* flickr * myspace * twitter * frappr * podcast *
I am a college student, if you use the box below I earn money to spend on Amazon to buy books. 1/27/2008
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
I was ready to get home. We had a long drive ahead of us and I was still entertaining the idea of renting my own car. Our first stop on the way home was the Hamburg Inn, a cute place in Iowa City known for being a stop for any candidate. We pretty much closed down the place and they had a buffet out waiting for us. It was all right but I wish we'd been able to order from the menu. In fact, since I'm not a juice or coffee drinker I had to wait a while for a beverage (water). Luckily it was paid for--of 11 meals that took place over the course of the trip only 6 were covered (I'm including sack lunches in this count). My seatmate this time was a fellow from a foreign country who spoke English as a second language. Every now and then he'd elbow me and say "So Sorry." Obviously he wasn't because it kept happening.
We watched some films on the way back, I had a dickwad let a door slam in my face at Subway (his only reply was "My bad"), I was incredibly happy to get back to campus where my parents and my dog were waiting.
A couple of other notes:
- 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 1/3/08 Part II
I was ready to get home. We had a long drive ahead of us and I was still entertaining the idea of renting my own car. Our first stop on the way home was the Hamburg Inn, a cute place in Iowa City known for being a stop for any candidate. We pretty much closed down the place and they had a buffet out waiting for us. It was all right but I wish we'd been able to order from the menu. In fact, since I'm not a juice or coffee drinker I had to wait a while for a beverage (water). Luckily it was paid for--of 11 meals that took place over the course of the trip only 6 were covered (I'm including sack lunches in this count). My seatmate this time was a fellow from a foreign country who spoke English as a second language. Every now and then he'd elbow me and say "So Sorry." Obviously he wasn't because it kept happening.
We watched some films on the way back, I had a dickwad let a door slam in my face at Subway (his only reply was "My bad"), I was incredibly happy to get back to campus where my parents and my dog were waiting.
A couple of other notes:
- Too many conversations by my roommates on how Hill needed to have some "work done" (I defended her, stating that she looked like a woman her age should look).
- My roommates also thought Elizabeth Edwards looked SO much older than her husband. UGH.
- The, like, "like" girl who, like, I, like, wanted, like, to, like, gag. Like.
- Communication sucked. I wish they'd set up a text message announcement system. Instead we just found out when we got in touch with Organizer.
- Too many people on the bus. They could've hired an extra van or something to lighten the load.
- For the love of Benji I am 32. If I'm going to share a bed it should be on my terms. I heard that the grad students were two to a room, no bed sharing, yet I am a grad student and sharing a bed. SUCK.
- To the girls who accidentally caught a glimpse of the top of my thong underpants when I was standing up to hitch up my pants: yes, you did need to see that. Screw you. I hate VPL and will take precautions.
posted by Leah at 1/27/2008 12:32:00 PM
0 comments
links to this post
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part II
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.
- 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.
posted by Leah at 1/27/2008 12:09:00 PM
0 comments
links to this post
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part I
It was another day with a ton of free time. I had decided to go downtown to visit the Iowa Historical Center (location of the Clinton event the night before) and the capitol. Organizer managed to find a place where the Obama folks could make phone calls and do some canvassing. I was pretty sold on going downtown so I declined (but was assured "this is YOUR trip, you do what you want to do"). One of my roommates expressed interest in going downtown. Turns out we were graduates of the same high school--11 years apart! She showed no shock at my advanced age, but did eventually decide not to go with. I headed to the lobby to get a shuttle and found that Casino, who found that the local casinos did not offer shuttle service, was going downtown as well.
We started at the Iowa Historical Center which had a current exhibit about the Caucus. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but it was a fun exhibit anyway. There were two Asian journalists and a guide a few steps ahead of us so it was definitely uncrowded. There were, however, these life-sized representatives of different figures involved in the caucus process that kept freaking me out.
Swag--Dean had the best:
Signs (wait, did Quayle REALLY run?):
Caucus math is very confusing, as I would see first hand later that night:
Visual representation of a sample caucus (one of these is a real person):
The rest of the museum was interesting as well. The requisite museum items--stuffed dead animals, native american artifacts, state history--and something I didn't expect: Civil War history! In Iowa! There was also a nice cafe where we had a slice of supersweet cake. I was sorry I'd eaten the provided sack lunch because they had some gourmet items that made my mouth water.
There was also a temporary exhibit of items from a predominantly African American part of the city. There were many ties to Nashville and the South within this exhibit which I found interesting. Either the collector of the items or his father was a printer so lots of old school prints that made my little heart go pitter-pat (I desperately want my own printing press).
