Daemen PSC & HST Students Visit Iowa - Day 1

On Thursday, January 16, I traveled to Des Moines, IA with 5 of our Political Science and History majors to experience the retail politics surrounding the fast-approaching Iowa Caucuses.  These caucuses are scheduled for February 3 and will set the tone for the rest of the presidential nominating contests.  We will be attending a variety of political events throughout the state, including campaign rallies/town halls/community events with Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren.

Waiting for our flight out of Buffalo

After a short delay in Detroit, we made it to Iowa in the evening of January 16 and settled in to our hotel.  Friday morning, we attended a presentation by the National Director of Project Vote Smart, Walker McKusick, which is headquartered at Drake University in Des Moines.  Our own political science professor, Dr. Lisa Parshall, is an advisor for Key Votes New York for Project Vote Smart.  Project Vote Smart is a nonpartisan group that aims to provide factual information to voters ahead of elections.

Project Vote Smart Bumper Sticker 

Daemen Students (to the right in this picture) at the Vote Smart presentation with students from Principia College in Illinois, who are also in Des Moines to witness the pre-caucus events.  

After our Vote Smart presentation, Iowa was hit by a winter storm--giving us a snow day, as the rest of our events for today were canceled.  Des Moines ended up getting about 6 inches of snow today, but we still ventured out to explore the city a bit.  

The students (Carlos McKnight, Sam Williams, Lindsey Hornung, Ricardo Marquez, and Tysai Washington, from L-R) enjoying the snow on Drake University's campus.

To help fill up some of our snow day, we visited the Iowa State Capitol Building and had an incredible, unique experience.  

Iowa State Capitol Building 

From L-R: Tysai Washington, Ricardo Marquez, Sam Williams, Lindsey Hornung, Carlos McKnight

Once we got inside, we met Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, who has served Polk County (of which Des Moines is the county seat) since 2007.  Representative Abdul-Samad introduced us to Latino Leader Mary Campos and former Iowa State Representative Wayne Ford.  Ms. Campos and Mr. Ford are the founders and chairs of the Brown and Black Forum held in Des Moines every four years.  The Brown and Black Forum provides candidates with the opportunity to address concerns of the African American and Latino communities.  The Forum began in 1984 and is an important part of run-up to the Iowa Caucuses.

Group picture with Mary Campos, Wayne Ford (center) and Representative Ako Abdul-Samad (right)

Representative Abdul-Samad was then kind enough to give us a tour of the State House of Representatives and tell us several stories about what brought him into politics and some of the issues he is currently fighting for.  

Chamber of the Iowa State House of Representatives 

Representative Abdul-Samad talking with students about the Iowa House of Representatives

Group Picture at the Speaker of the State House's Desk.  The current Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives is Pat Grassley, the grandson of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.  

Overall, we had a very exciting first day in Iowa, despite some inclement weather.  We were incredibly appreciative of Representative Abdul-Samad's time, as he gave us an incredible experience at the Iowa State Capitol.  

Vote Smart: Facts Matter Tour comes to Daemen on October 21

The History & Politics Event Series features An Evening with Vote Smart President Richard Kimball this Sunday (October 21) starting at 6:30pm in the Wick Center's Alumni Lounge. We are proud to co-sponsor this event with help of the Buffalo Niagara League of Women Voters, a venerable non-partisan organization devoted to voter education. 

Mr. Kimball's hour-long multimedia presentation, entitled "The Facts Matter Tour: A Voter's Self-Defense Guide," explains such issues as why facts matter in a democracy, how to make sure you are making voting decisions informed by facts, and how to cut through political spin and commercials to become an informed voter.

Full information is included below, and on the department's Facebook page.

 
The event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends. Come early for a seat and light refreshments. Questions may be directed to Dr. Lisa Parshall, who is coordinating this event.

Guest Blogger: Brianna Zichettella

The Final Frontier: 

Political Honesty and the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness

Great Divide Ranch, home of the non-partisan Project Vote Smart where Brianna
completed a 10-week internship in Summer 2016. 

