From Deseret News archives:
Utah campaigns focusing on Iowa
Presidential campaign offices here are eyeing early primary states and gearing up for Feb. 5, when Utah will be among several states with primary and caucus votes.
In Utah, volunteers for Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton have been on the phone to early primary states, and some Utahns are among volunteers on the ground in Iowa, Donald Dunn, a Utah campaign spokesman, said Wednesday in a teleconference with reporters.
"It's very exciting to see the interest in Utah," Dunn said. "We've been focusing on sending our volunteers to work."
Guy Cecil, Clinton's national political and field director, said the momentum soon will turn to getting out the vote in Utah and other so-called "Tsunami Tuesday" states, large and small.
"With Iowa as close as it is, and New Hampshire as close as it is, the importance of Feb. 5 is incredibly clear," Cecil said. "In the end, we think that every delegate is going to count."
To that end, volunteers will be calling from phone banks, their homes and offices to reach out to potential voters, he said.
"We see this next 30 days as 30 days of 'get out the vote,"' he said. "We're going to be reaching out to supporters across Utah to make sure they turn out to support Sen. Clinton."
The Clinton campaign isn't the only one that's been active. Supporters of Republican Mitt Romney are invited to make "get out the vote" calls and watch returns from campaign offices in Sandy and Provo as part of a "first step to make sure we get a good turnout in Iowa," said campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho.
On the Democratic side, Barack Obama supporters are invited to watch the Iowa results in Salt Lake City, and supporters of Bill Richardson are gathering in West Jordan to watch Iowa and New Hampshire-themed episodes of the television series "West Wing" while waiting on the results.
For more information on the events:
• Romney — Jeff Adams, 801-550-7327, or Eli Eyre, 801-671-7271.
• Clinton — www.hillaryclinton.com.
• Richardson — Aaron Thompson, 801-381-4077.
• Obama — my.barackobama.com/SLCwatchIowa.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com
