With all the talk about Presidential Campaigns, debates, etc. these days, I thought the world could stand yet another story about how the caucus process works in Iowa.

Other folks can fill you in on how the larger precincts work.  What I am going to write about here is how my little precinct works - in a town too small to have a retail business (unless you count the post office).

I usually arrive about 15 minutes before registration is to start.  I can turn on the lights, get the posters hung on the walls, get my lists and literature together, etc.

Cross-posted from Diatribune.

As more states move their primary dates up, presumably to attract more attention from the candidates and to have more of a say in the nomination, the effect of such leapfrogging on individual candidate's chances at becoming the Democratic nominee is unknown, as Devilstower diaried a couple of days ago in "Who Wins At Leapfrog?"  But a discussion we seem not to be having is just what result, what goal, is to be achieved by any change in the calendar or the process. That is, while the objections to the calendar seem to be defined, the goals of such changes seem rather ill-defined.

In the editor's personal column in the weekly Anamosa Journal Eureka, she lamented that although two of the Republican also rans had put in appearances in Jones County (Iowa), none of the Democrats had yet showed up.  Moreover, as noted in a diary from May 3rd, Rudy Giuliani first scheduled a visit, then cancelled when it was found that the hosts were not rich enough to help him campaign against the inheritance tax.  That decision is regrettable not because of the potential loss of support for Giuliani, but because the visits the candidates make to Iowa help them to grow and learn as well about a broader segment of the country.  In addition, listening to a candidate in person, allowing issues to be discussed without the constraints of the radio and TV sound bites, and outside of the slickly produced advertising, gives people a chance to evaluate that candidate in good faith, both on issues of substance and of style.

In the editor's personal column in the weekly Anamosa Journal Eureka, she lamented that although two of the Republican also rans had put in appearances in Jones County (Iowa), none of the Democrats had yet showed up. Moreover, as noted in a diary from May 3rd, Rudy Giuliani first scheduled a visit, then cancelled when it was found that the hosts were not rich enough to help him campaign against the inheritance tax. That decision is regrettable not because of the potential loss of support for Giuliani, but because the visits the candidates make to Iowa help them to grow and learn as well about a broader segment of the country. In addition, listening to a candidate in person, allowing issues to be discussed without the constraints of the radio and TV sound bites, and outside of the slickly produced advertising, gives people a chance to evaluate that candidate in good faith, both on issues of substance and of style.

Senator Charles (Chuck) Grassley (R-IA) built his reputation playing the down-to-earth farmer next door who went to Washington to represent the common sense of the folks back home. After arriving in Washington, he went after publicity as a critic of wasteful procurement practices, exposing the thousand dollar hammers and such. That act played well in Iowa and he became unbeatable. I truly wonder, however, if the man has anything left.

Watching his recent performance (since W took office), he appears more and more to be just another Republican placeholder - taking orders from the White House and regurgitating their talking points on cue.

A recent example of this has to do with his reaction to the situation in Iraq and the actions Congress is trying to take to change course. During last Saturday's cloture vote, Grassley voted with the prevailing side to prevent debate and consideration of the non-binding resolution. What did the Senator have to say about it?  

Yesterday, Sunday Feb.18, Senator Edwards appeared in Dubuque, Iowa to hold a "town hall" type event on health care issues. I have put this together from my notes. Direct quotes are in quotation marks. I have done my best to paraphrase the remainder while retaining their intended meaning. My comments and asides are set off in square brackets []. If some other remarks appear to be my own, they probably are.

I arrived about ten minutes before the scheduled starting time for the event at the Grand River Center (no link provided because they have a picture of W on their web page). Of course, the campaigns schedule these events knowing that folks will be trickling in past the scheduled time, and we know that it won't start on time, either. By the time the Senator entered the room, we had had a chance to sign in, find a seat, and to introduce ourselves to the people on each side of us. I sat between a woman who was knitting something from yarn she had spun from the fiber produced by her own llamas and sheep. On my left was a woman who was studying for a master's in divinity. We were interrupted only by a brief welcome from the Mayor of Dubuque. My very crude guess would be that there were 200-300 in attendance.