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On my way downtown, I stopped at the Occupy Des Moines campground at 14th and Grand, just behind the state capitol. A nice man named Dale ("God sure blessed us with the weather this year," he said as he waved his HONK FOR THE 99% sign at passing cars) directed me to talk to a man named John, indicating that he was probably in one of the two semi-permanent structures that has been erected in the park.

Inside the structure, I find a few people sitting around eating doughnuts, drinking hot coffee, and listening to the radio. There's a coffee maker, a microwave, and electric lights running on a generator. John is a tall, easygoing bearded man who's been involved with ODM "since the beginning, about two and a half months ago." John explains how ODM got such a cushy deal: When police threatened to shut their original camp down, the mayor showed up with a renewable lease to this park. They've been here for about two months. So is Occupy Des Moines planning anything for the caucuses tonight? "I don't think anything's goin' on," John says. He personally plans to caucus for Ron Paul this evening. "In 2008, I spoke on behalf of Ron Paul," he says, and 50% of his caucus location wound up voting for him. He doesn't seem to see any problem with being an avid supporter of Occupy Wall Street and Ron Paul at the same time, noting that ending the Federal Reserve should be a priority for both causes.

"We mic checked Mitt Romney last night," John says proudly. "There were probably about 700 people there" who had been waiting for up to two and a half hours just to hear Romney talk for "ten or fifteen minutes." As the crowd waited, security guards picked out ODM members, tapped them on the shoulder, and told them "the owner would like you to leave the building." John thinks he didn't get culled from the crowd because he had bought a Mitt Romney button for camoflage. By the time the mic check happened, there were only a handful of ODMers left in the audience, but they disrupted the rally by announcing that they wanted the United States to "cut the military budget in half" and they wanted Mitt Romney to release his tax returns to the media. As John was escorted out by security, he shouted "Save Big Bird!" in response to Romney's newish stump speech boilerplate about forcing PBS to show commercials to pay their keep. (John knows Ron Paul isn't a fan of PBS, but, he says that if the military budget was slashed, there would be enough money to fund programs like PBS, which are miniscule in comparison with the military-industrial complex.) He leaves me with a big handshake and directions to Occupy the Caucus, a separate group with big plans for the evening. That's my next stop.

John inside Occupy Des Moines kitchen tent.
  • John inside Occupy Des Moines' kitchen tent.