Des Moines 2004 – My Kosher Presidential Election Caucus Experience

“Why don’t you come to Des Moines and help us win an election?”

There were so many reasons to say NO to going to Iowa to help campaign for someone I barely knew. Yet, when Congressman Dick Gephardt and his wife, Jane, made the above quick remark to the gathered crowd that cold November New York night, I started to really consider this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Josh Shpayher had been in Dick’s DC campaign office all summer and had been slowly planting the Iowa idea in my mind all semester long. “Iowa for winter break, what could be better?” I was a political science major who was addicted to West Wing; Josh wasn’t really twisting my arm.

When we came together to attend a fundraiser for Dick in New York on a cold November night, I had no idea what was in store. The village bar was packed with donors and volunteers alike all waiting to see one man, Tony Bennett, that night’s showcase performer and an old friend of Dick’s. What a show. Tony sang sans microphone when it broke and his warmth and celebrity-ness melted our hearts. So when Dick came down from his stump speech and I got to talk to him for a minute, of course we were going to say yes to anything he asked. Of course.

Late December 2003, I flew into Chicago, Il, got into Josh’s beat up Jeep and drove 6 hours into Des Moines. The first thing you notice about Iowa is the lack of flatness. Illinois is flat, very flat, yet Iowa is hilly. That was new information to me. Josh had arranged with the Des Moines Kollel for us to sleep at an local Orthodox doctor and that we would try to make it to minyan to help make their quorum.

We knew that there were two kosher things in Des Moines, a deli and a Krispy Kreme. For almost two weeks we were either on a sugar high or very very fleishig. The reason we were very very fleishig was the quality of the meats and the quantity of the servings at the Maccabi Deli. Chicken shechted that morning was on your plate for lunch. Cows that were roaming a few days ago were ready for you gastronomical enjoyment, and in heaping portions to boot. The breads were fresh and de-lish, especially the focaccia.

We spent Shabbos with the Chief Lubavitch Rabbi of Iowa, who talked non-stop about the Rebbe, had a mikvah in his basement next to our room and could not get a minyan. It is worth noting that the Kollel could not get a minyan either, and yet the two never came together to form one.

The rest of our political story was pretty typical. We made thousands of phone calls, hundreds of door knocks, attended press events, rallies, and pep parties with b-list 80′s rock bands. We were excited, we were pumped, we lost….badly.

The night of Dick’s departure from the limelight, every national network broadcast his speech form a small room at the Des Moines Holiday Inn. We were directly in front of the cameras and behind the podium. I was able to wave to my mom and bubby while on the phone with them via CNN and MSNBC. The cherry on top was when Dick finished, he hugged his family, shook two people’s hands and hugged me, the only guy in the room wearing a yarmulka….all on live national TV.

I hope one day to return to Des Moines, if only for the deli.