Behind Caucus Doors
By Stephen G. Bloom
The MoJo Wire
Iowa City, Iowa
Forty-three men and women, sitting in tiny plastic chairs in Mrs. Jackson's 5th-6th grade class at Longfellow Elementary School tonight helped to decide who will win the Republican Presidential nomination.
From the 18th precinct in this eastern Iowa city of 60,000 that houses the University of Iowa--which most Iowans think of as liberal--I bring you the results of the 1996 Official Straw Poll:
Bob Dole 13 Pat Buchanan 12 Steve Forbes 6 Phil Gramm 6 Alan Keyes 4 Lamar Alexander 2 Bob Dornan 0 Richard Lugar 0 Morry Taylor 0
The straw vote in Mrs. Jackson's class reflects Dole's quiet Iowa strength. The merits of each candidate were discussed for five minutes, and when Dole's name came up, there was a pause of silence. A white-haired World War II veteranannounced that his first vote for president was for Alf Landon. "I'd like to think someone else from Kansas could be president," he said.
That was about it for Dole. No one else spoke on his behalf. Buchanan, Forbes, Gramm, Alexander all generated rousing speeches--but none received as many votes.
Sue Lynch, elected tonight as the precinct secretary, summed up the grass-roots meeting best when she said, "A bad Republican beats a good Democrat any day!"The whole caucus meeting reminded me of a very pleasant group therapy session--no recriminations, no yelling, no showmanship, a clean and collective expiration of Heartland psyche.
It got so downright pleasant that I stepped out to take in the Democratic caucus, going on down the hall in Longfellow's library, where something of an entirely different nature was happening. It was getting loud and a little obnoxious. The 65 Democrats were mired in a complicated resolution about the nature of science and environmental protection. Frankly, it seemed a little too complicated for a party with just one candidate, so I ducked out into the cold Iowa night.