Iowa Caucus Goers: Do They Vote like the Rest of Us?

Iowa Caucus-Goers: Do They Vote Like the Rest of Us?

With the Iowa caucuses almost here (January 3^rd) and only 2 weeks left of Iowa caucus chaos, this question can legitimately be asked: "Are Iowa caucus voters just like you and me? How do they make a decision on who they'll vote for?" The rest of the country does not get to see the candidates, up-close-and-personal, warts and all. Iowa does.

After all, Iowans live in a predominantly rural, white state with almost no large cities, no professional sports teams, and some pretty horrible weather. On the plus side, Iowans are well-educated and prepare themselves to vote on the issues. Iowa is a state that has scored consistently well, historically, on all meaningful literacy measures.

Iowans gather in small folksy town-hall-like meetings at their local schoolhouses on caucus night and argue, loudly and vocally, for their favorite candidates. These small focus groups (i.e., caucus meetings) are the exact opposite of the sound bite strategy that voters-at-large will eventually be subjected to during the national campaign.

Most voters in the nation at large will have only sound bites to use as their basis for making up their collective minds on the candidate(s) that come out of Iowa with "the Golden Ticket." Either listen to regular folk from Iowa (and New Hampshire, et. al.) or you're left only with a collection of national talking heads on television and radio news shows, who seem increasingly "out of touch" with the average voter.

In Davenport, Iowa, the major paper, the Quad City Times, approached first-time voters, asking them to follow the candidates and submit stories for publication. One of the young first-time voters selected by the Times was St. Ambrose University student Miles Chiotti ( pictured), who turned out for a December 7^th Fred Thompson rally decked out in Thompson gear. (He stood out because he was the only young voter present, fully decked out in Thompson gear.)

Chiotti's story eventually appeared in the Quad City Times--- a full 10 days after the candidate's appearance at the Thunder Bay Grille. (No need to rush a Thompson story into print, I guess.)