At Iowa Caucuses, Politics Really Is Local

Campaigns And Their Supporters Undertake An Unprecedented Get Out The Vote Operation

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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The solicitations began almost as soon as supporters walked into Hillary Clinton’s New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Des Moines.

“Would you be willing,” a clipboard-wielding volunteer asked, “to drive someone to the polls on Thursday?”

For all the hype about the Iowa caucuses, there are a small number of votes up for grabs: Estimates at the higher ranges call for a turnout of 150,000 Democrats and 90,000 Republicans at over 3,500 caucus sites across the state tonight.

And that means presidential campaigns spend much of their time making sure each and every supporter gets to their caucus meeting, despite cold, snow, or the hassles of everyday life.

Their efforts this year have been unprecedented.

The John Edwards campaign, according to Edwards’ Iowa spokesman Dan Leistikow, is “helping to find babysitters, locating handicapped parking spots, offering rides, providing meals, [and] helping people find their precinct location.”

The campaign says it had 1,000 canvassers working the state Wednesday, and 51 active phone banks “with hundreds of volunteers and supporters.” It has set up a hotline that Edwards supporters anywhere in Iowa can call if they need a ride caucus night, and has even lined up all terrain vehicles to get supporters to the caucuses in case the weather turns sour.

The Clinton campaign, according to Iowa state director Teresa Vilmain, has secured over 600 shovels and pounds of salt in case of snow. It has 5,000 people ready to drive voters to caucuses (and nearly as many identified as needing rides.) It’s hosting pre-caucus gatherings for supporters, complete with food.

Fred Thompson’s Iowa executive director, Bob Haus, says the Thompson campaign is calling up to 10,000 people per day from Thompson’s Iowa headquarters. Like rival campaigns, the Thompson campaign asks those who come to events to fill out cards so they can be contacted and encouraged to caucus for the candidate.

How will they make absolutely sure voters actually show up on caucus night?

“We’re thinking about hot toddies,” jokes Haus.

The Iowa state director for Mitt Romney, Gentry Collins, characterizes his campaign’s turnout operation as “very traditional.”

“We’ve got a volunteer operation in all 99 Iowa counties,” he says. “We’ve been working hardest on offering rides to people who can’t get themselves to the caucuses. You can’t just run a van or a bus around town. You’ve got to have somebody matched up with each person who needs a ride.”

The turnout operation for Mike Huckabee, who the polls suggest is Romney’s main rival for GOP voters’ hearts in Iowa, is anything but traditional: With less money available to establish a statewide organization than Romney, Huckabee is depending in large part on tight-knit groups of pastors and home-schoolers to ensure that supporters get to the caucuses.

“We are doing what we need to do to contact voters all across the state and let them know where their caucuses are, what time their caucuses are, what to expect when they get there,” says Eric Woolson, Huckabee's Iowa campaign manager.

But Woolson acknowledges that the Huckabee campaign has little planned when it comes to driving people to their caucus.

“By and large, what we’re finding is folks are able to get themselves where they need to be,” Woolson says. “The biggest question I’m getting is what people should do with their kids. I told a guy to just take them with him.”

The Clinton campaign, by contrast, has been lining up teenage baby-sitters for supporters.

Barack Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton characterizes Obama’s turnout operation as “massive,” though he declined to offer specific numbers. Burton did say the campaign is “active in every precinct in every county in the state.” Defying conventional wisdom, the Obama campaign has targeted independent voters and those who have not caucused in the past.

Because of the logistical challenges inherent in caucuses, campaigns rely on local activists to motivate voters in each of the state’s precincts. The most sophisticated operations have differing approaches for different categories of voters - they might make a different pitch in their phone calls to solid supporters than in their calls to undecided voters on caucus day, for example.

Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, who were not expected to do well with the state’s largely conservative and religious GOP electorate, do not have the volunteer network here that some of their rivals do. (The candidates are still doing some campaigning in the state, however, and McCain has seen a recent bump in Iowa polls.)

“Organization is huge,” says Drew Ivers, Iowa state chairman for Ron Paul. “At least 30 percent of the total outcome will be organization, and you could argue it’s higher than that.”

Ivers says that if Paul’s supporters haven’t shown up to their caucus 15 minutes before it is scheduled to start, the campaign will make a phone call to make sure they are on their way. He says 250 college students are working the phones to make sure people turn out for Paul.

Even the most passionate supporters need encouragement, argues Ivers.

“Who wants to get up on a cold winter night in Iowa,” he asks, “and go to a meeting?”

