Things to do in Des Moines when you are....
One of the most memorable moments of this Election Cycle is a video of a bunch of awkward Bloomberg supporters shuffling back and forth in a gymnasium to a parody of Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger".
Surely, you have seen it.
If not, you can watch it here (It's short):
The thing, of course, is that it's completely fake.
I mean, you knew it had to be right? Sure enough all roads led back to Nick Ciarelli, who has writing credits for Comedy Bang Bang, Funny or Die, Clickhole and Onion News Network.
There's a reason why we believe it, though, right? Overenthusiastic and overworked campaign volunteers, matched with out-of-touch suits trying to capture the next viral moment. Reminiscent of those Wal-Mart pre-shift team chants.
The news, of course, to me isn't that the video of Pete Buttigeig fans dancing to High Hopes went viral, it's that something else didn't beat it out.
The September Steak Fry in Des Moines was just filled with those moments, and I featured some of the better ones back at that time.
I have done plenty of campaign stuff in my years on Earth; but I will be honest, I have never done the day-to -day grind. So, I am the last person to make fun of a little diversion.
I am documenting the election, though, so.....here we go.
I must start by commenting on the rise of TikTok- a social media app that is popular with people more than half of my age- and incorporates a lot of music and dancing.
While USA Today suggests that candidates have not taken advantage of it- the truth is that maybe they have taken too much advantage.
For example:
In any case, for the most part, we need to remember, the audience for these aren't the American public. It's the candidates' supporters.
The Howard Dean scream speech is the defining Iowa Caucus Moment of the last 20 years. The thing about that is, though, no one thought it was embarrassing until it was in the news on the next day.
Dean had a room full of supporters, and instead of being there to celebrate a win, they just had their clock cleaned. Dean was trying to make them feel better. Essentially, telling them, "Hey, this is just one state. We still have 49 to go."
BYAH!!!!
In any case, awhile back, the Register did an article on some of the weird team-building things that campaign teams did in 2019. I'm not making fun of the people involved. I am just saying that these are some of the untold stories that this blog likes to celebrate.
We will start with Elizabeth Warren and Pumpkin carving.
Join us for a Pumpkins and Policy in Southside Des Moines to learn about the big, structural change that Elizabeth is fighting for in Iowa, carve pumpkins, and how you can be a part of our campaign.
The Register made it sound like maybe 10 adults attended. Still, it doesn't hurt anything. The adults can talk grownup stuff like Caucus Politics and the kids can get in the spirit of the season. (Besides the Halloween event, the Register reported that Warren's team has also done book swaps, watched documentaries together, and held knitting circles).
The Register even shared a picture of some kids' coloring pages.
Warren actually had these events around the country. Stencils included her Golden Retriever Bailey and Two Cents for her tax plan.
Kamala Harris's team opted for something a bit more pulse-quickening - Kayaking for Kamala!
Come out and enjoy a great afternoon of kayaking for Kamala and learning about her campaign in Benton County!
So that happened. Apparently, over in the Cedar Rapids area.
Clever wordplay is good, so a couple of candidate teams did that.
For Steve Bullock, it was a talk about Dark Roasts and Dark Money. Bullock was best known for campaign reform and there are no better place for Dems to meet than at Coffee Shops. Although Bullock has suspended his campaign, his website still boasts an event for December 30.
For Amy Klobuchar, it's Hot Wings and Hot Topics. That event took place at Pepper's Grill and Sports Pub in Cedar Falls, which boasts 42 tv screens, a great beer selection, fantastic buffalo sauce dipped chicken strips, and is located near the University of Northern Iowa.
Julian Castro's team went more intellectual by starting a book club featuring LGBTQ literature. Starting with Pulp by Robin Talley
Joe Biden supporters kept it traditional with potlucks.
Come join Team Joe on the Southside for a community potluck! We will be discussing ways to get involved and all the work that needs to get done to win on February 3rd!
Cory Booker's campaign has focused on public service and doing things like planting trees. The Register featured him earlier this month and highlighted his four stops in Iowa to volunteer, and shared a picture from him serving at the Central Iowa Shelter and Services.
I think all campaigns have done such things, but the Register said no one but Warren (who has a large ground presence here) has done more volunteer work than the Booker team. They even shared one of his jokes.
The Buttigieg campaign has been focusing on the idea of volunteers calling friends and neighbors, as opposed to making those infamous "cold calls" to strangers.
