We The People

            By: Andrea Sheetz

One of the things I was expecting in Iowa was the humanization of candidates. To see talking heads emerge from behind debate podiums and walk into elementary schools as regular people applying for a really big job was one of the reasons I signed up for this class. And I have not been disappointed. Marianne Williamson is smaller but just as passionate in person. Elizabeth Warren’s eyes light up when a question is asked about an area of policy she is particularly excited about. And the respect and admiration for his school-teaching husband is evident in his voice when Pete Buttigieg talks about education. The personalities of these candidates have radiated through their stump speeches and careful wording to remind us all about who they were before that FEC filing. 

            I have also been impressed by the humanity of ‘political elites’ I have long admired. When a reporter asked a couple of my classmates if she could interview them and introduced herself, she was the author of one my favorite political newsletters, Lisa Lerer of the New York Times. When we talked, I brought up my favorite part and why I read her over the many others and was shocked to hear it was the same aspect of her writing she was most insecure about. When Wolf Blitzer walked into the hotel gym early in the morning, I was awed to say the least. It turns out he enjoys a nice walk on the treadmill, (unsurprisingly) watches CNN’s morning show, and wears the same sneakers as my dad. Although, his presence did push me to run a little faster. 

But what has impressed me the most are the people who make the caucus happen. Everyday Iowans are both the producers of the caucus and those who participate in it. On the first day at my internship here in Iowa, I was led into a storefront with over 1700 paper boxes that were partially stuffed with paperwork but needed to be finished and distributed to every single precinct. While we students did a lot of stuffing, so did staff members, who could make a lot more money working for campaigns or bigger organizations, but chose not to. Campaign staff and volunteers came to chip away at our droves of cardboard, with one U-Haul driver being the grandfather of a local caucus leader. I even witnessed one state representative come and fill his district’s boxes, literally bringing our national democracy back to his constituents. 

As I sit at all the various events we attend and get to know the people next to me, I never hear the same story twice. There was a registered Republican who does not want to support the President, but will only vote for certain Democrats and does not see the value in caucusing at the same event as someone my age who drove four hours to see his favorite candidate talk about her healthcare plan because he had to drop out of college to afford his HIV medication. And then I met two young men who grew up in Iowa, one never paid attention to politics until his friend became an event planner for a campaign. The other’s hometown was too small to warrant visits from candidates, but he found himself attending Drake University by way of a scholarship and now has political events steps from his dorm. 

This does not even begin to talk about the immigrant restaurant owner who introduced Julian Castro in the morning and served us some of the best Mexican food I’ve had later that afternoon. Or the countless waiters and waitresses, hotel staff members, uber drivers, and more who are open to our asking questions about them and the caucus. These active citizens are grateful for the access they have but remain critical of the celebrated candidates. There are plenty of politics in Iowa. But before, during, and after the caucus, it’s all about the people.