• Flickr set
  
• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part I


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part II


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part I


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part II


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part I


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08

I found out that the folks who had called and canvassed for Obama had gotten swag. Darn it! My roommate said "gosh, it's like you're always in the wrong place." I'm sure she meant it nicely but it was very snide sounding.

Our caucus location ended up being at the Iowa Historical Center! The very place we'd visited earlier in the day, the place where we saw Clinton talk. As we walked in we met Harry O'Daniels, Jr. Listen, if this man could get national exposure there is no doubt in my mind that it would be Obama by a landslide. He's very passionate. I had to get a picture with him.


It was WILD. The different groups brought food; Hillary easily had the best with piles of sandwiches. We were restricted to the observers area and were admonished that we should NOT go on the floor once the caucusing started. It was a very thin line and I was terrified we'd get accidentally counted and fudge up the whole process. Press was swarming everywhere. I saw several national and international news outlets (Univision as the one that excited me the most) and someone pointed out Greta von Susteren who was recording it on one of those tiny switchblade usb cameras.

During the first count some groups were determined to be non-viable: Richardson, Kucinich, Biden, and EDWARDS. Yes, pretty John Edwards himself. So the floor opens up again and it was a zoo. I was near the Obama group who cheered every time someone new joined. Edwards managed to get enough to be viable but then complained that the math was wrong. Apparently the percentage was based not on the total final count of caucusees but on the total who registered at the beginning of the process. See, if your candidate is not viable not only can you go to a different candidate but you can also just walk out the door and go home. This may be what happened. So my location had 5 delegates for Obama, 3 for Clinton, 1 for Edwards. I didn't watch the Republican caucus as it is simply a vote tossed into a hat (literally).

We were all excited. I was checking my email periodically and got the CNN projections that the winners overall were Obama and Huckabee. It was time to go to the afterparty! There was a snag, though. The Twins wanted to stop for food. They were SOOOO hungry! I was a little irked--let's get to the party first, worry about food later. A vote was taken so the majority made our way to the Hy Vee Center for the party, the Twins and anyone else who was hungry could just go back to the hotel and get their own food. I found out later that they did show up to the party but were not into it at all and acted a bit pouty.

So here's the party.

Watching the returns on MSNBC:


Behind Obama (literally):


Fired up, ready to go:


Drumline walked directly through the crowd, then through the lobby:


We had some drama with taxis and the hotel shuttle. Just as the taxis showed up so did the shuttle. Ugh. But we made it back. Apparently there were afterparties in the hotel even though it was clearly stated that we were not to consume alcohol on this trip. My roommates decided they were too excited to sleep (we were leaving at 4:30 AM) but, oddly enough, I was the last one awake. I was fully packed, clothes set out, showered. A few short hours later I was up again, my roommates scrambled to get their stuff together.

Labels: iowa, politics