PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
02-13-07
Presidential Race Off to an Early Start
The presidential primary races show diverse candidates polling high. The
NewsHour reports on the issues of race and gender in the '08 presidential
election.
RAY SUAREZ: Sen. Obama arrived in an Iowa where the caucus campaign was
already well under way. That puts heavy demands on a small state with a big
field of candidates. There are offices that have to be rented, phones to be
installed, volunteers to be recruited, and political pros to be hired, the kind of
people who make a caucus campaign go.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: I stand before you today...
RAY SUAREZ: Obama supporters at Iowa State in Ames got together at the
student union to watch the Obama campaign kickoff. In a small state, big schools
are a rich target for organizers.
CHRIS MACKENZIE, Obama Supporter: Because the students are such a large
proportion of the population in Ames, that we do really have an affect on who
ends up getting their caucus votes.
RAY SUAREZ: The active and committed, like Chris Mackenzie, are looking for
young voters ready to pick a candidate, like Kelsey Nation.
KELSEY NATION: I don't know much about politics, but since I was old enough
to vote, just seeing what was out there and seeing names, and names after
name after name, and this is just something that just popped out at me, and so I
started paying attention. I mean, I saw him on the Oprah show. He's just -- his
name is getting out there, and it's interesting.
Staff members deal with early start
RAY SUAREZ: Patrick Rynard is the leader of College Democrats at Drake
University in Des Moines. With candidates getting young people actively
interested, excited about the coming caucuses, the good news and the bad news
are the same: It's so early.
PATRICK RYNARD, President, Drake University Democrats: You know, we're
having a hard time figuring out how to keep, you know, make that enthusiasm,
you know, turn it into effective actions, because, if you don't have anything to do
for them right away, they might get bored over time. So that's my biggest worry
about it starting this early.
RAY SUAREZ: Jennifer O'Malley worked the Iowa caucuses for John Edwards in
2004, when the North Carolina senator's surprisingly strong second-place
showing catapulted him into the top tier in a crowded field. And she's on board
again for '08.
JENNIFER O'MALLEY, John Edwards 2008: You know, it really is early, and
there are so many strong candidates that know what it takes to have a very
strong grassroots operation here. And they know, as well as we do, how to build
a foundation.
So I think that, you know, everyone is starting, understanding sort of what the
requirements are and are going to be putting in the time. And it's very early, so,
you know, there's so much that can change between now and the caucus.
Steffen Schmidt Iowa State University.
With a field this large, they're all going to be essentially sopped up, and you want
the best that money can buy.
The value of experience
RAY SUAREZ: Despite the early start, the campaign's previous experience is
helping a lot.
JENNIFER O'MALLEY: We start out with a great foundation, something that
we've continuously been working on. And, you know, the folks here in the room
are making calls to people that we've talked to, you know, not two years ago, but
people that we've been talking over the last two years to really, you know, keep a
conversation with them.
STEFFEN SCHMIDT, Iowa State University: Citizens don't like their
politicians to abuse power...
RAY SUAREZ: When a campaign is ramping up, almost a year before the
caucuses, local radio host and Iowa State University political scientist Steffen
Schmidt says people like O'Malley, with on-the-ground Iowa experience, are a
hot commodity.
STEFFEN SCHMIDT: There are some superstars out there who can
organize a caucus and organize a campaign, both the fundraising and the
tactical, as well as the strategic aspects.
Those people are very valuable, and you have to get them on board early,
because there aren't that many of them. And so that's one reason, with a field
this large, they're all going to be essentially sopped up, and you want the best
that money can buy, so to speak.
RAY SUAREZ: He's also talking about people like Chuck Larson, former state
Republican chairman and state legislator, running Iowa for Sen. John McCain.
CHUCK LARSON, McCain Exploratory Committee: We've worked very, very
hard to build the right team and the right campaign team here in Iowa. Now we're
reaching out to the activists across the state to build a strong team for Sen.
McCain. And it's exciting.
RAY SUAREZ: Sen. McCain gave Iowa a pass in 2000, when he was running
against then-Gov. George W. Bush, choosing to concentrate on New Hampshire,
where he won. This time, says Larson, he can win Iowa. This summer's
Republican straw poll is his chance to show that.
CHUCK LARSON: That's a tremendous opportunity and a test run for the
caucuses. So we'll build our organization; we'll recruit our county chairs; we'll
recruit our precinct captains; we'll recruit our team leaders, essentially. And then
we'll drive them towards the straw poll in Ames in August.
Bonnie Campbell
Hillary for President
We want to be creative in finding ways to reach out to women who maybe
haven't been active politically before.
Reaching out
RAY SUAREZ: Until then, it's retail politics: ground war, offering chances to meet
the candidate...
CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: Hi, this is Lynn, and I'm calling on behalf of Sen. John
McCain here in Des Moines and wanted to extend a special invitation to you and
your family with an event that Sen. McCain is going to be in town for, next
Saturday the 17th.
RAY SUAREZ: And Democrat Hillary Clinton is on the ground, too. Senior
adviser Bonnie Campbell, former Iowa attorney general and candidate for
governor...
BONNIE CAMPBELL, Hillary for President: We want to be creative in finding
ways to reach out to women who maybe haven't been active politically before, to
broaden that base of support. It's a very nuts-and-bolts political organization.
People think it's glamorous. It's actually somewhat tedious, but it's important. And
it builds a sense of excitement.
RAY SUAREZ: As an example, Campbell counts the large, enthusiastic crowd at
Sen. Clinton's recent campaign visit to Iowa as both a success and a show of
organizational strength. Even those who haven't yet officially declared their
candidacy go to Iowa. Republican candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney visited this past week.
RALLY ATTENDEE: I like what I heard.
MITT ROMNEY (R), Former Governor of Massachusetts: Hey, thank you, Joyce.
High stakes in Iowa
RAY SUAREZ: Romney's Iowa director Gentry Collins says the stakes are high
this year in Iowa.
GENTRY COLLINS, Romney Exploratory Committee: There are fewer
opportunities after Iowa for candidates to break out of the pack. He has to set
himself, you know, above the other candidates in the race. And therefore what
happens in Iowa over the next year I think is more important than it's been in the
past.
RAY SUAREZ: On the Democratic side, a favorite son, former Gov. Tom Vilsack
is in the race, formidably connected, well-organized for years.
In the past, favorite son candidates have had the effect of reducing the pressure
on other campaigns. They make a state less of a test for outsiders who are
running against an opponent on his or her own home turf.
Attention could then shift to other early states New Hampshire and Nevada. So
far, Vilsack hasn't had much of an impact on the polls in Iowa.
Training volunteers, making posters, filling rallies, 11 months before a single
Iowan trudges out to a caucus site in the January cold. And along with those
Iowans ready to commit early are supporters who want a call back in about three
months.