America Votes | The art of democracy, in peculiar Iowa style

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Posted on Sun, Jan. 18, 2004 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/7735124.htm

America Votes | The art of democracy, in peculiar Iowa style
By Dick Polman
Inquirer Staff Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the state that's first in pork, first in corn, and first in the presidential sweepstakes, the earnest activists of the Democratic Party are toting a heavy burden. Tomorrow night, they start the process of choosing an electable challenger to George W. Bush, and they don't want to get it wrong. Problem is, they can't seem to find Mr. Right.

This is no joke to these folks. As the days before Caucus Night dwindle, the ranks of the undecided have expanded. They trudge from rally to rally, with sweet smiles and Pocket Shot cameras, and after sampling Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt and John Edwards and John Kerry (two or three times each), they're more confused than ever. Dean seems too cocky, Gephardt too desperate, Edwards too young, and Kerry sad and tired, like those long-faced walking trees in Lord of the Rings.

"You listen to these fellows, and each one thinks he can do it all," lamented Ginger Atkins, a retiree in the little town of Nevada. "But in Washington, what can they really do? I wish I knew who I wanted, because the whole country is looking at Iowa right now, and you don't want to look bad.



But not even the insiders know what's going on. The latest polls suggest that anyone can win. However, nobody trusts the polls, not just because the citizens seem increasingly fickle, but because the people who tell their positions on the phone might not actually participate in the caucus - which has nothing in common with voting in a booth.

A caucus takes two hours, and that means giving up church night, or bowling night, or the warm glow of a TV. It means standing up for a candidate in front of your neighbors, but the really hard part is what happens if your candidate gets less than 15 percent of the people in attendance. Then you have to make a second choice, and go stand with those people.