I just drove two hours southeast of Des Moines to see I just drove two hours southeast of Des Moines to see Hillary Clinton for the first time on this trip, and later, I'll be following her back to Des Moines for a downtown rally. The caucuses begin in exactly 24 hours, and I'm in the town of Ottumwa, Iowa. With its river, railroad tracks, and struggling, industrial era downtown, Ottumwa immediately reminded me of my hometown of Ossining, New York. Unlike Ossining, though, Ottumwa calls itself the "video game capital of the world" due to its hosting, in 1982, of the Video Olympics. And Tom Arnold (of "Roseanne") grew up here. While I'm waiting for Hillary, I figure I'll reflect on a bit on my experience in Iowa so far. While I came out here pretty derisive of the caucus process -- and indeed, I remain disturbed by the inordinate power given a rural, 95 percent white state where only 6 percent of voters turn out -- I've found myself over the course of the week falling more and more under the sway of this romantic notion of up close, neighborly politics. The Iowans who have told me they will definitely caucus (they are overwhelmingly college educated, middle class, and middle aged) know more about these candidates than any voters I've interviewed anywhere. Many of them are Democratic activists and union members, people for whom politics is a way of life. One unrelated observation before I begin taking notes on Hillary's speech: On the way out here, on highway 163, I saw the following sign tacked onto a Mike Huckabee billboard: "Faith still matters! Vote Republican!" --Dana Goldstein
