Jews in the D
I
recently boarded a flight to Des
Moines, Iowa, with an excited and
energetic crew. My friend, Danielle
McGuire, an award-winning author and
historian, her 11-year-old daughter, Ruby,
my 11-year-old daughter, Olivia, and I
were headed to the 2020 Iowa Caucus.
We couldn’
t wait to witness history by
attending the first major vote of the U.S.
presidential primary.
We went with KidUnity, a Los Angeles-
based nonprofit organization that pro-
vides sixth-10th graders from LA and
Detroit a chance to “experience politics in
action.” Danielle had traveled with them
before and invited us to join for the 2020
vote — an amazing opportunity. We later
met Isaac Mintz, 18, an energetic senior
at West Bloomfield High School with a
passion for politics, who joined the trip.
“We hope none of you talk about pol-
itics en route,” the Delta flight attendant
joked at the start of our journey. Our
plane was largely filled with journalists,
including the legendary Tom Brokaw of
NBC Nightly News fame. That was our
first “celebrity sighting.” We were giddy as
we snuck a few pre-flight photos.
We hit the ground running in Iowa.
The trip was a whirlwind of rallies, talks
and some chance meetings with the likes
of Bernie Sanders. A few students ran
into the Democratic presidential hopeful
in a hotel lobby. Along the way, the kids
developed reporting skills by interviewing
voters, candidates and journalists and
witnessing politics in real time. National
political reporters John King and Dana
Bash from CNN and MSNBC’
s Katy Tur
stopped to talk to us. As a former TV
news anchor/reporter, I was geeked. So
was Isaac.
“It was amazing. You look around and
realize you’
re seeing media professionals
doing their job — and you’
re right along-
side them,” he said.
“I learned that journalists need to be
really alert because there could be an
opportunity anywhere,” Ruby added.
The students took selfies with for-
mer Vice President Joe Biden. They got
autographs from entrepreneur Andrew
Yang (who has since dropped out of the
race) and met with other Democratic
and Republican candidates. We sat in the
press section during an actual caucus vote
in Precinct 62 at Drake University.
“Voting in America is a time-honored
and sacred thing,” Danielle reminded the
students. “It’
s something people fought
and died for, and it’
s not something you
should take for granted.”
We watched as voters filed into the
stadium and took their seats in various
sections designated for each candidate. In
our precinct, candidates with fewer than
127 votes were not considered viable.
Voters in those sections had 20 minutes
to move to another section and change
their vote.
“I learned what a caucus is and how
you vote in one,” Olivia said.
Following the vote, our group filed
into a gym for a Pete Buttigieg rally; but
there was no sign of the Democratic
presidential candidate and former South
Bend, Indiana, mayor. At approximately
9:30 p.m., a big screen in the gym airing
CNN indicated that a vote-counting error
occurred. None of us knew what had hap-
pened, and the student journalists were
in the same boat as their role models:
watching and waiting for answers. It turns
out we all witnessed one of the greatest
debacles in caucus history. As we headed
home, the results still had not come in. It
was truly an unforgettable experience.
“It’
s incredible to think that the world
had its eyes on Iowa,” Isaac said. “
And we
were right there.”
Isaac Mintz contributed to this report. Michigan’
s
presidential primary takes place March 10.
FROM TOP: Isaac Mintz, 18, of West Bloomfield takes
a selfie while former Vice President Joe Biden takes a
selfie with KidUnity students. Danielle McGuire and Robin
Schwartz at the 62nd Precinct watching the caucus. Olivia
Goldstein and Ruby Rosh, both 11 and of Huntington Woods,
hold up their press passes at the Iowa Caucus.
28 | FEBRUARY 20 • 2020
ROBIN SCHWARTZ
Witnessing
History
Local moms and ‘
kid
journalists’
attend
2020 Iowa Caucus.
ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER