Undecideds Still Rule The Day In Iowa

Making Up One's Mind Right Before The Caucus Is Nothing Unusual

(CBS)  It's game time in Iowa, and 40 percent of caucus-goers could still change their minds or remain undecided -- like high school senior Aaron Eckhouse.

"I'm thinking probably [Barack] Obama or [John] Edwards," he told CBS News correspondent Seth Doane.

He's been listening for months, but wants to hear more.

"We have the first spot in the nation so we have a lot of influence," he said. "And I just don't take that lightly at all."

Global warming and the war are two of his biggest issues, and different things appeal to him about each candidate. He says his friends are trying to pull him in one direction or another.

"That's a big part of caucusing," Eckhouse said.

In Iowa, you really don't have to make up your mind in advance. Here you don't pull a lever or push a button. Think of a caucus like a neighborhood gathering, where friends and community members get together and try to convince you to join them in their candidate's corner.

"Waiting is very much part of the deal," says Des Moines Register political columnist David Yepsen. "You want to see all the acts of the play… before you write a review!"

Yepsen says being undecided is part of the political landscape here.

"They know their decision is important," says Des Moines Register political columnist David Yepsen, who adds that being undecided is part of the political landscape here.

"They know that they could elevate someone to the White House and they also know that they are going to end the political hopes of probably half a dozen people on caucus night," he said.

For Billie Jean Betzold, health care and family values matter most, and that's what driving her to caucus for the first time next week.

"I think it's a little intimidating knowing that we're first in the country," she said. "Just because I think what we do is going to sway a lot of other people."

A teacher's assistant, Betzold is trying to decide between Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, a decision she says she'll ultimately feel in her gut.

"I'm hoping that there will be that one thing that says, 'OK, I know who I want now,'" she said.

But chances are, she'll end up deciding on caucus night itself.

[jonesforch]

Posted by forthepeopl1 at 08:48 AM : Dec 29, 2007

For pete''''s sakes, none of this has one thing to do with HIllary Clinton! This is just Bush getting rid of the witnesses to his torture at Gitmo.


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Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 03:53 PM : Dec 30, 2007

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by forthepeopl1 at 08:48 AM : Dec 29, 2007

For pete''s sakes, none of this has one thing to do with HIllary Clinton! This is just Bush getting rid of the witnesses to his torture at Gitmo.

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by hopetrumps at 03:49 PM : Dec 29, 2007

Good grief, Edwards is just a glorified ambulance chaser who made his money skimming off the awards of people''s mistforune. And he has the 6 million dollar mansion and hundred dollar haircut to prove it.

Up until one month ago, the ONLY plan he had was to discredit the other candidates, and then when he was booed in the debates finally decided he''d better get some plans. So he took everybody elses and jiggled them around a little and made out like he was the ONLY one with a plan.

For God''s sakes, get real!

[cfin5]

"Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - President George Washington.....................Think, and then prove your thought with ALL the facts you can find before you help decide our nations path my friends.

[forthepeopl1]

this is what you will get with missery hillary as PRESIDENT. she were the same traiter coat as bush/cheney


The U.S. military has returned 10 Saudi detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison to their home country, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday.

The transfer cuts the number of men now held at the isolated U.S. Naval station in southeast Cuba to about 275, a decline of nearly a third in the last year.

About 136 of the 759 people detained at Guantanamo since 2002 have been Saudi, the second-largest group after Afghans. The vast majority have been repatriated - despite the fact that more than 90 percent are still considered a terrorist threat.

The U.S. agreed to return the men with the understanding that Saudi Arabia will mitigate that risk, partly through a state program to reintegrate former detainees into civilian life, said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman.

Their detention has been a source of strain with Riyadh, a close U.S. ally.

[cfin5]

Even though Tom Tancredo endorsed Mitt Romney when he through in the towel,.....both ways here, his supporters DID NOT! Sounds like they are now standing behind Ron Paul as their concerns are nearly identical. And for that we say THANK YOU!......Ron Paul, proven public servant of the Constitution in 2008! GO USA!!!

[kloob2]

Anything goes now folks. I just have a hard time swallowing the Democratic candidates. Go here and find out why... www.sharkshellfish.com

[homespunlady]

I DO find it IRONIC that on the SAME DAY that the Bhutto funeral occurs word our "fearless leader" George has stabbed our troops in the back with a "quiet" AKA COWARDLY "POCKET VETO".
Guess he figured he''s "sneak it through" just like EVERYTHING else he''s pulled.
I want an HONEST candidate!!!
Even if I don''t support his entire platform, Ron Paul has DEFINITELY cornered my vote simply because he seems to be the only one telling the truth - both good and bad and letting the chips fall where they may.

[rowdytexan2]

If those folks haven''t made up their mind by now, then I''d say they are a little mentally slow, fer pete''s sakes.

I''d already made up my mind on their record.

[likeitis5050]

There are no undecideds. They just don''t want to give the media any satisfaction of thinking they know the outcome. The media is the one being led around by the nose. Serves them right. I love that the media can be in the thick of it all and still get it wrong! Besides...why should any one share and be subjected to all the c.rap that you get from those who don''t agree and think they have a right to call you stupid for not agreeing?

Iowa doesn''t have that much control...but the media has made everyone think it does. Maybe Iowa is just as sick of all they hype, too.