To DUers in Iowa - it's almost done!

[LynneSin]

Gawd, I would hate to live in Iowa.

Don't get me wrong - it's a lovely state but to put up with this crap every 4 years would drive me bonkers.

Sending hugs & love to all the DUers in Iowa - it's almost finished!

[KharmaTrain]

1. It's Only Bad When You Turn On The TeeVee...

I spent an election year in Iowa...and have friends who live there. Many find the caucuses amusing and its one of the few opportunitites for the state to make national news. In some cases it can be fun when some campaign rolls into town and people get to press the flesh with a candidate...retail politics at its best. Iowa's a suprisingly large and diverse state and few candidates get to see all of it. The worst are all the ads on the teevee...and hopefully all that money wasted by rushpublicans beating up on one another is money not spent next November.

[southernyankeebelle]

2. I hate elections and their ads.

[KharmaTrain]

4. Negative Ads Work...

I detest the onslaught of campaign ads...but they remain the best way to get your name out to the voters...or more specifically tear your opponent down. We're seeing a textbook example in Iowa. No sooner is the latest flavor of the week at the top of the polls than one or more PACs open up with negative ads and the poll numbers drop. There's enough people who react to these ads that they're worth their weight in gold in manipulating enough of the electorate to make a difference in a close election. It's gone into hyper space this year thanks to Citizens United. Come October the deluge will be intense. The only hope is that Democrats can work hard to get their people to the polls to overcome the billions these groups will be flying over the cables and airwaves.

[southernyankeebelle]

6. I know your right but none the less I still hate election ads.

[justgamma]

3. Thank you.

I can't even watch the weather reports any more, the Cons are everywhere!

[mattvermont]

5. Growing up in Iowa

I found the Caucus to be a great civic exercise. In West Ames, McGovern won in 1984, the first year I could vote.
This world would be very different if he had won then or earlier.

[rurallib]

8. back then there was less emphasis on Iowa's value

Now it is the make or break for many.

[AmandaMae]

7. I don't really notice it, tbh. I don't watch tv, and

even though there's a lot of activity in Des Moines close to where I live, I don't go downtown much, so it hasn't bothered me. It's kind of amusing to see all these people touring Iowa and see it plastered all over the media when the caucuses aren't even relevant. It's kind of cool to see one of my favorite coffee shops, Java Joes, on the news.

[rurallib]

9. I can skip the TV ads, but the phones - oyyoyyoy

somehow Mitt and the boys think I am a Republican. I just fielded 3 calls in the last hour ---

[IADEMO2004]

10. Since it is mostly a GOP mud fight this time it is depressing, but

in 2008 I got to shake hands and talk to each of the Democratic candidates and McCain too. It is a gift to live here and ask questions face to face. In Dec. 2007 I just walked in the house from deer hunting and took a call from Washintin DC. A Swedish TV station had crew on their way to our county and needed contacts to interview in a Swedish town here. The next week I'm driving and my wife answers my cell phone. She talks for a bit and hands it to me and said " It's Howard Dean". Yes I pulled over. Carole King came to town for Obama and 30 of us sang "You've Got A Friend", and Paul Simon was here too. Meeting the campaign staff gives me hope for the future. They are young full of energy and my God are they smart. I know I moan and groan in the middle of the season but when all have left Iowa and the email inbox has no activity for hours at a time I can smile and say "Wow that was really something".