Media Circus Comes to Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa caucuses attract unprecedented number of journalists to Des Moines.
Jan. 2, 2008 — -- With the Iowa caucuses a little more than 36 hours away, the state's capital, Des Moines, is home to an international media feeding frenzy.
Attracted by celebrity candidates, an open contest in both political parties for the first time in decades and an unpredictable finish, media from across the country and around the world have flooded into Iowa.
"We've credentialed over 2,500 media at this point," said Carrie Giddins, communications director of the Iowa Democratic Party. That's more than twice the 1,200 journalists credentialed for the Democratic caucuses in 2004, and more than the 2,000 they expected this year.
An unprecedented number of journalists continue to pour into the city.
"We never expected to get this many media people," said Mary Tiffany, communications director of the Republican Party of Iowa. "And people are still credentialing … people we never expected are just walking in."
There are so many journalists in Des Moines, officials with the city's airport are expecting a traffic jam the day after the caucuses.
"An estimated 2,000 rental cars will be returned those days and approximately 50 percent more people will be departing from the airport than on a typical day," airport officials said in a statement. "Above all, be patient," they said.
Television satellite trucks line downtown streets, and media people and campaign operatives have taken over Des Moines' best hotels and restaurants.
"The place is packed," said Damon Murphy, a bartender at 801 Steak and Chophouse, a classic Iowa steakhouse in downtown Des Moines. "Everybody but three people here are media."
Frigid, below-freezing temperatures have greeted the throng.
"I left 60 degree weather in Florida to come here to 6-degree weather!" said former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., who is hosting his "Morning Cup of Joe" television show at Java Joe's Coffeehouse, a popular coffee shop here.
Party officials say so many foreign journalists have flooded into the city that they can't keep count.
