Iowa’s quadrennial moment in the political sun, the hype surrounding the nation’s presidential caucus, began early and inauspiciously Monday in a bus parked west of the Communications Building.

The Campaign 2008 bus, a part of C-SPAN’s Road to the White House program, began broadcasting its cross-country journey Sunday in Des Moines.

The mobile radio studio stopped at Iowa State to broadcast an episode of WOI’s “Talk of Iowa” radio program hosted by Katherine Perkins featuring ISU professor of political science Steffen Schmidt and New Hampshire political commentator Arnie Arnesen.

The topic of the day was a breakdown of the issues and personalities already shaping next year’s presidential race in Iowa and New Hampshire, states whose early primaries make them crucial in the campaign.

Iowa’s own candidate, former Gov. Tom Vilsack, came into conversation only a handful of times as the panel discussed several topics including diversity in the field of Democratic hopefuls. Announced candidates already include a woman, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, whose father is African-American.

Schmidt said Clinton, who has yet to visit Iowa, may be following a more long-term campaign plan and faces many additional challenges in addition to making a good showing in Iowa.

“If Hillary comes in fourth in Iowa she is not going to say, ‘I lost, I’m quitting,'” Schmidt said.

Obama appeared in Iowa before forming his exploratory committee, making a campaign speech for Gov. Chet Culver. The commentators were uncertain what role Obama’s race would play, but Arnesen said his status as a relative outsider could be an asset.

“The attractiveness is of Barack Obama is that he is incredibly cordial, he speaks well and he is virtually unknown,” Arnesen said.

Looking beyond the early primaries, Arnesen said an important element of capturing the general election will be generating a sense of excitement.

“There is a yearning for passion, and the question becomes this: Which candidate can not only raise the cash, but ignite the passion?” Arnesen said.

Conversation also turned to the role and impact of young people. Schmidt said young voters, especially college students, are important for contributing their passion to a race, but their voting habits will continue to limit their role in campaign strategy.

“If you count on students to win the nomination or to get elected, you’re going to be a sore loser because students don’t participate in these things much,” Schmidt said.

Arnesen discussed a recent survey showing more college students identify themselves with a major party. The commentators agreed this is a step in the right direction toward young people making an impact in politics.

“They are seeing now that being a no-party person is essentially standing by the side of the road watching all the exciting stuff happen and then having a chance in November to go and vote for somebody that somebody else picked for you,” Schmidt said.