Also present was a small exhibit of vintage wallpapers. There are no pictures of this because there was no way they'd turn out as well as they looked in real life.
We then headed up the five thousand steps to the state capitol.
You cannot possibly imagine how beautiful this capitol is. If you get a chance, check out the flickr set.
Rotunda:
Des Moines skyline from the capitol building:
This is in the law library. If you watched the CBS news with Katie Couric during the caucus you saw this. I had seen it the night before and had to find it for myself:
We walked back to meet the shuttle. It was going to be a long wait so we did some Locust St shopping. Lots of cute, locally owned shops including Sticks where I considered running up my credit card. We stopped in East Village Books as well; the kind of bookstore I could have spent hours in!
Shuttle picked us up, took us back to the hotel. It was time to freshen up so we could go to the caucus location. We had been told we were going to an elementary school, but instead we were going somewhere more familiar...
- 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 II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
It was another day with a ton of free time. I had decided to go downtown to visit the Iowa Historical Center (location of the Clinton event the night before) and the capitol. Organizer managed to find a place where the Obama folks could make phone calls and do some canvassing. I was pretty sold on going downtown so I declined (but was assured "this is YOUR trip, you do what you want to do"). One of my roommates expressed interest in going downtown. Turns out we were graduates of the same high school--11 years apart! She showed no shock at my advanced age, but did eventually decide not to go with. I headed to the lobby to get a shuttle and found that Casino, who found that the local casinos did not offer shuttle service, was going downtown as well.
We started at the Iowa Historical Center which had a current exhibit about the Caucus. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but it was a fun exhibit anyway. There were two Asian journalists and a guide a few steps ahead of us so it was definitely uncrowded. There were, however, these life-sized representatives of different figures involved in the caucus process that kept freaking me out.
Swag--Dean had the best:
Signs (wait, did Quayle REALLY run?):
Caucus math is very confusing, as I would see first hand later that night:
Visual representation of a sample caucus (one of these is a real person):
The rest of the museum was interesting as well. The requisite museum items--stuffed dead animals, native american artifacts, state history--and something I didn't expect: Civil War history! In Iowa! There was also a nice cafe where we had a slice of supersweet cake. I was sorry I'd eaten the provided sack lunch because they had some gourmet items that made my mouth water.
There was also a temporary exhibit of items from a predominantly African American part of the city. There were many ties to Nashville and the South within this exhibit which I found interesting. Either the collector of the items or his father was a printer so lots of old school prints that made my little heart go pitter-pat (I desperately want my own printing press).
Also present was a small exhibit of vintage wallpapers. There are no pictures of this because there was no way they'd turn out as well as they looked in real life.
We then headed up the five thousand steps to the state capitol.
You cannot possibly imagine how beautiful this capitol is. If you get a chance, check out the flickr set.
Rotunda:
Des Moines skyline from the capitol building:
This is in the law library. If you watched the CBS news with Katie Couric during the caucus you saw this. I had seen it the night before and had to find it for myself:
We walked back to meet the shuttle. It was going to be a long wait so we did some Locust St shopping. Lots of cute, locally owned shops including Sticks where I considered running up my credit card. We stopped in East Village Books as well; the kind of bookstore I could have spent hours in!
Shuttle picked us up, took us back to the hotel. It was time to freshen up so we could go to the caucus location. We had been told we were going to an elementary school, but instead we were going somewhere more familiar...
posted by Leah at 1/27/2008 11:34:00 AM
0 comments
links to this post
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part II
We came back with a high from meeting Obama. Tonight would be our alumni reception so we got dressed up in our finest business casual. Business casual which apparently includes jeans and t-shirts in some people's minds. Maybe I'm too old and grumpy but come on, your mama raised you better than that. Apparently some folks completely skipped it. These are our future leaders? I get waitlisted for this University and these slackers get in?
I'm overreacting, of course. Many of them looked very professional and ready to hobnob. Dinner was absolutely carboriffic. I'm not into this anti-carb culture but when I comment on the number of carbs, well, you know it's a lot. We listened to a faculty member talk about polls and the caucus process. It was more interesting than it sounds; there's a lot to the process. I found the "second choice" polls the most interesting part of the process.
If you don't understand the caucus process, here's a quick overview: in the democratic caucuses people move into groups according to the candidate they prefer. A count is taken and if the group doesn't represent 15% or more of the total number of people in the precinct then that group must convince enough people to come over so they can remain viable for a delegate OR must move to another candidate's group. This is where the second choice thing comes into play. Let's say candidate Z leads candidates Y, X, U, T in the polls. However, in reality U and T don't have enough people to be viable. Those people have to either leave or go to a second choice. while Z may lead in polls, Z may not get many of U or T's folks and these people may choose to go over and stand with Y instead. Y ends up winning the most delegates. Confused? That's ok, it's a lot of information. Let's get back to the fun stuff.
