Pod Save America - On The Ground in Iowa (coming 11/19)

Episode Date: November 12, 2019

A five episode limited series by Pod Save America host Tommy Vietor on the Iowa Caucuses. Tommy takes the listener to Iowa to spend time with the candidates, staffers and undecided voters who will determine who wins. Tommy will explain why Iowa is first, how the caucuses work, and try to figure out what it takes to win. And finally he'll explore the question: is this really the best way to pick a president?New episodes drop on Tuesdays right here in the Pod Save America feed. Produced in partnership with Pineapple Street Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. 

They said this day would never come. On January 3rd, 2008, I was standing with my buddies on the campaign and a crowd of cheering Democrats in Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, watching my boss, Barack Obama, speak after he won the Iowa caucuses. This country was too divided. But on this January night, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do. If Obama doesn't win that night, he would not have become president. My name's Tommy Vitor. I worked for Barack Obama for nine years.

I was in the White House on his national security team. I was in the Senate office for a couple of years. But the best job I've ever had was when I spent a year in Iowa as Barack Obama's spokesman. I spent hundreds of hours with Obama as he traveled across Iowa, delivering speeches, meeting with journalists, and answering tough questions from voters in living rooms and backyards and farms and packed arenas. I have never worked harder and never had more fun. This November, we'll launch a special series on the Iowa caucuses,

and you can find it right here in the Pod Save America feed. We're going to talk about how they work, what it takes to win in Iowa, and we're going to ask the question, is this really the best way to figure out who can beat Donald Trump in 2020? I think caucuses are, you know, one of the worst ideas anyone ever came up with. Why? Because they're not democratic, they're gamed. When you have a state like this where the demographics are so skewed,

they don't really tell you anything. You know, I've seen better organized riots. In this five-part series, we're going to take you to Iowa. We're going to hang out with candidates at the Iowa State Fair. Hey Pete, how are you? How are you? Good to see you. The fundamental question is, is this a good way to pick a president?

And I know there's no better time to ask you that than when you're literally chewing a pork chop while surrounded by 400 of our closest friends. We're going to meet with the mythical undecided voter. I am undecided, but I have it narrowed down. I've already heard Amy and Kamala and Elizabeth. And you'll get to know the young field staffers who are the heart and the soul of every presidential campaign. There was a guy who I'd been trying to get in touch with. I finally found him, and I was like,

hey, do you have time to meet up with me? And he said, well, I don't really feel like it. I feel like playing frisbee golf or mountain biking when I have some off time. So now I've played frisbee golf with him twice. The conventional wisdom is that there are three tickets out of Iowa, which means there will be a whole lot of folks whose run ends there on caucus night. Thank you, Howard Dean. Politics today is pretty ugly, but democracy looks best

when you are on the ground up close. So join me in Iowa this November on the Pod Save America feed.