Dateline Iowa

[AnAmerican]

Copied this from a message board used by the Kucinich Campaign:


"The Peace Train riders have been canvassing and calling Iowans ever since we stepped off the train and we are so excited! Something is happening here. Take a look at this set of RANDOM calls placed to "Democrats who voted in the 2000 election" in the Des Moines area:

The caller placed a total of 52 calls. Of those,

2 people said they are voting for Dean
5 people are voting for Kerry
4 for Gebhart
1 for Edwards
7 for "other candidates" not counting Dennis or the aboved mentioned.
10 are voting for Kucinich
21 said they leaning toward voting for Kucinich.

You do the math. We're baffled by the "polls"..."


Iowa is going to surprise alot of folks.

[AP]

1. That 's nice. But I really really doubt the Kucinich campaign

is giving callers a list that isn't targeted to Kucinich leaners. The point of the caucuses is to rally people leaning your way. They wouldn't waste supporters' time having them call people who have never indicated any interest. It would be a waste of the callers' and the campaign's time.

I would believe that the campaign managers would TELL callers that they had un-targeted lists so that the supporters wouldn't get discoraged.

[iowapeacechief]

2. Targeted calling lists?

I am active in the Kucinich campaign, and I agree with you and "AnAmerican" both.

Sure, the list may have been more targeted than the caller realized. Some lists have been worked on for months. However, I am not so ready to believe our staff did the sort of morale-boosting setup you suggest.

So, while I would not predict a caucus outcome based on this caller's results, I do agree: "Iowa is going to surprise alot of folks."

[AP]

3. One week before the caucus, any smart campaign will only be calling people

who have indicated that they're willing to go with Kucinich.

I could be wrong. But I really think that's what's going on with these numbers.