a few hours earlier (see below) i wrote the post about jimmy carter stealing the iowa caucuses. it now appears to me that i have conflated two separate memories, which, to me, have become one, in my mind.

jerry brown ran in both the 1976 and the 1980 caucuses, and i am certain that I was his lone supporter (in my caucus) in one of them. i am also certain that i cast the deciding vote for fred harris in my caucus, and that carter won anyway, or was reported to have won. i believe this would be 1976 now, because carter was virtually unknown in 1976, and hamilton jordan, who was to become famous later, and wrapped up in a cocaine scandal, was still unknown in 1976 as well. we knew who he was, because he was operating the carter campaign behind the scenes. 1976, the bicentennial year, was the year this happened, because carter was virtually unknown at that time, and was one of many candidates, but the lucky one, who happened to pull off a caucus victory that vaulted him to the presidency.

the problem is, i lived on the north side of iowa city at that time, and i don't even remember where my caucus was. it could have been at the elks club building, which was on the near north side somewhere. i just don't remember clearly.

when i lived on the south side, out by the armory, it was 1980. at that caucus, carter was already president; hamilton jordan was now well known. his main opponent was kennedy, who at one point, i heard. i remember the armory well. i remember that now, there was more focus on the caucuses; the world was watching.