And david price. We will start with david yepsen. Previously, he had a 34 year the morethe des and register. Moines register. He has also done graduate work in Mass Communications at iowa state and earned a masters degree from drake university. Was a fellow for the harvard political school. Theed a study group on nations president ial selection processes. He has also appeared on a number therograms commenting on iowa caucuses. During his career, he helped cover nine president ial campaigns in iowa. Please welcome david. [applause] mr. Yepsen thank you. A lot im thinking about. First of all, i want to thank the Hoover Library and the other policy institute for organizing this session. I have long thought that iowa was a little behind the curve in chronicling the history of this event. I spent some time in New Hampshire, and of course their primary process has been around longer than the iowa caucuses, but they have been much more diligent about writing and recording the history of New Hampshire primary that we have about our caucus. It is great to see this and great to see what the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is doing and what the Harkin Institute is doing trying to gather this information. Of these early war stories will evaporate. We dont talk about them and hear the stories now. Of course, you can start to learn more about what really happened. I had a great mentor we were talking a lot about covering politics. I would always ask him, what did you think happened there . He would always say, we will find out in about 10 years. [laughter] jim wasen i think right. I want to thank everyone who is theng it a point to record iowa caucus. Were fighting but the american presidency. It is all great fun for people in iowa, and some of us have had wonderful experiences and career opportunities, but this has been Serious Business 1972. You think asked, do this will be the last year . I have been asked that every year for the last four years since i started covering them. The first cycle i did was the 1976 cycle. The answer is there is no guarantee. Sometimes it may be over, but there are a few things that will keep it going. One is inertia. Who has a better idea . You move it to montana . That will have a disproportionate influence. Typical. Typical a the inability to agree on an alternative tends to keep this process going. Secondly, the winner of the process likes it, and invariably, the sitting president of the United States has a lot to say about what his or her party does in the nomination process when he or she is seeking a second turn. Sittingare that president has been someone who has come through iowa. You think they want to change the rules of the game of the game they just won . No. Lot. Carter was out here a to theks invited iowans white house. What a guy named ted kennedy decided he could do a better job he said, lets go to iowa. You set a check for him a trap for him. I think bill clinton, even though he was not necessarily a product of that certainly, president obama has done that. There is a lack of consensus. I think iowans have to listen to the critics. That is one of encouraging things about this process. You coverthis thing it one year, when youre in a half ahead of the election, you cover the campaign. Then, you cover the process. Who gave us this turkey . Iowa did that. Losers the reason every lost. It is a throwaway for him to say, lets rethink about the process. I think it will stay because of the inertia, because there will be an incumbent, and there will be losers in the cycle who run again. John edwards is a good example. You think he wanted to change the rules of the game four years later . Candidates on the republican side and democratic side, one party will win, one party will lose. The candidates in the losing party who spent time in iowa, they have an infrastructure in place. They dont want to change the rules of the game. They have something in the back. That was helpful to mitt romney when he decided to run. He already had an investment here. I think that keeps the process going in iowa. Owans important that i listen to the critics. It is like a business constant improvement. Yet, there was a big brouhaha about the republican count. We have a sensitivity about getting elections correct after the 2000 fiasco. It will be important to get that count right. Fast and accurate. They invented some new system. They will have microsoft do it, and all that. Thats great. Lets make sure someone understands how it works, and there are some checks and balances so there is not some computer nerd tinkering around with the results that no one knows about. As long as we are doing those things, then this Quality Improvement will help assure that iowa keeps its place. I think it would be a mistake for iowa to give up because, as richard, and others mentioned, this has had an impact on our politics here. Imagine this. We will have a quarter Million People in two parties that will go out on caucus night. What impact of civil engagement. Citizens onudents, issues. Whenever i see the caucus happen, i get a little chill. It is democracy at work. Foreign journalists who have watched this process it is powerful to watch grassroots americans have a say about who the president of the United States ought to be. This has the benefit in iowa. Not only does it increase the civil education and literacy of the citizens, it also contributes to the debate on issues in the state legislator. Bruce is out here, campaigning, talking about environmental issues, and guess what, others are stealing the ideas and introducing them to those in the legislator. It creates issues. The other thing it does is it creates a healthy twoparty system. I think this grew the modern day Democratic Party. Senator harkin was on me that one of the reasons he won in 1984 was because he had a Better Organization. Republicans