Barack Obama has the Smarts to Listen to College Students and Veteran Field Organizers

Iowa students help drive election bus

March 14, 2007

BY JENNIFER HUNTER Sun-Times Columnist

DES MOINES -- Just after his presidential announcement in Springfield, Barack Obama winged his way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He spoke at John F. Kennedy High School, and when the speech ended and a few hands were shaken, he and his wife, Michelle, were whisked away. They scooted aboard a yellow school bus full of college-aged Democrats. The Obamas spent an hour driving with the 25 students from 10 Iowa colleges, chewing over policy issues such as the war in Iraq and munching on trail mix.

The students had expected to meet with one of Obama's aides and were stunned when they got the real deal. "The cool thing about it was that it was the day he announced and after all the people he could have had meetings with, he was meeting us, college Democrats," recalls Patrick Rynard of Drake University.

When the ride ended at Waterloo, Rynard passed Obama a binder of suggestions about how to woo the student vote. Later, an Obama aide flashed Rynard's binder, then coyly wouldn't tell anyone what was in it.

Scholarly adviceA few phone calls led me to Rynard, president of the College Democrats of Iowa, and he wasn't loath to talk about his advice to Obama when we met on the Drake campus Monday. The thoughtful 21-year-old political science senior has spent a lot of time figuring out how to organize students. His directives to Obama come from three years of intense involvement with the Drake Democrats, volunteering with John Kerry and a stint in Gov. Tom Vilsack's office.

He has seen how powerful student support in Iowa can be and recalls how the vote of Grinnell College students had a sobering effect on incumbent Republican state Rep. Danny Carroll, who was trounced in last November's election by Democrat Eric Palmer.

"Grinnell," says Rynard, "is a perfect example of how a college organization can have a big, big impact on an election."

Some of the advice he gave Obama's team goes like this:

• Don't send in a field worker to organize the campus. Let student Democrats do it themselves. "If you leave the student leaders on campus and not make them interns or volunteers, you'll get them turning out 10 times the number of volunteers," Rynard says.

• Avoid colleges (such as William Penn) where apathy rules. Stick to places such as Iowa State, the University of Iowa and Drake, where students are politically engaged.

During the 2004 Iowa caucuses, Rynard was one of Kerry's drivers and he knew during the last few weeks that Howard Dean was doomed and Kerry was going to make it. "The media was saying Dean had momentum but I watched Kerry working his heart out, and the crowds began to grow, and people became more receptive." Dean had organized students to hit the phones but Kerry had a stronger field team.

'More exciting than classes'Obama has learned from this and hired field staff in Iowa and is setting up offices around the state, including one in the trendy East Village area of Des Moines.

Still, it will be a hard slog as every single Democratic and Republican candidate hits Iowa to campaign for money and caucus support. The recent visits by Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson have caused Rynard to skip some classes lately: "This is way more exciting than classes and way more practical."

However, his lecture this Monday after we meet is Presentational Speaking and he won't miss it. Knowing how to present in front of a large group is way de rigeur for a future campaign adviser.