Mitt Romney and the Iowa Caucus

I had no idea how exciting it would be to live in Iowa, not just Iowa but Des Moines, Iowa, during caucus time. Cameron and I kept hearing on the news about different locations that Mitt Romney had been at that were somewhat close to where we live. We started tracking him on Facebook and learned that, on Monday (1/2), he would be in Clive, Iowa, about 20 minutes away from where we live. Well he wasn't going to be in Clive until 8:30 at night and that was too late for our kids so Cameron and Owen drove 2 hours away to Marion, Iowa, in the afternoon. I personally didn't feel like being in the car for 4 hours with the baby so I opted to stay home and get started on a quilt while the baby took a nap. I also made some Cake Batter ice cream in our new ice cream maker. It was so frikkin good. 

Cameron and Owen went to Marion to attend the rally. They arrived 30 minutes early and had a front row "seat." I say "seat" because it wasn't like they really got to sit down. But they had a front row spot nonetheless. Cameron said that after Romney's speech a guy told him that if they stayed and waited that they would get to shake Romney's hand. They did just that. Romney came around and Cameron lifted Owen up so Owen could shake his hand (always thinking of others before himself). Well Romney did not just shake Owen's hand, he took him straight out of Cameron's arms, lifted him up and gave him a hug. Unfortunately this all happened so fast that Cameron didn't get a picture of it (and his photographer wife wasn't with him). When Cameron told me this my heart melted! If he becomes President then we will be able to always tell Owen that he was hugged by the President! 

Cameron and Owen finally got home and I rushed out the door to get to the event in Clive (while Cameron bathed both boys and put them to bed). I decided to go to the rally in Clive, even though I was by myself. I had called a friend from the ward earlier who has been very interested in the politics but she and her husband had recently been to an event in Ames so she opted not to go. This was fine.When I got to the event 30 minutes early I was about 4 rows back from the stage. This just would not suffice.After thinking about it for awhile and trying to work up the courage to move forward I finally did so. I politely excused myself until I was standing right behind the restricting bar, front row and center. I felt kind of bad because the people on the front row had been there for a lot longer than I had but in the end, I did not care, I would most likely never see those people again. And I would probably never have this opportunity again.

 We all must have stood there for an hour waiting, sandwiched together shoulder to shoulder. It was uncomfortable and I was glad I didn't have any kids with me, they would have never lasted. Ann Romney, Mitt's wife, came out. She is beautiful and her wedding ring is not that big (I say that because Mitt is criticized for having a lot of money). Finally her sons and husband came out. His sons are very handsome. All in all the Romney family has some very good genes. She was the first to speak. She introduced her sons, three of which were present. She said that they all looked so handsome and were well behaved but not to let that fool you. She then asked for mothers in the audience of all boys to raise their hands. She said that growing up they were constantly wrestling. Mitt was travelling all the time (he was a consultant for a very large firm) and he would call home to an exasperated wife. He would tell her, "Hang in there, I'll be home soon." (We have all heard those words and they mean nothing when you are home alone with kids) But he would then tell her something very important that she would never forget. He would say to her, "Your job is more important than mine." And that is the first thing I love about Mitt Romney. He understands the importance of the family unit.

 Mitt finally spoke. The crowd was very enthusiastic. Honestly I felt like I was at a Backstreet Boys concert. Wait, why am I abandoning my past loves? I meant to say NSync concert. There was so much cheering and clapping. The crowd would get pumped and start chanting, "Mitt-Mitt-Mitt-Mitt" over and over. It was so cool.

 The crowd had a lot of spirit.

 And so did Mitt. I will be honest, I hate hearing politicians bash on others to make themselves look good. How about we focus solely on what YOU can do, not what the past president HASN'T done.