had reagan. He had a Better Organization to put on the street. That has had an effect, and has built a healthy twoparty system. I can tell you, you are better off with a healthy twoparty system than a corrupt, bankrupt system that gets sort of ingrown because it is so lopsided. We do not have a monopoly on could government. I dont like iowans who say, we Pay Attention to good issues, and all that. I think this is worth a saying, this is our process, if someone , but to change it, fine until they do, we will not be chumps and give it up to some other state. If you love money in politics, you will love a regional primary. A National Presence of primary you might as well turn it over to the super pacs. Just in general, one of the points i wanted to make is how ive seen it change our own political culture, and really educationassive civic effort that has really benefited a lot of people. There are a lot of people in both parties that started out working in the caucuses. I met someone outside joe it wass headquarters the first place he started playing on a big states. There are lots of people like that. People really got their start by showing up at their county caucus and saying, this is a way to make change. With that, i will turn that to my colleague. Mr. Convington thank you, david. Our second speaker is kay henderson. Covering politics was apparently her destiny since day one. She was born on election day. [laughter] mr. Convington i will let her tell you which one. [laughter] mr. Convington or not. Mr. Price 1980. Mr. Convington kay served as a steakhouse correspondent. She did a three month summertime tour of duty as a managing editor of the weekly editor in her hometown. In 1987, she became one of the founding members of radio iowa. In 1994, she became the network news director. She is a feature reporter and commentator on iowa press. Please welcome kay henderson. [applause] ms. Henderson it was the day of the johnson landslide. If any of you are historians and math leads, you now know how old i am. The very first caucus i ever covered, i was four days old. My parents brought me home from the hospital. I did not have a name. My dad made ballots. My family sat at the dining room table, and they had a caucus to determine my name. Henderson ay im ok. They did not have a statewide caucus vote. It happens to be that in my hometown, lenox, iowa, there was caucus on main street typical of the kind of venues in which these caucuses are held i was, at the time, and Elementary School student. The thing that sticks in my mind is im fairly sure that they collected the straw poll ballots in the Methodist Church collection plate. My dad is what political scientists call an opinion leader in my hometown. As a child, it did not occur to me as unusual that there would be a person who would introduce political candidates in your hometown and county. I think i have a greater appreciation than most about the value that all of these campaigns see in identifying opinion leaders at the grassroots leader who will talk up the candidates. I cannot tell you how many times, as a kid, i experienced somebody coming up to my dad not saying, who are you voting for, but asking this question of my father, who should i vote for . Having him tell them who they should vote for is an incredible experience. That is what happened all across the state of iowa. As was mentioned, i started political reporting, particularly the president ial political reporting that ive done for two decades now, in 1987. It was a year similar to this one. There were a lot of candidates. You remember how many candidates . Werent there eight on one side and eight on the other there were 16 candidates. The idea that we have an field thisry size of time around is a little bit easier for me to deal with because 1987 was my very First Experience. I also collected the very best ofitical soundbite ever Jesse Jackson that year, when he of asked, in the lobby hotel in des moines a Gathering Place for democrats he was asked by a reporter what he planned to do at the state fair. He said, im going to the state fair for the showing of the hog, and im going to eat some oisage so fresh, it will , still alive. Whatever howard dean said on mind, thatt, in my soundbite is the scream heard around the world. When tom was inviting me to talk with you folks, he suggested that our candidate might best focus on the candidates we have seen come through the state, rather than the political operatives. You certainly heard from some of our best at the Previous Panel. Came up with a bunch of lists the new thing in journalism is the top five things you need to or thebout the dinner seven best reasons the republicans are going to what was that thing they did last weekend . List number one. Most influential candidates and caucus history. On the democratic side, of course there is legitimate debate about whether it is George Mcgovern or jimmy carter. Let me talk about what has happened during my professional career. On the democratic side, i think we might all agree that barack obama sort of remade the game, in terms of caucus turnout. In rochester, it is not yet seen, but tried to grow the Democratic Party. He was seen doing that at the National Level. We dont yet know if he has done that specifically in iowa, to bring in the different kinds of coalitions he was able to bring fold into thousand eight and 2012. On the republican side, this might surprise you, but i am to robertson. Be pat these folks can disagree with me, but i will give you my saying that. You heard on the Previous Panel that they used to be debates about abortion. There used to be debates within the Republican Party on abortion. When i started covering debates, there were venerable women who were prochoice women. The likes of dorothy carpenter, serving in the state legislator. Im glad you are sitting down. Chose