Suri Botuck was keen to listen to Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida ship his closing pitch to Iowans on Sunday in Cedar Rapids — however she didn’t caucus for him on Monday evening. Neither is she even from Iowa.
Ms. Botuck, 40, and her husband, Jacob Botuck, 42, hail from St. Louis, about 250 miles to the south. With 5 of their six youngsters in tow, they piled into the household’s 2009 Toyota Sienna at first mild on Sunday morning to take part in what she known as “caucus tourism,” a practice her household started throughout the Democratic main race 4 years in the past.
In 2020, the household attended occasions for Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Pete Buttigieg and Donald J. Trump. Each cease was meticulously documented in a photograph e-book she brings on their travels.
Why, precisely, do the Botucks journey up to now — with a big household in tow — to see a number of stump speeches?
Ms. Botuck mentioned she seen the journeys as extra than simply household outings. They’re an opportunity to interact with the political course of up shut. “My hope is that my youngsters will know they all the time must vote,” she mentioned.
This yr, the Botucks have been joined by Ms. Botuck’s sister, Rivka Friedman, 34, her husband and her 5 youngsters.
“As a lot as politics could be enjoyable, it’s additionally essential to us as a result of this stuff influence every thing,” Ms. Botuck mentioned, including that she discovered the marketing campaign occasions in Iowa to be “actually household pleasant.”
On Monday morning, the Botucks drove two hours to see Nikki Haley, the previous governor of South Carolina, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the rich entrepreneur, who dropped out of the race later that night following Trump’s decisive victory.
Ms. Botuck mentioned she had voted for Mr. Trump within the final go-round. “I like my low taxes, I like my peace in Israel, I like my faculty alternative,” she mentioned.
Her husband, whom she described as “extra of a libertarian,” solid a symbolic write-in vote for the American economist and statistician Milton Friedman, who died practically twenty years in the past.
Whereas Ms. Botuck hasn’t determined whom she’s going to vote for in Missouri’s main, she mentioned Mr. DeSantis was a robust contender. The Florida governor, she mentioned, “has an excellent backbone and doesn’t care what individuals suppose.”
She additionally mentioned she appreciated the prospect of Mr. DeSantis as Mr. Trump’s working mate, one thing the governor has dominated out. “I’d like to see a joint ticket,” she mentioned.
After Trump’s first-place end, the Botucks have been headed to the DeSantis get together. When requested in regards to the former president’s win, Ms. Botuck mentioned of the DeSantis marketing campaign, “I’m positive they actually have been ready for that.”
