Most colleges are not in session this week, but many students are gearing up for discussions and debates anyway — tonight in Iowa’s caucuses.
A few campuses have made accommodations for returning students, some candidates (like Barack Obama and Ron Paul) have courted them, and students have defended their right to take part in the caucuses, despite criticism that they were unfairly flocking back to Iowa from out of state.
The Chronicle caught up with a few students who planned to participate in the caucuses tonight.
Julia Ruetten, a sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa, is an intern for John McCain’s campaign. This afternoon she was furiously calling supporters, answering e-mails, lining up rides to Blackhawk County’s Republican caucus site, and looking for a tablecloth for Senator McCain’s table there. “It’s all of those little things that nobody thinks about but have to come together in the end,” she said.
Ms. Ruetten, who is from Missoula, Mont., said out-of-state students who pay tuition and essentially live in Iowa should be able to caucus, which she will do after staffing the table. “I have been here in Iowa more in the last year than I have been home in Montana,” she said. But she doesn’t buy the hype about youth turnout. “While everyone is in school, you’re really motivated because you’re surrounded by people,” she said. “I’m not sure if students will continue their interest today and actually go out and caucus.”
But Matt Patterson, a freshman at Drake University from Leawood, Kan., was doing just that: driving up from his home state with two classmates and three sleeping bags. “This trip is really solely just to caucus,” said Mr. Patterson, who will go back to Kansas before his classes resume on January 22. “I think we’re going to get refugee-style living accommodations, which should be totally great.”
He and one fellow passenger planned to support Barack Obama; the other was for Christopher J. Dodd. But there wasn’t much pregame caucusing in the car, Mr. Patterson said. “We’ve kind of talked about it a little bit, but there isn’t much persuasion because I think we all have good reasons.”
Keenan Crow, a junior at the University of Northern Iowa, has his reasons for supporting Ron Paul: “his libertarian stance on just about everything … especially the war on drugs.” Mr. Crow, an Iowa native, has spent the past few weeks talking up his candidate — on Facebook and on campus — and he plans to drive a few friends to his caucus site tonight.
Even though Republican caucuses are “not as fun” as the Democrats’, Mr. Crow said — “more of the paper and pencil,” less moving around — “if Ron Paul can get the nomination, then it’s definitely worth it.”
The Iowa Student Public Interest Research Group hoped to increase the fun factor with its bipartisan “Rock the Caucus” parties, complete with free T-shirts, party hats, and blowhorns.
