Thought I’d do a mini-blog of my upcoming weekend in Iowa. If you’re a political junkie like I am, you might be interested in this. I’ll try to update often and include pictures. Be warned: this will be very Pete-centric, though more in a “this what we’re doing” kind of way, and less of a “fight about his policies” kind of way. So here’s some background.
Who: me, ldo. I cannot stomach paying too much attention to the shitshow in the white house, so I’ve turned my time and attention to the 2020 race.
What: a giant group of grassroots supporters and volunteers coming from all 50 states to support Pete at the Iowa Democrats Liberty & Justice Celebration. It’s their big fall dinner, and a huge event in the leadup to the Iowa caucus. If you’re old enough, you may remember this event in 2007 was one of the catalysts for Obama’s rise in the polls. Back then it was called the Jefferson & Jackson Dinner.
When: My group has events planned for the whole weekend. Tomorrow after we arrive I’ll be helping with the “sign war”, then on Friday morning, meeting with the rest of the folks who traveled from California, attending the rally, marching to the arena, attending the dinner/speeches, then drinking at an afterparty. On Saturday we’re having a grassroots rally in the park (Pete won’t be there, just a really really large meetup), then we’re going off to canvass around Des Moines.
Why: to show the world that Pete is the real deal. In 2007, there were really only 5 viable candidates at this point in the race. Obama turned out 4000 people. We’re expecting 1500-2000 (the signups didn’t include Iowa supporters who will just show up). with 14 candidates, we think that’s pretty damned good. We have enough RSVPs without Iowa people to require an overflow area for the arena because there aren’t enough tickets for Pete people. Of course, I’ve gotten plenty of texts from other campaigns over the past couple of weeks offering me free tickets in their sections…I’ll let you decide what that means.
How: Totally grassroots planned and everyone is self-funded. The only things the campaign is giving out are t-shirts and overflow tickets, and coordinating with us for the rally and canvassing. If you see us on the news and someone tries to tell you the campaign paid for us to be there from all over the country, they’re lying.
I should be in bed because my flight leaves early. For me, personally, I kept hearing people tell their stories of campaigning for Obama in Iowa in 2007/2008 and how it was such an amazing experience, so I wanted to have my own Iowa story to tell.
It’s a 4-day trip. I’d better bring all my shirts
One last note: I won’t hide my enthusiasm on this thread. If you think it’s silly or trite, feel free to keep that to yourself. We made the mistake in 2016 of hiding our enthusiasm for our candidate due to trolls from both sides. Groups like Pantsuit Nation were formed in secret for people who actually liked Hillary…but secret enthusiasm does absolutely nothing. So here we go. Actual thread will commence in the morning.
