Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2007 Sunday
Home Edition
In Iowa, political rivals aren't enemies;
One way or another, presidential candidates learn that civility is a campaign
necessity.
BYLINE: Louise Roug, Times Staff Writer
SECTION: MAIN NEWS; National Desk; Part A; Pg. 24
LENGTH: 1172 words
DATELINE: DES MOINES
Before Gordon and Monica Fischer publicly announced their endorsement of
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, the couple went through a peculiar Iowa ritual: the
apology call.
It's the Dear John letter of presidential politics -- by phone.
"At times you hope they don't pick up," said Gordon R. Fischer, a lawyer and
power broker in Iowa Democratic politics. "It's hard."
Politics are so local and Iowans so polite that before announcing who gets their
support, they call friends and associates with other campaigns.
Monica Fischer described how a conversation might start: "It was a tough
decision. We have a lot of respect for -- insert candidate -- but we really felt this
year that Barack Obama was the person we most wanted to get behind."
It typically ends, she said, on an upbeat, forward-looking note: "We really look
forward to working with you after the caucus."
In other words, can we still be friends?
She was nervous calling Tom Vilsack, for whom she worked when he was
governor of Iowa. Vilsack had asked the Fischers to join the campaign of Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), and Monica Fischer didn't like to disappoint him.
"He was very understanding and, I guess, kind of let me off the hook," she said.
Vilsack, for his part, said he appreciated the courtesy.
"It's not easy for people to make that call to me," he said. "It's a sign of
character."
The apology call is just one example of Iowa polite. In this largely rural state,
politics remains a civil affair, practiced with tact and geniality by voters and local
politicians alike. The pundits and talk jocks, too, operate on a muted dial. At the
golden-domed state Capitol, damning by faint praise is as ugly as it gets. There
is no salty language on the state Senate floor and there are no "screamers" on
the Hill.
Although Iowans ask tough questions during political events, candidates are
rarely heckled or met with hostility.
"We just don't like rudeness," said Roxanne Conlin, the Iowa co-chairwoman of
the presidential campaign of former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).
Even by Midwestern standards, Iowans are polite, sometimes to a fault.
Honking is definitely impolite, and getting through an Iowa intersection can be a
gridlock ordeal of smiling and waving: No -- really -- after you.
"Iowa polite is a real thing," said Lynn Heuss, a Democratic activist who supports
Edwards. "Politicians here are less likely to go for the jugular. Even Jan
Mickelson" -- Iowa's leading talk-radio host -- doesn't get personal, she said.
Whereas the national political landscape can be a treacherous field of personal
attacks and whisper campaigns, Iowans seem to have taken to heart Emily
Post's admonition that "manner is personality -- the outward manifestation of
one's innate character and attitude toward life."
Or, as Heuss said: "Manners are about authenticity. People want someone who's
the real deal."
Even former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who took off his kid gloves
long ago, did it the Iowa way when he turned a presidential campaign faux pas
into a positive story about his social graces.
Earlier this year, the Republican's staff asked the owners of a family farm in the
eastern Iowa town of Olin if they would host a campaign event.
Deborah and Jerry VonSprecken agreed.
However, days later, staffers called back to ask the VonSpreckens the value of
their farm. Giuliani would not be coming after all, the VonSpreckens were told,
because the candidate wanted to be able to criticize the federal estate tax, and
their farm was not worth enough to make that point. The VonSpreckens, who had
already cleaned and decorated their farm in anticipation of the GOP guests, felt
slighted.
"I'm in a state of shock, very hurt and embarrassed," Deborah VonSprecken told
the local paper, the Anamosa Journal-Eureka.
Before long, the story had gone national. In the end, Giuliani went to the farm -to apologize. The personal visit showed his good manners, clinching Deborah
VonSprecken's support for him, she said. "That was awesome, to take
responsibility like that," she said.
Historically, the state has offered lessons in civility.
Last year, Republican Rep. Jim Leach told state GOP strategists to stop sending
out negative mailers about his Democratic challenger, Dave Loebsack; Leach
followed up with an apology to Loebsack. For his part, Loebsack, who won the
contest, took out television ads telling voters that Leach was a "good man."
During the 2004 Democratic presidential nominating caucuses, Iowa voters
picked Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry -- in part because they had become so
disgusted with the mudslinging between then-Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt
and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, according to several political observers.
"Certainly, the negativity toward the end of the '04 caucus created a significant
shift in the final three weeks, and Kerry and Edwards were the main
beneficiaries," said Jeff Link, a Democratic strategist.
This year, the Edwards and Obama campaigns have tried to underscore how
they differ from Clinton on foreign policy -- notably Iraq and Iran -- but without
turning the campaign into personal attacks.
"Everyone paid close attention to what happened in '04, and are careful not to
make the same mistakes now," Link said.
Candidates need to watch not only their own manners but their staff's too.
Iowans still remember Dean's "storm troopers," the volunteers of the 2004
campaign in orange hats who offended locals by being pushy and presumptuous
at times, said David Yepsen, a longtime political writer for the Des Moines
Register.
It's hard to quantify how much any boorishness worsened Dean's loss in the Iowa
caucuses. But all the campaigns have been particularly mindful of Iowa manners
after that, Yepsen observed.
"The way you work Iowa is to get out and meet people, so manners matter
more," said Dianne Bystrom, a professor of political science at Iowa State
University. "If you're not talking their language or wearing their clothes, it
can backfire."
At the Clinton Iowa headquarters near the Capitol, campaign director Teresa
Vilmain runs a tight ship. Before anyone starts on the campaign, Vilmain, an Iowa
native, gives them instructions on how to behave and look.
Since Iowans in general dress casually, jeans are OK, she said. "But the jeans
have to be respectful." In other words, nothing torn or shredded. "We teach them,
'Clean your car; careful how you dress.' This is serious business, so [they] should
reflect that."
After all, seemingly small transgressions like not respecting rules about when
and where political signs can be put up can turn a neighborhood against a
candidate.
Not unlike the round of calls Gordon and Monica Fischer made in alerting their
friends and associates of their endorsement plans, Link recently did his own
round of apology calls. The news he delivered to personal and political friends:
He would be endorsing Edwards. A gesture of politesse, yes, but it was also an
act of self-preservation.
"Once the circus leaves town in January," he said, "we all still live here."
louise.roug@latimes.com