We're counting down the hours

I can consume a Starbucks Doubleshot in one gulp. Isn't that sad? Well, the sad part is that I think the stuff in the can is actually better than the stuff you get at the Starbucks store. Either way, I'm not sure how I'd get through the days without them.

As I met a friend for dinner last night, I realized that two days had passed since my last "real" meal. This is unusual for me. Generally I'm pretty good about eating, but I managed to go two whole days without sitting down to eat. The days weren't even all that crazy, just full. It's not that I'm not eating, but I'm snacking, which isn't healthy. Still, it keeps a body functioning.

Kind of like the coffee in a can. Caffeine is a poor substitute for a decent night's sleep, but it will work in the short run.

In other words, I want the caucuses to be over. The next 30 hours cannot pass quickly enough. I am so sick of Iowans and their changing ways. I guess I'm not as sick of the Iowans as I am of the media and their incessant reporting. I mean, the front page of yesterday's Washington Post web site had four stories about the caucuses.

So either Iowans are drunk on power, or the media is drunk on the power of Iowans.

I don't know which option is creepier.

The Vision Thing

At least my vision problems are temporarily solved, though in a strange way. I said something about the prescrption on the new contacts being way too strong.(So strong, in fact, that I didn't even bother putting them in this morning.) Anyway, Reid asked what my numbers are, and I told him.

He smiled and handed me his glasses. "Try these."

They work. I have never been able to switch glasses with anybody before. I guess it puts a new spin on sharing somebody's worldview.

More stuff from Iowa

Because, of course, he stands for nothing. Zero. He has no ideals as far as I can tell, he just wants to be president for some reason that I can't exactly see from my spot down the block at Dean HQ.

I don't necessarily believe the polls. This race is so weird that I think it's not possible for a pollster to get any accurate data on it. However, we're not unhappy with the reports of polling, Throughout the campaign, we've been able to turn what seems like bad news into great news.

Oh. Today's freaky lunch came from something that calls itself "Made-Right." Apparently loose meat hamburgers are "an Iowa thing." They also like breaded pork loin sandwiches. I'm not sure which one I'd rather eat in a pinch. The loose meat hamburger was described to me as being like a sloppy joe, but without the sloppy.

Go figure. It was free.

Minute by Minute

On the other hand, a "dead heat," which is what the pollster of the moment, John Zogby, is calling today's results, puts a different spin on Monday's outcome. See, at the beginning of the week, we needed big numbers to have the big story. Now if we get out with 30%, I think we're golden.

At least that's how it looks today. The thing about the ramp-up to the caucuses is that things -- by which I mean "everything" -- change every day, some times more than once.

If you have any glasses-finding karma...

I guess I should be glad that it took so long to hopelessly lose them. I just worry because they're fragile, and I do not have contact lenses with me. I think I could make a phone call and have a script for contact lenses in hand within an hour or so, but that would not be my choice.

(I took a break, and Reid helped me look for the missing glasses. He generally has better luck finding them than I do, but he had no luck, either. Now I'm feeling pretty hopeless about ever finding them again.)

Instant Karma

We were definitely not having a good news cycle.

So I woke up this morning thinking that the effort we're making to re-engage Americans in politics is a self-fulfilling thing. It is important work, it is hard work; and a lot of good, smart, decent people have taken it on in so many cities that I can't count them all. Not because we believe in Howard Dean: because Howard Dean believes in America and Americans; because we believe in ourselves and our power to effect change.

This was a major departure from my "defeat is not an option" position.

So I was a little late for work, not because of the attitude change, but because I needed sleep.

I got in shortly before 11, and I wasn't the only one who seemed more subdued than usual. Things were quiet in the volunteer room, the phone up in IT was fairly quiet, and nobody was really bitching about e-mail not working. I think we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Then something happened. Shortly after noon, we started hearing a buzz. "Harkin." Word on the street said he wasn't going to endorse a candidate, but CNN was reporting the AP story that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) would be endorsing Dean.

we just had the news conference. Harkin entered to the strains of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", which is as close as we get to Death Star music.

We're feeling a little more confident now, like Iowa is within reach. There are moments of the exhilirating smugness that we need to get us through the home stretch.

It's not that we think we can't lose, but we no longer think we can't win. There is no better mood-altering substance than a major endorsement.

