DES MOINES, Iowa — Hattie Irving, an 81-year old Iowan, has never participated in her state’s presidential caucuses, but she plans to this time — to support Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“I was very impressed with her as first lady. I think it’s important to take part,” Irving said at a Rodham Clinton campaign event at a senior center.
Brad Smith, a 27-year-old engineer who moved to the state in 2005, plans to attend his first precinct caucus too — and stand up for Barack Obama.
“The caucuses were intimidating to me when I came here. I didn’t really know what the word meant,” he said. “But regardless of how difficult or confusing it is, I feel like I need to take action.”
As the Democratic front-runners compete with John Edwards to win the state’s Jan. 3 contest, Rodham Clinton and Obama are counting on thousands of first-time caucus-goers to show up. Hers are grayer and generally female. His tend to be younger and male.
Experts say gambling on either group is risky.
“Many candidates over the years have said they’ll bring in more young people and more women to the caucuses. Virtually all of those efforts have been failures,” said Hugh Winebrenner, an emeritus professor and caucus historian at Iowa’s Drake University. “No matter how much hoopla surrounds the caucuses, the people who show up tend to be the party regulars.”
Strategists for Rodham Clinton and Obama are working hard to dispel that notion. But they concede Edwards’ strength among experienced caucus -goers gives him a leg up. He’s been working hard at this in Iowa since the 2004 campaign.
Edwards is trying to bring in new voters too. Recent events featuring singers Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne were designed to bring in Iowans who might not show up for a routine political rally.
The demographics could favor Clinton: 57 percent of caucus-goers in 2004 were older than 55, while just 11 percent were younger than 34.
Women 55 and older were half of those who turned out, while men younger than 50 were just 18 percent.
Even so, Obama’s deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, believes young people are among the Illinois senator’s most motivated supporters.
“Young voters were the ones drafting Obama to run for president last year, and we saw his ability to inspire them,” Hildebrand said. “We say to them, ‘You know all those pundits and prognosticators who say you don’t vote? You need to prove them wrong.’ ”
To stay in touch with them, the campaign is using social networking websites such as Facebook as well as one-on-one meetings and gatherings at schools and coffee shops.
The campaign has mounted an unprecedented effort to organize high school students, who are permitted to caucus if they turn 18 before the general election in November.
Organizers for Rodham Clinton estimate that about 70 percent of her caucus-goers will be women, most of whom are middle-age or older and an untold number new to the process.
