By Melody Hanatani
Daily Press Staff Writer

DUBUQUE, IOWA In a crowded room illuminated by the flashing bulbs of news cameras and the cheers of political supporters, Nancy Linehan Charles finally came face-to-face with a former first lady.

Just three days earlier, the Santa Monica resident and Hollywood actress had joined Hillary Clinton’s campaign trail through the Iowa Caucus in hopes of helping the New York senator secure the Democratic nomination this summer.

It was Dec. 29 and Clinton was scheduled to make a speech at a campaign rally in Dubuque, a city located about three hours from the state capital. Charles, who has a role in the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” was among the supporters waiting for Clinton, in one hand clutching a poster she had promised to get autographed for a physically disabled girl lost in the crowd.

En route to the podium, the presidential candidate, with a broad smile on her face, stopped in front of Charles, and shook her hand.

“She was spectacular,” Charles said last week after returning from her excursion on the campaign trail.

Spending her holidays leaving warm Southern California, cold-calling hundreds of registered voters and spending hours out in the frigid temperatures knocking on doors wasn’t exactly what Charles envisioned.

But being involved in the political process is an experience Charles would never take back.

The opportunity came knocking on the door when Charles received a call from her older sister, Caryl Yontz, a retired lobbyist from Texas who occasionally provides political consulting for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

While Yontz was set to spend the holidays with her little sister, she received a call from the AFSCME camp in Iowa to receive her services for the Iowa Caucus. Unwilling to give up quality time with her family, Yontz asked Charles to come along, be a part of history.

But Charles was still undecided between Clinton, whom the AFSCME has endorsed, and Barack Obama.

The deciding factor was Bill Clinton, whom Charles has been a fan of since the former president was in the Oval Office, having met him once on the set of “Minority Report.”

“I thought (Hillary Clinton) is smart and she’s done a lot so I decided to go with her,” Charles said.

The sisters arrived in Illinois on Dec. 26 and a day later, they were in a Dubuque hotel, a copy of several hundred names in one hand and a telephone in another, going down the list making calls to encourage voters to head out to the polls and throw their support behind Clinton.

The week leading up to the caucus was a blur, filled with rallies, the voices of more than 400 people, some in support of Clinton, others tired of the negative campaigning, and countless faces met during door-to-door precinct walking, some voters untrusting, others inviting Charles into their home.

On Jan. 3, Charles participated in her first caucus, a unique experience for a person who had only participated in primaries where votes are private.

Charles observed the Democratic caucus in the town of Asbury, crammed into a room with 330 other people, split into support groups by candidate, the room was noisy as people debated which Democrat should come out victorious, some voters trying to persuade other voters from different camps to join their side.

She recalls watching an argument unfold between two brothers — one for Obama and the other for Clinton — both trying to get the other to join their side.

“I felt like I was back in pre-Revolutionary War America,” Charles said.

But as the evening progressed, it became more apparent that Clinton would not win. John Edwards ended up winning the most delegates from the Asbury caucus.

That night, after the votes were cast, Charles listened to Obama’s victory speech, one that has her reconsidering her allegiance.

The next day, the Clinton camp packed up and headed east to prepare for the New Hampshire caucus, putting the defeat of Iowa behind them, while Charles decided to go west, the past week becoming an unforgettable memory. It was time to go home.

melodyh@smdp.com