By Joyce Anderson
For the Chippewa Valley Post
I grew up in Iowa, a state of vowels, political engagement, those weird caucuses and the first primary in the Union. I have two older brothers who still live there, and because they live in Iowa, they remain politically opinionated and active.
A couple of weeks ago during a phone conversation, the younger of the two said, “Well, I better get going. Ted Cruz is having coffee at Subway and I want to ask him about how much his wife lobbies him on behalf of Goldman Sachs.”
The point was not that he was hanging out at the local sandwich shop but that he would ask Cruz such an impertinent question, even jokingly.
“Yeah, hell, Ben Carson’s here tomorrow,” he continued. “Next week, Marco Rubio.”
Keep in mind he lives in a town with a population of 1,124.
This brother views himself as an independent and would be happy if he could go to both the Republican and Democratic caucuses. But he can’t, and since there are no caucuses for Independent voters, he wound up in the Republican caucus this year.
The morning after the caucuses, I called each of my brothers for their eyewitness accounts of the Iowa primary. It’s been a long time since I was a kid there. I asked about the process and what they learned. Here’s what I gleaned.
It was an amazing turnout in my (Independent) brother’s small town. It was snowing hard “the day after” in South Central Iowa, but caucus night was beautiful. He estimated that there were 500 people who showed up at their local public high school. (Remember, population 1,124.)
The crowd divided into groups, according to precincts and then broke down further so they could have manageable discussions. In each group, the caucus leader went down the list of Republican candidates one by one. As the name of each candidate was read, folks got up and spoke for up to three minutes as to why people should vote for that particular candidate.
My brother’s family doctor got up and spoke as to why Ben Carson would be a great president. As my brother put it: “Team worker. Knows how important it is to be a part of a team to get things done.”
Ted Cruz? “He’s a real constitutionalist. He’s a Christian. He will stand up to the establishment and get it back to the way it was meant to be.” The majority of folks at the school voted for Cruz.
Did Donald Trump’s skipping the last debate have an effect on the outcome? Did it make Trump look too boastful? According to my brother’s account, people pretty much agreed that Trump’s skipping the debate gave Cruz a chance to really “hammer” a debate win.
Those at the caucus felt that without Trump, Cruz really came through. My brother thought Rand Paul would have been a better choice but, everyone had their say, and the majority wins.
After the caucus, my brother and his wife went to a local bar to get something to eat and watch the returns. He said that by the end of their evening even the Republicans were rooting for Bernie.
When I asked if it was because they thought he would be easier to beat, my brother said, “Heck no! We can’t stand Hillary. And if we don’t like who the Republicans eventually come up with, we all think that we could at least feel okay about voting for Bernie.”
Meanwhile, my other brother and his wife, who live seven miles west, caucused with the Democrats in their even smaller town, which happens to be the county seat. The Democratic caucus was at the “new” high school, south of town, just down the street from where my grandmother and aunt and uncle lived when I was a kid.
They caucused with about 60 other people. The Democrats caucus a little differently than the Republicans and their method requires more explicit powerful persuasion.
They too meet within their precinct. By arrival time, many, but not all, Democrats had decided which candidate to support for president. They have had plenty of opportunity to meet and to read about the candidates, so they divided into factions for O’Malley, Sanders, Clinton and Undecided, with each group gathering in a corner of the room.
An early decision by the entire group was that O’Malley did not have the required 15% of supporters, so his name was withdrawn from further discussion. The remaining efforts, then, were aimed at persuading the undecided and the O’Malley supporters to vote for either Clinton or Sanders and potentially to change some minds on either side. I’m not picturing a small quiet gathering….
People’s big concern was that Sanders is too old. What was persuasive at this caucus, my brother said, was the number of younger voters – 40 and under – who were adamantly pro-Sanders.
You know, the first generation that most likely won’t fare better economically and perhaps educationally than their parents’ generation. Their message was that Bernie understands about their school debt load and the low paying wages; he cares about them, and he is prepared to do something about their situation. He is authentic. He gives them hope.
Hillary supporters believe she has the most experience. She would protect women and children’s rights. She’s a strong leader. She can win! By the end of the night 28 voted for Bernie, 29 voted for Hillary and two remained undecided.
My brother and his wife were elated! Just weeks before Hillary had a considerable lead. And the bonus? Their grandson, a sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, was a lead Bernie supporter at his caucus in Ames. He reported to his grandparents that it was an amazing turnout! And an amazing experience.
My conclusion is that while we get pretty annoyed with Iowa for its courtship by candidates and getting all of the attention as the first primary in the country, it has a truly grassroots democratic process. How I envy their getting together with community members to talk things over.
Some years, depending on the candidates, my Independent brother might caucus with the Democrats, though he’s usually with the Republicans. What would it be like to engage in civil discussion about the issues and candidates and to gain insight from each other’s information and perspectives? They decide very publicly who they would like to see as this nation’s leader and still greet each other on the sidewalk, shop in each others’ stores and support their public schools.
How different that is than our getting all of our news from the national, state and local media, avoiding civil political discussions with one another, and then going privately to a designated place and privately drawing the curtain to vote.
But in Iowa, that state of vowels with the weird caucuses, the democratic grassroots process is alive and well. I’m feeling a little homesick for a place where civil political discussions can still take place.
Editor’s note: For some detailed information on how the Iowa caucus system works, see a recent National Public Radio article which also contains a link to a two-minute YouTube video. The video provides an audio-visual explanation of the caucuses featuring Lego figures.
About the Author: Joyce Anderson is an educator, activist and writer. She lives in Eau Claire and is a former member of the CVPost board.