Iowa: Where you can hear from any Presidential candidate you want.
Really, some of them practically move here. #FirstInTheNation
At Drake we have something called J-Term. That’s 3 weeks in between our Fall and Spring semesters when we can take an accelerated course that lasts the month of January.
This year I took one called “Political Messaging in the Iowa Caucuses.” The course was a chance for me and the other students in the class to discuss the messaging and communications strategies of the various Presidential campaigns as they work to win the Iowa Caucuses on February 1st.
During the month candidates crossed the state trying to win the support of caucus-goers and our class followed; attending various candidate events and posting stories on the race to Drake University’s Iowa Caucus Project blog.
Yesterday, as the class came to a close, our Professor pointed something out. It seemed obvious at first but the more I thought about it, the more it stuck with me. She pointed out that candidates don’t give this kind of access to people in other states. I can’t go back home to Minnesota and go see eight different Presidential Candidates; Next door in Illinois, you might not get more than a rally here or there.
Of course I knew this, but even though I’m interested in politics, I find myself turning down opportunities to hear from our Next President. I’ll say things like “I’ve seen them before” or “they’re just going to give the same stump speech.” Before this class I even limited myself to going to see Democratic candidates. Even though, one of the Republicans could be President too and I’d been passing up near daily opportunities to meet them, hear from them, and ask them questions on the issues important to me.
Very few people in other states get a chance to hear from as many Presidential candidates as many times as we do.
Now, there are a lot of candidates in 2016, and I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t heard from all of them. The point is, they’ve been traveling the state constantly the past few weeks and it can really be worthwhile to go hear what they have to say. Even if you don’t agree, they are running for President.
If you have a chance to hear from all of them, why wouldn’t you do it? One may surprise you and earn your support while another may make you realize just how important it is that you volunteer to help your favorite candidate succeed in the race.
Before this class, and my Professor’s words yesterday, I feel like I was starting to forget how awesome this unprecedented access to candidates is. Reminder: It’s really, really awesome! The other day I walked in to one of my favorite coffee shops in Des Moines and Hillary Clinton was standing right there. We even spoke for a minute about my time at Drake.
So go, track down your favorite (and least-favorite) candidates and hear what they have to say. If you live in Iowa, there’s no reason that come January 20, 2017, you wouldn’t have heard at least once from the President of the United States.
