‘Vote blue, no matter who’: Hawkeyes around the world are gathering to make their choice for president.
GLASGOW, Scotland — Monday’s first Iowa caucus meeting took place 6,000 miles away from the Hawkeye state.
Eight hours before caucuses in the actual state of Iowa were scheduled to begin, three Iowans showed up in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, to choose a Democratic candidate for president of the United States.
Tbilisi was one of 87 satellite caucuses around the world, and it marked the first time Iowans living outside the state have been given a voice in the all-important ritual that marks the official beginning of presidential primary season.
The Republicans held their own caucuses in Iowa Monday, but did not set up out-of-state satellite sites.
More than 6,000 miles from Des Moines, Tbilisi is an ancient city in the heart of the Caucasus region, an area that straddles eastern Europe and Western Asia. It was ruled for long periods of time by the Persians and the Russians, but on Monday, three Americans who live there made a statement about democracy.
“The Tbilisi caucus was conducted successfully, over a traditional Iowan meal of pizza and ranch dressing – accompanied by a Georgian wine,” organizer Joshua Kucera tweeted, about 8 hours ahead of when many of the caucuses in Iowa were scheduled to kick off.
Alongside his comments, Kucera posted a picture of Iowa’s vertical red, white and blue tricolor flag with a bald eagle in its middle.
The caucuses — internal party meetings, essentially — don’t guarantee a candidate’s nomination but can provide momentum heading into the next round of primaries. Kucera, a freelance journalist specializing in the former Soviet republics, said the results from Tbilisi event would be reported after the rest of the Iowa caucuses take place.
At stake Monday in Iowa are 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The Tbilisi caucus was one of three international gatherings organized by Iowa’s Democratic Party. The other two were held in a graduate student’s apartment in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Paris, France, where the mayor of France’s capital agreed to let an American overseas college student host an Iowa caucus event.
When will results come?
Out-of-state and international satellite caucus sites are being treated as one big county, so the results won’t be known until all of the sites outside of Iowa report their results.
Three thousand miles closer to Des Moines but still a continent away, about 20 Iowans showed up at Colyn Burbank’s apartment in Glasgow, Scotland to caucus.
Burbank, a Des Moines native, hosted a mixture of Iowans, observers and press, in Glasgow, where he is studying for a master’s degree in social care.
He lives with his wife and young daughter along with another Iowan couple, and their cat, Lewis. The couple has decorated their home with pictures of famous Iowans such as the actor John Wayne, American late-night television host Johnny Carson and Grant Wood’s iconic 1930 painting “American Gothic,” which shows a farmer holding a pitchfork next to a stern-faced woman.
They also put on an Iowan-type spread of corn chips, homemade chocolate cookies, pretzels and what they claimed was an Iowan staple called “puppy chow”: a twisted midwestern masterpiece consisting of Chex cereal, peanut butter, chocolate and powdered sugar. Lewis, the cat, darted in and out of the room amid heated political discussion.
It was the first time the 31-year-old had hosted a caucus and doing it overseas was a novel experience. At one point he ducked out of the room to call an Iowa Democratic Party hotline to get clarity over whether he could allow the woman who showed up ten minutes late to participate. (He couldn’t.)
In the actual caucus, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got the most support. Nine people said he was their first choice, followed by six who chose Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three for former mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Despite polls that have shown him and Sanders in a virtual tie, no one caucused for former vice president Joe Biden.
“Not to put too find a point on it but it feels like the future is at stake with this election,” said Lucy Schiller, 31, who is teaching American literature and creative writing at a college in Germany and traveled to Glasgow for the caucus. She previously taught at the University of Iowa, in Des Moines. “This is the last off-ramp we have before climate disaster.”
Schiller, who backs Sanders, said the Vermont Senator’s policies were the most appropriate to meet this challenge.
After the caucus event in Glasgow, Burbank was energized but also appeared relieved it was over.
“It was a great group and people really got into it and were making their case for their candidates,” Burbank said.
“It feels good to include people. I’m not sure I have a massive itch now to do political organizing on a grand scale. Maybe ask me tomorrow,” he said, then trailed off as he remembered he wanted everyone to head off to a local pub to continue the discussion, but also because he didn’t want his two-year-old daughter sleeping in the next room to get woken up.
Florida caucusgoers gather
Closer to home in the Florida Gulf Coast community of Port Charlotte, 135 Iowa residents had the luxury of showing up in shorts and T-shirts to choose their candidates.
It was one of four satellite caucuses in the Sunshine State.
At the packed Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlotte County, 56 people chose Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, earning her the most support. Buttigieg received support from 45 caucusgoers. Biden came in third with 33. Warren received support from 12 people.
“I was hopeful that she’d do better than what the polls have shown, but I didn’t expect her to do as well as she did,” said Peggy Doerge, a Klobuchar supporter from Iowa City who winters in North Fort Myers.
Sanders earned support from a single caucuser, as did former businessman Andrew Yang.
Other caucus sites in Florida were in Gulf Breeze, Miramar Beach and St. Petersburg. Many of the attendees drove hours to attend.
Among them were Lanny Schwartz and his wife, Jane Allen, of Cedar Falls, Iowa. They drove four and a half hours from Key Largo to participate.
“I like (Joe) Biden, because I think he’s most likely to beat Trump, and that seems to be the main thing here. I think all of us here just want to defeat Trump,” Lanny Schwartz said. “We think what’s been going on is outrageous compared to what’s right and what’s in the Constitution.”
Karla and John Hansen were split in their support for Biden and Buttigieg. The couple, from a town just outside Des Moines, drove more than an hour from their vacation condo in Cape Coral to make their voices heard.
“I’ve caucused every (year) since I was 18,” John Hansen said. “I felt bad because we scheduled this trip and then I realized it was the caucuses. We were all excited that they were going to have one close by.”
Margaret Torrie, of Ames, Iowa, and one of the organizers of the Port Charlotte caucus event, said she had no idea how much interest there might be, if any.
“I was kind of thrilled,” she said as people lined up at her table to sign in. “We haven’t done this before.”
The crowd was mostly older and largely white. Most said they are attend caucuses frequently and vote regularly.
While all had their candidates of choice, one chant heard over and over in the crowd was, “Vote blue, no matter who.”