Iowa Countdown
by Owen Paun
Correspondent for Brian Dennert here.
For previous entries click here and here and here.

I returned from Christmas with my family, the first in about ten years, and walked into a full office. We’ve more than doubled our out-of-state volunteers, and turned our large workroom into a phone bank. We’re not the only one’s beefing up on staff. I’d say that half the plane I flew in on was staff for various campaigns. I even saw one person with a paper about Iowa caucus vocabulary. Huckabee had the most people that I could identify, but there were also conspicuous Ron Paul and Edwards staffers.

At this stage in the game, the focus is almost all on calling. There are two main types of phone calls: voter id, and turnout. Voter ID is meant to figure out if a voter plans on caucusing, and if so, who do they support. These are the calls that build up a campaigns list over months. Turnout calls are about getting your people to show up somewhere. It can be for an event with the candidate or a surrogate, or it can be turnout for the actual caucus. These calls can be tiring, and not many people actively enjoy making them. There were times when I would spend hours just leaving messages on answering machines. However, they can be quite uplifting when you run across a supporter. I finally understand why telemarketers always call during dinner – because people are finally home! If we call during the day, we get a lot of machines, and we can’t call too late, so that leaves 5 – 8 pm as our window when we can reach people. That also corresponds to dinner. My suggestion is to just screen all your calls.

There is some good news on the fundraising front. Over the past two weeks we’ve raised almost a million online. That may not sound like a lot considering the amount that some others have raised on one day or contributed from their own pockets, but it’s more than before, and is another sign of the building interest in McCain. He was in Iowa this past week to standing room only crowds and has received the endorsements of 25 New Hampshire papers, compared to zero for Romney. In fact, we’ve even received the endorsements of the two main Boston newspapers, the Globe and Herald.

One of McCain’s defining features is that he always stands on principle and does what he thinks is right, even if it goes against the political winds of the moment. A columnist at the Christian Broadcasting Network brings up another interesting point :

But maybe more than anything else,, what has been so impressive about McCain is how he's carried himself throughout this grueling process. When his campaign flamed out months ago, he didn’t get bitter or wallow in self-pity. He didn’t lash out against his opponents and start pointing out their faults. In the debates, he became the straight talker, the guy who wouldn't budge from his guiding principles. His attitude was low key and confident. Overall, as McCain regained his footing, he remained calm in the face of adversity. (at least publicly) In essence, this is the type of management skills he’s selling to the American public. A guy who has been tested time and time again and has risen to the occasion.

McCain has been tested like no other candidate in this race. Not just the years spent tortured in prison when he declined to be released early because of loyalty to his fellow prisoners, but he’s been through a knock-down presidential primary as well. Through all this he maintains his dignity and keeps going forward – exactly what we need in a president.

Five days until Iowa votes, and we’re doing all we can to get John McCain elected president.