Exeter Reacts to Iowa Results

Greenberg: "Well, Xenia, if there's any dominant theme you could say, it's that they don't want anyone to get the idea that Iowa speaks for New Hampshire. They really reject the notion that things are radically different today than they were yesterday. I met Leslie Delsesto at the Me 'n' Ollie's coffee shop and she's an undecided voter, and she really doesn't want us in the media to read too much into the caucuses."

Delsesto: "I think that the caucuses are so different from specifically the way we do things here, I think the turnout is so little, and I think it's really irrelevant, and a lot of people are going to pay too much attention to the results."

Greenberg: "You know, it really doesn't matter who you ask, whether they know which candidate they'll vote for, or if they're still undecided, they really like the idea that the races on both sides are wide open, at least among the frontrunners and maybe beyond that."

Piaseckyj: "Jon, did you meet a lot of undecided voters today?"

Greenberg: "You bet I did. There are plenty of people who are surprised themselves that they haven't been able to make up their minds. And there's going to be a lot of attention to the debates on Saturday night."

Piaseckyj: "It's one thing to say that the process in New Hampshire is very different from what they do in Iowa; it's another thing to say the results don't matter. Did anyone say that they thought the results made a difference?"

Greenberg: "When it comes to that sort of question, I found that most voters are pretty reluctant to say that they're swayed by the decisions of others, but when you talk to them, if you set the bar a little lower, and ask them if they're paying more attention to certain candidates, then they might talk about a certain influence. One woman told me she might pick up a Democratic or Republican ballot, but with Obama's win, she's going to give him a closer look. And another voter, Tom Miller, will be voting Republican. He is interested in McCain, but he came about as close as anyone I met to acknowledging the impact of Iowa."

Miller: "McCain's a very honorable man, but there are things in his past that aren't so honorable, so I'm kind of split. I'm leaning kind of McCain, but I'm watching what Huckabee's doing, so it's a possibility I might go Huckabee's way."

Piaseckyj: "What about the people who are definitely backing a particular candidate, what's the range of opinions there?"

Greenberg: "As you probably would expect, the Obama and Huckabee supporters are very hopeful. And I'd say that's especially true for the Obama people. Karen Pryor's a woman that I met a while ago; she was on her way out the door today to canvass for Obama, and she says that Iowa showed how Obama can attract people to the Democratic side."

Pryor: "The energy and the organization that the Obama campaign has can get the independent and the undecideds out there in a way that will definitely make a difference, and we saw that in Iowa."

Greenberg: "For the other campaigns, whether that's Romney, McCain, Edwards and Clinton backers, they say they know it's crunch time, but they expect to do well. I would say the Democrats in general find a lot of encouraging news out of Iowa, because whether it helps their candidate, they like that young voters and independents showed up. They think that bodes well for their chances in November."

Piaseckyj: "Jon, before we let you go, you mentioned that you've been meeting a lot of independent voters. We should add that you'll be hosting a call-in show this Saturday at 4 pm to go through the candidates positions on some of the major issues, maybe that will help people make up their minds."

Greenberg: "It should be pretty interesting. I hope it's helpful."

Piaseckyj: "Jon, thank you very much."

Greenberg: "You're quite welcome."