Speed Matters catches on as presidential campaign issue in Iowa

Access to high-speed Internet service isn't a major campaign issue like the war in Iraq or health care -- but voters are beginning to hear from presidential candidates why Speed Matters thanks to CWA activists who are taking the union's campaign to the candidates. This week, at a campaign stop in Iowa, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said CWA's Speed Matters' campaign is crucial to building a "strong America" where "small towns. . . have the ability to compete."

"All of us need to be out there pounding the bully pulpit and make sure that America understands how important it is to build out high speed Internet to everywhere in America," Edwards told the crowd of 400 who jammed the high-school gym in Exira, population 810. He said the very survival of small town America depends on their residents – workers, health care providers, and schools – having "access to the same technology" that is available in the nation's cities and suburbs.

Edwards, who has made high-speed Internet a major element of his program to revitalize the rural economy, pledged to "find those places in America where access to high-speed Internet is lacking, map them, and build out high-speed internet in all those places."

In Iowa, a cadre of Speed Matters' activists made up of active members and retirees from CWA Local 7108 have blanketed this key presidential campaign state, meeting with and educating the candidates and their staffs about CWA's message. All of the candidates have pledged support for Speed Matters, and recently, CWA activists met with the staffs of Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joseph Biden to discuss the candidates' focus on the issue at upcoming events in the state.

CWA's message is reaching into the classroom as well. A junior high school teacher in Strawberry Point, Iowa, is using CWA's Speed Matters booklet as part of a recent homework assignment where students have been instructed to test the speed of their Internet connections at home. "Our activism is paying off in getting this issue out to the candidates and before the voters," said CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach. "Voters in small towns are connecting with Speed Matters because high-speed Internet is critical to their remaining competitive," he said.