The following piece is published on Iowa Independent as well as OffTheBus.
"Iowa nice" was alive and well at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids last night. More than 900 people turned out to see and hear Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, many of them arriving 30 or 45 minutes before the event's scheduled start time. Unless trips to nearby vending machines were counted, few left the college's recreation center while the group waited for nearly an additional hour for the Democratic contender to arrive.
While this may be extreme behavior even for Iowans, more known for their political patience and prowess, this was no ordinary audience. Many wore Obama t-shirts. Some had traveled from outlying parts of the county. Young and old were not only content, but arguably elated to sit in plastic folding chairs or on metal risers while campaign staff danced around and led supporter chats. Fired up? Fired up! Ready to go? Ready to go! The majority of those in the audience were supporters before they ever entered the room... and many of the few undecideds added to the pile of supporter cards staff collected at the end of the event.
The town hall meeting was the kick-off of the campaign's "Change We Can Believe In" tour and in prepared remarks Obama combined his trademark "hopeful" politics with humor, as well as a few soft swipes at both his Democratic opponents and the current White House administration.
While discussing the rising cost of gasoline, Obama played to the crowd by using strategic pauses that rivaled any stand-up comedian: "It doesn't help that you put my cousin, Dick Cheney, in charge of energy policy. (pause) I've been trying to hide this for a long time. (pause) Everybody's got a black sheep in the family."
Obama supporter Roy Porterfield attended the event with two friends, one who recently decided to support the Illinois Senator and a second who remains undecided.
"Every time I hear him, he clarifies his position on something a little further -- I get a little more information," Porterfield said. "It helps me intelligently talk about him to other people."
Talking to people and bringing them into a chosen campaign is something that is becoming increasingly more important to Iowans who have selected a candidate and are preparing for caucus night. Porterfield's undecided friend has been leaning toward New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, but he proudly says that the friend "was very impressed" with Obama.
"So, I came tonight to not only hear him again, but to bring a potential new supporter," he said. "It was a good event."
Coggon resident and lifelong Iowan Jane Carney, whose son Christopher represents Pennsylvania's 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, was at the Linn County Obama for America office volunteering before coming to the event. Although she helped her son with his Congressional campaign, she said this is the first time she has volunteered on a presidential campaign.
"The first time I heard [Obama] speak was during the Democratic National Convention," Carney said. "I went to where my husband was sitting in the family room and I told him to turn on the television, that he was about to see the next president of the United States."
National pundits often indicate that Iowans, in particular, don't like it when candidates separate themselves from one another on the issues. Carney said, at least when it comes to her, the pundits are wrong.
"I liked it when he compared himself to Clinton," she said. "I like that he made that separation and that he said how he differed from her. I think it is important -- right now -- for him to start making his own stance and separating himself from the others."
Megan Ronnenberg, a 19-year-old sophomore at Kirkwood, is also volunteering on her first presidential campaign. She saw Obama in February at a rally held at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids just after he had announced his candidacy in Illinois, but didn't become active with the campaign until August.
"Everyone has things that they personally care about and mine are all the environmental issues," she said. "I've heard him speak about energy and our dependence on foreign oil before tonight. I really feel he's right when he says every president that we've had since Nixon has promised to get us off our dependence on foreign oil. No president has really followed through with that, but I believe [Obama] can."
Polly Alnutt, a resident of nearby Marion, also saw Obama for the first time during the February rally. Before she attended that event, Alnutt said that she wasn't certain she would be supporting Obama.
"I was undecided at that point. After that, however, I felt that I would support him," she said. "I've watched the debates and pretty much everything on television. I read a lot. I like [Obama's] honesty. I also like the fact that he can give hope where there hasn't been any."
When asked about her most prominent issue when deciding on a presidential candidate to support, Alcutt, like many other Iowans, is quick to point to the Iraq war.
"I think Obama will do everything he possibly can to end the war. Secondly, I think we need his hope... just hope for everything, to make everything better," she said.
Alcutt, who has seen Obama four times now, has heard most of his talking points on the stump. One thing that drew her attention during the last debate and again last night, however, was Obama's insistence that he and the newly confirmed attorney general would investigate President George Bush's signing statements for violations and possible prosecution. Signing statements are written notes issued at the time a bill is signed into law, indicating an opinion of the executive branch.
"I heard him say in that debate that he was going to investigate some of the secretive things that had been done by the previous administration," she said. "I really liked that. In fact, I asked the young guys in the [campaign] office if I was the only one who heard it during the debate. I didn't hear anyone in the press discussing it or the pundits discussing it. I really wanted to hear more about that and, tonight, he made it clear that he is going to investigate."
Obama will deliver a speech about working families and the American dream in Bettendorf on Wednesday morning. He will also make appearances at events in Muscatine, Burlington and Fort Madison on that day. On Thursday, he will hold a town hall meetings in Fairfield, Knoxville and Ottumwa and visit with Lucas County Democrats in Chariton. The tour continues on Friday when he will host a discussion in Des Moines before holding a town hall meeting in Sioux City. The five-day tour will end on Saturday at a Des Moines rally with Grammy Award winner John Legend and the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner.