My Iowa: Covering the Caucuses as a resident or newcomer

KELLEN BROWNING If you're trying to think of a city that feels like the opposite of San Francisco, Des Moines would be a good choice.

When I learned in November that I had two weeks to quit my life in the Bay Area and move to Iowa for the winter to cover the Iowa caucuses, I called Sydney Ember, a colleague who signed the assignment four years ago, for advice. She assured me that driving in the snow would be easy, and said she only nearly died three times on the icy roads during her time in Iowa during the 2020 Democratic primaries.

Armed with that reassuring knowledge – and a few new coats – I headed to Des Moines. In just six short weeks, I drove more than 3,400 miles in my rental car, attended rallies for all the leading candidates, and spoke to dozens of voters. But while I was making extra money as an Iowan, one of my co-workers on staff is the real deal.

Anjali Huynh, a political reporter who grew up in Iowa City, has watched all of us journalists try to become Iowa experts, and—I can only imagine—rolled her eyes at our inability to blend in locals. As I prepare to wrap up my time here, I wanted to talk to a real Iowan about her condition and share some of what I learned.

Here's our conversation.

ANJALI HUYNH What was your reaction when you first heard that you would be sent to Des Moines, somewhere you haven't been before?

KELLEN I haven't spent any time in the Midwest yet, so I was looking forward to it, but I also just had no idea what to expect. In my head I had visions of corn fields and flat terrain, a stark contrast to the slopes of San Francisco. When I first came out here, my first impression of downtown Des Moines was, “Wow, it's so quiet. I think people are just at home because it's quite cold outside.” But Iowa is just a much more sparsely populated state, and I quickly learned that was true.

ANJALI How cold was it?

KELLEN It was about 40 degrees, which I now consider warm. But I'm curious: What has it been like for you, growing up in Iowa City, to see people like me skydiving?

ANJALI It was very strange. Part of the reason I got into journalism was because of the caucuses. In 2016, the first event I ever attended for Senator Bernie Sanders was in my hometown because I heard that Josh Hutcherson, the man who plays Peeta in “The Hunger Games,” would be campaigning with him.

I was 14. I remember being in awe of how many people were there, all to see this guy from Vermont. That was the first time I realized the power Iowa had to lure all these candidates here.

So in 2020, ahead of the Democratic primaries, I convinced a local news magazine to let me follow the candidates. I went to the Iowa State Fair for them, and while I was covering the candidates, I remember seeing all the national journalists and the way they were talking about and bashing fair attendees, and just feeling frustrated. I knew that if I was going to reach some kind of national stage, I wanted to do better, to not just talk about Iowans using figures of speech, but also make sure I really understood why they believed what they believed.

KELLEN That's something I've tried to do by having the opportunity to be here on the ground for six weeks.

ANJALI Is there anything that surprised you about Iowa?

KELLEN I really didn't realize that the whole “Iowa Nice” thing was real. Campaign operatives or strategists who have been doing this for a long time have asked me, “Oh, did you bring mittens? Do you need them?”

But Anjali, I wanted to ask what you expect from the caucuses today. What do you think of the process in general?

ANJALI I still talk to a lot of undecided voters. I've been covering Vivek Ramaswamy for the past week and I've come across so many people at his events who say they stand between him and some other candidates. Many Iowans wait until the last second to decide who to support, so those final pitches matter.

There are many problems with the caucuses; the fact that they are present in person at a very fixed time, on a certain day, makes them inaccessible to some people.

But there is a certain beauty in watching the process unfold, seeing neighbors who truly appreciate this process come together and convince each other to support a particular candidate. Iowa has a much more diverse range of perspectives than it's given credit for — there aren't just farmers here — and you can especially see that during the caucuses.

KELLEN My biggest takeaway is that I really enjoyed talking face-to-face with voters who are taking this very seriously and taking their civic responsibility very seriously. And they are willing to talk to the media.

I was recently talking to these two couples at Sioux Center after a Trump rally, and they said, “You know, we don't really like The New York Times. We don't trust it.” We had a twenty minute conversation. I explained where the media came from: we report the truth. Our stories are true. And they essentially said, “The media has lost the trust of the people” and they rely more on what they see around them, and on alternative news sources, like Tucker Carlson.

There is now a division in the country about what is factual, and that makes it very difficult to get through to the people. But I appreciate that we were able to talk about this in person instead of through a screen.

ANJALI Do you have any funny moments during the trail?

KELLEN The funniest moment for me was a question from a ten-year-old girl from Nebraska who asked Vivek Ramaswamy if, if he became president, he would ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a giant panda for her zoo. And he said he would try.

ANJALI What about the general highlights of Iowa?

KELLEN Go for a run around Gray's Lake in Des Moines. There are some incredible sunsets in Iowa. There are several major bridges in Des Moines that light up at night. Some of the food was really good.

Even when campaign events took me to rural parts of the state, I found them charming. For example, the Fruited Plain Café in downtown Sioux Center is a cozy place to shelter from the cold. And at one point I accidentally drove into Nebraska. Anjali, what is your favorite place in Iowa other than Iowa City?

ANJALI Dubuque in the fall is beautiful. The last time I went there was a winter market going on.

KELLEN I have to come back at a time when it is not minus 18 degrees outside.