NEWTON, Iowa -- After watching Sen. Joe Biden during an October Democratic presidential debate, Tom Chapman asked his wife for one thing for Christmas: a plane ticket to Iowa.
The Seaford High School social studies teacher is among about 175 volunteers -- 24 from Delaware -- who left family and friends after Christmas to help Biden make a strong showing here in today's caucuses.
"I feel an attachment to this campaign," said Chapman, 43, wearing a Biden sticker on his jacket. "Right now, he's my choice. He's my only choice."
To help Biden reach his goal of a fourth or better finish, his volunteers have been doing everything from setting up chairs at events to phoning undecided voters and serving as surrogates on the campaign trail.
Chapman, who serves as the Sussex County Democratic Party chairman, estimates he's made 2,000 phone calls to identify and help sway undecided caucus-goers. He also works as a sort of closer at events.
"We love him out there in Delaware," he told one undecided voter after a Biden event here. "We've sent him back
35 years. He's fair. He'll be honest with you."
Some Biden volunteers have driven here from as far away as New York, Boston and Texas. The list of Delawareans who made the post-holiday trip includes labor leaders such as Michael Annone of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and elected officials including New Castle County Council members Stephanie McClellan and Tim Sheldon, state Treasurer Jack Markell and U.S. Sen. Tom Carper.
Other labor and elected leaders, including Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, visited Iowa earlier.
"It's a very welcome shot of energy for us," said Danny O'Brien, Biden's political director.
Chapman doesn't know Biden personally but has met him at events in Seaford and through his work with the Delaware State Education Association, which endorsed Biden.
He knew the plane ticket wouldn't be cheap. But after hearing Biden talk foreign policy during the Drexel University debate in October, he considered the trip worth the expense.
That was the debate when Biden warned of the dangers of an out-of-control Pakistan and slammed Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani, saying his sentences consist only of "a noun and a verb and 9/11."
To him, Biden "looked like the president" during that debate. He liked how Biden said the Senate resolution that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton voted for -- designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization -- sent the wrong signal to that part of the world.
"This is a guy who knows his stuff," he said.
As a teacher, Chapman said, he can tell when people are blowing him off. But he said voters here are engaged. One called him at the campaign office after an event to get more information.
He's frustrated that the prevailing idea of electability in this cycle seems to come down to a candidate's campaign money.
"I believe we should be picking the best person possible, not the ones that have the best fundraising capability," he said.
Bob Schippers of Newton said talking to Chapman reaffirmed the impression he came away with after listening to Biden. He's torn between Biden, Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
A lifelong Republican, Schippers said, "I think I'm going to change" after hearing Biden's speech.
For Chapman, spending a week working on his first presidential campaign is "the big time." As a social studies teacher, he said his "geek meter is off the charts" watching the process unfold.
"You read about it, you watch it on TV, but it's not like being here," he said.
He said this is the first New Year's he's spent away from his wife, Karen, since they started dating in 1996.
"But I wouldn't trade this for the world," he said.
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS/801030348/1006/NEWS
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