I could just hear the cynics out east. Iowa? What the heck is in
Iowa! When I worked in New York I remember seeing a poster in a
small shop labeled, “A New Yorker’s view of America”. It showed New
York, the Harlem River, a vast empty space with the Sears Tower
poking up through the clouds, a spec for Omaha, then the Hollywood
Billboard and Los Angeles.
Iowa is small but it’s not insignificant. I was born and raised
there and feel a bit of a defense is in order. When I was a kid, our
schools were second to none. Today, their graduation rates and SAT
performances rank among the top 20 states in the nation. We had
folks teaching in my high school that turned down college
professorships to live in the land of corn, and pigs, and streets
that rolled up by 7 o’clock at night. The small towns like Elma,
Grafton, Carpenter and the like are so small you might say they
hardly exist at least to the outside world. Towns like Riceville are
becoming havens for a new wave of immigrants from, of all places,
Laos and Cambodia. Family farms, which used to be the norm, are
struggling against a world marketplace. The state is so tied to the
land that when farmers struggle so do the industries tied to them.
Ankeny and Charles City were hard hit when tractor companies tanked.
Large farmer’s co-ops help provide some of the stability and
marketing power to compete in a world economy.
With a constantly declining population the state’s colleges and
universities are having to fight more for their piece of the pie.
But that hasn’t stopped them for cranking out some of the finest
graduates in the nation. The river cities on the east and west have
dipped their hands into the gambling pot hoping to kick up some
extra revenue. Even the state government has gotten into the
recruiting business trying to lure Iowa grads back to the state that
gave them their feet.
And if you talk about a melting pot, Iowa’s is mostly a mix of
Swedes, Germans, Norwegians, only 4 percent African-American, with a
splash of Mexican, and Southeast Asian and other minorities tossed
in for spice. Though farming is important less than 100,000 Iowans
are actually farmers. The state has plenty of researchers and
doctors and scientists at it’s colleges and universities. And apart
from Hartford, Connecticut, Des Moines is the insurance capitol of
the Midwest. It’s a great place to raise kids and go to church on
Sunday’s and enjoy the comic section of the Des Moines Register.
Trouble is, not many folks now all these fine facts and figures. So
the state’s democratic brain trusted decided a great way to get more
attention would be to hold the first caucuses of the presidential
political season. You bet. Beat New Hampshire at it’s own game! And
wow! It’s worked… maybe too well! This year Iowans found themselves
practically outnumbered by the volunteers for Dean, Gephardt, Kerry
and the like. Remember a few years back it was George the Senior
battling for his life on the Republican side. In 1988 Al Gore called
the Iowa caucuses “a holy mess”. Wesley Clark and Joe Lieberman
jumped out trying to cut their loses because they go in so late.
Call it what you like, these caucuses are democracy at it’s best.
Iowans love to talk. If you stand around in any one place for too
long you’re likely to find someone slipping a welcome basket under
your arm. These folks are as friendly as you get, but they aren’t
stupid. They know a sales job when they see it and know the genuine
article.
I remember standing in a cornfield back when I was still in college
as a journalism student and part time reporter. Carrying about 40
pounds of camera gear and tripods I leaned against a fence post,
with a crowd of about 100 people, listening to this guy from
Georgia. “Hi, my name is Jimmy Carter. I want to be your president.”
The farmers all loved him and told me, without a shred of doubt in
their minds, he would become President.
I moved away from Iowa years ago. The buildings in my hometown have
changed. The cities have gotten bigger and the farms smaller. Some
of my classmates are still holding down the fort in St. Ansgar. But
the people are still the same. These are honest, hard working,
salt-of-the-earth folks who believe in giving every man a chance.
Maybe, that’s why the Iowa caucuses provide us with some political
insight you won’t get in a big convention. Iowans are about as real
as you can get. They will measure each of the candidates for their
strengths and weaknesses. Attack ads won’t work. They love anyone
who reminds them of Kennedy, John that is. Like everyone else they
want some hope and some sanity and some honest answers to some
pressing questions. They won’t vote to get rid of Bush as much as
they will vote for someone who has a better idea. And, I suspect in
all the polite arguing that went on in the caucuses they dug down
deep into their political souls looking for a candidate as much like
them as possible. Someone, not too far to the left or to the right,
but maybe in the middle, wherever that is… just like Iowa.