I was signed up for an Obama event at a nearby high school but decided to go check out Clinton instead. My mom and my boss are Hill fans and I'd already heard Edwards speak before (plus his event was a ticketed Mellencamp concert and I didn't have a ticket). It was in a local museum and was hot as all get out. I was getting disgusted with the crew I was travelling with. As I mentioned before I was about ten years older than the other travellers, ten years younger than the faculty/staff that attended, and the Organizer regarded me with thinly veiled irritation. Once we got in I tried to keep tabs on everyone involved. I followed the Faculty Men and ended up on some stairs with a nice view into the backstage area. Here you may see Madeline Albright, Wes Clark, Ted Danson, and maybe Mary Steenburgen:
I was in a group of a few women with whom I chatted with a little. They held my place with a few of the stage and I stepped a few over and let them know when someone cool appeared in the backstage area so they could get a photograph. I ended up emailing my pictures to one of the ladies. This is my favorite backstage picture; it's Bill and Chelsea:
She gave a good speech, and I warmed to her a little. I didn't get to shake her hand but that's cool. It was cold and flu season after all. Afterwards I met up with some of the folks including the guy who reminded me of Kenneth from 30 Rock! As you know, I love Jack McBrayer so this guy's very presence made me smile. I followed the crowd to a street corner where the hotel shuttle was supposed to meet us. Jaded was wearing a simple hooded jacket; temperature was likely in the single digits, tweens at the warmest. Several of them bitched about the cold, but come on--we're in Iowa in January! It's cold! I was wearing my thermals and my hiking socks so I was wicked warm.
There were too many of us to fit on the shuttle but pseudo-Kenneth convinced me to take a seat anyway; the rest would get a cab. I got back to find out that the Obama folks got more handshakes. It was cool, though. Tomorrow was another day!
- 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 1/3/08 Part I
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
We came back with a high from meeting Obama. Tonight would be our alumni reception so we got dressed up in our finest business casual. Business casual which apparently includes jeans and t-shirts in some people's minds. Maybe I'm too old and grumpy but come on, your mama raised you better than that. Apparently some folks completely skipped it. These are our future leaders? I get waitlisted for this University and these slackers get in?
I'm overreacting, of course. Many of them looked very professional and ready to hobnob. Dinner was absolutely carboriffic. I'm not into this anti-carb culture but when I comment on the number of carbs, well, you know it's a lot. We listened to a faculty member talk about polls and the caucus process. It was more interesting than it sounds; there's a lot to the process. I found the "second choice" polls the most interesting part of the process.
If you don't understand the caucus process, here's a quick overview: in the democratic caucuses people move into groups according to the candidate they prefer. A count is taken and if the group doesn't represent 15% or more of the total number of people in the precinct then that group must convince enough people to come over so they can remain viable for a delegate OR must move to another candidate's group. This is where the second choice thing comes into play. Let's say candidate Z leads candidates Y, X, U, T in the polls. However, in reality U and T don't have enough people to be viable. Those people have to either leave or go to a second choice. while Z may lead in polls, Z may not get many of U or T's folks and these people may choose to go over and stand with Y instead. Y ends up winning the most delegates. Confused? That's ok, it's a lot of information. Let's get back to the fun stuff.
I was signed up for an Obama event at a nearby high school but decided to go check out Clinton instead. My mom and my boss are Hill fans and I'd already heard Edwards speak before (plus his event was a ticketed Mellencamp concert and I didn't have a ticket). It was in a local museum and was hot as all get out. I was getting disgusted with the crew I was travelling with. As I mentioned before I was about ten years older than the other travellers, ten years younger than the faculty/staff that attended, and the Organizer regarded me with thinly veiled irritation. Once we got in I tried to keep tabs on everyone involved. I followed the Faculty Men and ended up on some stairs with a nice view into the backstage area. Here you may see Madeline Albright, Wes Clark, Ted Danson, and maybe Mary Steenburgen:
I was in a group of a few women with whom I chatted with a little. They held my place with a few of the stage and I stepped a few over and let them know when someone cool appeared in the backstage area so they could get a photograph. I ended up emailing my pictures to one of the ladies. This is my favorite backstage picture; it's Bill and Chelsea:
She gave a good speech, and I warmed to her a little. I didn't get to shake her hand but that's cool. It was cold and flu season after all. Afterwards I met up with some of the folks including the guy who reminded me of Kenneth from 30 Rock! As you know, I love Jack McBrayer so this guy's very presence made me smile. I followed the crowd to a street corner where the hotel shuttle was supposed to meet us. Jaded was wearing a simple hooded jacket; temperature was likely in the single digits, tweens at the warmest. Several of them bitched about the cold, but come on--we're in Iowa in January! It's cold! I was wearing my thermals and my hiking socks so I was wicked warm.
