Jan 4, 2008 | 9:04 AM
Category:
Political
Well I'm about to head to the airport! I did a live-shot this morning for KDFW and it was a fun way to wrap-up my caucus experience.
Last night and this morning I pulled some interesting clips from my caucus experience last night. There are two interviews from caucus goers and there are clips of the caucus while it is going on. Sorry the end video is a little rough the most important stuff is in the beginning.
I hope you enjoyed our coverage and don't forget to read the Fox U New Hampshire blogs!
Jan 3, 2008 | 11:28 PM
Category:
Political
The caucus is over, Huckabee and Obama are the declared winners for Iowa. This was by far the most bizarre and fascinating process to watch. I had the opportunity to go to Valley High School in Des Moines to watch a Republican caucus.
The Republicans all filed in one by one, some registering to vote right then and there. After they signed in they sat in bleachers all together. The crowd was huge and there were record braking numbers. I talked to voters as they filed in and some of them, although residents of Iowa for some time, were attending their first or second caucus. The same reasons occurred again and again for the sudden interest, more candidates and more causes.
Before the voting began, each candidate had a representative in the audience to let everyone know what the candidate's issues are and why they should vote for them.
Although we are in a an era dominated by immediate results through technology, there were no computers used to tabulate anything. The caucus goers simply wrote down their vote on a post it note and put it in rubbermaid plastic bins. After their vote, their hands were marked so that they could be distinguished from those who hadn't voted yet. They also had to move to the opposite side of the gym after voting.
Less than half of the original crowd stuck around after to hear the final tabulations, which were counted by a group of about six people. The post it notes were counted several times before the final announcement was made that Romney came in first with 170 votes, followed by Huckabee with 105 votes and McCain with 88 votes.
Even though I don't get why there wasn't an electronic or pre-made ballot approach, I do get that these details are what make the Iowa caucus interesting and something that only makes sense when you see it happen right in front of you.
In politics classes the concept always confused me, but now that I have seen a live caucus I get what I would like to call "organized chaos." Seeing a part of history happen right in front of me in a high school gym was just plain cool. I'll be working on putting together some footage Rachael and I gathered at the caucus so you can see what I saw and hopefully it will make the caucus experience clear to you too.
Jan 2, 2008 | 10:23 PM
Category:
Political
We just left the Obama rally and he had the largest crowd we've seen for a candidate so far. It was also the most organized, because it was set up in a school gymnasium so the visibility was good. In addition, it was the only campaign stop that the candidate showed up on time for.
Obama's wife came out to speak right before him and revved up the crowed. When Obama came out the crowd went wild and chanted one of his signature cheers, "Fired Up, Ready to Go." Another thing we noticed was that the crowd was the most diverse and had the most young members of all the crowds we've seen since we have been here.
Now we are headed to get some grub and load the video we collected this afternoon and evening. Now we are "Fired Up, and Ready to Go to Bed" if we can make it home without getting lost. I think we've gotten lost at least a dozen times. Everything here looks the same and there are not that many road signs. Thank goodness for Iphones and GPS.
P.S. We ran into George Stephanopoulos, he was really nice and chatted with us for a bit. He said he'd been to the McCain stop we were at earlier and said the Obama rally was chaos.
Jan 2, 2008 | 9:11 PM
Category:
Political
We just left the McCain headquarters and we are headed towards Herbert Hoover High School in Des Moines. The McCain stop was crowded and many different networks were present.
Being less than a foot from McCain when he entered was exciting! It is so surreal to see candidates up close. I've seen two candidates from the two major parties up close within the last 24 hours! It makes the cold weather and long waits for the candidates to arrive seem not as bad.
I got a comment on the video loaded earlier. The video isn't meant to be professional quality. We posted it mainly for the commentary. We want you guys to hear our reactions right as they are happening. But thanks for the comments and keep them coming!
Tomorrow is the big day and after Obama we are going to hit the sack. We want to be fresh and alert for the Iowa Caucus!!
Tomorrow I hope to post some commentary on YouTube about YouTube and its impact on the campaign. YouTube, and other video posting outlets have made these elections viral. Things spread faster than ever, and anyone can post video. Sometimes the video helps, but sometimes the video isn't flattering to the candidate...in that case could YouTube = YouLose for the candidate? What do you guys think?
Jan 2, 2008 | 7:44 PM
Category:
Political
Yet another one of the promised links:
It is a little "Blair Witch Projectesq" but the commentary is informational and useful. Plus the commentary is the immediate reaction following the Edwards speech in Creston, Iowa around 3 a.m. in the morning.
Needless to say, delirium was kicking in!
Jan 2, 2008 | 3:06 PM
Category:
Political
Jan 2, 2008 | 3:00 PM
Category:
Political
Jan 2, 2008 | 2:43 PM
Category:
Political
When you think you've
learned your way around Iowa.... guess again! After we made an effort to drive
to a high school outside of Des Moines to see Obama, we had to turn around
after getting lost and running low on gas.
However, one Fox U's
team loss equals another campaign hidden treasure. We ended up getting in
touch with McCain campaign headquarters, and since it was only a 15-minute drive
we opted to visit.
When we arrived at
headquarters we spoke with some of the volunteers, the volunteers were all ages;
some were the same age as us! We spoke to one Drake University student, Lynn
McRoberts, who is a longtime supporter of McCain and has met him in person.
