Iowa Democrats pack their bags for Denver

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By Ed Tibbetts | Saturday, August 23, 2008 10:55 PM CDT | () comments

When the Democratic National Convention opens Monday in Denver, Iowa’s 57 delegates will help draw to a close one of the most extraordinary primary seasons on record.

It began in Iowa with a wide open race. It will end in Denver with the party aiming to get the country behind a single man: Barack Obama.

For people watching on television, the convention will be a four-day show, the party’s primetime opportunity to showcase Obama and a message it hopes will lead to a November win.

For delegates on the floor, however, the convention is a uniquely personal chance to take part in a historic moment: Nominating the first black man from a major party to run for president.

“I’m just thrilled about that,” said Mary Campos, a delegate from Des Moines.

Delegates will hear from governors and political up-and-comers, and they’ll attend a variety of meetings.

They’ll have fun, too, of course.

“I’ve been getting all kinds of mail and phone calls,” said George Dixon, a DeWitt retiree who’s a delegate. “I think everybody who runs a business is out there giving a party.”

David Redlawsk, a delegate who’s a political science professor at the University of Iowa, will also take the opportunity to teach his class from the convention. He’ll use a blog and Web cam.

Perhaps most important, the convention will officially mark the time when, after a bruising primary season, Democrats will fully turn their attention to the Republicans instead of each other.

“It’ll be good to get down to the real nuts and bolts of what this is all about, and what it’s about is electing a Democrat president to change the direction this country is headed,” said Wayne Laufenberg, a union leader from St. Donatus in northeast Iowa.

As in past elections, Iowa is expected to be a battleground this fall.

Republican John McCain visited the state two weeks ago and is advertising heavily here. Obama will be in Iowa for the second time in less a month when he’s in Davenport on Monday.

Polls since June have shown Obama having between a 4- and 10-point lead in the state. But one of the questions going into the convention is how much backers of Hillary Clinton will get behind Obama in the general election.

What Clinton has to say Tuesday in her primetime speech may go a long way toward answering those questions.

“There’s a lot of people upset she didn’t make it,” Laufenberg said. “I’m upset she didn’t make it.”

Still, he said he’ll back Obama when the time comes.

“I’m a staunch Democrat,” he said. “Whoever the Democratic nominee is, once we get to that point, all the efforts I put into the Clinton campaign will be transferred.”

Ione Shadduck, an 84-year-old retired attorney from West Des Moines and also a Clinton delegate, said she’ll vote for the New York senator when her name is officially put in nomination.

But she added she’ll fully back Obama when he’s picked, even as she worries McCain is making headway in some opinion polls.

Shadduck said she doesn’t think that many Clinton backers will desert the party, either.

“I don’t think in the end they’ll vote for McCain,” she said.

Iowa not only kick-started Obama’s campaign with the Jan. 3 caucuses. Ssucceeding county, district and state conventions showcased his broad organizational strength across the state.

Much of that is from first-time caucus-goers, including Dixon, who thinks other people like him will be excited by Obama’s change message, too.

“He’s going to bring a new way of thinking to the office,” said Dixon, who’s active in church matters. “I think he’s a man of faith ... a good Christian man. A man of integrity.”

This year’s Iowa delegation is diverse and has a flavor of youth. Seven of the delegates are under 25. Obama leveraged an unprecedented youth vote in Iowa to help him win.

There also is an Iraq War veteran.

Shadduck, at 84, said she’s the oldest.

The only representative from Scott County this time is Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba, who is an alternate delegate.

There are three delegates from the Illinois Quad-Cities: former state Sen. Denny Jacobs of East Moline, Dennis Ahern of Moline and Virgil Mayberry of Rock Island.

Illinois is sending 53 delegates to the national convention.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.