The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event, Third Edition

5. The 1976 Caucuses: The Making of a Front-Runner

ChapterS The 1911 Caucuses: The la~lg ofI frolt·luller THE NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA, with notable exceptions, devoted minimal time and space to the 1972 Iowa precinct caucuses. The limited coverage is understandable, given the newness of Iowa as an early source of information about the progress of the presidential campaign , but it also is apparent that the media fell victim to their own expectations about the 1972 presidential nominations. Reporters made up their minds early in 1972 about the likely outcome of the presidential nominating contests. President Nixon would certainly be renominated by the Republicans, and according to Donald R. Matthews, "political pundits nearly to a man had predicted that Senator Ed Muskie of Maine would be the Democratic nominee" (1978,58). Thus the Iowa caucuses remained relatively anonymous. Senator McGovern's grass-roots effort went largely unnoticed, receiving minimal coverage bythe major newspapers and television networks, whose focus, Jules Witcover has said, "was squarely on Muskie as he collected big-name endorsements en route, nearly everyone thought, to a routine first-ballot nomination" (1977, 200). When Muskie's 1972 presidential campaign collapsed in late April, political reporters found themselves in a veryembarrassingposition: The man they had already "nominated" was no longer a candidate for the presidency. News reporters badly underestimated the potential of McGovern's grassroots organizational effort and hadfailed to discover the signs ofweakness in the Muskie campaign. In addition, although the Watergate break-in took place during the campaign, it went undetected when President Nixon escaped the careful eye of the press by conducting a rose-garden campaign. The 1972 mistakes were harmful to the credibility of the reporters who covered presidential nominations, and thus, said Witcover, "in 1976, if there were going to be early signals, 57 58 Chapter 5 The 1976 Caucuses the fourth estate was goingto be on the scene en masse to catch them" (1977, 200). Precaucus Activity Meanwhile, the Iowa parties were taking steps to expand the nation's interest in their caucuses. The Iowa Republicans, who missed out on the headlines in 1972by holding their meetings in April, were anxious to share the limelight with the Democrats. Both parties realized the desirability for media purposes of a common date. They arranged a marriage of convenience to hold the 1976 caucuses onJanuary 19, and they have continued the practice in presidential years. As previously discussed, the Republicans initiated a straw poll in selected precincts, and the Democrats developed a statewide system for reporting delegate totals in 1976. Thus the stage was set for a truly national media event, and Iowa's party leaders were not to be disappointed. TheD~oaaticCampaign Jimmy Carter targeted Iowa as a testing ground for his campaign and spent nearly a year cultivating a following. Virtually unknown outside the South, Carter endured some very difficult days in the effort to put together a grass-roots organization in Iowa. In reminiscing about his first visit to Des Moines in February 1975, Carter recalled a reception held at a local hotel: "There were Jody and myself and the man and woman who arranged the reception-and I think there were three other people" (Schram 1977, 6). Overcoming the embarrassment, Democratic state chair Tom Whitney suggested to Jody Powell that he be given a few minutes to make arrangements for a Carter visit to the courthouse, where he at least shook a few hands and met some Polk County Democrats (Whitney 1986). The day before, on February 26, Carter had been the featured speaker at a dinner in Le Mars honOring MalieJahn, who was retiring after thirty-eight years as the Plymouth County recorder (Flansburg 1975a, 34). Perhaps the testimonial dinner was not Significant enough to attract a presidential candidate, but Carter was not flooded with invitations in those early Iowa days. After the Le Mars speech Carter campaigned two more days in Iowa, and the extended visit proved well IOWA I'RECIN{T CAU{I./SES cartoon by Frank MUler, Q 1979, Des Moines Register, reprinted by permission Jimmy Carter, commonly referred to as "Jimmy Who" in the early stages of the 1976 race for the presidency, used the Iowa caucuses as a springboard to the Democratic nomination. In his early visits to Iowa he spoke to small crowds in obscure places, but his patience and systematic approach to organizing the state paid great dividends when the media interpreted the results of the 1976 meetings as a...