Huckabee taps 'true believers' in Iowa
DES MOINES -- Matt Reisetter, an associate church pastor, and Susan Geddes, a home-schooling advocate, have a common goal during Thursday's presidential caucuses.
As part of Republican Mike Huckabee's loose-knit political machine, these Iowans are hoping they can deliver the votes that will provide victory to their candidate. So far, Huckabee's support from religious conservatives, home-school activists, gun rights supporters and opponents of the income tax have pushed him to the top of Iowa polls.
Bob Vander Plaats, the Iowa state chairman for Huckabee, casts the turnout battle as one between GOP rival Mitt Romney's "well-choreographed, paid staff" and the former Arkansas governor's "ragtag volunteers who are true believers in the cause."
Tim Albrecht, Romney's spokesman in Iowa, said his team has a more "traditional grass-roots approach" that combines conservatives who agree on fiscal, defense and social issues. "Our people are motivated, they're excited, and they're working," he said.
By some measures, the Huckabee and Romney organizations are at parity. The Huckabee campaign claims 16 full-time staffers in the Hawkeye State, while Romney's full-time forces number 17.
Romney has a paid or volunteer coordinator in each of Iowa's 99 counties and was the first candidate to air television ads. The campaign also is spending money on phone calls, door-knocking operations and transportation to help Republicans get to their precincts.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister whose campaign has caught fire only in recent months, is largely relying on pre-existing networks within Iowa, particularly people of faith. Christian conservatives make up an estimated 40% of the state's GOP electorate.
Reisetter said at least 90 pastors have endorsed Huckabee and have been careful to make those endorsements personally and not on behalf of their congregations. "There's a fine line the pastors have to walk," he said.
Geddes said that Huckabee volunteers among home-schoolers find him honest and in tune with average Americans, and that the media is overemphasizing his background as a pastor.
"This man's been a governor for 10½ years," said Geddes, who coordinates a 14-county area in south-central Iowa for Huckabee.
At Huckabee's appearances in the state, volunteers hand out a "commitment card," on which potential voters check a box pledging to caucus for Huckabee. They are also asked to provide their home and e-mail addresses, phone numbers, precinct locations and churches.
The campaign has a phone bank in an office building in downtown Des Moines. While quaffing orange juice and munching on Krispy Kreme doughnuts, volunteers recently picked up printouts with names and phone numbers.
Other sheets list the numbers and addresses of caucus locations. Callers are also given a script, telling voters the hours and locations of their nearest polling places.
Will the voters come?
Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University, said that's the open question, especially for the new voters Huckabee is also trying to appeal to. "It's Huckabee's amateurs vs. Romney's professionals," he said.
Reisetter, who works part time at First Christian Church in Cedar Falls, says there's no way of knowing whether Huckabee's loose get-out-the-vote network will pay off. "We'll see how effective it is on Thursday night," he said.