Washington, DC — The names Mike Glover and David Yepsen don’t ring a bell with most Americans. But in the arcane, esoteric world of presidential primary politics, these two top Iowa reporters for the Associated Press and Des Moines Register, respectively, become perhaps the most significant political reporters in America when the eyes of the nation tune into the Iowa caucus.
Having been around since the fabled 1976 primary that helped produce Jimmy Carter
and the 1980 Reagan-Bush free for all, no one goes through an Iowa GOP or Democrat presidential primary gauntlet without their reporting scrutiny and veteran eye for reporting reality on the ground and cutting through the B.S.
That’s why the September 15 story in the Register by Yepsen, “Pataki Visit to Iowa Bodes Well for His Future,” is so significant in the eyes of hard core campaign watchers in DC and elsewhere who help shape the ever-changing contours of the race, the pecking order and the general campaign zeitgeist. Pataki’s trip, according to a GOP lobbyist, was even the subject of discussion at the Palm – ground zero for DC chatter.
Not only did Pataki garner great news coverage — confidently and humorously waving off protesters – but prominent local elected officials and opinion leaders speculated that while he’ll be called upon to address his pro-choice record, the New York Governor has the capacity to break through the clutter of candidates.
“You don’t have to win Iowa,” said Cedar Rapids Mayor Paul Pate, “You just have to place well in Iowa if you want to stay in the game,” reported Yepsen in the Register. “Based on the field we see today, I think he’s definitely in the top three.” It was even reported that Pataki “has a kind of rock star quality because of his leadership after September 11.”
Moreover, Pataki cleverly mentioned as a news hook that the post-9/11 New York response should be a model for the nation as it assesses the best way for local, state and federal authorities to deal with catastrophe. It’s a stark contrast from the New Orleans debacle, and Pataki is an obvious comparative beneficiary.
And trips of this nature just don’t happen. Far from it – they take weeks of preparation to step through the politics, the message, the speaking venues, the photo-ops, the logistics and a host of other variables that, more often than not, change or go awry at the eleventh hour.
Some quick reporting on this trip after the fact did, in fact, find that some solid staff work was the primary reason for the success of the Iowa swing, and two veteran Iowa GOP operatives gave the trip, and Pataki, high marks. The fact that Pataki also garnered a statewide AP photo in addition to the Glover AP wire coverage is also notable. Always a nice bonus — and never a given.
But there was another audience that noticed the trip: the two most important inside baseball DC-centric 24/7/365 all politics-all-the-time outlets, “The Note” from ABC News, and National Journal’s Hotline, gave the story prominent space and play.
Great coverage in Iowa from Yepsen, and it being noticed and commented upon in DC, is worth its weight in gold. The shelf life is short, and the reviews and news content won’t always be this good, but this is a great way to generate some priceless buzz, and to start the long, punishing slog through the Iowa caucus, where Pataki’s low expectations and small town roots and personal demeanor have the potential to surprise.