Turning Point
After nearly everyone had written him off, John Kerry turned a limping campaign into a force that couldn't be beat. Here's How
Mauro recorded a robo-call for the campaign, and it got a good response. And Mauro's people came out for John Kerry on caucus night (or, more accurately, they came out for John Mauro on caucus night). At the request of U.S. News, Crawford crunched the numbers: Of the 27 South Side precincts dominated by Mauro, Kerry won or tied in 16, or almost 60 percent of them, and came in no worse than second anywhere, even though Polk County turned out to be one of John Edwards's strongest areas in the state. Of the 14 precincts that Crawford considered Mauro's core area of support, Kerry won 11, or about 79 percent. "They were very good numbers," Crawford said. Ricca was delighted, not just for the 2004 caucuses but for the future. "We were tapping into a network of nontraditional caucus attendees that actually worked," he said. "Dean had a grand plan to expand the universe, but it was too amorphous. Mauro knew his universe, and that is how you get beyond traditional attendees."
The Dean people did not disagree. "It's extraordinarily difficult to expand the pool of voters," said Dean aide Tim Dickson. "It's not like a primary. You can't just, on your way to dropping off the kids, just go in and cast your vote and get your sticker and say 'I voted' and be gone. You have to go to a meeting with people you don't know, you have to be there for hours--and this isn't golf shirt weather; this is Iowa, cold, rotten weather--you have to cast your vote in front of other people, and so it's a fairly daunting process. And just to mobilize people and try to educate them about that, where to go, what to do is somewhat difficult." Which was an understatement for a campaign not known for understatement.
When Kerry won the caucuses, Mauro went to the victory party, where he chatted with Ricca. Mauro did not get to see Kerry, which did not surprise him. He did not expect to be treated like a big shot. "I don't need no congratulations," Mauro said later. To this day, however, Kerry has not called to thank him. Perhaps Kerry never knew of Mauro; it was, after all, a large campaign. But snubbing a guy who lives in a world where small courtesies are never forgotten and small slights rarely forgiven is not good politics. Especially since in order to win the presidency, Kerry might need Iowa, and in order to win Iowa he might need absentee ballots, which means he might need Mauro. "I think Iowa is going to be closer than they think, but Kerry can and will win," Mauro said. "Especially if they give me Polk County to organize. You can't send somebody from Detroit to find a street here." And Mauro asks very little in return. "Ambassador to Italy," he said with a laugh. "Write that down."
'A lock...on third'
John Kerry pursued large constituencies in Iowa like veterans and women, and he pursued smaller constituencies like environmentalists and political activists. But the constituency he pursued most relentlessly (and largely in secret) was a constituency of one: Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. In his second term after becoming the first Democrat to be elected as Iowa's governor in 30 years, Vilsack was a popular figure in the state--smart, thoughtful, and highly respected among Democrats who were likely to show up at the caucuses. The Kerry campaign team had strong ties to Vilsack, and that was no accident. John Norris, Kerry's Iowa director, had been Vilsack's chief of staff, and Jerry Crawford, Kerry's Iowa chairman, was a top donor and adviser to Vilsack. Crawford had been pursued by both the Edwards and Dean campaigns, but he decided on New Year's Eve 2002 to go with Kerry--but only if Vilsack approved. So before calling Kerry, Crawford called the governor. "My primary allegiance is to him," Crawford explained. Vilsack gave his blessing--"I think that's a great decision," he said--and only then did Crawford call Kerry to accept the job, telling him that he intended to maintain very close contact with Vilsack. Good idea, Kerry replied. Even Michael Whouley had some Vilsack ties. So everything was in place for a Vilsack endorsement. Except that Vilsack didn't want to do it. "If either Harkin or AFSCME had endorsed Kerry," Crawford said, "Vilsack would have endorsed us." Crawford believed AFSCME would endorse Kerry and that that would give Vilsack the "cover" he needed to abandon Dick Gephardt. "Vilsack has a great affection for Gephardt," Crawford said. "And it was going to be very hard for him to be endorsing someone other than him."
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