With the Iowa caucus still fresh on the brain, check out Ari Matusiak's "Field Notes from Iowa | Caucuses and Community" for a thoughtful piece about his experiences volunteering for Obama in Iowa, and taking in the grand democratic spectacle of the caucus.
This piece kicks off a series of election-focused blogspots that will run on "Alive in America," the blog of The Progressive Project. Ari's piece is excerpted here:
I’ve canvassed
before, but never in Iowa. For the most part, people here understand
the significance of their role and take it very seriously. They expect
you to know your stuff, too. Many ask detailed policy questions. They
debate the assertions in your little stump speech. Iowans don’t want
to be impressed. They want to be convinced.
They are also exceedingly polite. For a group of people bombarded with
direct mail, robo-calls, campaign phone calls, polling calls, radio
ads, television spots, and doorknockers, it’s frankly amazing that
there isn’t more bile. For the most part, the people listed on your
walk sheet answer their doors and hear you out. They often took
sympathy on my walking around in 10-degree-below-zero weather and
invited me inside. I was offered milk and brownies and, on separate
occasions, I was given a pair of earmuffs and a red winter cap with
“Ottumwa” stitched on the front. Although the gentleman who gave me
the latter was a Biden man, he understood its strategic potential.
“Ari, this could help you.”
