IOWA 2000 PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES
Campaign to End Federal Timber Subsidies &
Commercial Logging on Public Lands
CONTEXT
The Iowa caucuses are a totally unique
political phenomenon. The caucuses are
neighborhood meetings attended by Democratic
and Republican party activists, which take
place on a January winter night in schools,
churches and courthouses in each of the states
roughly 2500 precincts. Unlike other states,
where voters actually cast their ballots,
caucus attendees in Iowa literally stand up in
front of their neighbors to express their
presidential preference with some exceptions,
only hard-core party and issue activists tend
to participate. Due to Iowa's first-in-the-
nation status, these caucus participants have
greater access to the presidential candidates
than most other citizens in the U.S. The
caucuses are currently scheduled for January
24.
Candidates begin converging on Iowa up to two
years before the caucuses, criss-crossing the
state in search of supporters. Event sizes
range from as small as a dozen people in
someone's living room to crowds of thousands
at the state's major universities. As the
caucus night draws closer, candidates spend
increasing amounts of time in the state.
IOWA CAUCUS CAMPAIGN UPDATE
The National Forest Protection Alliance, with
the help of the GrassRoots Recycling Network,
has launched an organizing effort to influence
the caucus debate and the candidates in Iowa.
We are working to educate caucus participants
on our issues - so that voters can in turn ask
the candidates about these issues. We are also
approaching the campaign and the candidates to
brief them on our issues and to seek their
support for our position.
On October 7, each of the presidential
candidates was challenged to sign a pledge
calling for an end to federal logging
subsidies and to end commercial logging on
public lands. Over the next three months, we
will pressure the candidates to publicly
support these positions.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
1. Travel to Iowa (des Moines) to help
organize before the January 8 Democratic and
the January 15 Republican statewide televised
presidential debates.
2. Travel to Iowa to help organize nationally-
televised presidential debates on the
environment that have TENTATIVELY been
scheduled for January 10 and 12 in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, (a two-hour drive from des
Moines.)
3. Help organize other media events. For more
information on how to get involved with this
campaign, call Tom Weis with NFPA at (515)
265-8266.
4. When candidates come to your town, show up
and question them about subsidies.
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