5,000 Iowans Pledge to Caucus for Priorities

By ISP

Pledgers say candidates’ priorities will shape who they choose to support during their precinct Caucuses

With more committed supporters than any presidential campaign at this stage in the game, the Caucus for Priorities Project is celebrating another major milestone: 5,000 pledges. Throughout the state, people are putting their Priorities first when it comes to who they will support in January 2008.

“Even though we don’t know who the candidate will be, I’m sure the right candidate for me will be one who supports major changes in the way our tax dollars are spent. I want to see more of my tax dollars spent in the areas of health care and education,” said Caucus Pledger Sarah Piepenburg of Cedar Falls.

Caucus for Priorities field organizers are working across Iowa to educate Caucus-goers about the federal budget and sign them up to take the pledge. Pledgers promise to attend their precinct Caucus and back a candidate who supports a significant shift in federal spending away from wasteful Pentagon spending toward other priorities such as education, health care, job training, renewable energy development, and deficit reduction.

“Given how competitive these races are, with the ability of the Priorities campaign to deliver a block of 8,000 committed Caucus-goers, the candidates had better be paying attention,” says John Norris, a veteran Iowa political operative who ran John Kerry’s 2004 Caucus campaign.

With more than 5,000 caucus-goers already committed, campaign leaders are confident 8,000 pledges will be secured by September 1st. When that goal is reached, the campaign plans to ask the presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican, what their federal budgets would look like if they were elected. This information will be shared with members to help them in choosing which candidate to support.
Caucus for Priorities is a project is of the Priorities Action Fund, a national 501(c)4 organization. Learn more about the Caucus for Priorities project at caucus4priorities.org.