In the aftermath of the caucuses II: The night before
It was late Tuesday night that- angry as I was over Huckabee's inept pulling of a negative ad I believed should have been shown weeks ago- I visited McCain headquarters to make inquiries. I shared the nature of the main reservation I'd had about McCain (namely, his position on the use of existing embryos for stem cell research). McCain's field director, Grant Young, took me into a side room, and excused himself to summon reinforcements.
I was immediately surrounded by a prominent Iowa Right-to-Life activist, the former field director of Sam Brownback's campaign here in Iowa, Grant, and from time to time others summoned to reinforce their case. The first two pointed out that they also disagreed with Sen. McCain on the stem cell issue, but that the recent discoveries concerning pluripotent adult stem cells minimized the issue. They also pointed to McCain's quarter-century commitment to the cause of life- and the integrity which caused him, whenever someone asked about his position on life issues, to make sure that the person understood where he stood on the stem cell matter, even though it might possibly cost him their vote.
I was given position papers on foreign policy and all sorts of other materials, and invited back the next night- Caucus Eve- to meet the senator personally.
As it happens, I was the first to shake his hand when he got out of the minivan at the headquarters in Urbandale Wednesday night. We all went back inside (gratefully; it was ten degrees outside) and listened to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Patricia Nixon Cox, and McCain himself rally the troops- and introduce some of the men who had helped keep them alive while he was in the Hanoi Hilton.
One of them was a Marine. "I tried to get into the Marines when I graduated from the Naval Academy," McCain quipped, "but I couldn't, because my parents were married."
As the speeches ended, I was ushered into a smaller room- where I found myself with Sen. McCain, Patricia Nixon Cox and her husband, Ed, Tim Russert, and a group of other journalists (I think I spotted Tucker Carlson of CNN there, jovially telling McCain staffers not to worry- that the senator would almost certainly finish ahead of Ron Paul). Once more I shook McCain's hand, and told him what an honor it was. He responded graciously. I really didn't press the opportunity to question him, especially since staffers were herding Sen. McCain into an office for a few minutes- apparently to take a phone call or give a private interview.
Richard Nixon's eldest daughter turned to me and extended her hand. "How are you,?" she asked graciously- her demeanor not even hinting at what was surely going through her head, namely "And who the hell are you, anyway?" "Welcome to Iowa, Mrs. Cox," I replied, shaking that hand. "Oh!," she observed "What a nice button you're wearing!" (she was wearing an identical button). "Yes," I replied. "And I can see that you have exquisite taste in buttons as well."
Just then Sen. McCain emerged in front of the cameras to take questions from the assembled media. To tell you the truth, I could barely hear a word he said.
Finally, the press conference ended, and everyone started to leave. I ran into Grant Young. "Well," he asked, "what did you think?"
It really was an honor to shake John McCain's hand. And the importance both of winning in November and of America having the guy who recommended Gen. Petraeus and had been urging the surge long before President Bush finally did the right thing- rather than another newbie needing on the job training- weighed heavily on my mind.
"Ok." I said. "What do you need in Des Moines 92?"
And so, I became a precinct captain.
I was immediately surrounded by a prominent Iowa Right-to-Life activist, the former field director of Sam Brownback's campaign here in Iowa, Grant, and from time to time others summoned to reinforce their case. The first two pointed out that they also disagreed with Sen. McCain on the stem cell issue, but that the recent discoveries concerning pluripotent adult stem cells minimized the issue. They also pointed to McCain's quarter-century commitment to the cause of life- and the integrity which caused him, whenever someone asked about his position on life issues, to make sure that the person understood where he stood on the stem cell matter, even though it might possibly cost him their vote.
I was given position papers on foreign policy and all sorts of other materials, and invited back the next night- Caucus Eve- to meet the senator personally.
As it happens, I was the first to shake his hand when he got out of the minivan at the headquarters in Urbandale Wednesday night. We all went back inside (gratefully; it was ten degrees outside) and listened to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Patricia Nixon Cox, and McCain himself rally the troops- and introduce some of the men who had helped keep them alive while he was in the Hanoi Hilton.
One of them was a Marine. "I tried to get into the Marines when I graduated from the Naval Academy," McCain quipped, "but I couldn't, because my parents were married."
As the speeches ended, I was ushered into a smaller room- where I found myself with Sen. McCain, Patricia Nixon Cox and her husband, Ed, Tim Russert, and a group of other journalists (I think I spotted Tucker Carlson of CNN there, jovially telling McCain staffers not to worry- that the senator would almost certainly finish ahead of Ron Paul). Once more I shook McCain's hand, and told him what an honor it was. He responded graciously. I really didn't press the opportunity to question him, especially since staffers were herding Sen. McCain into an office for a few minutes- apparently to take a phone call or give a private interview.
Richard Nixon's eldest daughter turned to me and extended her hand. "How are you,?" she asked graciously- her demeanor not even hinting at what was surely going through her head, namely "And who the hell are you, anyway?" "Welcome to Iowa, Mrs. Cox," I replied, shaking that hand. "Oh!," she observed "What a nice button you're wearing!" (she was wearing an identical button). "Yes," I replied. "And I can see that you have exquisite taste in buttons as well."
Just then Sen. McCain emerged in front of the cameras to take questions from the assembled media. To tell you the truth, I could barely hear a word he said.
Finally, the press conference ended, and everyone started to leave. I ran into Grant Young. "Well," he asked, "what did you think?"
It really was an honor to shake John McCain's hand. And the importance both of winning in November and of America having the guy who recommended Gen. Petraeus and had been urging the surge long before President Bush finally did the right thing- rather than another newbie needing on the job training- weighed heavily on my mind.
"Ok." I said. "What do you need in Des Moines 92?"
And so, I became a precinct captain.
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