Campaigning for their country

Written by Heather Spangler

Photos by John Richard

Rosamond Hanson has never been particularly politically active. But now that she’s retired, the 76-year-old Iowa City resident has joined Barack Obama’s campaign for president.

“I have always voted, but there was never any one person who I felt I could be totally committed to what they stood for,” she said. “But I think our country is definitely ready for a change, and I thought he was the one most capable.”

Hanson, a former Snap On Tools employee who has called Iowa City home for 14 years, has helped register people to vote on behalf of Obama’s presidential bid. She will help on caucus night in January and wears her Obama pins everywhere she goes.

“It makes me feel good,” she said.

Eugene Spaziani, a 77-year-old retired biology professor, and his wife, Susan, a 62-year-old retired elementary school teacher, are active in the John Edwards campaign.

“We were attracted to him starting in 2004 from that campaign. We caucused for him in the last election because of his genuine concern for the plight of working families,” Eugene said.

Susan helps with clerical work and data entry in the Iowa City headquarters. Both walked in the University of Iowa homecoming parade on behalf of Edwards, will help on caucus night and are organizing a neighborhood coffee for the candidate.

Eugene said he’s been involved in political campaigns dating back to John F. Kennedy’s bid against Richard Nixon in 1960.

“We think the political process is very important,” Eugene said. “We do it because we feel very strongly about getting the right people into office.”

Jenni Lee, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, said senior volunteers like the Spazianis are an important part of the political process.

“They bring a lot to the campaign. They come with a lifetime of experiences, which is very valuable to the campaign,” she said. “Additionally, many seniors have more flexible hours and are able to volunteer more.”

A study by the Corporation for National and Community Service seems to affirm Lee’s belief that seniors can give more time to volunteering.

The group reports that the percentage of U.S. volunteers who give 100 or more hours of their time a year is highest among those 65 and older. In fact, more than 46 percent of active volunteers who are 65 or older give 100 hours or more to their chosen causes.

Jarrod Agen, a Rudolph Giuliani presidential campaign spokesman, said he’s seen large numbers of seniors providing volunteer support for the Republican candidate and believes they bring special talents to the campaign.

“They certainly have a lot of knowledge of the Iowa caucus process. They’ve been through this several times and have institutional knowledge of regions and precincts and just know the communities better than anyone and that becomes a huge benefit to us as we’re trying to build support,” he said.

Josh Earnest, communications director at the Obama campaign’s Iowa headquarters in Des Moines, said the Obama campaign strives to reach out to “as many people as possible.”

“Because of that, we’ve been able to engage and motivate volunteers of all ages across the state and when we have well-established, well-respected members of the community who are volunteering their time to talk about our message, that’s even better,” Earnest said. “We have benefited from volunteers of all ages, but particularly seniors.”

The Spazianis and Hanson both said that their fellow volunteers represent a large age range.

Eugene said his friends and acquaintances also support a broad range of presidential candidates.

“There’s just about everybody represented. It’s really spread out,” he said. “I think the caucuses are going to be very interesting in this county.”