There were too many of us to fit on the shuttle but pseudo-Kenneth convinced me to take a seat anyway; the rest would get a cab. I got back to find out that the Obama folks got more handshakes. It was cool, though. Tomorrow was another day!
posted by Leah at 1/27/2008 10:59:00 AM
0 comments
links to this post
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part I
Let me take a minute and mention something I forgot about the previous day. When they advertised this experience one of the perqs was "meals provided." I thought this meant all meals. Not so much. I guess SOME meals provided, I should've read the fine print. On 1/1 we were responsible for our own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was assumed that the campaigns would feed us during our volunteering on the first but no, this was not the case. I had the foresight to take a bag of goldfish and some mini 3 Musketeers to help out.
So let's start with 1/2. Breakfast was provided! It was actually pretty good--eggs, bacon, fruit, pastries. Everyone would be happy. I sat with a crowd of folks including Enthusiasm, a young man I wanted to slap the crap out of that morning. Between him and the skinny kid I shared a seat with on the bus I fear for the future.
I'm going to say a few things about this skinny bus mate. Let's call him Jaded. Kid had a nice MacBook Pro. He had an iPod Touch. He gets a phone call at some point and discussed his christmas which was "underwhelming. actually pretty lackluster." I guess life must be hard when you're that jaded before you can even drink alcohol. Oh, to be an undergrad again!
Organizer is not happy with some of the events that took place at our volunteer opportunity. She starts making phone calls and meanwhile we get on the bus with an uncertain future. We had heard rumor that he was going to put in an appearance at a call center so we headed over there to see what we could do. The person who greeted us was thoroughly confused. Of course they had no phones for us. They were being used by IOWANS to call other IOWANS. Every four years Iowans get the nation's focus and they are absolutely full of themselves during this time. We were told that no, they had no campaign materials and we should go online for that sort of thing. We left a little disgusted.
Some of the Obama folks agree to go to other campaigns, the rest of us wait to see what else there is to do. As people get dropped off Organizer finds out about an appearance Obama is making in a town a scant 90 minutes away. We get back to the hotel and decide to take a couple of rental cars to the event in Coralville.
The ride was uneventful. The backseat was packed with the Trouble Twins and Tagalong. The Trouble Twins were chronically late--more on them later. Tagalong was all right but seemed to be easily swayed by the Twins. The driver, Casino, tried to engage them in conversation but they were dismissive. I enjoyed talking to Casino as I could relate to her a little better. She was full time staff in the department that sponsored the trip and was also a part-time student. In fact, she gave me some great information about a non-trad scholarship for which my mother is going to apply. I kind of became her shadow over the next couple of days.
Eventually we're in Coralville. It wasn't easy as Organizer gave us some crappy directions. We ended up in the middle of a freakin neighborhood with the Marriott nowhere nearby! Turns out these weren't directions to the hotel itself, they were directions just generally to Coralville. We did make it to the hotel but were late. There was no room in the ballroom so we tried to stand at the press entrance (as seen above). We saw his hand and heard a little of his speech but were eventually shooed away to one of the overflow rooms.
After his speech he came to the overflow rooms! I got to shake his hand! A few of us got our books signed! It was great--the trip was definitely looking up and I wasn't in a mad dash to get home anymore. The ride home was a little more fun...the Twins and Tag were more involved in the conversation. Casino and I really wanted to stop at the Casino but after Organizer's admonition that the rental cars were only for official trip work we decided against it. Sigh.
1/25/2008
- 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 II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part I
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
Let me take a minute and mention something I forgot about the previous day. When they advertised this experience one of the perqs was "meals provided." I thought this meant all meals. Not so much. I guess SOME meals provided, I should've read the fine print. On 1/1 we were responsible for our own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was assumed that the campaigns would feed us during our volunteering on the first but no, this was not the case. I had the foresight to take a bag of goldfish and some mini 3 Musketeers to help out.
So let's start with 1/2. Breakfast was provided! It was actually pretty good--eggs, bacon, fruit, pastries. Everyone would be happy. I sat with a crowd of folks including Enthusiasm, a young man I wanted to slap the crap out of that morning. Between him and the skinny kid I shared a seat with on the bus I fear for the future.
