New Haven, Iowa, that is.
Yes, there is a New Haven, Iowa. Voters there, like voters throughout Iowa, spent Thursday night declaring their allegiances to candidates for president.
In this tiny rural community, the presidential caucus offered a window into the high-stakes, high-powered jockeying over every last swing voter — the type of maneuvering that analysts predicted would determine the fate of the nomination.
That maneuvering helped Barack Obama win the state’s pivotal caucus. (Click here for full results.)
It also helped him snag support from a voter named Don Sweeney on the outskirts of New Haven.
This particular contest Thursday night concerned just three of the 2,501 delegates in the first-in-the-nation Democratic nominating contest. It took place in the Riceville Public Library in Mitchell County, a swath of corn and soybean farms near the Minnesota border.
Sweeney, whose family owns a century-old farm right near the border of New Haven, was undecided when he sat down with 16 neighbors on a stage in the library’s community room.
“I need someone to talk me into where to go,” said Sweeney (pictured at the top of this story at right) as fellow caucusers clustered together for their candidates.
Out came the pitches for support.
“We need change!” called out a Barack Obama supporter.
A John Edwards man passed Sweeney a plate of homemade peanut butter bars — to which an Edwards woman added an offer of “unconditional love.”
A Washington, D.C. activist walked into the caucusing ring to make her pitch for Hillary Clinton. Lindsay Wolff (ay center in photo) works for Emily’s List, a political action committee that backs female Democrats who support abortion rights. (“Emily” stands for “Early Money Is Like Yeast.”)
The organization has said it is an independent group with no connection to the Hillary campaign, according to this article in the Des Moines Register. (Check out the website here.) Wolff said she works for Emily’s List, but “I’m supposed to say I’m a volunteer with the Hillary campaign.”
Clinton’s was the only campaign that sent workers all the way to this precinct in Mitchell County, where the snowy plains stretch to the horizon with the vastness of the sea.
Wolff argued that Clinton had the experience to lead, with eight years as first lady and seven years in the Senate.
“That’s too many years in Washington,” countered Sweeney. He turned to Alice Chezik (pictured above at left).
“What’s Edwards’ thing on health care?” Sweeney asked. “Is he for everybody?”
Chezik said yes.
“So is Obama!” came a voice from a folding chair.
Race: The Source Of Hesitation
In the end, Sweeney swung for Obama. “He’s the guy for change,” Sweeney said. Then he revealed the source of his hesitation:
“The only problem with Obama is that he’s black,” Sweeney said. “I’m worried that people might not like him because of that, and he won’t be electable. That’s about as honest an answer as you can get.”
A second swing voter also fit the pattern of what analysts pollsters predicted would sway the race: the quest to pick up “second-choice” supporters.
Susan Birkholz-Mead was a first-time caucuser motivated by a sense of urgency on issues like the Iraq war. She had originally caucused for Gov. Bill Richardson. At the caucuses, supporters first gather behind their first-choice candidates; if their candidates have insufficient support, then they choose a second candidate. The presidential campaigns made intensive pitches over the past few weeks to corral second-choice supporters from lower-tier campaigns like Richardson’s.
Finding herself the lone Richardson supporter, Birkholz-Mead crossed the room to the Obama group.
Pundits predicted voters like Birkholz-Mead would make the difference in Iowa. Richardson and Dennis Kucinich both asked their supporters to pick Obama as a second choice.
When the people of New Haven rested in their final groups Thursday night, the count was tallied: 3 for Clinton; 7 for Edwards; 7 for Obama. That meant each candidate got one of the three total delegates.
“This is phenomenal — I’m usually sitting here alone!” precinct chair Margaret Jordan remarked of the turnout in the library, where over 90 people gathered for two separate caucuses. Statewide, Democratic turnout nearly doubled from 2004.
Previous Iowa campaign coverage:
Dodd Drops Out
Dodd Makes Closing Pitch
Can Firefights Rescue Dodd?
Dodd, Ignored, Picks A Happy Place