Oct. 14, 1999
By
Kari Linder
Cyber Caucus 2000 News Service
Drake University
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The people at the Republican Party of Iowa headquarters and at the individual Republican campaigns are preparing in their own ways for the upcoming caucuses in January. Although for the most part preparation is organizationally focused, making connections with the citizens in the state of Iowa are also an integral part to making the caucuses successful -- they are the ones who make the event happen.
Ann Dougherty, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa, said it is focused in two different areas when it comes to preparing for the caucuses. The first job involves interaction with the local, national and international media, and the second role is to put together the caucuses.
"Really our No. 1 priority is to keep the media interested," Dougherty said. "This way we will always stay first in the nation."
Prior to the caucuses, the local, national and international media are interested in following all candidates closely and keeping track of the different polls comparing the candidates, Dougherty said.
The Republican Party of Iowa keeps in contact with the campaign headquarters to guide the media in the directions they want. A lot of this communication is done personally through Dougherty, but the Republican Party of Iowa also has a Web site -- www.iowagop.org -- dedicated to caucus information and information on individual campaigns. Each campaign has access to the Web page so it can add any information it wants the public or media to have access to. Each campaign's information is then linked to off of the Republican Party of Iowa's home page.
"The Web site seems to be very heavily traveled so far, so I think it is working well as a source of information for not only the media but also the public," Dougherty said.
The most important connection Dougherty said she has with the media is through mailings and phone calls letting them know about the times of the different events during the caucuses.
"We want to keep them as updated as we possibly can and keep the whole thing as convenient as possible for the media," Dougherty said. "The attention they bring will keep us as the first caucuses in the nation. We want to work to promote Iowa through the media by keeping a lot of stories about Iowa in the news."
Secondly, the Republican Party of Iowa deals with the organizational details behind the caucuses. Meetings need to be organized in all 2,142 precincts in Iowa, and people in Iowa need to know where these meetings will be held.
"A lot of this is done on our own, completely independent of the individual Republican campaigns," Dougherty said. "We need things to be organized so we can get people from the 99 counties and different precincts involved in the process, keeping the participation high."
Similar things are taking place at the individual Republican campaign headquarters -- focus on media attention and organizing each precinct in Iowa. Most campaigns have already chosen representatives for each precinct -- if not, they will soon -- and most have representatives for each county in Iowa.
"These people play a very important role," said Eric Woolson, press coordinator for the George W. Bush campaign in Iowa. "It is their job to identify and turn out supporters in their area when caucus time approaches. They also work with the campaigning that we are doing in all 99 counties and every precinct."
According to Heidi Kotzian, press coordinator for the Elizabeth Dole campaign in Iowa, besides the great deal of organizing that is behind preparing for the caucuses, there is a lot being done at the local level in Des Moines.
"There are a lot of phone calls to be made and a lot of walking neighborhoods going on," Kotzian said. "It's all going back to the grassroots level. We have a large number of students and volunteers that are really active and excited about our campaign. Mrs. Dole is such a supporter of public involvement that that is what we are trying to work with."
Ron Gransa, press coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign in Iowa, said the prime focus needs to stay on getting the supporters out on the day that it really matters.
"It's a lot of work letting people know where to go, but that's mostly what we have to do," Gransa said.
Throughout the planning, the individual Republican campaigns have minimal contact with the Republican Party of Iowa -- other than getting information about the time and location of the caucuses.
"They have to stay independent of each candidate, because there are so many different campaigns," Woolson said. "Instead of working with independent candidates, the Republican Party of Iowa just oversees the whole caucus process and makes sure that it gets the national attention we want it to."
During a typical presidential election year, the primary focus of the Republican Party of Iowa would be on the media and organization of the caucuses. That has not been the case this year, Dougherty said. The focus of the past month was on seeking to keep the date for the caucuses set at Jan. 31.
After the caucuses have passed, the Republican Party of Iowa will turn its focus back to the state house and Legislature. Most of their effort will be directed towards finding candidates to fill seats that are now occupied by Democrats.