question though...

When they say "commit", I'm still wondering who'll really show up. I mean, have you ever committed to something over the phone just to get rid of some annoying telemarketer just because at that moment you did not feel like hanging up ?... Will see soon, I guess...


>>
One phone banker was an 11 year old girl, and she told me that two days ago when she was calling she got 35 people to commit to going to the caucus and definitely vote for Dean.

[End Evil]

21. That's what I mean about Iowa

not being very helpful.

It will be EXTREMELY cold, it will take 2-3 hours out @ night.

Who has the supporters who are most likely to do that? The ones who have made it into a rite of passage with their sweatshirts and orange hats. Dean can count on them!

Once the states really begin to vote, it's really just a vote and things will change.

[SheilaT]

22. That is absolutely the issue.

How many people called are simply telling the caller what is necessary to make them go away. We tried very hard to find out if people were absolutely going to attend their caucus and vote for Dean. Two of the people I got through to said that yes, they were definitely planning to go, but no, they were not going to tell me who they were voting for. That got marked down as undecided.

We also at one point stopped making the regular posters I worked on all day yesterday, and for about twenty minutes made a lot of "Draggers For Dean" ones, which are meant to encourage people to drag along other voters for Dean to their caucuses. The five or six of us probably made more than twenty of those altogether, and they went on the bus that then drove to wherever it was Dean was going to be in about an hour.

Who knows if those posters will matter at all.