I'm going to say a few things about this skinny bus mate. Let's call him Jaded. Kid had a nice MacBook Pro. He had an iPod Touch. He gets a phone call at some point and discussed his christmas which was "underwhelming. actually pretty lackluster." I guess life must be hard when you're that jaded before you can even drink alcohol. Oh, to be an undergrad again!
Organizer is not happy with some of the events that took place at our volunteer opportunity. She starts making phone calls and meanwhile we get on the bus with an uncertain future. We had heard rumor that he was going to put in an appearance at a call center so we headed over there to see what we could do. The person who greeted us was thoroughly confused. Of course they had no phones for us. They were being used by IOWANS to call other IOWANS. Every four years Iowans get the nation's focus and they are absolutely full of themselves during this time. We were told that no, they had no campaign materials and we should go online for that sort of thing. We left a little disgusted.
Some of the Obama folks agree to go to other campaigns, the rest of us wait to see what else there is to do. As people get dropped off Organizer finds out about an appearance Obama is making in a town a scant 90 minutes away. We get back to the hotel and decide to take a couple of rental cars to the event in Coralville.
The ride was uneventful. The backseat was packed with the Trouble Twins and Tagalong. The Trouble Twins were chronically late--more on them later. Tagalong was all right but seemed to be easily swayed by the Twins. The driver, Casino, tried to engage them in conversation but they were dismissive. I enjoyed talking to Casino as I could relate to her a little better. She was full time staff in the department that sponsored the trip and was also a part-time student. In fact, she gave me some great information about a non-trad scholarship for which my mother is going to apply. I kind of became her shadow over the next couple of days.
Eventually we're in Coralville. It wasn't easy as Organizer gave us some crappy directions. We ended up in the middle of a freakin neighborhood with the Marriott nowhere nearby! Turns out these weren't directions to the hotel itself, they were directions just generally to Coralville. We did make it to the hotel but were late. There was no room in the ballroom so we tried to stand at the press entrance (as seen above). We saw his hand and heard a little of his speech but were eventually shooed away to one of the overflow rooms.
After his speech he came to the overflow rooms! I got to shake his hand! A few of us got our books signed! It was great--the trip was definitely looking up and I wasn't in a mad dash to get home anymore. The ride home was a little more fun...the Twins and Tag were more involved in the conversation. Casino and I really wanted to stop at the Casino but after Organizer's admonition that the rental cars were only for official trip work we decided against it. Sigh.
posted by Leah at 1/27/2008 10:13:00 AM
0 comments
links to this post
Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part II
There are no pictures this time, only words. Pictures start in the next entry.
We pull into Des Moines. I have to say that this is a neat city. There is snow all over and it’s pristine sparkling white. The roads and sidewalks are clear and nice. We passed some really cool old looking warehouses. When we got to downtown several political offices were pointed out; my memory may be failing but I believe that Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee had offices in the same downtown building. It was a cute downtown and kind of reminded me of Minneapolis, only on a much smaller scale. In the building I saw a gold domed building that I felt looked like a very federal looking mosque (it was the capital; more on that later). We get to the hotel (LATE) and folks start getting their room keys. Well, some did. I was part of the crew that was told that our rooms weren’t ready yet (it was well past 3) so we were to head to a banquet room where we could leave our suitcases and freshen up there or crash someone else’s room.
Yes. Crash a stranger’s room. I would like to add that as one of the older participants I knew NO ONE. There were no “getting to know you” type games, no introductions, none of that. This caused me some heartburn later.
I chose to change in a public restroom stall. Some girls did a full on makeover. Now, I appreciate the fact that these girls did brush their teeth after the journey and I also applaud their dental hygiene when they decided to spend the full two minutes brushing but DANG. I had just gotten off a long bus right AND peed and needed a hand wash and all the sinks were occupied. Luckily I squeezed in, left my suitcase in the (unlocked) banquet room, and got back on the bus to get to my volunteer location. I was volunteering for Barack Obama and had stars in my eyes!
After getting a bit lost we ended up at a big room at the local zoo. This is where I’m going to have to keep my mouth shut. I’m not really allowed to blog about what happened, but I may tell you if you ask nicely and use the Amazon link above to buy your goodies. Let’s just say I was already irritable from a 15 hour bus ride where I got maybe two hours of sleep (and I’m being generous with that calculation), and then had no room which added to that, and then got news and directions that made me absolutely furious. I spent a lot of time talking to my mom. I was so angry that I asked her to look up the cost of a one-way flight back home (expensive). I had decided that the next day if things didn’t look up I was going to rent a car and head home. Listen, when I’m that irritable the only option is to let me escape. We left the volunteer opportunity (UGH) to go get food and head to Knoxville (yes, they have one too!) to see Bill Clinton.
Best laid plans, right? We picked up the John Edwards folks (their volunteer HQ was in a union office—if you haven’t heard yet, he’s the son of a millworker!) who had met the Edwards and even given them hugs. Edwards did this keen thing where he was at a different location every two hours for 36 hours. We stopped at a Burger King and, unfortunately, the crowd took FOREVER to get through (I am NOT blaming the staff here—in fact, I told them what a good job they did with all of us), me being the last. Some tiny dork told me he liked my hood (it has this crazy fake fur that’s almost like a teddy bear), everyone got his food, and I got on the bus to eat.
There was an executive decision not to go to Knoxville after all since it was due to start in ten minutes but was an hour away. This was actually fine as I needed sleep.
I should mention that when I got on the bus at the volunteer location the Organizer (let’s just call her that) called a few names and handed room keys. I asked if I had one? She said yes, she’d given it to A______. I told her I didn’t know who that was. She went to this mystery girl, got a card, and told me my room number. I was on the verge of tears which I pretty much live on, but my voice was squeaky from exhaustion and rage. Really. It was best to let me be.
Anyway, let’s get back to our post-BK ride back to the hotel. Some guy sat next to me and despite my irritation I warmed to him and had a chat. He reminded me so much of Kenneth on “30 Rock” that I had to. Additionally, he was working on the Huckabee campaign yet intended to go to a Hillary Clinton event. He was a walking contradiction with a fabulous accent and I just wanted to adopt him.
I get to the (unlocked) banquet room and get my suitcase (not stolen). I went to my room where I claimed a bed to share with a stranger. They at least organized us by party—I shared a room with two Clinton volunteers. One girl commented that the room-sharing was “ghetto.” I took my shower (in a room with three girls in their late teens/early twenties this is the best way to go), took my benedryl, and passed out quickly. Phew.
- Flickr set
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part I
- 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 1/3/08 Part II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
There are no pictures this time, only words. Pictures start in the next entry.
We pull into Des Moines. I have to say that this is a neat city. There is snow all over and it’s pristine sparkling white. The roads and sidewalks are clear and nice. We passed some really cool old looking warehouses. When we got to downtown several political offices were pointed out; my memory may be failing but I believe that Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee had offices in the same downtown building. It was a cute downtown and kind of reminded me of Minneapolis, only on a much smaller scale. In the building I saw a gold domed building that I felt looked like a very federal looking mosque (it was the capital; more on that later). We get to the hotel (LATE) and folks start getting their room keys. Well, some did. I was part of the crew that was told that our rooms weren’t ready yet (it was well past 3) so we were to head to a banquet room where we could leave our suitcases and freshen up there or crash someone else’s room.
Yes. Crash a stranger’s room. I would like to add that as one of the older participants I knew NO ONE. There were no “getting to know you” type games, no introductions, none of that. This caused me some heartburn later.
I chose to change in a public restroom stall. Some girls did a full on makeover. Now, I appreciate the fact that these girls did brush their teeth after the journey and I also applaud their dental hygiene when they decided to spend the full two minutes brushing but DANG. I had just gotten off a long bus right AND peed and needed a hand wash and all the sinks were occupied. Luckily I squeezed in, left my suitcase in the (unlocked) banquet room, and got back on the bus to get to my volunteer location. I was volunteering for Barack Obama and had stars in my eyes!
After getting a bit lost we ended up at a big room at the local zoo. This is where I’m going to have to keep my mouth shut. I’m not really allowed to blog about what happened, but I may tell you if you ask nicely and use the Amazon link above to buy your goodies. Let’s just say I was already irritable from a 15 hour bus ride where I got maybe two hours of sleep (and I’m being generous with that calculation), and then had no room which added to that, and then got news and directions that made me absolutely furious. I spent a lot of time talking to my mom. I was so angry that I asked her to look up the cost of a one-way flight back home (expensive). I had decided that the next day if things didn’t look up I was going to rent a car and head home. Listen, when I’m that irritable the only option is to let me escape. We left the volunteer opportunity (UGH) to go get food and head to Knoxville (yes, they have one too!) to see Bill Clinton.
Best laid plans, right? We picked up the John Edwards folks (their volunteer HQ was in a union office—if you haven’t heard yet, he’s the son of a millworker!) who had met the Edwards and even given them hugs. Edwards did this keen thing where he was at a different location every two hours for 36 hours. We stopped at a Burger King and, unfortunately, the crowd took FOREVER to get through (I am NOT blaming the staff here—in fact, I told them what a good job they did with all of us), me being the last. Some tiny dork told me he liked my hood (it has this crazy fake fur that’s almost like a teddy bear), everyone got his food, and I got on the bus to eat.
