Election Coverage MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008

DAILY IOWAN ELECTION GUIDE 2008

IOWA IN THE ELECTION

COMMENTARY

Vote (but not

They say the nation rediscovers Iowa every four years — when the election cycle begins churning and an
unfiltered group of candidates hound the state. This year, the world probed Iowa a bit earlier. for the halibut)
With states’ nominating contests advancing earlier in the calendar, and a competitive field on both sides When this election season started (here, that was
of the political aisle, attention turned to the corn-growing, flyover state even earlier. around three years ago), I was naïve enough to
believe that this time around, it’d be about issues.
LET’S START FROM THE BEGINNING (SORT OF) Go ahead, laugh.
I’m only 22. But if you’re reading this column,
What a long election cycle. More than a we’re likely about the same age, and you proba-
year ago — well before the competition bly agreed with me at some point.
was between Barack Obama and John This crazy campaign aside, I assume you still
McCain — the fight was among Hillary want some say-so in
Rodham Clinton and John Edwards, Mitt who gets to plop his
Romney and Rudy Giuliani (and, at one rear end into that
short point, former Iowa Gov. Tom Oval Office chair.
Vilsack, too). With Vice President Dick But if you let
Cheney not vying to replace his embat- these vicious ad
tled boss, both parties proffered a full campaigns serve
slate of candidates. as the basis for EMILEIGH BARNES
The importance of the election is your finger-ballot emily-a-barnes@uiowa.edu
described in superlatives: longest race, coordination, you’re not doing anyone any good.
most expensive pre-nomination contest. See, I’m supposed to write about how everyone
And the fight was not just among the candi- should vote. Actually, I got coerced into it by my
dates. States rushed to move caucuses and
lovely managing editor, Kelsey, who thought I’d
primaries as early as possible, leap-frog-
ging to receive more of the candidates’ and make a good “get the vote out” advocate.
media attention. Iowa, however, retained Here’s the thing, I’d rather tell you all to vote
its first-in-the-nation caucus. informed.
I cannot condone you going out and picking
whoever’s name looks prettiest on a white slip,
CAUCUSING FIRST OBAMA AND McCAIN PICK NO. 2s the same tactic I used in my first voting experi-
ence — a poll at my elementary school in 1992.
If you’re in college, you
must believe, to some
degree, in the value of edu- Local officials
cation. And since we’re talk- stress the
ing about the 2008 race, you importance
probably know how to use
the Internet. If you want to of voting
know where the candidates
stand on the issues, not fil-
tered through the lens of
Fox News or MSNBC, it’s
pretty easy.
In fact, it’s pathetic if
you don’t.
And I’m not just talking
about the president. You

From rural schools to the IMU and, of course, Hamburg Inn, candidates, their spous- After the caucus, candidate visits slowed as the intra-party battle swept through
shouldn’t close that voting ‘It’s … an
curtain, glance down at
es, and their emissaries tromped through Iowa in the months before the caucuses Jan. other states. By late summer, McCain and Obama solidified their positions as their par- your ballot, and say, “Now opportunity
3 — 16 days earlier than in 2004. ties’ nominees, and people focused on the next big decision of the race: who would be what the hell is judicial
As the first measure of support of who would be the best next president, the event was No. 2. Despite his quick exit following the Iowa caucuses, Biden was chosen by Obama — retention?”
for all
(as it has largely been since 1972) viewed as an important test for viability. Caucus-goers even though many thought Obama might pair with Rodham Clinton and make an even You need to know what students to
broke turnout records, choosing Obama on the Democratic side, who beat Edwards and more unprecedented ticket. Instead, he chose a man known for his foreign-policy knack. your vote means.
Rodham Clinton — who came in a surprising third. The GOP results were more unexpect- McCain made a more unusual selection for his running mate: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. One hilarious YouTube
begin a
ed, with Mike Huckabee winning by 10 percentage points over second-place Romney and
23 points ahead of McCain, who spent little time in the state and nabbed fourth.
Palin, who has spent a comparatively short time in politics, exudes the anti-Washington,
the anti-political establishment as a moose hunter with solidly conservative positions.
video features a group of life long
people, parading around
à la eHarmony testimo- habit of
MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL YOUNG AND POLITICALLY ACTIVE nial saying, why they voting in all
vote.
“I vote for the halibut … elections.’
because I’m a fisherman,” Sally Mason
one guy says. UI president
Another woman says, “I
vote because I have an
obsessive compulsive dis-
order that can only be sat-
isfied by punching tiny
holes in paper.”
“I want a president that
I can freebase a little
cocaine with,” chimes in
another guy.
The message? ‘Voting is a
“Please vote … it’s the
only legal way to cancel
privilege as
Of course, all these candidate actions are analyzed and parsed for meaning. It’s In January, in addition to pronouncing Obama and Huckabee the caucus winners, another
a realm in which the UI’s political-science department is prominent. With the clout type of headline stood out: the number of young people who participated in the selection. out your neighbors.” Americans we
of the state’s first-in-the-nation status, the department produces many metrics That’s a great message.
that capture the pulse of the nation, such as the Hawkeye Poll.
Youth participation — 17- to 29-year-olds — in the caucuses more than tripled this
year over 2004, with 65,230 young people attending. While that trend followed the I’m from Oxford, Miss. enjoy. I hope
During the election cycle, the poll captures opinions about who is pulling ahead larger trend of overall increases in voter turnout — young people only made up about 1 (home to the only college people don’t
to the effect a voter’s preferred news medium has on her or his perception of a percent more of caucus-goers than they did in 2004 — many are focusing on what effect newspaper editorial board
candidate’s faith. Elsewhere at the UI, the Tippie College of Business administers youth will have on the election. that, as of Oct. 30, had take these
the renowned Iowa Electronic Market, in which traders make real-money bets on And the UI is a stronghold for the youth-vote movement. This year, more than 7,000 endorsed McCain). special things
the outcome of the election. With this election cycle, more than many in the past, voters between 18 and 24 have requested an early ballot in Johnson County — the largest Being a university town,
one main theme has been persistent through the political analyses: the youth. of any age category (early voting, overall, is also up). Oxford has liberal leanings for granted.’
in, let’s face it, a state that Kirk Ferentz
can get so red it sometimes football coach
bleeds all over the rest of

FINALLY, the atlas.

And still, throughout my
childhood, my parents,
both Democrats, voted.
Was it some sort of
orbitofrontal cortex dis-

IT’S HERE
ease? Was it that ubiqui-
tous hope for change?
I’m putting my money it
was a mixture of civic duty ‘If you don’t
and pride. Enfranchisement
is exhilarating.
vote, don’t
So Tuesday is the day. The 2008 I know you know that. complain.
During the Iowa caucus-
election will come to an end as voters es this January, youth par- Democracy
make one of the most highly anticipated ticipation more than depends
tripled. That’s 65,000 of
choices in recent years. Weaving you 17- to 29-year-olds on the
through a hodgepodge of analyses,
who came out in the bitter participation
Iowa winter.
hypotheses, and anticipation is still And the months since of our
then have been long and citizens.’
the ultimate uncertainty: WHO’S exhausting. And I’m as
Regenia Bailey
relieved as most of you
TAKING WASHINGTON NEXT? probably are that this elec- Iowa City mayor
tion business is almost
over.
But suck it up for one more day.
Put on your Google goggles, (or visit dai-
lyiowan.com’s Election Watch site), read up on
the candidates, and, you know. Vote.
Source: Daily Iowan archives, news reports, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement