Daemen PSC & HST Students Visit Iowa - Days 2 & 3

After learning about Iowan politics during our private tour of the state capitol with an Iowa Representative on day 1, our second and third days in Iowa were spent attending several Democratic presidential candidate rallies and a forum on democracy.  By attending the various town halls, community events, and the forum, we were able to get a glimpse of what it is like for Iowa voters preparing to caucus on February 3 for their favorite candidate.  Because Iowa is a smaller state (population roughly 3 million people) and they vote first in the nomination season, Iowa voters understand their importance in the nomination process and expect that candidates will spend a lot of time introducing themselves, shaking hands, and taking selfies with them.  As you will see, candidates in return, are happy to oblige. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar's "Amy for America" Campaign Bus

Waiting for Mayor Pete Buttigieg to take the stage

Caucuses are vastly different from primaries--and Iowa is even a bit different among the various caucus states.  In a primary, a voter simply shows up to their polling location, fills out their ballot, and turns it in.  In a caucus, a voter shows up at a specified time (say 7:00 pm) and settles in for a few hours of speeches (from campaign surrogates, grassroots volunteers, and activists) and then votes.  And in Iowa, the way voting happens is even different.  Instead of filling out a paper ballot, voters literally vote with their feet.  Voters gather in their predetermined precinct location and listen to various surrogates, volunteers, and activists talk about why their candidate is the best.  Then, after the speeches, the voting begins.  There are signs posted throughout the room in which voters are gathered and in order to vote for a candidate, voters stand in their candidate's location.  After everyone is in place, the voters are counted.  If a candidate fails to attract 15% of the vote, they do not reach "viability."  Any voters supporting a candidate that does not reach viability can either vote for their second choice or they can go home.  This process continues until all candidates left have achieved viability.  Once all candidates have achieved viability, the votes are officially tallied across all the precincts in the state (currently there are 1, 681 caucus precincts) and a winner ultimately emerges.  Complicating this even further is the fact that between the various rounds of voting, all of the voters are working at convincing the supporters of candidates who have failed to achieve viability to support their candidate.  So, for example, should Amy Klobuchar fail to reach viability, all of the supporters of all the other candidates will be working on convincing the Klobuchar supporters to vote for Sanders, Buttigieg, Warren, or Biden instead. 

Listening to Vice President Joe Biden at his community event in Indianola, Iowa on 1/18/2020

Mayor Pete Buttigieg at his town hall in Council Bluffs, IA on 1/18/2020

Due to the nature of how voting actually happens in the Iowa caucuses, candidates try to ensure that their supporters are fully informed about their positions, their plans, and have a good idea of their character.  The candidates know that on caucus night, voters are expected to appeal to supporters of candidates that fail to achieve viability.  This is why candidates make several trips to Iowa and why they spend as much time as they do shaking hands and taking selfies.  These personal touches may make a huge difference on caucus night.  With a strong showing in Iowa (preferably a first place showing!) a candidate can then expect an increase in media attention as well as campaign donations. 

Tysai Washington and Sam Williams (R-L) with Joe Biden after his event in Indianola.  

Our whole group with Pete Buttigieg after his town hall in Council Bluffs.  

Our group with Elizabeth Warren after her town hall in Des Moines.  

After attending a few individual rallies (so far we have seen Biden, Buttigieg, and Warren) we were able to attend a forum entitled, We the People: Protecting Our Democracy a Decade After Citizens United.  (For anyone interested in the forum, it was recorded and can be found here: https://www.c-span.org/video/?468160-1/democratic-presidential-candidates-speak-we-people-2020-forum-iowa). At this forum, candidates were asked to address issues surrounding democracy, specifically focusing on the problems associated with money in politics.  Citizens United refers to the 2010 Supreme Court case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that independent expenditures related to political campaigns by corporations could not be restricted, as this would be a violation of their First Amendment Rights.  A total of six candidates appeared at the forum.  Andrew Yang, John Delaney, Elizabeth Warren, and Amy Klobuchar attended in person, while Pete Buttigieg and Deval Patrick appeared via Skype.  

Candidates at the We the People Forum (From Top to Bottom:
Elizabeth Warren, Deval Patrick, Andrew Yang,
Amy Klobuchar,Pete Buttigieg, and John Delaney).

 At each of these events, students have not only learned about the candidates running for office, but they have also learned a great deal about how unique Iowa is in our presidential nomination process.  They have been observing the power of retail politics--something we do not get to see much of in New York.  They have also been learning about how seriously Iowa residents take the nomination process and how closely they are actually paying attention.  We have spoken with some of the voters in the crowds at these events and everyone we have spoken with has been to multiple events from a variety of candidates.  Iowans take their first-in-the-nation role seriously and genuinely try to learn about the candidates through traditional retail politics.