There was an executive decision not to go to Knoxville after all since it was due to start in ten minutes but was an hour away. This was actually fine as I needed sleep.
I should mention that when I got on the bus at the volunteer location the Organizer (let’s just call her that) called a few names and handed room keys. I asked if I had one? She said yes, she’d given it to A______. I told her I didn’t know who that was. She went to this mystery girl, got a card, and told me my room number. I was on the verge of tears which I pretty much live on, but my voice was squeaky from exhaustion and rage. Really. It was best to let me be.
Anyway, let’s get back to our post-BK ride back to the hotel. Some guy sat next to me and despite my irritation I warmed to him and had a chat. He reminded me so much of Kenneth on “30 Rock” that I had to. Additionally, he was working on the Huckabee campaign yet intended to go to a Hillary Clinton event. He was a walking contradiction with a fabulous accent and I just wanted to adopt him.
I get to the (unlocked) banquet room and get my suitcase (not stolen). I went to my room where I claimed a bed to share with a stranger. They at least organized us by party—I shared a room with two Clinton volunteers. One girl commented that the room-sharing was “ghetto.” I took my shower (in a room with three girls in their late teens/early twenties this is the best way to go), took my benedryl, and passed out quickly. Phew.
posted by Leah at 1/25/2008 06:22:00 PM
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Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part I
I didn’t mind giving up my New Year’s Eve celebration. I prefer to sleep in the new year rather than fight with a bunch of drunks over a glass of cheap free champagne. So when I arrived at the assigned location a couple of hours before midnight I was told there was food and favors downstairs and to go claim a spot on the bus. Sure enough, as is the case in any gathering of undergrads, there was a pile of Papa John’s and some soda. Oh, and mixers. Mixers, no liquor. Mixers, no liquor, and a sign that said essentially that anyone showing signs of alcohol consumption would not be allowed on the bus. This is fine as it’s a mixed age crowd. Since none of the offerings appealed to me I headed upstairs to find a chair and read a book until it was time for roll call. At some point the crowd headed upstairs to catch the ball drop on TV after much arguing about the time of the drop (most stations time delay it so you get the full midnight effect just like the eastern folks). After all this we headed on the bus where I had a nice window seat near the front. I hoped to be on my own but no, some skinny kid sat next to me. We counted down and headed out on our way into the dark, cold night. There isn’t much to say for the
first few hours except I dozed in and out, got to see the Arch and some gorgeous buildings (why does St. L seem to have the most beautiful seemingly abandoned buildings?). We eventually got to an IHOP (where, as my sister says, the waitresses are all amputees. Think about it.) where I ordered the smallest platter they had—not easy because IHOP wants to feed you into the next decade. There was also a pile of filthy snow in the parking lot which had me a little scared.
Let me take a moment to mention that skinny dude was a space encroacher. This was a FULL BUS, no empty seats except for one next to a dude who claimed to be sick. Sharing seats was inevitable. These seats, however, had no armrest between them. Additionally, I had hurt my tailbone a little a couple of days prior so I was antsy. So, he was an encroacher, I was a wiggleworm. We were quite a pair and I noticed he pointedly avoided me the rest of the time (he was not the only one).
After the IHOP we headed on. We got to watch a few movies on the bus and I happily dozed a little more. It was great, but at one point I was awakened by clapping. I immediately started clapping too only to find out it was on the movie. Nice.
We stopped at some travel stop for lunch. This really isn’t a big deal, but I felt it was worth noting. Why? Don’t know. But the c-store had a Christmas tree decorated with shoelaces. They were for sale, of course, not just part of some odd Midwestern ritual.
We eventually got there. But getting there was half the battle and I was to find out I didn’t have a room yet.
- Flickr set
- 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 1/3/08 Part II
- Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08
I didn’t mind giving up my New Year’s Eve celebration. I prefer to sleep in the new year rather than fight with a bunch of drunks over a glass of cheap free champagne. So when I arrived at the assigned location a couple of hours before midnight I was told there was food and favors downstairs and to go claim a spot on the bus. Sure enough, as is the case in any gathering of undergrads, there was a pile of Papa John’s and some soda. Oh, and mixers. Mixers, no liquor. Mixers, no liquor, and a sign that said essentially that anyone showing signs of alcohol consumption would not be allowed on the bus. This is fine as it’s a mixed age crowd. Since none of the offerings appealed to me I headed upstairs to find a chair and read a book until it was time for roll call. At some point the crowd headed upstairs to catch the ball drop on TV after much arguing about the time of the drop (most stations time delay it so you get the full midnight effect just like the eastern folks). After all this we headed on the bus where I had a nice window seat near the front. I hoped to be on my own but no, some skinny kid sat next to me. We counted down and headed out on our way into the dark, cold night. There isn’t much to say for the
Let me take a moment to mention that skinny dude was a space encroacher. This was a FULL BUS, no empty seats except for one next to a dude who claimed to be sick. Sharing seats was inevitable. These seats, however, had no armrest between them. Additionally, I had hurt my tailbone a little a couple of days prior so I was antsy. So, he was an encroacher, I was a wiggleworm. We were quite a pair and I noticed he pointedly avoided me the rest of the time (he was not the only one).
