How three Iowa Democrats make decisions

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

DES MOINES, Iowa - After the pundits have spoken and after all the ads have dinned their messages into the minds of voters, the outcome of the first-in-the-nation Democratic caucuses will be decided in living rooms like that of Catherine Hicks in Windsor Heights, a suburb of Des Moines.

Ten months ago Hicks joined a group of women in her area who decided to meet monthly to assess the candidates.

And on the day before the final Democratic debate in Iowa, Hicks hosted two members of the quartet, Margaret Weiner and Jan Hollebrands, in her living room (the fourth was out of town) for the group’s final meeting before the caucuses.

Hearing them think out loud was a way to peer into the minds of Iowa Democrats and how they come to make their choices for Jan. 3 caucuses.

“Up until today all of us would say we were thinking, we were undecided,” said Hicks.

Trust and character
“We talked about what qualities in an individual were appealing to us,” she explained. “We talked a lot about the issue of character. Could you trust this person?”

The group invited representatives of the presidential campaigns of John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Chris Dodd to make their pitches. 

A Dodd campaign worker brought along Dodd's sister, Martha, who spent three hours with the group discussing the candidates, the issues, and some Dodd family history. In Iowa even tiny groups of voters can get such personal attention from campaigns.

The early returns from this tiny, statistically insignificant particle of the Iowa electorate look good for Obama.

Hicks is strongly leaning toward Obama, while Weiner has already contributed money to his campaign and will caucus for him. Hollebrands is leaning toward Edwards.

“My husband and I have some older friends who are convinced that a woman can not win, a black can not win,” said Weiner. “One of them was going for Biden.”

Obama's effect on the race
She added, “I’m very aware of racism and its power in our country. I really felt, whether Obama is electable or not, I’m going to put up signs and stand up. I feel his presence in the race is important. I would like to see him president, but I want to support a country that will elect a black person if he’s the best candidate.”

Web extra video Obama on the Iraq war July 23: Sen. Barack Obama discusses the war in Iraq. NBC News Web Extra

She added, “I’ve heard black people say they won’t vote for him because they think he’ll be assassinated.”

Hicks listened to Weiner and said, “A lot of people have been afraid to step forward and say, ‘yes, I’m going to support him,’ because they’re afraid to let themselves have that hope that our country really isn’t racist.”

But there is the question of Obama’s relatively slim experience in national and international politics: He was sworn in as a senator less than three years ago.

More experienced candidates available
What of the argument by Obama’s rival, Sen. Joe Biden, that he has worked with the foreign ministers and presidents of major nations ever since he came to the Senate in 1973. “Hot air,” scoffed Weiner.

“To me the experience of (Obama) working on a community organizing level shows a way of relating to people that’s important, which is helping them decided what is good for them.”

As for Biden and other congressional veterans in the race: “I don’t know how long a person could stay in elective office and keep that freshness of vision,” Weiner said.

“Joe Biden and most of the Republican candidates, and Chris Dodd as well, will say ‘I’ve had years and years of experience.’ Our point is: if you were doing a good job, why are we in such a mess, why is our world in such a mess?”

For her, Hicks said, Obama “has the greatest chance to be inspirational to the largest portion of Americans than any of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat.”

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