Happy New Year

I'm still in Iowa, still happy, still busy. Pretty tired, though. A decent night's sleep would be a beautiful thing. Starting fairly soon, I'm going to be working with the IT department, which I'll enjoy. The IT guys like me, because girls don't usually talk to them. That's a real shame, because geek guys are good people.

Today's interesting bit is that I picked up a fleece Dean for America vest from the floor in front of the supply shelves. (You have to understand that when I say "supply shelves," what I really mean is the heap where one can sometimes find office supplies.)

Anyway, I was freezing, so I put it on. People have been admiring it all day. I think a big part of it is the fact that nobody else in the building has this vest. The other thing is that it fits really well.

And then there's the scoop neck tee factor. You know how you feel when somebody says "nice outfit" while staring directly at your chest?

Right. That.

The other freaky thing from today (and this is actually freaky) is that Iowans for Dean was visited by an enthusiastic dude wearing a white wig in the style of George Washington. He explained that he's running for president as a Republican.

So I guess he thought that a stop at Dean HQ was a must for his 1-1-2004 agenda.

There's never a dull moment here.

The thing that most annoys me about here.

Generally, I like to find the darkest, remotest corner of any office and set up there. However, I think the IT guys have commandeered the darkest possible corner, so that's where all the blinking, buzzing and whirring happens.

I've made friends with the IT guys because I am used to being around geeky boys, but mostly I covet the dark corner. Every time the cacaphony gets to me, I try to get them to let me lay cable or install something, but they almost always say no. (However, when I get too frustrated, Reid lets me borrow the baseball bat that he carries around and I swing it in the general direction of something; then I feel better. Even holding the thing makes me feel better.

In any case, things have quieted down here in the big, bright room, so I guess I should get some work done.

Merry whatever

I baked a pie for Christmas dinner, which I spent with some nice Dean supporters. Jeff's law partner is the chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, and Sally is an ABD clinical psychologist who has never actually worked. The bitterness bubbling in her is palpable, but I enjoyed dinner. Sally made a goose, and the absolute best mashed potatoes ever. Also, there was a lot of spendy French champagne because Jeff did some work for a friend and was rewarded with a case of spendy French champagne,

After we ate, we watched a stupid but funny movie, Old School, about a guy who moves into a house near a college campus and his friends start a fraternity in his house

They--that is, Sally and Jeff, not the people in the movie frat house--said I could come and do laundry in their bizarre circa 1969 laundry room. I swear, the whole thing is orange and yellow. Pretty scary stuff. There's striped wall paper on the celing, and it looks like a tent the way it was placed.

Bad design, man.

Come Together

I'm sitting in the Dean office eating caviar and singing Beatles songs with whoever's around.

It's all pretty good. Tonight we're going to see Return of the King en masse.

Tomorrow I'm going to eat Christmas dinner with some union people who actually live here.

Its probably the most interesting holiday season ever. Anyway, I have to go buy a pie. I'd bake one... but there's more caviar to be eaten, and I don't have a pie plate, plus I don't quite know how my oven works.

I have clean clothes, and, well, I'm happy.

Back in the world of the living

I finally went to a hospital and got myself fixed up with fluids and antibiotics. I had the worst case of bronchitis in the last 10 years, at least for me. It escalated much more quickly than previous cases of bronchitis.

Oddly, my illness and subsequent ahsence from the building has made me useless. I really don't have a task, and I don't seem to be in line for a task. Not sure why.

I guess it's the holiday, and everything is kind of upside down. I'd do a lot of things for this campaign, including washing dishes, bussing tables and setting up chairs. Also raising money, writing press releases and researching policy questions.

But I'm not going to phone bank for four straight weeks. If I get handed a script. and asked to make calls, I'd do it for a day, but not for a month.

On the up side, I had a chance to spend a few minutes with a Coon Cat yesterday, and that improved my outlook considerably. He was in a shop, and had every good quality a shop cat should have -- a big purr, and a willingness to sit on a glass counter accepting scritches and pets from a total stranger.

Wallace the cat made my day;

Whinge.

At this point I am trying to get over an upper respiratory infection that has left me with a painful sore throat.

It's no fun being sick all by yourself. I feel better than I did a couple of days ago, but I'm pretty wiped out. It's sad, but I came in here today because there's Internet. At home, I don't have a phone, so I am temporarily a person with no access.

And no voice.

