Iowa Caucuses After-Action Report (largest caucus in the state)

Several people had asked me to post an after-action report from my experiences tonight, so here it is.

I attended the caucuses in Waterloo, IA, with a few of my friends. Waterloo is in Black Hawk County (pop. 125,000), which was the only "urban" county in Iowa to have all the caucuses at a single location tonight.

We got there early, and it was a good thing. The main parking lot was filling up fast when we got there, and people kept streaming in. Turnout was HUGE. Local media reported turnout at our location of more than 5,000 voters!

We stood in line to get our ballots and info for our precincts, and then everyone who could fit went into the auditorium for the candidate speeches. Only about 800 of us fit in the auditorium (if that); the rest were crammed into the lobby trying to watch on closed-caption TV.

Candidate speeches were scheduled to start at 6pm, but due to the extremely long lines and people still trying to get into the building, they didn't start until 6:30. Even then, they had a US Senate candidate speak, and several others spoke, before the actual candidate speeches.

The auditorium session opened with a prayer, the national anthem, and Pledge of Allegiance.

The first candidate speech was for Mike Huckabee, and it was delivered by...Mike Huckabee, in person. He had apparently been stuck in traffic for 30 minutes trying to get to the school; cars were lined up for something like a mile trying to get in. Crazy. There was clearly a large Huck contingent; he got loud cheers.

The second candidate speech was for Ron Paul. It was delivered by...Ron Paul. Dr. Paul was actually in the lobby when we arrived, shaking hands. Very friendly guy. He gave his usual stump speech; parts got a good response and parts got silence.

The third candidate speech was from some guy from Alabama I've never heard of, but apparently he's running for president (yes, he was the actual candidate). I can't believe they let him speak, and he droned on forever.

The fourth candidate speech was on behalf of Fred Thompson, and it was delivered by Bill Salier (who was Tancredo's state campaign manager). Salier made one heck of a good speech, and kept it short and sweet. Just ripped on Tom "Dung Heap" Harkin as the worst person in Iowa. Great speech, might have changed some minds.

The final candidate speech was on behalf of Mitt Romney, and it was delivered by his wife, Ann Romney. She was classy but not very lively, but it was a good speech.

After some general announcements, the county sheriff's office made some announcements about parking (listed the names of about a dozen people whose cars needed to be moved for safety reasons) and let everyone know they needed to be patient leaving with so many people crammed into the building.

We then adjourned to our precincts, at tables throughout the building (lobby, gym, cafeteria, auditorium, etc.) There were STILL people trying to check in out in the lobby and people trying to get to the building; there was just no parking left and some people were walking nearly a mile from their cars to get there.

By the time we had adjourned to go to our precincts and vote, the night had been called by the media for Huckabee (yes, before we even started voting at the largest location in the state). I used that as an opportunity to peel off Huckster supporters for Fred. Huckabee people tend to despise Romney, so I told them to vote for Fred to try to push him past/close to Romney, and several agreed.

Getting out of there was like leaving a sold-out college football game. Slow traffic, cars lined up for a long distance. But it was a fun night, and a huge turnout, much larger than expected.

Fred is the second choice for most of them; if the caucuses were still a few weeks away Huck would probably lose a fair number of votes to Thompson. These are the folks Fred needs. Just a few of them. Yep. I should also note that the Huckabee people tend to despise Romney; they *really* don't like him at all. But they like Thompson.

Thanks for the report. I think you are right about the timing in relation to how the votes lined up. Even one more week might have made a huge difference., but these primary/caucus schedules just keep moving forward.

Still, that fact is really quite encouraging. Huckabee's national numbers have fallen greatly and will continue to fall in the weeks ahead. Most of that support won't flow to Romney. It's good news overall.

Thanks again for supporting Fred and for taking the time to report back to us.

Yup. Global warming, gun control and...illegal immigration.

Fred needs to talk about his values as well. I heard him on Mark Levin Wednesday night...Levin asked him direct questions about abortion and gay marriage. Fred is opposed to both, clearly and firmly.

A lot of these people wonder why there are no prayers at high school graduations any more. They’ve had their religion assaulted in the schools, the government, the media and the entertainment world...from elitist Republicans and Democrats alike.

Huckabee was a simple breath of fresh air.

My guess is these are good people starved for a real Christian to support. They don’t know much about the issues, just that Huckabee is a Southern Baptist preacher and that’s good enough for them.
...
However, I think Huckabee, intentionally or not, is using faith in much the same way Jimmy Carter did. Heck, I voted for him when I was 18. He turned out to be a liberal, socialist wackjob.

He's Jimmy Carter the Second.

God have mercy...

Way Back Then, I had a good friend, who was a diehard Carterbot. In exasperation -- reason having failed -- I blurted out that he sounded like a typical Christian Carter- (I forget the suffix).

He snapped right back at me that I sounded like a typical Christian Reagan-(same-suffix).

Argh.

We both ended up regretting the outcome -- he, because he'd been fooled, and me, because the whole country got screwed by that slimy piece of work Carter, who still plays the "holy man" card. Abolutely revolting.

As I close in on sixty years of age, I am beginning to understand why God was always griping about stuff that usually began with, "My people are..."

Some day they'll put the a picture of "the evangelical movement" next to the definition of, "Like sheep to the slaughter."

Frankly, the whole thing about being scorned for being "negative" and "cynical" (with the occasional "of little faith" tossed in for good measure) has worn really thin.

I will NOT vote for someone who will be bad for this country simply because he bears a "C" by his name. And I was a Southern Baptist Sunday School teacher!

I've earned my "C"-Man-Card -- Raised a secular "Noo Yawk" Jew. Was a radical leftist hippie freak back in the '60s. Knew Abbie Hoffman and the rest of that crowd. Became a Christian almost 40 years ago. Baptized in a then-famous AOG church in NYC. Did volunteer work at a Teen Challenge coffeehouse (the things I've seen would curl your hair, and make "The Exorcist" seem like a very tame Disney movie). Was a travelling minister. Spoke at conferences (mainstream stuff, i.e., FGBMFI affairs and so forth), TV interviews, even started a church.

But, I maxxed-out on "Churchianity" about twenty years ago, and haven't attended since then.

The evangelical/charismatic church has become a severely commercialized pop-culture parody of the "polyester christian" -- and, I'm sorry, but I just do NOT fit into that "culture"!

Sometimes I wish the Amish had "open enrollment period" days.

Obama Hussein Barack, or Mike Jimmy Carter Huckabee. That's some catch, that Catch 22.

Aaaarrrrrrggggghhhh......!!!!!

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