Thanks to the precedent of historical accident, my home state of Iowa is the first in the nation to nominate a presidential candidate for each party in the November elections. Actually, what happens is that voters registered to the Democrats and Republicans can go to their respective caucus location, usually a large space like a gym or auditorium, and make their choice on which candidate they want to represent their party, which translates into a number of electors being sent to the parties’ national conventions later this year. Each party does it a little bit differently, and I went both to see what the process is like and support my chosen candidate.
While the crowds to get into my caucus place, a junior high school, were large, and the excitement of this election cycle considerable, the mood remained mild and things proceeded pretty quickly and orderly considering the number of people milling around and waiting to sign in or vote. Since my ward/neighborhood had a more modest turnout than the other large groups in the junior high’s other gym and auditorium, we got straight to it and let out early. The first business was to elect a chair and secretary for our ward, and as expected, no one from the anonymous crowd offered any nominations, so when the lady at the sign-in table asked, “Do you just want me to be the permanent chair?” she got a big round of applause. For secretary, as our new chairwoman asked for nominations, the man sitting at the sign-in table covered his face with his clipboard and awaited his fate. The crowd cheered again and he was shamefully volunteered.
Time was given for a representative of each candidate to make a short speech. With the competing sound of the large group (a neighboring ward) seated next to us echoing off the walls of the gym, this meant neither of the two brave souls who stepped forward with something prepared had their talking points heard. I caught that the second guy, a burly man with a body like mashed potatoes and a military baseball cap, said Ted Cruz “LED THE FIGHT” as a refrain to three or four lines. Simple ballots were passed out- so many people came that I was just given a blank slip of pink paper and told to write my choice on it- we voted quickly, dropped our ballots in the basket, and walked out past the other groups still deliberating. The chair and secretary- the vote counters- are supposed to announce the results afterwards, then go through other party business at the party level, but I think most everyone cleared out as soon as possible.
As reported widely, Ted Cruz won the largest share of the Republican caucus vote, followed closely by Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.
And so, after last night, my home state goes back to being an occasional national punchline for people who’ve never been there and know nothing about it. After being courted for months by high profile politicians and reporters, Iowa will be thankfully ignored and largely forgotten until some hack comic needs an example of a generic backwater. It’s somewhat like the awkward girl character in a teen drama who gets a suspicious amount of attention from the hottest guys in class, only it turns out a day later that the whole thing was a prank. Iowa only has 6 electoral college votes, 30th place out of 51, and won’t be getting near this attention until four years from now.
Some other thoughts about my local caucus:
– I think we broke the fire code allowance for the school building. Large American trucks were parked for blocks around the caucus location in every direction, and people were streaming through the hallways and out the front doors like we were waiting to get on the theme park’s river ride in the high heat of July.
-It was mildly surprising to find familiar faces in the crowds. People I knew from church or Boy Scouts, and even a couple elementary school teachers I knew from way back when. Politics are a big deal in American life, but people are usually pretty mum about outright identifying their party alliances. It’s not prudent to reveal that openly, yet we all have our hunches about how our acquaintances line up politically. Most of the people I saw at my party caucus I could conform to my expectations easily.
-I was very disappointed that, when it came time for a representative from the crowd to speak for each candidate, no one spoke up for Jeb! Bush. It would have been some naughty entertainment to see what kind of real person supports an empty suit like that.
-I thought about the large gathering of adult neighbors and thought to myself, “Where else in American life do middle Americans gather like this? Besides football games, movies, and modern church services, which are all a form of passive entertainment.” I honestly can’t think of any place in American life where neighbors meet together meaningfully any more. I’m sure that, as soon as everyone at the junior high had cast their ballots, they were walking quickly down the snow-lined sidewalks, back to their trucks or SUV/Crossovers, then back home, never to congregate like this with their neighbors for an important discussion until four or eight years for now for the next major Iowa caucus. Showing up to participate in a political event like this means that we all care about our country and our community, but on a daily basis how, if at all, do we care for our local neighbors or even interact with them? I walk outside on an almost daily basis and I hardly ever see my neighbors outside, or if so, we don’t recognize each other and don’t talk to each other. I will give credit that Iowans will often say hi to a passing stranger on a quiet stretch of sidewalk- something unheard of in many places.
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