Choose President with Rock, Paper, Scissors

I’ve heard lots of entertaining stories from this year’s Iowa Caucuses, but none beat the following.

In my caucus, a handful of Kucinich supporters were not viable.  I laid out my case why John Edwards should be their second choice.  A young gal explained her rationale for Obama.  After 20 minutes of haggling, a flustered Kucinichite threw up her hands and said their group would caucus for whichever candidate’s representative won a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. 

So, like two gladiators, Obama’s champion and I strode forward to battle, best out of three.  I’d done a lot to prepare for this year’s caucus, but never imagined I’d have to hone my Rock, Paper, Scissors skills.  The alacrity of youth prevailed.  I lost, but our Edwards group remained viable, and the delegates were split evenly among Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

Quirky stories like this are the fun stuff caucus folklore is made of.  But the important message from this year’s event is the unprecedented turnout:  a record 239,000 Democrats, excited about the prospects for substantive, long-overdue change.  And the two candidates most perceived as advocates for change – John Edwards and Barack Obama – won 68% of the delegates.

Both in Iowa and nationally, the status quo is in trouble.  And it’s about time.  Americans are fed-up with lobbyists and corporations running the show.  They’re tired of watching the elite get richer while the rest of us struggle.  They’re dismayed at the growing ranks of the poor and uninsured, and the lack of attention to a host of looming environmental disasters.

Like never before, they’re pessimistic about the future.

Yet, like never before, they’re hopeful and energized.

I’m energized, too.  I’ve preached a progressive-populist message of reform since my first campaign for the Iowa Statehouse in 1992.  For a long time, it was a lonely place to be, as state and national Democratic candidates blabbed party-line pablum that was generic, vacuous and as inspiring as yesterday’s oatmeal. 

But that’s changing, and changing fast.  Our challenge is twofold.  First, we have to sort out the candidates who actually mean “change” from those who are just mouthing what pollsters tell them the public wants to hear.  Second, regardless of which candidate we supported in the Caucuses, we reformers have to band together.

United, we will be unstoppable!

Ed Fallon