The Register also reported that the Sanders team has held the most caucus and volunteer training events in Iowa, with a focus on attracting new caucusgoers. While Warren's team has had more roundtable and policy discussion events than anyone else in the state.
Andrew Yang put extra concentration into Iowa City (home of University of Iowa) and Council Bluffs (near Omaha), while Bernie focuses on college towns. Warren's biggest concentration has been in Iowa City and Indianola (just about 20 minutes south of Des Moines and coincidentally, the town seat of Warren County), while Biden focused on Burlington, a strong union town in Southeast Iowa.
Even Marie Clarie has wrote an article on Field Organizers, and the pratfalls of door knocking including encountering shirtless men or Trump-supporting spouses opening that door.
It will be over soon, of course, and those out-of-towners will be on to New Hampshire as soon as they can.
Soon enough indeed, that flying out of Des Moines on Feb 4 at 1 in the morning, the Granite Express will be filled with staff, journalists, and maybe even, candidates.
Interestingly, the people getting on board after months of canvasing in Iowa may not know if their candidate did good or not.
Still, with so many candidates bunched up close together at the top, and a new wrinkle of the Dems reporting actual "first preference" votes, it is quite possible for those travelling staffers, the best news might have to wait until they are on the ground in Manchester.
Surely, you have seen it.
If not, you can watch it here (It's short):
The thing, of course, is that it's completely fake.
I mean, you knew it had to be right? Sure enough all roads led back to Nick Ciarelli, who has writing credits for Comedy Bang Bang, Funny or Die, Clickhole and Onion News Network.
There's a reason why we believe it, though, right? Overenthusiastic and overworked campaign volunteers, matched with out-of-touch suits trying to capture the next viral moment. Reminiscent of those Wal-Mart pre-shift team chants.
The news, of course, to me isn't that the video of Pete Buttigeig fans dancing to High Hopes went viral, it's that something else didn't beat it out.
The September Steak Fry in Des Moines was just filled with those moments, and I featured some of the better ones back at that time.
I have done plenty of campaign stuff in my years on Earth; but I will be honest, I have never done the day-to -day grind. So, I am the last person to make fun of a little diversion.
I am documenting the election, though, so.....here we go.
I must start by commenting on the rise of TikTok- a social media app that is popular with people more than half of my age- and incorporates a lot of music and dancing.
While USA Today suggests that candidates have not taken advantage of it- the truth is that maybe they have taken too much advantage.
For example:
- Andrew Yang celebrating 3% poll support to the tune of Dora the Explorer's "Lo Hicimos" song
- Steve Bullock matching dance moves to his teenage daughter
- Julian and Joaquin Castro's perhaps too clever twin spoof
- Beto O'Rourke reminding us he likes to stand on tables
In any case, for the most part, we need to remember, the audience for these aren't the American public. It's the candidates' supporters.
The Howard Dean scream speech is the defining Iowa Caucus Moment of the last 20 years. The thing about that is, though, no one thought it was embarrassing until it was in the news on the next day.
Dean had a room full of supporters, and instead of being there to celebrate a win, they just had their clock cleaned. Dean was trying to make them feel better. Essentially, telling them, "Hey, this is just one state. We still have 49 to go."
BYAH!!!!
In any case, awhile back, the Register did an article on some of the weird team-building things that campaign teams did in 2019. I'm not making fun of the people involved. I am just saying that these are some of the untold stories that this blog likes to celebrate.
We will start with Elizabeth Warren and Pumpkin carving.
Join us for a Pumpkins and Policy in Southside Des Moines to learn about the big, structural change that Elizabeth is fighting for in Iowa, carve pumpkins, and how you can be a part of our campaign.
The Register made it sound like maybe 10 adults attended. Still, it doesn't hurt anything. The adults can talk grownup stuff like Caucus Politics and the kids can get in the spirit of the season. (Besides the Halloween event, the Register reported that Warren's team has also done book swaps, watched documentaries together, and held knitting circles).
The Register even shared a picture of some kids' coloring pages.
Warren actually had these events around the country. Stencils included her Golden Retriever Bailey and Two Cents for her tax plan.
Kamala Harris's team opted for something a bit more pulse-quickening - Kayaking for Kamala!
Come out and enjoy a great afternoon of kayaking for Kamala and learning about her campaign in Benton County!
So that happened. Apparently, over in the Cedar Rapids area.
Clever wordplay is good, so a couple of candidate teams did that.
For Steve Bullock, it was a talk about Dark Roasts and Dark Money. Bullock was best known for campaign reform and there are no better place for Dems to meet than at Coffee Shops. Although Bullock has suspended his campaign, his website still boasts an event for December 30.
