Stumped over candidates in Iowa

It drives my sister nuts. This primary season she might as well be living on Mars rather than a mere 250 miles away in Nebraska. Here in Iowa, with a bit of time, organization and assertiveness, it is relatively easy to converse one-on-one with a presidential candidate. You just need to show up.

Over the past several months I have traveled around the state, from the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake to small bars in Cedar Rapids to Drake University. Following are some highly biased (lefty-Dem) impressions, based on at least one personal interaction with each candidate discussed.

Hillary Clinton has improved her person-to-person game following her stump speeches - cheerfully takes selfies with supporters plus has the ability to graciously receive heartfelt messages from middle-aged women who seem to identify deeply with her. On the stump she appears to be unencumbered by the baggage (Bill's history, shifting email explanations) that the right-wing harps on.

Ted Cruz - Close up I had a visceral sense of why his colleagues dislike him so much - the supreme ego, the creepy chuckles at his own jokes - something is not right with this guy. Zero on the personal trustworthy scale. Lots of arrogance. Slippery and eel-like. Favorite baseball player: Jose Cruz.

Martin O'Malley - the great 'what might have been” story for the Democrats. Smart, sincere, articulate, thoughtful, experienced, and crowded off the stage by Hillary's establishment Democrats and Bernie's burners. Not his moment - but the future is wide open for this guy. Could he surprise on caucus night? He reads passages from Catholic theologian Thomas Merton to start his day.

Carly Fiorina - Trump can lie and get away with it (Muslims celebrating 9/11), but Carly can't seem to (Planned Parenthood video that never was). Kudos for hanging tough and greeting her supporters and ignoring demonstrators outside of Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City earlier this fall. But why hasn't she dropped out?

Bernie Sanders - My McGovernite heart (‘72, clobbered by Nixon) soars. The clarity, the focus on inequality, the honesty, the positive quality of his campaign. Bernie, you make us so proud! But, then, the tag 'democratic socialist.” What does the designation mean to the majority of American voters? Has anyone ever gotten elected promising to raise taxes?

Donald Trump - A political show like we have never seen - for the ages - makes George Wallace (‘68) look like an amateur. Up close, he connects. I've witnessed it. Everything (particularly attacks on him, and his continuing outlandish statements) seem to make him stronger, like some kind of Godzilla monster. He is now begging people to show up Monday - many his supporters are typically not caucusers. He is polished, clever, manipulative and very scary. We continue to underestimate him at our peril. Bonus fact: his favorite baseball player was Yankee first baseman Joe Pepitone. (He was a 'cool cat.”)

Marco Rubio - Up close, he appears to be a little kid trying really hard to play the grown up - and failing. He has memorized his lines well, but that's it. He is intense, but shallow. He appears to be a humorless, not-ready-for-the-prime-time guy.

Chris Christie - There seem to be two of them - the guy who can talk with compassion about drug addiction (his law school friend), who knows global warming is real, can laugh about his great Little League career (16 homers!), who answers questions more or less directly and sometimes seems like a reasonable politician ... as opposed to the other guy - the NRA-loving, Obama-baiting, ISIS-threat simplifying 'sit down and shut up” dude. On the stump, he seems honest and is engaging. I like my first Christie better.

Mike Huckabee - an A for joviality but a pretty narrow approach (from my particular perspective) aimed at the religious right. Maybe his time has come and gone. He is tireless. He has no affection for New York Times columnist Gail Collins. When I showed him her article in which she called him 'a rather mean right-winger”), he responded 'I've never even been in the same room with her.” He then circled the offending paragraph and wrote 'Not true!”

Rand Paul - smart, and seems to be well-read on foreign policy. He took pictures with supporters at the event I attended, then got out of Dodge in a hurry. Zero schmoozing time - a cardinal Iowa sin. Maybe he has since corrected his behavior. Didn't get to talk to him at all. Tried during the picture taking moment, but he ignored me.

Bobby Jindal - Gone but still a mystery. Heavy Christian message. Would not engage with me about his Indian background, despite several friendly attempts. Turned our conversation to Jesus.

Here's hoping that we never lose our first-in-the-nation caucus/primary status.

' Scott McNabb is an Emeritus Associate Professor who taught International Education in the College of Education at the University of Iowa from 1979 to 2011. Comments: scott-mcnabb@uiowa.edu