2012 caucus season kicks off in Iowa City
His attention split between the sidewalk in front of him and the BlackBerry in his hand, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson was halted by a young man as he walked down Washington Street on Tuesday.
"Mr. Johnson?" the stranger said as the governor extended a hand. "Thanks so much for coming to town. I'll be at your event tonight."
It's not an extremely common occurrence, the politican said.
"Well … let's just say I enjoy it when it does [happen]," Johnson said, a smile emerging below his Oakley shades.
Johnson visited the University of Iowa campus on Tuesday between stops in Des Moines on Monday and Davenport on Wednesday. He's one of the first potential 2012 presidential candidates to visit Iowa City this year.
"People's opinions matter in Iowa simply because the rest of the nation ends up taking Iowa's lead and taking New Hampshire's lead," Johnson said.
Iowa will have the country's first caucuses and New Hampshire the first primary.
Johnson differs from many mainstream Republicans; he supports legalization of marijuana, says arming the Mexican border would be too costly, and wants to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible.
He doesn't have Mitt Romney's money, Sarah Palin's media presence, or Mike Huckabee's socially conservative résumé. But it's still relatively early in the caucus lead-up and there's room for a few handfuls of presidential hopefuls.
"It's kind of like looking at the 2-year-old colts before the Kentucky Derby," UI Professor Emeritus Bruce Gronbeck said. "You look at a big bunch of candidates."
Now is the beginning of the caucus campaign season for voters, but it's also a vital period for potential campaign staffers.
"This is the beauty-contest year. What's happening now is the usual operatives are looking over this, and they start making some decisions on whom they're going to work for," Gronbeck said.
Romney, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are among the Republican politicians who have visited Iowa this year. 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin will visit Des Moines next month.
And the hot issues of the election cycle are emerging as well. Specifically, Republicans are talking about government debt, immigration, and a couple social issues. More broadly, though, many high-profile Republicans have taken a similar tone.
"The element of the Republican nominating season that might be unique or less often heard is this 'taking back America,' " said Cary Covington, a UI associate professor of political science. "That idea you don't come across all the time. I don't remember another election cycle where that was a dominant theme."
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