A view from the Presidential Election Trenches of Iowa
I have hung up on about 10 pollsters this week, and we've gotten at least that many calls from campaigns. To be completely honest, I'm extremely interested in who becomes president, but I sure can't work up any enthusiasm for being active in the whole thing. Maybe I should but going door to door with pamphlets or making phone calls sounds awful to me.
Sean, on the other hand, is volunteering for Obama, and was a driver for Obama's swing through Iowa last week. He got to talk to some of Obama's top campaign advisers. One interesting thing he's been hearing -- everyone in Iowa who has to deal with Clinton's campaign hates them. They are apparently rude and arrogant with everyone. In fact, the facility staff at several places both Clinton and Obama have appeared have told the Obama campaigns they're supporters now, because of how badly the Clinton campaign treated them.
What Iowans want -- and I'm sorry we seem to have so much say in the process, but there it is -- is a candidate they like, respect, and think can win nationally. Of course the issues matter, but frankly, if you disagreed strongly with anyone of the front runners for the Democratic nomination you should probably be a Republican instead. So the likability factor is pretty big, and people like Edwards and Obama way more than Clinton.
My anecdotal impression is that Obama is going to come in first, perhaps by double digits. Not only is there a huge buzz about him among Democrats and young people, I know conservative Republicans -- some in my own family -- who are so disenchanted with Bush that they're going to change affiliations and caucus for Obama. Hillary doesn't come off as very genuine here, and she has apparently surrounded herself with assholes, and she is about to be schooled.
Should be fun to watch. Tired of all the bullshit coverage on television. They DO NOT talk about issues, it's all about Poll numbers.
Sean, on the other hand, is volunteering for Obama, and was a driver for Obama's swing through Iowa last week. He got to talk to some of Obama's top campaign advisers. One interesting thing he's been hearing -- everyone in Iowa who has to deal with Clinton's campaign hates them. They are apparently rude and arrogant with everyone. In fact, the facility staff at several places both Clinton and Obama have appeared have told the Obama campaigns they're supporters now, because of how badly the Clinton campaign treated them.
What Iowans want -- and I'm sorry we seem to have so much say in the process, but there it is -- is a candidate they like, respect, and think can win nationally. Of course the issues matter, but frankly, if you disagreed strongly with anyone of the front runners for the Democratic nomination you should probably be a Republican instead. So the likability factor is pretty big, and people like Edwards and Obama way more than Clinton.
My anecdotal impression is that Obama is going to come in first, perhaps by double digits. Not only is there a huge buzz about him among Democrats and young people, I know conservative Republicans -- some in my own family -- who are so disenchanted with Bush that they're going to change affiliations and caucus for Obama. Hillary doesn't come off as very genuine here, and she has apparently surrounded herself with assholes, and she is about to be schooled.
Should be fun to watch. Tired of all the bullshit coverage on television. They DO NOT talk about issues, it's all about Poll numbers.