Tradition, Culture Mix to Make Iowa Battleground Zeroby Mike Glover, AP, QCTimes.com
DES MOINES — Iowa’s vibrant political culture and economic change are among the forces that have helped divide Iowans and made the state a battleground, according to two top political activists.
...Elections settled by such a narrow breadth signal a political shift in Iowa. Just a generation ago, Iowa was so reliably in the GOP’s pocket that Democrats didn’t even try that seriously. Iowans predictably backed Republican Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and Reagan.
But in 1972, Iowa Democrats adopted new rules that made their precinct caucuses first in the nation.
“The first thing that happened was the organization. The Democratic Party organization here became one of the best in the country, probably the best in the country,” said Jerry Crawford, a Des Moines attorney and top Democratic activist....
Added to that mix is Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who has held his seat since 1984 largely because of his meticulous construction of an immense field operation.
...“When we added Gov. Tom Vilsack to that stable, it really put the party in a strong position.”
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