Jobs, Debt and the War Dominate Iowa Caucus

As the "invisible primary" winds down in rural Iowa, candidates for the Republican Party's presidential nomination battle to get the most out of this conservative state, writes US journalist and Truman State University student Tawanda Kanhema.

Photo by Tawanda Kanhema

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Romney Confident in Last Rally Before Iowa Caucuses

Mitt Romney greeted a large crowd of approximately 250 people at a warehouse in Clive, Iowa. Warming up the crowd was South Dakota Senator John Thune, who received cheers for promoting Romney as the person to "take us in a new direction."

Romney, wearing the usual checkered shirt and jeans for his Iowa rallies, introduced his family to the large crowd. After the cheers died down, Romney dived right into his speech, attacking Obama for his healthcare plan (even using the term "Obamacare,") and for killing American jobs, while simultaneously promoting his experience as a job creator.

Romney in particular used some lines from "American the Beautiful" to illustrate his points from the "shining city on the hill" to thanking veterans for their sacrifice.

Midway through the rally, a few dissidents expressed their frustration with the war and the "war on the poor." Some audience members replied with the phrase "get a job!" but Romney kept smiling. After the outbursts died down, Romney exclaimed that it was great to be in a country that allowed people to express their beliefs and urged his supporters to do the same thing at Obama rallies. After working the crowd up with his speech, he walked around the edge of the platform, shaking hands and signing autographs.

Romney, Paul and Santorum are virtually in a dead heat for Iowa. With a very likely victory in New Hampshire, Romney could very well dominate if he wins Iowa.

Perry's Last Stop

Rick Perry ended his final day campaigning before the Iowa caucuses in Dallas. In particular, Dallas county. In particular, the town of Perry in Dallas county. In the Pattee Hotel in Perry, Perry urged his supporters to push hard in the final hours to gather additional votes for the Iowa Caucuses. Supporting Perry were governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Sam Brownback of Kansas as well as country music singer Larry Gatlin and two veterans. Representative Sam Graves from Missouri was also present.

Perry touted his support of the repeal of Obamacare and saying that, as President, he will not apologize for America. Perry did not focus all of his attacks at the Obama administration, however. Perry also subtly attacked his rivals, claiming to be the only truly consistent conservative. Perry said that the voters should not have to settle for anyone just because they are "electable," but instead vote for whomever is closest to their beliefs.

The crowd mostly consisted of older religious voters, determined via sight and by taking note of the multitude of voters who sang along with some religious hymns Gatlin played. The mix of "Amens" and "Damn rights" show that the audience was very passionate about the issues.

With Perry polling in the low double-digits in Iowa, he may very well need a miracle to pull out a much-sought-after top-three finish.

Do differences between campaign events have effects?

We rolled up to The Hotel at Kirkwood Center about 15 minutes after leaving Newt Gingrich behind in Walford, Iowa. Ron Paul was holding an event in Cedar Rapids and we wanted to be sure to hit it. What we noticed from experiencing both events was something unusual, they both had opposite environments about them that left an impact on me.

Gingrich’s tour bus pulled up to the Schrader Excavating & Grading site about 35 minutes late, and then it did not even make its way inside until another 10 minutes later. The event progressed on and on, finally ending with Gingrich taking questions. The place that the event took place was your typical excavating warehouse type place, being poorly lit, horrible for sound, and unheated. As well, after Gingrich got off his bus, he approached the microphone right away without an introduction, with his wife standing to his left and the bus behind his back. He then sat down at a table with his wife still dutifully to his left and Ellis the Elephant (a character from his wife’s book) in mascot form on his right. As well the majority of Gingrich’s audience seemed to be people either in their retirement age or nearing it.

Ron Paul’s event could not be more opposite. From outside appearance and no prior knowledge at all, The Hotel at Kirkwood Center comes off as a very upper end hotel aimed at people willing to spend a bit of money. The space that Ron Paul held his event was, in contrast to Gingrich, very open and bright. While Gingrich was going for the appeal towards the blue-collar worker, Ron Paul was going for a more upbeat atmosphere. Ron Paul also had an introduction from his speech, in the form of the Senator Rand Paul (his son). Rand Paul was also able to talk about things for his father that Ron Paul might not have been able to say about himself. The best example of this was Senator Paul addressing the vast amount of support that Representative Paul was getting from active duty troops. This allowed Ron Paul to show off the kind of support he was getting while not coming off as egotistical. The last major point of his event that struck me was how orderly it was, the event was to start at 2:30, and Representative Paul walked into the room at 2:33, and (while not rushing) he ended his speech appropriately and thanked everyone for coming out. As he left the stage he was instantly swarmed, but managed to keep moving through the room quickly while not hurried.

One of the most interesting differences though was the crowd. Ron Paul’s crowd was absolutely enthusiastic, giving him standing ovations whenever he would address one of his hot topics (like cutting the department of education or slashing the budget). We attributed this to the fact that the majority of his crowd was younger individuals, mostly looking 40 and younger.

What do you all think about the differences? Be sure to let us know!

You Can Never Have Too Much Malt: Our First Media Frenzy

By: Carrie Nelson

Our first stop of the day took us to a block in West Des Moines where Michelle Bachmann made three stops. We caught up with her Paula's Diner which was packed with a variety of people. As the media snapped photos and set up equipment, locals and travelers alike enjoyed lunch, while wait staff whistled over the noise to deliver orders. While the ratio of media staff to residents was highly skewed in the media's favor, people are still supporting Bachmann.

As we shuffled our way to the front of the media frenzy we managed to get a prime spot behind the lunch counter. Bachmann greeted the crowded diners and even stopped to take a few pictures, all the way reminding people to post these to Facebook. Bachmann and husband Marcus stayed for just enough time to order a chocolate milkshake with three extra portions of malt (according to Bachmann, you can never have enough malt) and two orders of cheese fries. 

After her brief stop and food to go Bachmann walked across the street to Diggity Dog , a pet supply store. The crowd from Paula's Diner filed into the street causing the delay of a local bus.  There are people lining up to meet Bachman even though her numbers are shrinking in the polls. 

Candidate Narrative Research

By: Catherine Jones

As a student researcher member of the team, I have the unique experience to speak with the audience of voters.  As an extension of our fall class, my research partner and I are evaluating candidate campaign narratives.  We have studied the GOP debates, candidate ads and campaign websites in order to determine the campaign messages for each candidate. In hopes of finding message penetration, we have been asking voters questions like “Which candidate do you support as the GOP nominee for 2012? What have they said to gain your support?” and “who are you sure not to support? And why?”  We are looking to see if the reasons voters support candidates align with the candidate campaign messages. 

So, what have we found so far?  The Iowans are very friendly people that are willing to talk.  They’ve been more than happy to answer my research questions, and often spent 5-10 minutes talking to me and asking me about school afterwards.  As far as their political enthusiasm goes, the Newt supporters were far less enthused than the Paul supporters.  Many voters in attendance at the Newt event were still undecided and some admitted to going simply to just to observe, because they had already chosen to support another candidate.  It is still too early for me to draw any conclusions about my research, but we are headed to a Romney event and Bachman event today that will allow me to collect more data.  I am excited to speak with more voters and learn what the Iowans have to teach me. 

Rick Santorum Ropes in Supporters at Pizza Ranch

This afternoon we had the opportunity to see Rick Santorum speak at Pizza Ranch, a Boone, Iowa, restaurant.

Throughout our time at the event, I spoke with several Iowans. While their personal opinions about the issues varied, there was one common theme: Rick Santorum is a nice guy.

Rick Santorum speaks to supporters at Pizza Ranch.

This was most apparent when a teenage girl in the audience became overheated and almost fainted. She was carried out of the crowded room and paramedics were called.

A campaign staffer came into the room, where another TMN staffer and I were sitting with the girl. He insisted the room be closed. Mr. Santorum, he said, would be crushed to hear a girl who wanted to ask him a question was denied because she was sick.

Minutes later, Santorum rushed in. A more sincere apology could not be imagined. We handed over paper, and he autographed it for her after answering her question concerning education.

Although politicians are often vilified, the grassroots experience here in Iowa is reminiscent of what so many Americans wish politics to be: ordinary people working to help the country they love.