Posted on 01/15/2004 3:33:44 PM PST by curlewbird
Kevin Schmidt is an impostor.
That's him in the photo all right, beaming a wide smile for the camera while standing next to an almost-grinning Howard Dean. Even has a "Dean for America" sticker planted firmly on his blue Hawaiian button-down.
And there he is in another, this time next to John Kerry, again smiling, with his bouncy 3-year-old son on his shoulders.
But faithful supporter he is not.
The Des Moines Web developer, a staunch lifelong Republican, has spent the Iowa caucus season at Democratic field events across the state. He's managed to nab photos with all the presidential candidates campaigning here, and has posted the photos on his Web site, ninedwarfs.com. He also makes fun of the candidates there, adding new comments a few times a week.
He considers his site an "on-the-ground political commentary" on the caucuses. Some campaigns are amused. Howard Dean, Schmidt said, personally complimented him after a photo of John Kerry's head on the body of a giant chicken appeared on the site. The Kerry folks, on the other hand, tried to keep him out of a downtown Des Moines campaign event in July.
In a way, the 27-year-old father of two is living and breathing the Iowa caucuses the way they were meant to be - from the campaign floor, face-to-face, looking in the eyes of the candidates who hope to lead the free world in a year. Schmidt even registered to vote as a Democrat so he can caucus Monday.
"This is history in the making," said Schmidt, a self-described history buff with an autograph collection that reads like a conservative's hall of fame: Gerald Ford, Spiro Agnew, Jesse Helms, Clarence Thomas, Oliver North.
"When else can you wait in line for a few minutes and get a chance to talk to these people? For me, it's a great privilege."
He'll peruse the crowds at campaign stumps, grab a sandwich or beer on the candidate's dime, and then wait his turn to ask a question from his Republican point of view.
"I like to catch them out of their element, take them out of their comfort zones," he said.
But not before he gets an autograph and snapshot taken with smiling candidate after smiling candidate.
His strategy: "Don't shed the sheep's clothing until after you get the picture."
The premise for the name ninedwarfs.com is simple.
Kevin Schmidt is a big guy. Real big - 6 feet 7 inches, shoulders like a lineman. All the candidates - with the exception of John Kerry, who Schmidt says, with the hair, isn't far off - are significantly shorter than he is.
In his photos, vertically challenged candidates like Carol Moseley Braun and Dennis Kucinich look like hobbits standing next to a basketball star.
Hence, the "nine dwarfs."
He actually started the Web site out of convenience. As soon as the Democratic suits started invading Iowa, Schmidt began meeting them at local events. When he would get home, he'd send e-mails to family members and buddies. They'd send e-mails back, looking for more details, asking to see the photos.
So he decided to start the Web site, originally as a destination for those friends and family members.
Then the Kerry barbecue event in Des Moines happened.
After that, the Washington Post called. So did GQ. And Slate, among others.
Soon, traffic on ninedwarfs.com was nearing 25,000 hits a day.
"Obviously the straw that broke the camel's back was the John Kerry barbecue," he said.
Schmidt's side of the story:
It was a Saturday in July and Kerry was having a barbecue at his Des Moines campaign headquarters. Schmidt hadn't been able to snag a photo with the senator, and said he was signing his name in when he was tapped on the shoulder and told by a campaign staffer that "we know why you're here." They weren't going to let him get a photo with Kerry and besmirch the good senator on the Internet. Schmidt said he was asked to leave.
The night before, Kerry staffers circulated a photo of Schmidt and Dick Gephardt taken from the Web site, Schmidt said he was told.
He raised a stink, spoke with a boss, and even pulled out his voter registration card with the big "D" on it. He got in, but he wasn't able to get his photo that night. He said a Kerry staffer shadowed him the whole time he was there. He grabbed a couple of beers, listened to Kerry speak for a bit, then left empty-handed.
"If they're worried about me, what are they going to do when Karl Rove comes to town?" he said.
Kerry communications director Laura Capps saw it differently.
"The barbecue was for Kerry supporters," Capps said. "And he clearly isn't one."
Capps said staffers knew who he was, but weren't worried about him taking a photo with the candidate.
"No one there was conscious of that. We don't have time to be looking at Web sites," she said. "We're too busy trying to elect John Kerry."
Schmidt eventually got his photo with Kerry soon after, at the Iowa State Fair.
The Dean staff, Schmidt said, has been cordial. He's been to more Dean events than any other candidate.
"We have no problems with Kevin. He can come to any of our events," Dean campaign spokeswoman Sarah Leonard said. She took the photo of Dean and Schmidt currently on the Web site.
"Kevin is a Republican, but he's a nice enough guy," Leonard said.
Schmidt doesn't consider himself an activist. Or an agitator.
His goal from the beginning was to experience the Iowa caucuses.
Every four years, the political elite rents a room in Iowa and greets its landlord each morning with a handshake, a smile and a sales pitch. Candidates flip pancakes at diners and down corn dogs and deep-fried Twinkies at the State Fair.
Kevin Schmidt, the guy rooting for the other team, has been there for it all.
Kooky Smurf looks like a hobbit without any help.
Just damn.
If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...
How flipping hypocritical can you get?! The left whines that they can't protest close to the president, but here's a Dem presidential candidate refusing to allow someone, who's not even protesting, access to the campaign.
Get to work Photoshoppers!
Tourist Guy, Belly Girl....Is FR about to give birth to another cultural icon?
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