Is The Ground Game Still Crucial In Iowa?

11:03

February 01, 2016

The Ted Cruz campaign office in Urbandale, Iowa, was packed with volunteers making phone calls this weekend. (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

Dianne Bystrom is director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University. (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

Is the ground game still crucial in Iowa? That's the question Here & Now's Robin Young asked Iowans over the weekend.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is not running the traditional campaign, which brings the candidates face to face with caucus-goers. He's devoted his focus to big rallies, rather than the intimate settings where other candidates are going.

Robin Young spent some time with campaigns that are relying on a more personal touch in Iowa, and spoke with Dianne Bystrom, a political expert at Iowa State who runs the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.

More stories from our 2016 election road trip
Go behind the scenes of our election road trip on Tumblr

A man holds signs supporting Hillary Clinton for president in Ames, Iowa. (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

These ranchers drove 1,000 miles from Houston to volunteer for Ted Cruz. They were making phone calls from the Cruz campaign office in Urbandale, Iowa. (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

Here & Now host Robin Young interviews Hillary Clinton supporter Cynthia Paschen as she canvassed a precinct. (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

Jane Jech is a member of Rick Santorum’s field staff in Urbandale, Iowa. Santorum won the 2012 caucus, belatedly, over Mitt Romney, but this time around Santorum is way down in the polls, with Trump, Cruz and Rubio getting most of the attention. About that state of affairs, she told us it's “frustrating, very frustrating.” (Alex Ashlock/Here & Now)

Guest

Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State. She tweets @DGBystromCCCCWP.

This segment aired on February 1, 2016.

2016 Election Road Trip