asterry branstad a running mate, someone who was prochoice. He kept her on the ticket in 1994. Fast forward to this time around. The seachange that has happened in the Republican Party can be traced back to Pat Robertson and the folks that he brought into the Republican Party as activists in that campaign. It also goes to what is happening at the National Level in the past few elections. There are a lot of issues on which republicans and democrats agree, or there is not a lot of difference between the two parties. I think about trade issues. Certainly there is a lot of debate among democrats on trade. Unanimity in regards to trade policy. Amongis total unanimity most immigrants on the abortion issue. There is almost total unanimity among republicans on the abortion issue. That is why, come general election time, that is one of the debates that will happen in 2016. That is something that both parties can agree upon. List if i can see my notes. I came the other lists up with. Right now, we are hearing a lot about it is a generally generational choice, in regards to ted cruz, marco rubio, and on the democratic side, an argument that Martin Omalley has been making frequently. If you think back to some of the previous campaigns we have had an iowa, there was a argumentnal choice when bob dole was seeking the nomination. That benefited Lamar Alexander because he became the freshfaced alternative. The candidate that reporters no longer like to talk about because they spent so much time john edwards. Is he made a generational choice argument in 2004 that greatly benefited him. Of course, the candidate among the campaigns i have covered this is Campaign Number eight that made the generational on was argument, and w barack obama with the turn the page rhetoric. Theserse, we have all of candidates who attack their experience from george w. Bush to bob dole, mitt romney. We also have candidates who consider it is their turn to be the nominee. They have to fight against that. Mccain. Dole, gore, i have candidates who have had a unique policy influence on the caucuses. , will begin with pat buchanan who i already explained. Steve forbes brought up a really unusual proposal in the fight tax. Flat he talked about it almost exclusively as the single issue on which his candidatcy was based. Howont remember tremendously radical of an idea that was at the time because so many republicans have embraced it. That has had a lasting effect in the policy debate among people and his parties. Steve forbes aside, he has the record of having the most chutzpah of the candidates i have covered. As i was watching on the Television Set in my office, clintonjef jefferson took the oath of office for his second term steve forbes called me and announced he would run again. That is how long the campaign lasts for those of us who cover it. Suggest i would also there are candidates that we can look to in the course of our career covering the caucuses as groundy label pavers. I would go back to the heresy of bill bradley to say that there would not have been the success of a barack obama, heather not been the experience of a bill bradley can see in iowa, a howard dean candidacy, or successful barack obama can see. Obama employed a lot of the social media aspects of the campaign. Dean, even though he was not presenting himself as a generational choice, did appeal a youngervirgin generation of voters who do not usually participate in the caucuses. As did if you were to cover a candidate like bill bradley in any college town in iowa, he certainly had a generational appeal that was very potent. Then, finally, the ground pavers eric mentioned of particular family, for which he has worked. The bush family. W in iowa. He way for the bush family had experience here. They knew what it took to win the caucus and to lose the caucus. They were all in in 2000. I will skip any analysis of the campaign because it is a work in process. In the suggest that future we keep our eye out for. He George P Bush the bush family is not going away. That may be another ground paver list to watch in the future. I will turn it back over to the moderator. Mr. Convington our third panelist is save price. Dave is a belleville, illinois native and earned his undergraduate degree at Southern Illinois university, his masters degree at university of illinois. Work has earned him a National Emmy and edward r. Murrow award. Dave also recently released his , hisbook, caucus chaos insiders account of the unique iowa caucuses. We look forward to hearing about that. Please welcome dave price. [applause] mr. Price i have to mention that kay is in the book, and dave wrote the forward of the. Ook i came to these caucuses a lot differently than they did because, as you just heard, i did not grow. I grew up in the town of belleville, illinois, just outside of st. Louis. Was, no idea what a caucus and not care what a caucus was, to be honest, because i would grow up to be the next shortstop of the cardinals. Reality has a way of redefining your dreams sometimes, as it did. My brief experience to any that was just a small taste, following politics for my dad. My dad, in a lot of ways, got me hooked on this unknowingly. My dad was a lifelong democrat. We were a very bluecollar family. Plant until the factory collapsed he switched a reaganbecame o follower, and republican for the rest of his life. Deepver had a lie conversations about politics, but the one thing, at the time, that i think has helped so much is having a man be a follower of both of those parties helps me objective, ande a natural curiosity about all the visitors we had in our state. Asike kay, i was not brought an infant to a caucus. My First Experience was when i was a student at the wrist he of at the university of missouri. Was john ask ashcroft traveling, i went to cover him at a rally. I remember interviewing him at a