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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kumar who wrote (22703)	1/2/2004 7:11:58 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793691

Iowa's coziest caucus sites traded for public venues Endearing tradition fades across state By JENNIFER DUKES LEE Des Moines Register Staff Writer 01/02/2004 Over banana bars and coffee, Lenox Democrats will tell the nation who they think should be the next U.S. president. They'll gather in the living room of Pauline Miller's century-old home on Lenox's Main Street, squeezed onto couches and folding chairs, in a scene as familiar to Iowans as the butter cow. The tradition of the living-room caucus, though, is vanishing. Fewer than 4 percent of Iowa's precinct caucuses will be held in private homes when Democrats gather Jan. 19, according to party records. Most caucuses will be held in schools, city halls and community centers. A certain charm has accompanied the notion that the selection of the nation's president begins in Iowa's living rooms. And while it's still true that presidential candidates make frequent visits to Iowa homes during the campaign, party leaders are gradually moving away from holding caucuses there. "We would just prefer a public building," said Kris Yeager, press secretary for the Iowa Democratic Party. Caucuses have grown so large that both parties favor bigger and more accessible sites, especially for handicapped people. Party leaders also prefer neutral caucus sites, rather than sending a supporter of Dick Gephardt or Howard Dean, for example, into rival territory. "There are worries that, perhaps, there would more arm-twisting going on inside homes, and that maybe people would feel a little more comfortable voicing their opinions in a neutral setting," said Patrick McCarty, chairman of the Lyon County Democrats in northwest Iowa. School cafeterias and gymnasiums have become popular sites. Iowans also will bundle up on caucus night to meet their neighbors at a co-op elevator in Peterson, a bus barn in Centerville, a child-care center in Cedar Rapids and the Friendly Tavern party room in Quasqueton. In Storm Lake, some caucus-goers will gather in a shelter house. And in Baxter, they'll meet at the steakhouse. Some Iowans, though, say they would regret the disappearance of the most endearing of all caucus sites: the living room. "There's something cozier about it," said Miller, an 81-year-old retired schoolteacher. She said she has plenty of room in her house. Her neighbor's folding chairs are on standby if the crowd swells. And there will be plenty of coffee, spiced cider and goodies for the local Democrats. Only about 75 of Iowa's 2,000 precinct caucuses will be hosted inside private homes, almost exclusively in small towns and rural areas. Private-home caucuses are virtually nonexistent in Iowa's urban areas, where 100 or more people may show up at a caucus site. No Polk County or Linn County caucuses will be held in residences. Even in rural areas, local Democratic leaders say they have pushed more aggressively this year to find public buildings. This will mark the first year that not a single caucus will be held in a Hamilton County home, a marked change from an era when nearly all of them were hosted privately. "Logistically, it just works better," said Janet Adams, 66, Hamilton County's Democratic co-chairwoman. Adams, a retired teacher from Webster City, expects crowds to be bigger this year because of the larger-than-usual candidate field. "We need more space," she said. With nine candidates, some homeowners might just run out of rooms for preference groups to gather. If John Kerry's supporters are in the living room, John Edwards" followers are in the kitchen, and fans of Dean and Gephardt took the bedrooms, where does that leave Dennis Kucinich's supporters? In the rural Ayrshire home of Janet Watts, that's easy: "I have a very large bathroom, if necessary