Column: The need to be informed

Betty Hackley is someone I want electing our next president.

A 90-year old native of St. Louis, Mo., Betty has seen her fair share of presidents. She attended the University of Kansas so long ago that she took a fencing class from Dr. James Naismith, the man who invented basketball. When I tell her I'm interested in journalism, she says she once worked for the Des Moines Register, and similarly tells my friend Jimmy - a future history teacher - that she once taught grade school. Both facts may be true.

And, more importantly, Hackley can tell you everything you could ever want to know about each of the candidate's health care plans.

With her oxygen tank and cane helping her through a foot of snow and five-degree temperatures, Betty hiked to the Society of Italian Americans in West Des Moines, the home of Iowa Precinct 87, and the site where she would help elect the next president of the United States.

Many outside of Iowa criticize the inordinate impact a state of old-fashioned farmers has on the future of our modern nation, and there is certainly much wrong with the caucus system. Precinct 87 forced 243 people, mostly elderly, into an overheated classroom for close to three hours of disorganization in which I, as a Missouri resident, could have easily voted.

"OK, Obama supporters to this side of the room," said the precinct captain. "Clinton head over there. Dodd and Richardson, out in the hallway."

"How are we going to count the votes?" asked John Hackley, Betty's son.

"Umm, OK, everyone put your hands up, and once I count you, put your hand down," said the precinct captain, sounding more like a third grade teacher desperately trying to control a classroom than someone electing the world's most powerful individual.

But in the bickering over the power given to a state that is over 90 percent white and whose citizens drink - I'm estimating here - 90 percent fewer chai lattes, our nation's talking heads miss the very reason that Iowans are best suited to elect our president: They take their responsibility remarkably seriously.

While campaigning door-to-door for several days in Iowa (for John Edwards, in the interest of full disclosure), I was humbled by a Bill Richardson supporter who invited me onto her porch to talk Afghanistan.

It quickly became clear that this woman, who had never seen New York, let alone Baghdad, knew her foreign policy better than an international studies major who had visited London and South Africa. I was humbled by a woman near tears when it became clear that Chris Dodd was going to fall short, because, she said, she had looked Dodd in the eye and knew that he cared about her.

In case you didn't notice Chelsea Clinton preventing you from enjoying a New England Classic Thursday afternoon - not to mention the anti-abortion rights crowd she attracted - the circus is on its way to Massachusetts.

In eight days, both parties will hold elections here and in 21 other states, with former governor Mitt Romney facing stiff challenges from all corners and what once looked like a sure win for Hillary Clinton now looking far from sure - especially if the 250,000 Boston-area college students get out for Barack Obama.

But I'm not so sure that would be a good thing.

I would be hard pressed to find students at BC who are as well informed about the candidates as each Iowan I met. BC students probably know that Edwards got a $400 haircut and that Chuck Norris has endorsed Mike Huckabee - the facts that make for good Daily Show topics and YouTube clips. But how many Superfans know that Edwards plans to pay for the first year of public college tuition, or that Huckabee's tax plan calls for the elimination of the federal income and payroll taxes?

Betty Hackley sure did. And for my money, I'll put the future of our country in the hands of a few hicks who care, rather than a slew of uninformed diplomas.

Reeves Wiedeman is a columnist for The Heights. He welcomes comments at wiedemar@bc.edu.