But it was a pretty good speech. Here is what I like about Mitt Romney: He is a very good businessman. He understands what a big problem it is that we are in so much debt to China. My favorite quote from him is "We have a moral responsibility not to spend more than we take in." Why is this so hard for people to understand? If we don't have the money, we should not buy it. Why has Obama made all these promises of rebuilding America and improving the infrastructure? We don't have the money! We are in debt, Obama! Also Mitt Romney knows how to create jobs because he has so much experience working in the private sector.  And of course I love the fact that Mitt Romney has strong core values. He has a strong belief in God. I believe that the leader of our country should have a belief in God if we want this country to be steered in the right direction. A good leader recognizes the most important things in life, God and his family. Mitt Romney is that good leader. It bugs me to death that some evangelicals do not support him because of his faith (I have seen clips on the news of these people saying they don't like Romney because he is a Mormon, and of course those clips come from the left-winged NBC news). Hello people, he is a Christian too.

After the speech I stayed in my spot because I figured I had a good chance at shaking his hand. The lady behind me was freaking out that he was not going to get to us but I told her he would come by if we just stayed put. He did get to our side and I got to shake his hand. He was autographing books and posters. I felt kind of silly asking for an autograph so I didn't, plus I didn't have anything for him to an autograph but a diaper and there was no way I was doing that. I shook his hand and told him that he had picked up my 3 year old son in Marion a few hours ago. He thought for a minute, looked puzzled, and asked why I was here. He must have thought I had been at the earlier rally as well. I told him, somewhat tongue tied because I didn't plan on saying this much, that my husband was babysitting and it was my turn to attend a rally. He thought that was great. He was so nice to everyone, don't worry I am sure it was because he wanted their Caucus vote the next day. But still he did seem genuine to me.

The Caucus Experience
Last night Cameron and I and the kids attended the Iowa Caucus. Here is how it works. Each county is broken down into precincts. The precinct is based on the neighborhood in which you live. We were told that our precinct would be meeting in the lunchroom at a nearby middle school (there were several precincts meeting in the school, some met in the auditorium). We signed in, were given a blank ballot that we would later write the name on of who we wanted to nominate. Then came the long process. First we all stood up to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I would have enjoyed this would thing more without kids but oh well. I was sweating bullets (figuratively speaking) thinking that the behavior of my children could influence a voter trying to concentrate on the representatives' speeches. I was pleased to find out that our bishop and his wife were in our same precinct so we sat together along with a couple of other ward members. Then it was time for each representative to speak. At the last minute Cameron was given the assignment to speak on behalf of Mitt Romney. He proudly agreed to do so. Had he been given more time he could have memorized the typed out speech and really done a great job but I thought he did great under the circumstances. The person representing Michelle Bachmann really had no idea what to say.  After each candidate was represented a few attendees took turns speaking. Some had questions about the candidates, actually I think it was just an opportunity to bash on who they didn't want to win the Caucus. There were some in the room who were undecided on who to vote for right up until the last second. After some citizens voluntarily spoke up for who they wanted to nominate it was time to vote. Each person wrote down on that small rectangular piece of paper who they wanted to nominate. There was no bubble form. It was so plain and simple, like high schoolers voting for class president. We then gave all of our forms to the people in charge. They all stood up around a round table and tallied the votes. In our precinct, Santorum placed first, Paul second, Romney third, then Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann and Jon Huntsman with 1 vote. There was also a vote for "other." What a waste of a vote.

We then headed home and Cameron and I put the kids to bed and watched the results come in for the next THREE AND A HALF HOURS. What happened was each precinct in the whole state of Iowa was to report their results. Santorum led for quite some time, but he and Romney were really neck and neck the whole night. Santorum would be up by 150 votes, then Romney would pass him with 13 votes! Then Santorum, then Romney, back and forth! Finally I learned that Mitt Romney had won by a mere EIGHT votes. I can think of 8 people off the top of my head who voted for Romney last night. Had they not voted he wouldn't have won! This was truly a circumstance where EVERY VOTE counted.

GO MITT ROMNEY!!