On February 3, the Iowa Caucus kicked off the beginning of the primary elections. Yang Gang volunteers poured into the state to help Andrew Yang build a presence, most of whom were seeing it happen live for the first time. Business owner and nonprofit organizer Ming Tao Jiang, Ph.D. recounts his volunteering and caucusing experience.
For the past four weeks, I canvassed in Iowa. It was the first time in my life that I experienced and observed democracy at the on the ground in Iowa. I admire deeply Iowans for their civic duty.
I canvassed in Iowa City, Des Moines, Northwood and mostly in rural Oskaloosa of Mahaska county. I visited apartment complexes, trailer parks, subdivisions and farms. The poverty in some enclaves was stark. It reminded me of the 40 years I spent living the rural life in China, where I grew up.
I have met voters of all kinds, from the homeless to the wealthy, from Democrats to Republicans, from immigrants of all places to white supremacists.
I have also encountered Yang Gang volunteers from all over the country, from New York to Oregon, from Texas to Minnesota, Pennsylvania to California. The volunteers were young and old, men and women. They were strong believers of “Humanity First,” Andrew Yang’s vision for the 21st century, because the vision put our human values ahead of economic values and our happiness before GDP.
On caucus night my precinct won two county delegates for Andrew Yang, to much excitement. We had four Republicans who joined the Democratic party to caucused for Yang. This was a testament to Yang’s slogan: Not Left, Not Right, Forward.
While the Iowa caucus did not produce strong final results for Yang, the raw vote count of 5% of the attending caucus-goers reflected his Iowa polling numbers.
New Hampshire will host their Democratic Primary election on February 11.
The Futurist 