[weezee4bill]

Hello from Iowa. There are now 4 Dems off to N.H.
Check www.billrichardsonforpresident.
PROVEN EXPERIENCE=7term Congressman,2 Term Govenor,
U.N. Ambassdor, Energy Secretary, Personnaly rescued Servicemen & Hostages from Iraq, N. Korea, & Sudan.
NO ON THE JOB TRAINING NESSARY.END THE WAR IN IRAQ!
In my SMALL precinct Richardson got 1 Delagate to the County Dem Convention, GOOD ENOUGH, He did not DROP OUT!!
We would have loved to show better,but #4 gets a ticket on to New Hamphshire!!!!!!!! A real GRASS ROOTS EFFORT by supporters. The only DEM Candidate FROM WEST OF THE MISSIPPI RIVER. He can WIN THE WESTERN STATES, unlike Kerry/Edwards in ''04. Help Bill Richardson Bring our Country Back to Being Respected Again. New Hampshire WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU. VOTE BILL RICHARDSON FOR PRESIDENT!!!!!

[thirdrailrad]

Check out this awesome Iowa Caucus post mortem analysis at http://thirdrailradio.blogspot.com/2008/01/iowa-caucus-post-mortem.html

[hhkeller]

Happy Obama is running and winning.
Shows a vitality in the country for politics.

Without good politics we are domned to be like the Russians. The Republican world and national view seems to be more like Russias everyday. Criminality seems almost normal in the White House.
Whoever wins the primary will have a lot repairs to make for the sake of the nation.

[jetranger7]

VOTE "INDEPENDENT" VOTE "INDEPENDENT" GET RID OF AND DUMP BOTH CORRUPT PARTIES DUMP THE REPUBLICANS AND THE DEMOCRATS !!!!!!! VOTE "INDEPENDENT" !!!!!!

[sgtrds]

I''''m a Republican, and I don''''t believe Huckabee is a conservative. If anything, he''''s a member of the "religious left". But Iowa seems to like him. I don''''t get it.

Posted by mike71067 at 04:14 PM : Jan 03, 2008

the very first person I ever voted for for president was Jerry Ford and he was a conservative. Since him I have not seen on single GOP presidential nominee who was a conservative. Not one of them. they all have the (R) after their names, but Goldwater and Ford turn over in their grave every time on of them claims to be a conservative or a even republican. The real republicans seem to be hiding and afraid to challenge the neocons who have hijacked their once great party.

[gunownerdan]

The Clintons members of the CFR(Council on Foreign Relations) just like Bush, Cheney, Obama, Giuliani, Huckabee, Edwards, Romney, Biden, McCain, Richardson, and Thompson to name a few.
The CFR has hijacked the foreign policy of both parties and their main goal is to destroy American sovereignty and our constitution leading to the formation of a North American Union with Canada and Mexico.
Dr. Ron Paul is not a member of the CFR and he is the only pro-liberty and pro-constitution candidate running for president.

[antoniof123]

I''''m a Republican, and I don''''t believe Huckabee is a conservative. If anything, he''''s a member of the "religious left". But Iowa seems to like him. I don''''t get it.

Why is so much power in the hands of a few people in Iowa?

Posted by mike71067 at 04:14 PM : Jan 03, 2008

Dear Mike Religion is far right it always has been and it always will be. You can not change it just because you want to give it a different name. Like fascism it is far right in fact it is what we like to term reactionary. Now please understand I am not saying this to attack you but others will see it and not only correct you but attack.

[samthetvcat]

My gut''s saying Huckabee''ll eek out the win based on the fact that 37% of the country still approve of the job Bush is doing - clearly something else is at play there.

The Tonight Show appearance was huge because it put Huckabee back in the control seat highlighting his best attribute - his folky likeability.

Senior Christians worry about going to heaven, and if the majority of Republicans are older Evangelicals who want to vote for Huckabee over Romney but were hesitant because of the doubt Romney cast with his negative campaigns, they probably reconnected with Huckabee through last night''s appearance.

I don''t know that rural evangelicals are troubled as much by his intolerance as urban people if they don''t have a lot of diversity. And aren''t Romney and Huckabee basically on par when it comes to immigration, their balancing of the budget, and lack of foreign policy experience?

I don''t know . . . just a gut feeling.

[mike71067]

"Obama is the candidate of change? What a farce. Without a willing congress the only thing he can change is his underwear."
-Posted by roncraw at 02:48 PM : Jan 03, 2008

Gee, thanks for the mental image that I will never be able to erase.

[mike71067]

I never understood the Iowa caucuses. And now, the more I read and learn about the process, the stupider it becomes. Why is a small segment of Iowa''s population responsible for deciding for the rest of us who''s gettin'' the nomination?

Personally, I can''t stand Hillary. Iowa apparently can''t, either. But Democrats across the rest of the country love her.

I''m a Republican, and I don''t believe Huckabee is a conservative. If anything, he''s a member of the "religious left". But Iowa seems to like him. I don''t get it.

Why is so much power in the hands of a few people in Iowa?