For Amy Klobuchar, it's Hot Wings and Hot Topics. That event took place at Pepper's Grill and Sports Pub in Cedar Falls, which boasts 42 tv screens, a great beer selection, fantastic buffalo sauce dipped chicken strips, and is located near the University of Northern Iowa.
Julian Castro's team went more intellectual by starting a book club featuring LGBTQ literature. Starting with Pulp by Robin Talley
"In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real.
Come join Team Joe on the Southside for a community potluck! We will be discussing ways to get involved and all the work that needs to get done to win on February 3rd!
Cory Booker's campaign has focused on public service and doing things like planting trees. The Register featured him earlier this month and highlighted his four stops in Iowa to volunteer, and shared a picture from him serving at the Central Iowa Shelter and Services.
I think all campaigns have done such things, but the Register said no one but Warren (who has a large ground presence here) has done more volunteer work than the Booker team. They even shared one of his jokes.
As the media dissipated at the shelter, the New Jersey senator was able to serve lunch, telling each person in line a holiday-themed joke or giving a compliment.
"Why did Santa have three gardens?" he asked one woman, handing her a cupcake. "He liked to hoe-hoe-hoe."
The Register article from November 14 by Brianne Pfannenstiel, which was repeated in many media outlets, and the source for most of the stuff I put in this particular blog post, also talked strategy.The Buttigieg campaign has been focusing on the idea of volunteers calling friends and neighbors, as opposed to making those infamous "cold calls" to strangers.
The Register also reported that the Sanders team has held the most caucus and volunteer training events in Iowa, with a focus on attracting new caucusgoers. While Warren's team has had more roundtable and policy discussion events than anyone else in the state.
Andrew Yang put extra concentration into Iowa City (home of University of Iowa) and Council Bluffs (near Omaha), while Bernie focuses on college towns. Warren's biggest concentration has been in Iowa City and Indianola (just about 20 minutes south of Des Moines and coincidentally, the town seat of Warren County), while Biden focused on Burlington, a strong union town in Southeast Iowa.
Even Marie Clarie has wrote an article on Field Organizers, and the pratfalls of door knocking including encountering shirtless men or Trump-supporting spouses opening that door.
It will be over soon, of course, and those out-of-towners will be on to New Hampshire as soon as they can.
Soon enough indeed, that flying out of Des Moines on Feb 4 at 1 in the morning, the Granite Express will be filled with staff, journalists, and maybe even, candidates.
The Granite Express, a one-time charter flight launched by Washington, D.C.-based logistics expert Doug Landry, is scheduled to fly in and out of private terminals on the morning of Feb. 4.
The flight's organizers tout it as a chance for press and staffers to bypass layovers and long security lines, and they're offering more than 100 seats on the flight.
The first 30 seats, for $750 a ticket, have already been booked, organizers said. The next 30 seats are available for $950 each, followed by another 30 for $1,450 each and the final 30 for $1,950 each.
Landry told The Hill the first seats booked have all been taken by "large media organizations," but added that he’s been in discussions with “3 out of the 5 frontrunners in Iowa” since publicly announcing the charter Monday. He did not specify which campaigns he was referring to.
“It's likely we'll end up with a fairly healthy chunk of staff on board, based on those conversations -- but the press is still the main target market,” Landry said.
The Granite Express is not associated with a campaign or media organization.
Interestingly, the people getting on board after months of canvasing in Iowa may not know if their candidate did good or not.
The charter plane will not have Wi-Fi access, though, which means staffers and press on the flight won’t be able to check on the Iowa results until the plane lands in New Hampshire, according to the Des Moines Register. But Landry dismissed the need for internet access on the 2 ½-hour journey out of Iowa.
"No matter whether the results are fully settled or not, there's like a 'drop dead' point where there's not so much more you can do in Iowa," Landry told the newspaper.
"I figure that, by 2 a.m. Eastern, whether the results are settled or not, nobody's watching, you know, effectively," he added.
That said, the new process for Iowa Democrats this year is to have a quick vote for preference, and then only one chance for a realignment, for a total of two votes; as opposed to the past years' possibility of multiple rounds of votes. Local Dems should be home and in bed in plenty of time for the 10pm news.Still, with so many candidates bunched up close together at the top, and a new wrinkle of the Dems reporting actual "first preference" votes, it is quite possible for those travelling staffers, the best news might have to wait until they are on the ground in Manchester.
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