Nov. 4, 1999

Caucuses bring game of politics
to David Yepsen's home field

By Todd Ruger
Cyber Caucus 2000 News Service
Drake University

DES MOINES, Iowa -- David Yepsen admits he was never much of an athlete during his school days in Jefferson. His parents started him in school a year ahead, so he wasn't as big as the other boys were, and he pursued his interests in things like debate and speech.

But now, in what he says is the only game for adults, Yepsen stands tall on the Iowa political playing field as the chief political writer for The Des Moines Register.

Yepsen has covered the Iowa presidential caucuses since they became a major step to the White House when they were moved to first-in-the-nation status in 1972, and now national news programs and nationally based reporters come to his home field and seek out his opinion about how the game is being played in Iowa.

"The caucuses have become institutionalized as part of the presidential race," said Hugh Winebrenner, a professor of public administration at Drake University and author of The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event. "The national press, which used to treat Iowa as something of a unique situation, now treats it as part of the political process. The candidates come to Iowa, they run in Iowa, the media watch them, the media report how they are doing."

As Iowa's role in presidential politics is magnified by its first-in-the-nation status, Yepsen, as the person who has been covering it for the last 20 years, becomes a national figure.

Blair Claflin, legislative editor at The Des Moines Register, said the national media turn to Yepsen when they want somebody to put voice to Iowa's role and place in the presidential selection. "You are not going to find anyone who has more institutional memory of being at the caucuses or the operations of Iowa state government," Claflin said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge about Iowa political history and the history of the caucuses."

"He does a very eloquent job explaining all of the attributes to politics in Iowa," Claflin said, "which is a state where there doesn't tend to be a lot of corruption and where folks do take very seriously their obligation to winnow down the field when it comes to presidential races."

Claflin, who has been at The Register for just a year and a half, said he felt like a student in a graduate level political science class, learning from Yepsen when it comes to everything from presidential campaign strategy to what really moves and influences voters in Iowa. "Technically speaking, I supervise him," Claflin said. "but nobody really supervises David. He's kind of his own institution in Iowa."

Winebrenner said Yepsen's Iowa historical knowledge is "probably in many cases more than the politicians themselves."

In addition to his duties at The Register, which include reporting on almost anything included on Iowa voting ballots and writing what he calls a weekly Monday column "for Iowa political junkies," Yepsen has used this knowledge on Iowa Press, a political roundtable aired on Iowa Public Television, for more than 20 years and has appeared recently on national television shows including "CNN Inside Politics," "Washington Week In Review," "Meet the Press" and "Face the Nation."

Yepsen, 49, has lived in Iowa all his life. He grew up in Jefferson, got his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in 1972 and his master's degree in public administration from Drake University in 1985.

He said he wasn't a particularly great student, but he began his interest in electioneering and campaigning at about 14. He didn't start into the journalistic side of politics, however, until his senior year at U of I when the editor-in-chief of the Daily Iowan suggested Yepsen do some writing for him.

"I really enjoyed it," Yepsen said. "I discovered that you can have an impact on things, on events, as a reporter that you don't have elsewhere. That sort of hooked me on the notion that it was something useful to do in life. I think most political reporters are in it for the same reason a lot of people go into politics, is that you see a way to make the world a better place. I think that most of the time we succeed in doing that."

Yepsen started working for the Quad City Times in Davenport in 1972 before coming to the Des Moines Tribune in 1974. In 1983 he became the chief political writer at The Register after covering state legislature and politics.

"One thing that is fun about being a reporter is that you come to work everyday not really knowing what it is you're going to be doing that day, particularly in politics," Yepsen said. "I always say politics is the only game for adults. We play football games that have no consequence to the future of humanity, they're entertainment. But politics and government deal with people's daily lives, and there are huge stakes in that. To be able to cover that, have an impact on that, that's personally rewarding."

"It's a lot of fun. I always joke that I have great seats at the game," Yepsen said. "With these caucuses that come through here every four years, I get to meet the smartest people in America, I get to meet the leaders of the country.

"I don't let it go to my head, and that's important. People aren't calling me up and dealing with me because I have a charming personality. They are doing so because I write for the largest single news organization in the state," he said.

Yepsen said he has had opportunities to do things elsewhere but has opted to stick around The Register. "I work for a good paper. I work for bosses who are very good to work for," Yepsen said.

"I can't retire until I am 62," Yepsen said. "And if I am having this much fun, they'll probably have to carry me out of here."