Iowa's Neighbors Envious of Caucuses, But Not Hostile

Iowa's Neighbors Envious of Caucuses, But Not Hostile

Hostility to the Iowa caucuses seems to increase with distance.

Michigan and Florida are defying the national parties' schedules, and leaders like Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and king of the bloggers Kos are openly calling for an end to Iowa's first-in-the-nation status. But the states next door, while slightly envious, seem to take a little neighborly pride in Iowa.

"Do you know how jealous I am?" said Lynn Wilson of Rochester, Minn., chair of the Olmstead County DFL (that's Minnesotan for Democrat) when told of this weekend's five-presidential-candidate county party fund-raiser in similar-sized Iowa City. But even though she's off the field of battle, Wilson found a way to participate in the caucuses without being able to caucus. She frequently traveled to northeast Iowa for John Kerry in 2003 and 2004. This year Wilson is doing the same for Hillary Clinton.  "I'm running down to Iowa to help in Decorah, Mason City, and with J-J (the Nov. 10 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner)."

"I'll probably stay in Iowa the last four or five days" before the caucuses, she said, before returning home to Rochester to prep for her own caucuses on Feb. 5, Megacolossal Tuesday.

Republican Debi Kruger of Onalaska, Wis., said she was doing the same thing this summer before the Ames Straw Poll. Her candidate, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, left the race after a poor Ames showing.

So committed activists come here, as any Iowan who saw an orange hat in January 2004 can tell you. But do candidates actually go places other than Iowa?

"The last time we had a presidential candidate in Worthington was Walter Mondale, and before that it was Hubert Humphrey," said Worthington, Minn., DFL chair Doug Bauman, noting that both were born and raised in his part of southwest Minnesota. Just over the border, the Spirit Lake area has seen John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, Tommy Thompson and Sam Brownback this year.

"I can only imagine what it would be like to have just one presidential candidate, even one with no hope of winning. It would be an incredible boost to our fund raising," Bauman said. The last fund-raiser in his area was attended by U.S. Senate candidates Al Franken, Mike Ciresi and Jim Cohen. "It was a better fund-raiser than most, but not what we could have done with any of the presidential candidates."

Back in Iowa, Johnson County Democrats reported they have already gotten commitments of more than $20,000 for their Saturday event with candidates Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson. Also speaking are Oscar winner Forest Whitaker for the Obama campaign, and Joe Biden's son, Delaware attorney general Beau Biden.

J. Scott Christiansen, Democratic vice chair in Columbia, Mo., said that the big speaker at last summer's fund-raiser was a local legislator running for state attorney general. He said the Show Me State was shown little attention in either the primary or general election seasons in 2004. "John Kerry pulled completely out of Missouri 20 days before the election," he said, noting that the party's candidate for governor narrowly lost that year. The same candidate, Claire McCaskill, won the U.S. Senate race two years later.

Minnesotans had a different experience, said Wilson, citing two John Kerry visits to the Rochester area late in 2004. "With Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin sharing media markets, the caucuses helped us build for 2004 and 2006," she said, citing recent Democratic wins in traditionally Republican Rochester, including Tim Walz's 2006 upset win over GOP incumbent congressman Gil Gutknecht.

Most of our neighbors are too polite to directly bash Iowa's first place spot. "If I could change the system, the primaries would be done regionally, divide the country into 4 to 6 areas and all the states in that area have their primaries on the same day," said Bauman. A similar plan is proposed by Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Her plan would give Iowa and New Hampshire exceptions, allowing them to stay first.

"It's kind of sad that the timing of primaries is based more on egos and the economic impact of a presidential race than on a reasonable way to pick a candidate," Bauman said. "The early primaries can affect campaign outcomes more strongly than the number of votes would justify."

But Quincy, Ill., GOP Chair Larry Ehmen is more blunt. "I believe all primaries should be the same date," he said.

Lynn Wilson is a caucus fan. "I was so proud of the people of northeast Iowa who came out in the bitter cold to see every candidate," she said of her 2004 experience. "This country should be grateful to the good people of Iowa for taking this so seriously."

"I'm a little concerned about the dates being right after a holiday," she acknowledged. "This is about participation and there should be some separation with the holidays and the GOTV (get out the vote) calls."

But if Minnesotans had the chance? "It's a confusing process, a learning process, but learning about all the candidates, that's a Midwestern value," she said. But in the end, "I think we could do just as good as Iowa."