DES MOINES (Posted Jan. 3, 2008) – Miles of skywalk in downtown Des Moines help you combat the cold and negotiate your way around the city.  There is a collage of campaign buttons and candidate signs, and a voter enthusiasm for tonight’s caucuses is at a fever pitch.

One of those exuberant folks is Princella Smith, a 24-year-old who proudly sports the campaign of Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (R ). Smith’s an African-American, a Republican and a native of Arkansas.  She told me that other Blacks should also take a serious look at him too.

“He’s got a lot of executive experience,” Smith said. The American people cannot be bought, and they can’t be fooled. He’s not trying to do either.”

Black folks and the Republican Party have a lot in common, she said, and they should at least consider him as an option.

  “The Republican Party is about ownership, leadership and individualism,” she said. “It talks about a message of improvement, and it’s very in-sync with African-Americans.”

Lori Mordini, from Des Moines, is supporting Delaware Sen. Joe Biden (D).  “I’ve always been impressed; my husband supported him in 1988,”she said.  Mordini went to see other candidates, but she said none came close to Biden.  “He spoke to my heart and gave detailed answers to every question – he brings the audience along.”

When you look at media reports, the race appears to only be about the frontrunners in both parties.  But I discovered, while driving around town, that the neighborhoods are peppered with placards for all of the candidates and that folks are wearing lapel pins for dozens of candidates.

Brendon Davis, 28 is from Washington, D.C.,  and he moved to Iowa for a month to help his candidate, Ron Paul.  Davis said his support for Paul is to protect his generation and his children’s from the reckless ways of Washington.  “Spending is out of control and he’s the only candidate who wants to restore good government and cut spending,” Davis said.

While we’ll have to wait for the results tonight, one thing is for sure: We don’t have a clear picture of who’ll win in either party.  

Do you think Blacks should take a look at more candidates in the Republican field?  Will you?

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer  

DES MOINES (Posted  Jan. 3, 2007)  – His voice hoarse from a whirlwind week of trying to reel in those last-minute stragglers, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) last night delivered a final pitch to voters here at Hoover High School.

I caught up with his campaign in the school gymnasium as the day’s push for caucus-goers came to an end. The “Home of the Huskies” was packed – standing room only for a crowd that listened and cheered the Obama’s message for change.

The gym was transformed with work space for  the swarm of media following Obama.  I was only able to force my way in through utter determination. 
The day’s rallies, titled “Stand for Change,” were headlined with Obama and wife Michelle, and they took the opportunity to thank volunteers and supporters.  “When we decided to run, we were counting on you,” Obama told the crowd. “At this moment at this time, we can’t wait.”

Obama’s campaign cheer brought supports to their feet and Obama’s voice to its brink:  “Are you fired up – ready to go?”  The folks I spoke to after the speech were indeed fired up.  They had braved the Iowa cold, two degrees above zero, to attend the late-night event that started at 10 o’clock at night.
 

Raymond Shade, from Des Moines, told me, “He said everything I wanted hear, I was undecided but not anymore.”  Shades’ brother, Eugene, and nephew, Myron, made the event a family affair.  “He’s presidential, and I like his message of change,” the youngest Shade said.

Taharun Fountain, 17, will be able to participate in today’s caucus, because he’ll turn 18 before Nov. 2008. “I just got off from work and headed right over here, I wanted to hear him and get a feel for him.”  Fountain said he’s pretty sure Obama is his man.

Taking no attendees presence for granted, Obama asked for undecided voters to raise their hand. Following a sparse show of hands in the crowd, he told folks, “We still have a few left – we’re going get you tonight.”

Today, all eyes are on Iowa, and if the latest polls are right, Obama is forging toward his challenge of change.

Do you think Obama will win?