- DUBUQUE, Iowa
The Iowa caucuses are about relationships, Students for Barack Obama field organizer Megan Simpson emphasized Sunday afternoon at the Obama'08 field office in Dubuque, Iowa, where 44 UW-Madison students congregated to canvass the surrounding neighborhood.
Maybe if they mention that they've gotten a new dog, you could mark that down on the card, and the next time we call them, we can ask, 'Hey, how's your new dog? Is he housetrained? Is he walking on a leash yet?'"" she said.
Elaborating, Simpson said the object of canvassing is to be as personable and conversational as possible.
Reaching into the community
Divvying the students into groups, UW-Madison graduate students Mikkel Olesen and Noa Kaspin and UW-Madison freshman Ellen Visscher set out to canvass a hilly area of Dubuque - the city is built into the rolling banks of the Mississippi River.
Met at their first house by a fluffy golden retriever barking loudly and a curmudgeonly older man who gruffly asserted, ""No, we're not supporting him,"" the group shuffled to the next house.
Clutching radishes and carrots picked from her garden, Dubuque resident Kirstin Anderson-Bricker explained that she had not done extensive research on the candidates yet, but that she and her husband John are ""up in the air between Obama and Clinton and Edwards.""
""Oh, well, do you have any questions about the issues or Obama's stances on them?"" Olesen volunteered. ""We know he's young, but we feel he has some really solid ideas.""
""His youth doesn't bother me, but he doesn't have a very big track record,"" Kirstin continued. ""We haven't seen something concrete as to how he's actually going to pull troops out.""
The students nodded as Olesen offered, ""Well, Obama does have a plan for that until 2008.""
""We are really concerned about poverty in America and we feel the war is making it worse,"" she said. ""We're looking for creativity and for concreteness.""
Smiling, she continued, ""We would like Obama to be just a tad more radical, like Edwards. We would like him just a little further to the left.""
Reassuring the student canvassers that she and John would compare the candidates soon based on the information given on their websites, the couple ducked inside to eat lunch.
A connection to the campaign
As the group split up to canvass separate streets, Olesen, chatting between houses, explained his reasoning for joining Students for Barack Obama.
Originally from Denmark, Olesen is studying abroad at UW-Madison for one year, doing graduate work in history and political science.
""So, I'm not allowed to vote and I'm not allowed to give any money [in campaign contributions]. But I heard some of his speeches on YouTube and I really liked his ideas,"" he said in a lilting Danish accent. ""Plus, the current American president'¦has an impact. People at home really want him out of there.""
Kaspin, who is from Israel, is also abroad at UW-Madison for one year and said later that she joined the campaign to foster change and ""renew"" the White House.
A local skeptic's take
Trudging up a hill, Olesen knocked on a few houses with nobody home or willing to talk. The hot wind whipped some nearby windchimes into a frenzy. Pausing at a house where he had stopped to ask directions earlier, Olesen chatted with resident Lou Vowald for upward of 20 minutes.
Vorwald, a self-proclaimed employee of ""corporate America"" with a particular interest in finance, social security and health care, expounded on what he deemed the main problems with politics in the United States.
""I'll tell you what's the real problem, though, is corporate America being involved in Washingtonian interests. When they get corporate America out of D.C., that's when things will straighten out - and getting it out of there - that takes a lot of power.""
Olesen nodded his head vigorously. ""It does take a lot of power, and it will take a renewed White House. Barack -
""Don't matter which candidate is in there. And I work for corporate America, so I know'¦there are good parts and there are bad. But it's very powerful,"" Vorwald said, shaking his head.
Emphasizing that he also had not done much research yet, Vorwald continued, ""Here's the thing about Barack - I think he's a very educated man and I think what everybody's going to tell you is the matter with him is his experience. And being in that machine, in that big machine in D.C., that might eat him up.""
""But'¦"" he finished, ""if he can change some of that stuff, more power to him.""
Olesen nodded, saying his goodbyes. As the sun moved further west, the Dubuque residents settled back into their normal Sunday afternoon routines, relaxed but aware of their impact on the future of the country as the caucuses draw nearer.
