Tag Archive: Yale on the Trail: Iowa

  1. On Iowa students’ minds: Do we matter?

    Leave a Comment

    DES MOINES, Iowa, 2:30 a.m. — In the wee hours of the morning of Iowa’s “First in the Nation” caucuses, all eyes are on the Midwestern state and its voters — some old and seasoned, some college freshmen.

    Tonight could make or break the political will of a generation.

    If college students around Iowa decide that this is actually the year — as they have been saying for months — that youth make change, expect to see a massive increase in voter participation. And a crushing victory for the Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

    But that’s a big “if.”

    Thousands of students who go to school in Iowa don’t live in the state and, since the primaries came early this year, many are still on winter break. It’s anyone’s guess whether or not they’ll return to vote in large numbers.

    It’s all on the line.

    (more…)

  2. His future in flux, Edwards touts change but turns traditional

    Leave a Comment

    Edwards in Iowa

    WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, 10:30 p.m. — There’s very little that’s new about a John Edwards rally.On stage at the Val Air Ballroom, the former North Carolina Senator hits the same chords he does all across Iowa — respect for the working man, a fight against special interests and a restoration of decency in Washington.

    The gestures are practiced, the endorsements just those he mentioned three nights ago and it would be hard to call Edwards’ choice of celebrity – rocker John Cougar Mellencamp – a fresh face. Even some of the supporters, like 69-year-old Joe Kucera, were right there with the Senator on his first go-around in 2004.

    (more…)

  3. Anticipation builds as first caucus approaches

    Leave a Comment

    ANKENY, Iowa, 2:16 a.m. – After our whirlwhind tour of the state of Iowa, seeing three candidates, getting lost in Des Moines for a few hours and blasting Bright College Years on the Iowa highway, we have finally settled for the night at a friend’s house outside of Iowa. We are staying with Brendan Fitzpatrick ’10, who lives in a suburb of Des Moines.

    Talking to Brendan who, with his parents, will be participating in the Democratic caucus tomorrow, we realize just how exciting the caucus is for residents of Iowa, especially for the many that will be caucusing for the first time. So we will join Brenden in his precinct, observe and report back tomorrow.

    Many of Brendan’s friends — college students — will also caucus tomorrow. But just how will youth vote, in general, play a role in the upcoming election? And more pressingly, how will the youth in Iowa, caucusing for the first time, help choose the next president of the United States?

    For now, we can only wait and see.

    -Ryan Galisewski

  5. For Dodd, alone on New Year’s Eve, the end may be near

    Leave a Comment

    NEW HAVEN, Conn., 10:20 p.m. — Senator Chris Dodd celebrated New Year’s Eve at Happy’s Place in Dubuque, Iowa, with staff and supporters. Only, to a passerby, Dodd probably looked more like an average barhopper, not a presidential candidate on a major party ticket.

    “In a state saturated with an international media swarm seemingly large enough to populate a nation of its own,” wrote Melissa Bailey in the New Haven Independent, “only one reporter brought in the new year with Connecticut’s longshot presidential hopeful. Me.”

    Dodd may have 27 years of service in the U.S. Senate to his credit, but to the thousands of reporters who have swarmed Iowa this week, that could not have mattered less. The snow-haired senior senator from Connecticut received the support of only two percent of like caucus voters in this week’s Des Moines Register poll.

    That raises the obvious question: is the end near for Senator Dodd’s presidential bid?

    Chris Dodd at Yale

    Marianna Mancusi-Ungaro/YDN

    (more…)

  6. The Coffee Caucus

    Leave a Comment

    The Coffee Caucus at Zanzibar’s Coffee AdventureDES MOINES, Iowa, 5:22 PM – Would you like some creamer with that Richardson? How about a little sugar in your Huckabee? You say you want a half-caff skim peppermint Hillary latte?

    Such is the scene at Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure in Des Moines, on Ingersall Avenue, where the owners have set up a “Coffee Caucus” to gauge customers’ political leanings tomorrow. Customers asking for a cup of coffee will be asked to pick from any of fourteen pots of coffee labeled “Obama,” “Dodd,” “Romney,” (etc.) representing each of the presidential candidates. In 2004, the system accurately predicted the outcome of the Democratic primary.

    Of course, there wasn’t any Republican primary back then, so there was just one big pot of coffee for George W. Bush. It was decaf.

    Check back tomorrow for “exit polling” from Zanzibar’s.

    -Zack Abrahamson

  7. It’s ‘Biden or Bust’ for Coleman ’05

    Leave a Comment

    Sarah ColemanCLIVE, Iowa, 2:46 PM – Sarah Coleman ’05 is a long way from home. The buildings are shorter, there’s hardly any traffic on the streets and the next door neighbor used to be Tom Tancredo’s campaign. This is no D.C. and this is no Brooklyn. This is Clive.

    (more…)

  8. College Republicans president predicts youth vote will be decisive

    Leave a Comment

    WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, 9:56 a.m. — “These teams in the WAC conference, you get one team like Boise beating Utah and all of a sudden they’re like, ‘Let us play for a national championship.’ Then you put a team like Hawaii up against Georgia, you say, ‘Here you go, try playing a BCS against an SEC team and watch what happens.’”

    Believe it or not, we’re talking politics with University of Iowa College Republicans President Greg Baker. Greg is a junior at the U — a polisci/history double major and one of the nicest guys we’ve met on the campaign trail. It doesn’t take much to change gears from Mitt Romney’s suburban support into a a full-fledged debate about the merits of Iowa football.

    As much as he loves football, the game of politics is really Baker’s first love. He’s lived in Earlham (pronounced earl-um), Iowa, his whole life, but he’ll go back to Iowa City on Thursday night to make his voice heard in his first-ever Republican caucus.

    (more…)

  10. In West Des Moines, Huckabee offers up faith, classic rock

    Leave a Comment

    Mike Huckabee (1)WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, 9:08 p.m. — Underneath a deck of gaudy turquoise and hot-pink stage lights at the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Mike Huckabee seems strangely out of place. His is a candidacy that never should have made it this far. As the adage goes, politics does not favor the decent. Journalists in front of the twin banks of TV cameras jostle uneasily with exuberant supporters as if they are not quite sure whether to take the short man standing next to Chuck Norris seriously.

    (more…)

  11. Ally Fields ’11: Crossing rivers for Obama

    Leave a Comment

    DAVENPORT, Iowa — During a break from Route 80 adventures earlier this evening, Ryan and I ate dinner at Cracker Barrel with Ally Fields ‘11, a resident of Rock Island, Ill., and a supporter of Barack Obama.

    Fields has been keeping busy during the winter break: She crosses the Mississippi River almost daily to volunteer for Obama’s Davenport office.

    Fields ‘11

    Ally Fields ’11 has spent her winter break campaigning for Barack Obama.

    (more…)