2004 Des Moines caucus: the aftermath

By DAWN VAN DYKE

Just when you thought the caucuses were over…. Where would we be if there were not a caucus story follow up? The race for the Democratic nomination wouldn’t have been the same if Iowa wasn’t first. John Kerry’s come from behind win there has caused a domino effect around the country making the nomination his to lose.

This January was my first Iowa caucus. Being the political wonk that I am, I was stoked. I mean, what could be cooler than a roomful of Democrats sitting and talking about the direction of our country. Americans in public deliberation of their future; it was going to be the finest hour in our democracy.

Unfortunately, in my caucus room it was Democrat infighting at its worse. The caucus was lead by a Dean support who was the epitome of the old, prejudice white male that stereotypes Iowa. He was obnoxious, cocky and overbearing so much so that Dean supported actually switched to the Dennis Kucinich part of the room. In the end, Kerry and Edwards and Kucinich were viable with Dean taking two delegates. The experience was frustrating, but in the end I was walked out of the room satisfied. Kerry took Iowa and I gave that Dean supporter the bird.

Since then, Dean has gone from stumbling in the polls to crashing and burning. He’s yet to win a primary and has blown through the $41 million he so proudly raised. Dean, who had paid some interns and bused supporters to Iowa for events, was forced to ask his staff to take a freeze in pay. In recent weeks, Dean tricked his supporters into pouring more money down the drain; I mean his campaign, when he sent out an email claiming that he could not stay in the race without winning in Wisconsin. The money poured in (around $900,000), but he didn’t improved in the polls. The next day he announced he would continue without Wisconsin. A few days later he lost three more states: Washington, Michigan and Maine. He is now 0 for 12. Stick a fork in this turkey - he’s done.

While Dean was making a fool of himself, other candidates have chosen the more dignified path. Richard Gephardt, Carol Mosely-Braun and Joe Lieberman have all dropped out of the race and called for party unity. Gephardt endorsed Kerry shortly before the union-saturated state of Michigan caucused. Mosely-Braun endorsed Dean the same day she announced she was dropping from the race and it was rumored his campaign had agreed to pay off her campaign’s debt. Lieberman has yet to endorse anyone, but has promised to support the nominee.

This leaves Edwards and Clark as the only viable threats; Kucinich and Al Sharpton don’t worry front-runner John Kerry much. Edwards won South Carolina, his birth state, by a sizeable margin. General Clark took Oklahoma, beating Edwards by less than 1,000 votes. Both candidates claim they are the only one who can carry the South, which Democrats claim will be essential next November. Kerry maintains they are regional candidates and he is the only one running a national campaign. Edwards and Clark maintain that Tennessee and Virginia will be important states for them to prove themselves, but win or lose, there will not be dropping out.

Politics, and political discussions, have poured out of Iowa. Everyone is being drawn in as the nomination process causes candidates to criss-cross across the country. While political views have been aired in the form of criticism for President Bush in recent awards ceremonies, the lead singer of Coldplay took it one step further at this year’s Grammy awards. Chris Martin dedicated the groups Record of the Year award to the late Johnny Cash and John Kerry "who hopefully will be your president one day."
While my own caucus experience was not the experiment in public deliberation I had hoped for, I am confident the level of public deliberation in this country may reach new heights as the race for the White House continues.