By
Katie Thaman
CyberCaucus 2000 News Service
Drake University
DES MOINES, Iowa--Campaign 2000 is already getting under way and gaining speed, even with the general election a year and eight months away and the Iowa caucuses still a year off.
Candidates usually put their first state campaign offices in Iowa, gearing up for the Iowa caucuses, historically the first in the nation, said Dee Stewart, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa.
Stewart said he expects 10 Republican candidates to set up offices in Des Moines. Those he listed are: George W. Bush of Texas; Elizabeth Dole, former president of the American Red Cross; Dan Quayle, former U.S. vice president; Rep. John Kasich from Ohio; Steve Forbes, publisher; Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire; Alan Keyes, former U.S. ambassador; Lamar Alexander, former governor of Tennessee; Gary Bauer, conservative activist; and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
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"Iowa is the most influential state in the country when it comes to choosing the U.S. president." -Dee Stewart, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa |
"I think they will all run and will all have offices here," he said. Stewart said several candidates are already paying staffs for these offices, and they should all have offices set up by April.
Staff members in these offices organize everything going on in the state having to do with their candidate. Offices usually consist of approximately 10 paid staffers and hundreds of volunteers from the grass-roots level, Stewart said.
These workers organize support all over the state, send releases to the media, book places for their candidate to speak, arrange and decorate these sites, distribute items such as signs, buttons and bumper stickers, and raise money.
The climax for people in these campaign offices and for supporters around the state is the Iowa caucuses, set for Feb. 7, 2000. Iowa hosts the first presidential caucuses in the nation, a tradition held in high esteem with politicians throughout the country.
For this reason, Stewart said, "Iowa is the most influential state in the country when it comes to choosing the U.S. president."
Caucuses are a series of precinct meetings around the state, during which residents gather to discuss the candidates and vote for the one they prefer. A person calls in from each precinct to a central location with the winner of that area.
Stewart called the caucus process "old-time politics." Every state has precinct meetings, he said, but Iowa is the only one that carries out the traditional process of tallying votes.
If candidates do well in Iowa, he said, it helps them to receive attention and raise more money for subsequent campaigning.
Therefore, candidates generally channel their efforts first toward Iowa and New Hampshire, which has the first primary election in the nation, Stewart said. If they come out ahead, he said, everyone will want to "be on their team."
On the other hand, Stewart said, "generally if a candidate doesn't do well in Iowa or New Hampshire, they're finished."
The Iowa caucuses give the state a great deal of publicity, Stewart said. People come from all over the country to help with their candidate's campaign and see first-hand the caucus results.