October 12, 2000

Bush, Gore can't afford
to ignore Iowa voters

Seth Harrington
digital•iowa staff reporter
Drake University

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa may be more sparsely populated than some states, but Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore have to pay attention to it just the same.

"Iowa is an important state because of its (geographical) location," said Craige Schoenfeld, political director for Iowa Victory 2000 at the Iowa Republican headquarters. "We're near some key states, such as Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, so a lot of media has to come through here. Because so much media energy is placed on the surrounding states, Iowa becomes and important state also." The Democrats declined to comment.

That's probably why Gore decided to make a stop (and a speech) at Des Moines' Nollen Plaza, Oct. 11. "Iowa led the Nation last time to (a Clinton/Gore victory)," he shouted from a raised platform across the street from the Civic Center, "and Al Gore, you can count on our seven electoral votes this time!"

"Now, we have to keep in mind that we only have seven electoral votes," Schoenfeld said. "However, those seven are very important votes, because of the Electoral College. You need 270 electoral votes to get elected, so depending on how you add up different states, the small states can make all the difference."

An all-Iowa poll conducted by the Des Moines Register two weeks ago showed Gore in an 8 percentage-point lead. "Personally, I think the race is more competitive than that," said Schoenfeld. "But it is true that Iowa voted for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1984. Still, I believe we can be competitive." Schoenfeld knows enough to treat polls with a bit of skepticism. "I think we have a very legitimate shot," he said. "Polls can change overnight. Of all the recent polls in the last week, the only one that maters is election day. The polls used to have Gore up 5-10 [percentage points]. Now all of them are even, or else they have us up by one or two."

Nor are the Democrats overly optimistic. "If you haven't voted, I want you to vote now," said the first speaker at Gore's appearance, who identified himself only as "Rob Toland." "This is going to be closest election since 1960." Upon hearing a puzzled murmur from the crowd, Toland clarified: "When Kennedy won with less than one vote per precinct!" At this the crowd broke into a chant of "One, two, three, four! We want Al Gore!"

Meanwhile, a Drake student stood just outside the ropes that sectioned off space for Gore's audience, wearing a sandwich board that said "Bush 48% Gore 42% -- LA Times poll 9/22/00."

She was part of a line of Republicans who were picketing the site, frequently arguing with the people lining up to hear Gore's speech. "(The change in the polls) seems to indicate that Gore's losing a lot of the steam that he had coming out of the conferences; that and people are starting to wake up to the decision," Schoenfeld said. The strategies of the campaigns have changed since the race took off from Iowa in January, but only slightly. "In the caucus, most of our focus was on grass roots activity, just because we had an audience of about 120,000," Schoenfeld said. "In the general election, we've got 1.7 million registered voters to speak to. We're a bit more media-intensive in the general election, but we're employing most of the same strategies as we did in the primaries; trying to organize the counties and get out the vote effort."

"The issues [in the campaign] are common to the demographics of the state," Schoenfeld said. "Iowa has a significant senior population, so obviously, we have to address the issues that seniors are concerned about more heavily. We also have to use the rural and agricultural, versus the industrial approach in the ads. The advertising and the direct mail have to be tailored from the demographics of the state." Gore made sure to cover those issues in his Iowa appearance. He said the Freedom to Farm Law was hurting farmers across America. "You ought not to be at the mercy of HMOs, Big Oil and monopolies that hurt the farmers in this country," he told Iowa. "Doctors don't have to do bypass surgery anymore," Gore said. "Today, there are miracle drugs that they can prescribe instead. But drugs are expensive. The big drug companies support my opponent's [drug plan] because they know if my plan succeeds, they can no longer charge seniors more than anybody else."

The picketers were also speaking out on medicine for the elderly. "We're here to bring attention to the lies Al Gore has told, specifically about prescription drugs," said Stephanie Wells, a protester for the Republican Party of Iowa. "He said his mother-in-law paid three times as much for her medicine (a drug called Lodine) as she spends on her dog, and that's not true. The numbers came out of a national congressional report, and Gore made the rest up." The picket included several Iowa seniors holding signs that said "Iowa Seniors Dogging Gore's Health Plan," as well as college students and people in-between. There was even someone walking around in a full-body shaggy-dog suit in 80-degree weather, with a sign around its neck that said "Lodine the Canine."

"Iowa played a crucial role in the caucus," said Gore, "and this race is so close that you can play a crucial role in the general election as well. Every one of your votes is going to count!"