And now I'm going home to wallow. No, I'm really going to drink tea and sleep. So don't feel that sorry for me.

Weird goings on

The funny thing is that I realized this morning that I kind of know one of the people involved with the group. I guess it doesn't surprise me. David was never partial to subtlety. He was a fundraiser for Tom Harkin on his last presidential campaign, so I assume that the David Jones who is cited as a fundraiser for this group that calls itself "Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values" is the same person.

Oddly enough, I had been wondering what ever happened to David Jones as I got involved with a big-time campaign.

He's a self-important little guy who has tarred himself with the "progressive" brush, and he represents everything that made me skeptical of the Democratic party. (To be clear, I'm still skeptical.)

And all of a sudden I feel like a Beltway insider, and I want a shower.

Not Exactly Glorious Food

Such is the life of a person working on a political campaigh. I'm sure there are people in this office who haven't eaten hot food in weeks, but since I'm still a volunteer, I try to make time for meals and sleep. In any case, if you're looking for frozen food that bears some resemblance to home cooked food, try the Boston Market meals. I had the pot roast, veggies and mashed potatoes last night, and it was almost completely satisfying.

Or maybe I was just starving. If I didn't have people bringing me food here at the office, I'd never eat. Instead I say "surprise me" a lot, except when whoever is going is going to Starbucks, in which case I always request a medium mocha with whipped cream.

Have I mentioned that I'm pretty much addicted to those? It's sad. but whenever anybody brings me a mocha, my life seems a lot brighter.

Still not sure why this made the NY Times

In other news the weather in Iowa is clear and bitterly cold, and the Carrot Cake Clif bar is not as tasty as I rememnber, but I am certain that its nutritional value is far superior to that of Little Chocolate Donuts.

I started writing this two hours ago.

Right now in Des Moines, the temperature is lurking in the neighborhood of 12 degrees F, and that doesn't take the wind into account. The local paper's web site says that the wind chill is below zero.

My real hometown paper's web site says that in Washington, the termperature is a comparatively balmy 54 degrees.

I'm reminded of my cat, beautiful fluffy Marilyn, who walked around my house for about a week after I adopted her with a general attitude that said

"When am I going back to my real home?"

It's not bad out here. As I've said, most of the people are great, and I'm almost always glad to be here, but it's cold.

I hope South Carolina takes me up on the offer to come work in Hilton Head after this Iowa business is over.

These are the holidays

The sick thing is that everybody here has a cell phone. Why intra-staff calls aren't done on cell phones, I can't begin to understand. But they're not, so it's my problem.

And then there are the "weirdos." They want to know why Dean isn't talking about the slashing of veterans benefits. or right=to-work-laws. They want to comment on some negative ad or another, and isn't it a shame, all this bickering. Oh, did Gov. Dean really go out and club baby seals to death right after he dodged the draft?

To the weirdos, who call from all over the country, I am the voice of the Dean campaign. I try to be patient, and not to make them mad. Sometimes dealing with them is more pleasant than dealing with staff.

The grassroots volunteers are uniformly great, and talking to them is a treat, but none of them have called today.

The sleet has turned into snow, but it doesn't help. I haven't had a hot meal in a week. I bought a decent saucepan last night, but I didn't get a knife-- and besides,I don't have any food in my apartment except Clif bars.

And it's snowing.

I'm hoping to get through today, and I'm hoping to have a better tomorrow.

Speaking of the New Black...

Of course, that person also recommends that women wear pointy-toed shoes, for the sleeker look, so I don't think I'll be taking my fashion cues from the Register.

I'm cold, and I don't know what time it is.

The funniest moment of my tenure so far was about two hours ago when I answered the main phone number and was treated to a robocall from Gov. Howard Dean.

Honestly, I'm not sure that I'm going to get up that early. I may just drag myself in here about 10.

No days off in the Dean campaign.

Live from Iowa.... it's Koog!

I have arrived in Iowa all safe and sound. One guy has been calling me Ruth, so I think he thinks I'm somebody else.

There's not a lot of time to do anything but answer the phone and try to send people where they need to be. Today I'm the front desk receptionist at Dean for America's office in Des Moines. Tomorrow, I may be driving the press around, or I may be doing something else. Who knows?

Des Moines and the surrounding area may get five inches of snow overnight, and that wouldn't matter, except that I may have to drive a van full of reporters through it.

More when I have a minute. I'm keeping notes.

before - after