She was busy helping people find rides to the rally at headquarters
tonight and assisting people with hotel accommodations and
directions.
We learned McCain will
be at headquarters tonight and everyone encouraged us to come back. We
asked if we will have a shot at a question or too and we got good feedback.
We plan to stop back by headquarters and attempt to get statements from
McCain. We are hoping that after his success with the MTV debates he will
want to talk to more young voters!
Right now we Jia, Rachael
and I are uploading video from headquarters while Ben puts together
the Edwards video from last night. Links are coming soon!
Jan 2, 2008 | 3:10 AM
Category:
Political
The Fox U Team is departing from the Knock house in Creston, Iowa. The John Edwards campaign stop was quick. When we first got to the home the Knock family welcomed us in.
After we set up the cameras we interviewed some of the Edward supporters. All the supporters were enthusiastic and happy to be there at 2 in the morning.
We even talked to some who were not native Crestons. One man came all the way from Alabama to see Edwards and his wife Elizabeth.
When Edwards entered the room it was a media blitz and Edwards spoke for around five minutes. He thanked the family for welcoming him into their home and gave his a few quick liners about how his campaign is going to take the White House.
His wife Elizabeth spoke also, and she spoke for about the same time as Edwards. She expressed her gratitude and interacted with the supporters.
As Edwards exited I asked him if he would answer a quick question. He was not being pressed by anyone else so I thought I for sure had a shot. He said he was not talking to press. However, about 30 seconds later we followed him outside to see him talked to a reporter from ABC.
Elizabeth stayed behind to talk to supporters and signed books. Overall, Elizabeth spent more time engaging with supporters.
As we are driving along to our next destination with Chris Dodd in Colo, Iowa we cannot help but think that Elizabeth might as well be running for president.
Jan 1, 2008 | 11:15 PM
Category:
Political
Greetings! So I thought I was going to bed...nope! Sounds like my New Year's night plans will be much more exciting than my New Year's Eve plans.
At midnight myself and the Fox U News team will head to Creston, Iowa to the Knock residence for a John Edward's campaign stop. Edward's meet and greet will start at 2:15 a.m. If the candidates aren't going to sleep, we aren't either!
I've got three words to motivate me through this excursion: caffeine, caffeine, and more caffeine!
...stay tuned for updates, footage and juicy details from our late night adventure.
Jan 1, 2008 | 5:52 PM
Category:
Political
First of all I would
like to say that I have never felt a cold wind quite like the one I felt in
Iowa today. However, after we checked into our hotel and explored around
Des Moines a bit, we quickly became distracted from the cold weather by
politics.
It all started with our
mission to find Starbucks. We asked a local where the nearest Starbucks
is located; we needed caffeine and we needed our fix fast after an
early morning.
When we found Starbucks
in the nearby mall down the street we ran into an Iowa poll that does not fit
the stereotype of your typical poll. First of all, it was in the mall.
Second of all, it involved purchasing merchandise. The poll was set
up as a kiosk of buttons, shirts, bumper stickers, etc for all of the
candidates. When a purchase is made for the candidates it is tracked in
the register and is fed into a poll. The link is: http://usabuttonpoll.com/ .
We talked to the woman
running the kiosk and she said that Huckabee is leading the way for Republican
merchandise and that there is a tight race between Clinton, Obama and Edwards.
When pulling out of the
mall parking lot we were going to head back to the hotel, when all of a sudden
we see Fred Thompson's campaign bus go by on the highway. I quickly
exited the parking lot with my three other fellow FOX U reporters and started
to follow the Fred Thompson bus.
The chase began to get
exciting when we realized Thompson was doing stops in the area. We
thought for sure we would be able to get an interview on his next stop.
When the bus pulled off at a gas station I pulled off too. The driver
exited the bus to fill up the gas tank and we asked him if Fred was on the bus.
The driver said he'd just made a stop nearby but he would be on the bus
tomorrow. After trying to get a tour of the bus and an interview we
decided to call it a day. The driver did not work for the campaign, but he
said try again tomorrow. We did document the chase though, and it is
quite entertaining. I will post the link later after we capture the
video.
We checked out
Thompson's future stops and found out he is coming to our hotel on Wednesday.
Hopefully we can get you an exclusive interview then. I hope
tomorrow is full of political pursuits just like the one today. Today was
just our warm-up; tomorrow we will be in full force! For now I'm
going to go fuel up on food and rest up during the calm before the storm.
Dec 31, 2007 | 6:13 PM
Category:
Political
As I sit in my hotel room on the last day of 2007, yes I'm the cool cat with no plans, I am much more excited than I would normally be hanging out alone on a holiday. I'm over having no New Year's plans, because my plans starting to tomorrow rock!
Tomorrow I will board a plane with the Fox U team for Des Moines, Iowa.
So when everyone else is drinking champagne and tooting their sound horns I'll most likely be in bed getting rest for what will be some of the most hectic, action packed days I've ever experienced.
Just having the feeling of not really knowing what to expect is the best part.
The Iowa caucus is kicking off the 2008 election season and is important for many of the neck in neck candidates. However, I, or any poll for that matter, cannot predict what will happen. The underdog could win for either party, or the poll leaders might take Iowa.
One thing is for sure, I will keep you updated on what I see as I see it! I will go to Iowa with an not only open eyes and ears, but an open mind. For now, have a safe holiday and the next time you hear from me it will be a new year and I will be in a new state!
