Iowa: Day 1

Today was a long and educational day. It started with this video. David Brock runs a Clinton Super PAC and has been spreading rumors to make Sanders look bad. A generation ago, Brock was a conservative and wrote a book that destroyed the reputation of Anita Hill, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. 

It's kind of amusing to see Sanders so pissed off:

I landed last night at 11:00 in Des Moines, Iowa's capital. This morning, every TV commercial was either for or against a presidential candidate. I feel really sorry for Iowa residents. I bet they can't wait for all this to be over next week.

I then drove two hours to Waterloo. The landscape was flat and desolate. It was around 28 degrees for much of the day.

My job was to knock on the doors of Democrats and to encourage them to go caucus on Monday evening. I knocked on almost 60 doors. It took much longer than I anticipated. Based on this very small sampling, I would guess that Hillary and Sanders are tied right now.

I saw a lot of Pontiacs and Saturns. A lot.

I ended the day with a pork tenderloin sandwich, Iowa's specialty. The restaurant is a local institution. Not a single hipster or millennial was in sight and I was the only out-of-towner. I had pre-judged the clientele and assumed they were all Republicans. I was wrong. Every table was talking about Bernie. At the table next to mine, a 50 year old lady was taking her "Vietnam Vet" baseball cap-wearing father to dinner. She was reminiscing about voting for Dennis Kucinich (remember him?!)

I suspect that I'll be knocking on more doors tomorrow. On Sunday, Sanders will be holding a rally in town. I'll be there!