Leaving Nothing to Chance?

I'll give Howard Dean's Iowa campaign credit: either they are way off the track and wasting their time or they are leaving nothing to chance and they have the people power to cover all their bases. Something tells me it's the latter.

Last night, my spouse received a phone call from the Dean campaign, asking her if she wanted to attend the former Vermont governor's upcoming appearance here. Knowing that Democrats call Democrats and Republicans call Republicans, she explained she's a registered Republican and actually thanked the Dean caller for caring enough to volunteer. Of course, I immediately started teasing my wife, Debora, that she must have registered as a Democrat and she just wasn't telling me the whole story.

Then, about 30 minutes later a funny thing happened. The phone rang, and it was Dean's campaign calling to invite me to the local event. Explaining that there was no doubt about her husband's GOP credentials, Debora asked, "What list are you working from that would have our names?" The caller -- the same young woman -- said it was a list of caucus attendees from 2000. And, she added, she had been reaching a large number of Republicans this evening. Debora thanked her again for volunteering and that was that.

The episode demonstrates two points: We're nothing if not polite here in Iowa, And, Dean's campaign seems to be nothing if not thorough. If there are Republican converts to be had, maybe they'll go Dean. The Dean camp's thinking must be, "We have the resources and it can't hurt to try."