     Project Vote Smart calls itself the most important organization you have never heard of. And in some   ways, that is true. It was founded in 1992 and housed at Oregon State University. Seven years later, the program moved out to the Great Divide Ranch in southwestern Montana. Its mission statement is to collect and disseminate information on those holding and running for political offices in America. This research covers all levels of government from local to federal and stretches across several different types of information. In an effort to create comprehensive information about America’s electoral process, Vote Smart brings interns and paid staff to Montana. They make up the workforce of several departments ranging from candidate biographies to campaign finance information. And, as promised by Vote Smart’s slogan, very few people have heard of it. I experienced this first hand when I found myself constantly explaining to family and friends exactly what I was doing on the other side of the country.

Moose Lake, at the edge of the Great Divide Ranch

During ten weeks between May and August, I was one of fifty interns living and working at Vote Smart’s Montana headquarters. Having come from a bucolic hometown and attending college in suburban Amherst, spending the summer at the near-wilderness location was unlike anything I had ever done before. The ranch itself is situated at the edge of the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness at an elevation of 6000 feet. The closest town, Philipsburg, is a forty-five minute drive, and the closest airport is about two hours to the east. However, the ranch’s isolated location does not mean that the interns are lacking in things to do. Vote Smart’s property touches the edge of Moose Lake, and the organization owns a dock and several boats. Additionally, several trailheads can be found down the road from the ranch, and most can be completed in an afternoon. A particularly memorable trail – dubbed Huff Puff by a few decades of Vote Smart interns - switchbacks up an Anaconda-Pintler foothill. The aptly-named trail ends about 1000 feet higher than the ranch and features an amazing view of the Pintler Mountain Range. 

Trailways surrounding the Project Vote Smart Camp

But my time in Montana was spent doing more than hiking and spending time on the lake. Over the course of ten weeks, each of Vote Smart’s interns spends 40 hours per week contributing to the organization’s extensive research. During my internship, I was assigned to Vote Smart’s Political Courage Test department. To attempt to provide the public with information about political candidates, the organization sends out Political Courage questionnaires to everyone running for office. This test poses fifteen yes-or-no questions across various policy areas and gives politicians the opportunity to elaborate on their responses. It is the department’s responsibility to send out these letters and post candidate responses on the Vote Smart website. Unfortunately, a very small number of candidates respond to the surveys, and those that do often return only partially completed tests. Because of this, my main obligation in the department was to research candidate websites and speeches to extrapolate their answers to the questions.

Brianna, far left, and fellow interns enjoying the outdoor activities. Interns work on a variety of
projects, collecting information that assists voters with reliable, non-partisan information. 

The work was engaging, if repetitive. Throughout the ten weeks I researched congressional candidates across the country. Some had professionally designed websites with comprehensive issue positions and governance plans. Others had typed a few sentences into WordPress and called it a day. However, the common thread linking candidates from Alabama to Wyoming was that this information is not well publicized. It usually is not too difficult to find, but the process of finding the most relevant information can take a while. The average American often does not have the time or inclination to conduct comprehensive research on all of a candidate’s positions. That is the reason Vote Smart exists. The research done by interns and staff is aggregated on Vote Smart’s website; one place with everything a voter would need to make an informed decision. Every candidate has a page that lists biographical information, public statements, voting records, submitted or extrapolated PCT answers, special interest support, and other relevant information. Considering the controversy and polarization of this election cycle, this kind of data is more important than ever. As said by Thomas Jefferson, a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite for democracy. In 2016, it seems that voters will need all the resources at their disposal to parse through rampant misinformation about their candidates and electoral process. In my opinion, a resource like Vote Smart would be invaluable.

The compound where Project Vote Smart staff and interns engage
in voter education. 

This summer was an extremely rewarding experience, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to contribute to increasing political clarity in America. However, I could not have worked through the ins and outs of completing a successful internship by myself. I would like to thank Dr. Lisa Parshall and the History and Political Science Department for all the help and support I received during the application process and throughout the summer. I would also like to thank the staff and interns at Vote Smart. It was great to work with such a wonderful group of people. Thank you for making my ten weeks a truly amazing experience; it was absolutely one of the best summers of my life. 

The author, Brianna Zichettella is majoring in Political Science
with a minor in  Political Communications.