After the IHOP we headed on. We got to watch a few movies on the bus and I happily dozed a little more. It was great, but at one point I was awakened by clapping. I immediately started clapping too only to find out it was on the movie. Nice.
We stopped at some travel stop for lunch. This really isn’t a big deal, but I felt it was worth noting. Why? Don’t know. But the c-store had a Christmas tree decorated with shoelaces. They were for sale, of course, not just part of some odd Midwestern ritual.
We eventually got there. But getting there was half the battle and I was to find out I didn’t have a room yet.
posted by Leah at 1/25/2008 05:54:00 PM
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1/09/2008
THAT WOMAN!
1/06/2008
I get an article from my boss about Hillary. Written by Gloria Steinem it, when boiled down to a few words, is about gender bias and the presidential race. We're not sexist, are we? Oh no. But one phrase I've heard over and over again (in fact, it was commented on by one of the faculty on the Iowa trip) is "I will not vote for that woman."
You've surely heard someone say it. Not "Hillary," not "that candidate," but "that woman." I almost want to put it in all caps, italicized, and twice as large as the rest of this text. We've all heard it so much we don't even register it anymore.
Imagine if you heard one of the following:
"I won't vote for that Mexican."
"I won't vote for that black man."
"I won't vote for that Southerner." Ok, not so offensive, but still unfriendly.
"I won't vote for that Mormon."
"I won't vote for that Christian." You actually might hear this, but I haven't heard it yet and I find Atheists who evangelize just as annoying as anyone else who does.
"I won't vote for that fatty."
"I won't vote for that Muslim." It's not applicable anymore, but it is still part of his heritage.
So why is it ok for people to say "I won't vote for that woman?" Granted, this hits me pretty personally as I happen to be a woman, have been for over thirty-two years. Maybe the speaker means it in a completely harmless way but it doesn't come out that way. By referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton as "that woman" you're stripping away credentials, platforms, beliefs, and assigning her a label. It's an unfair label to be sure, as the labels above may or may not confirm. I'm not the greatest debater so my point may fall flat, but I think diminishing her as "that woman" is hurtful and sexist.
People have their own reasons for not caring for Hillary (I'm not supporting her in the primaries because quite frankly I don't care for her voting record in the Senate and I prefer Obama), but gender should not be part of one's disregard (neither should Bill, by the way).
You've surely heard someone say it. Not "Hillary," not "that candidate," but "that woman." I almost want to put it in all caps, italicized, and twice as large as the rest of this text. We've all heard it so much we don't even register it anymore.
Imagine if you heard one of the following:
"I won't vote for that Mexican."
"I won't vote for that black man."
"I won't vote for that Southerner." Ok, not so offensive, but still unfriendly.
"I won't vote for that Mormon."
"I won't vote for that Christian." You actually might hear this, but I haven't heard it yet and I find Atheists who evangelize just as annoying as anyone else who does.
"I won't vote for that fatty."
"I won't vote for that Muslim." It's not applicable anymore, but it is still part of his heritage.
So why is it ok for people to say "I won't vote for that woman?" Granted, this hits me pretty personally as I happen to be a woman, have been for over thirty-two years. Maybe the speaker means it in a completely harmless way but it doesn't come out that way. By referring to Hillary Rodham Clinton as "that woman" you're stripping away credentials, platforms, beliefs, and assigning her a label. It's an unfair label to be sure, as the labels above may or may not confirm. I'm not the greatest debater so my point may fall flat, but I think diminishing her as "that woman" is hurtful and sexist.
People have their own reasons for not caring for Hillary (I'm not supporting her in the primaries because quite frankly I don't care for her voting record in the Senate and I prefer Obama), but gender should not be part of one's disregard (neither should Bill, by the way).
Labels: politics
posted by Leah at 1/09/2008 06:00:00 AM
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1/02/2008
You have new Picture Mail!
1/01/2008
posted by Leah at 1/02/2008 02:46:00 PM
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