Iowa and the caucus - introduction

by Don Wheeler

This post kicks off a series about my decision to participate in the Iowa caucuses effort.


In December of 2006 I told my wife Paddy that if John Edwards chose to run for President again, I wanted to go work on the campaign ahead of the Iowa caucuses for 2008. She agreed - a bit absently perhaps. A couple weeks later, John announced his candidacy from the ninth ward of New Orleans.

In the spring of 2007, I suggested to Paddy we should think about the details of me going to Iowa - and caught the person who knows me better than anyone a bit by surprise. But though she was not a supporter of John Edwards at that point, she supported my intention completely. And she understood how serious I was about it.

It can be very easy after making a claim of intended action to get lazy and find some excuse not to execute that action. That was not a big problem for me, but the idea crossed my mind from time to time.

In such cases, making a further commitment of some kind helps to keep one resolved to the chosen task.

I had seen a lot of video of John's speeches on many topics, read his position papers and policy proposals, but I wanted to see him in person and "take the measure of the man". In August while on his Fighting For One America tour, I noticed that he was scheduled for an early afternoon stop in Burlington, Iowa. That was about as close as he was likely to get to me and figuring the four and one half hour commute each way, would allow me to make a day trip out of the event.

It was a gorgeous day, and Burlington is a beautiful, old Mississippi River town that has seen at least somewhat better days. The event was held in a large outdoor area of The Drake restaurant, which looks out on the river and a really cool bridge which is the conveyance to Burlington from Illinois.

After John and his wife Elizabeth spoke and took questions, many well wishers stood in line to speak with each of them. I was one.

If you ever have been at one of these things you'll know that the celebrity's course often gets deflected, and it's almost like a conga line. After thinking I was just a couple people away from talking to John Edwards a few different times, I almost gave up. But I thought, I drove almost five hours to see him and I was going to at least shake his hand.

Then it occurred to me - he was going to have to board his bus. I withdrew from the throng and posted myself by the door to the bus. As he was about to board, I stuck out my hand and said "Senator, I came from South Bend to see you today. And I'll be back to help with the caucus in January". He looked at me soberly, seeming to size me up and -noticing my One Corps shirt - tapped me on the chest and said "Thank you for that".

So now I had made the promise twice.

I allowed the campaign to choose my post, and they chose Ft. Dodge, IA. As you will learn, this turned out to be an area the campaign considered critical and they devoted major effort and resources to it.

There was a huge dose of serendipity for me on this adventure.

Karita Hummer is someone whom I "met" on the John Edwards blog and considered a friend without having really met her. I not only met her in Fort Dodge - she and I worked in tandem canvassing.

To my surprise, I was assigned the role of an observer at a caucus. That particular caucus was featured on NPR's Weekend America program.

As I headed home, I passed Steve Skvara on I-80 in eastern Illinois. Steve, as you'll recall, was the gentleman who - at the AFL-CIO Presidential forum - posed the question to John Edwards "What's wrong with America and what will you do to change it?" Returning readers may remember I had the privilege to interview Mr. Skvara about health care when he was in South Bend.

So this kicks off my brief odyssey report. I'll talk about Iowa, John Edwards, campaigns and how caucuses work.

If there's a bottom line to my experience, it would be: democracy is not a spectator sport.