Away from home, and loving it

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- You get the sense that if the Census were taken right now, Iowa would pick up at least a couple Congressmen.

That's because of all the out-of-state activists, media, campaign operatives, and so-called political tourists who have descended on this frigid, friendly state in advance of tomorrow's caucuses. There are thousands of them -- or perhaps we should say thousands of us -- roaming the streets.

Tina Ward-Pugh, 47, came all the way from Louisville, Ky., where she runs a home-repair business and serves on the City Council. She's been here since last week helping Hillary Clinton do whatever is needed -- phone-banking, canvassing, pinning on her many Clinton buttons to chat up voters at diners, pubs, and restaurants. When Bill Clinton appeared the other day in Carlisle, outside of Des Moines, Ward-Pugh directed traffic, which she found amusing given that she had no idea where she was.

Ward-Pugh said this is the most involved she's ever been in a political campaign, because she believes Clinton is the right candidate for the country. It is time, she said, that a woman won the presidency. "This is our shot," she said after a Clinton appearance here this morning at First United Methodist Church.

On Friday, Ward-Pugh will drive back to Louisville to drop off some friends, then head north to New Hampshire for its primary, south to South Carolina for its vote, and then to Tennessee. She hopes that by the time she's back in Louisville, she can say proudly that she helped Clinton win the nomination.