Ring! Ring!

By Steph Attias

Bright and early this morning I hopped on the bus and got ready for my first day volunteering for Pete Buttigieg’s Presidential Campaign. I was ready to see if my experience matched up to what I’d learned about in school and from watching the West Wing. Pete’s field office in Fleur is simple, feeling almost like a basement apartment. Pete’s face and posters line the walls but other that their is a true lack of grandeur. This basicness emphasizes the truly democratic process that is taking place. Many small rooms full for passionate staffers and volunteers work to build up an organization get a person elected to office. It’s no longer party leaders in smoke filled rooms which choose the parties candidate but the people. Iowa is full of energized Americans knocking on door, making phone calls, and holding events in order to persuade people the values of the candidate they believe in. 

I spent much of the day phone banking, which meant many, many phone calls much of which when straight to voicemail but also the opportunity to speak to Iowans. As a Pete supporter myself I was pleased to hear so many Iowans be not only aware of Pete Buttigieg but having him be within their top three favorite candidates. This is a sentiment I’d read about in the media and was glad to be seeing the same results for myself. This in itself is incredible, rapidly Pete has gone from an unknown mayor from Indiana to a real player in the 2020 presidential election. As I spend much of the day telling Iowans, Pete will be in Des Moines on Sunday and I’m looking forward to hearing him speak in person. 

I find caucus to be fascinating as I come from a state that does primaries. Lots of people in a room all ready for Democracy to take place right in front of them, yes please. However something that Iowans told me was about the challenges that come with a caucus especially on the elderly and people who don’t think crowds. Many people I spoke to were in their sixties, seventies, and eighties, which is going to become more and more of the trend as America’s population is aging. This caucus style can serve as a burden to them, attending would be too difficult or overwhelming, preventing them from sharing their voice and voting. This can also be problematic for people who are out of state on caucus day as there is no absentee caucus. These issues are things  I’d never thought about. Prior to this I believed changing Iowa to a primary would be disappointing due to Iowa’s long history of having one, but now I’m not so sure. No one should be prevent by unnecessary burdens preventing their right to vote. This aside, there is projected to be a historic voter turnout at the Iowa caucus. I’m looking forward to helping out in any way I can!