Others focus on antics; we will focus on you
A popular Google search during this week’s Democratic presidential debate was ‘Who is Brianne Pfannenstiel?’
Excellent question. Pfannenstiel is the chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register, which hosted this week’s debate along with CNN. She has crisscrossed the state along with the candidates courting Iowa’s caucus voters. And Tuesday night, sitting next to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Abby Phillip, she pressed them on issues important to Iowans.
Search interest in Pfannenstiel jumped 4,900% from the start to the end of the debate, according to Google Trends.
She used her platform well: “As a local reporter, I think it’s important to be a voice for the people in my community and ask questions on their behalf,” she says.
The Des Moines Register is part of the USA TODAY Network, one of 260 daily publications in the Gannett company. We tell the story of America, every day, one community at a time.
“Climate change in particular is an issue that Iowa Democrats tell us is top of mind – especially after a year of recordbreaking flooding that ravaged the state,” Pfannenstiel says. “And in the weeks leading up to the debate I ... regularly heard Iowans voice concerns about access to quality, affordable child care.”
At USA TODAY, we gather these insights from reporters in Phoenix and Indianapolis, Detroit to El Paso not only to cover the 2020 election, but also to elevate what matters most to voters.
Annah Aschbrenner is the USA TODAY Network’s 2020 election editor. She was in the debate’s press room Tuesday night. It was in a Drake University gym.
Half the room was filled with rows of crowded work stations littered with empty popcorn bags, Starbucks cups and packets of Advil. (Oranges lay unopened.)
The other half of the room was abuzz with campaign workers touting their candidate’s performance – the “spin” room.
More than 500 journalists were reporting on the action. Aschbrenner sat away from the fray.
“I want to tell the stories of the people who will be deciding this election, and I want to tell the stories of the issues that drive them,” she says. “And not what we hear on TV, some of the things that sort of rile us up and divide us, but real issues that impact people’s lives every day.
“And what are these candidates going to do about it? What are the things they think they can change?”
The Iowa caucuses are Monday, Feb. 3. The Register has been covering the lead-up for the past 14 months.
“John Delaney announced his candidacy for president in 2017,” says Register Editor Carol Hunter. “We really started covering the caucus lead-up heavily in late 2018.”
Her goal: “We want Iowans to learn things that will help them make a decision.”
Our goal: To make it easier for all Americans to make informed decisions – and register to vote.
We are partnering with vote.org to help readers check their voter registration or register to vote.
Go to vote.usatoday.com. You’ll see this push in our stories, our newsletters, on social, in videos. We’re going to be obnoxious about it. We want to register 150,000 voters.
The U.S. ranks 26th of 32 highly developed nations for the percentage of the voting-age population who took part in their most recent national election, the Pew Research Center reports.
The report also states that only about 64% of the U.S voting-age population (70% of voting-age citizens) is registered to vote.
We’re here to do our part – from Des Moines to D.C.:
❚ Find out how the 2020 presidential candidates plan to tackle health care, climate change, gun violence and more at voterguide.usatoday.com.
❚ We’re not as divided as you think. Learn about areas where we agree more than disagree at hiddencommonground.usatoday.com.
❚ And get the truth at FactCheck.usatoday.com, where we’ll explain issues and statements in the news.
In a noisy political world, we’ll be an oasis of clarity. In a time of spin, we’ll arm you with information. When others are focused on antics, we’ll be focused on you.
“It’s not hyperbole to say this election will affect the lives of millions of people,” Aschbrenner says. “We take our responsibility seriously.”
Thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting USA TODAY. To receive this column as a newsletter, visit newsletters.usatoday.com and subscribe to The Backstory.
“I want to tell the stories of the people who will be deciding this election ... not what we hear on TV, some of the things that sort of rile us up and divide us . ... ” Annah Aschbrenner USA TODAY Network election editor