So we got to Des Moines at about 2 o’clock yesterday after a 12+ hour road trip from Nashville which included breakfast at IHOP and lunch at Arby’s, which it just about the most vegetarian unfriendly restaurant in the world. But anyway, I had been planning to volunteer for Kucinich’s campaign, but the Des Moines representative never called back. So instead, I decided to volunteer for the Edwards campaign, and was dropped off at an old warehouse that is now used as the headquarters for the steelworkers union. Kevin and I, along with about 8 other people, phone banked for about 2 hours. Most people that I called were polite, but a few hung up on me. I didn’t learn anything about Edwards that I didn’t already know, but it was interesting just to see how a campaign is run. Anyway, at about 7:30, just as we were about to leave, John and Elizabeth Edwards came into the campaign office to give a speech. I shook both their hands and spoke to them. It was quite possibly the most exciting moment of my life. Oh yeah, and I also met, and took a picture with, Tim Russert, so that was exciting.
After that, we all got onto the bus to head to Bill Clinton’s speech at 9, which was about an hour away. We stopped at McDonald’s, where I was unable again to eat anything, and then got back on the bus. As soon as we all sat down, we realized that it was 9 o’clock and we were about 50 minutes away. So we turned around and went back to the hotel. Kevin, Nick, and I tried to go to Starbucks, but it ended up being in a hospital and closed. So instead, we had an epic snowball fight that resulted in a couple of bruises and very cold hands and feet. It was totally worth it though.
This morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then got on the bus to get to our various campaign offices. Kevin and I decided that we would volunteer for Obama today because he was supposed to make an appearance . However, when we got to the office, the volunteer organizer said that there were too many volunteers and not enough phones. So we got back on the bus and Kevin, Nick, Sarah, and I decided to switch to the Clinton campaign, where we just phone banked again. Then we came back to the hotel and went ice skating. Skating outside is so much better than skating in an arena, for the record.
Now I have to go to an alumni speech about something or other, and then at 8ish I will be going to a speech by Bill and Hillary Clinton and Mr. and Mrs. Vilsack, the former governor and first lady of Iowa.
