With presidential campaign headquarters in Iowa scrambling to prepare for the first caucus of this election season, the last thing they want are strangers stopping by their office.

So when Syracuse University alumnus Justin Robert Young, who created the political card game The Contender with John Teasdale, dropped off boxes of the game at every candidate’s headquarters, many weren’t exactly pleased.

“Some campaigns are super excited to see you and to get a free game, and they’re super excited that you came in, and some of them are the absolute opposite,” Young said. He added that some act as if they’d like to say, “Thank you for your game, we’re going to inspect it for anthrax and make sure someone trails you out of the parking lot.”

After The Contender’s successful Kickstarter campaign ended in August 2015 with 950 percent it’s target amount raised, Young continued on the political trail and left his day job to start the one-man podcast “Politics Politics Politics” in October.

Young, who is originally from California, traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday with Teasdale, co-creator of the game, to promote The Contender and get closer to the topics he’s covering in the podcast.

With Monday’s Iowa caucus marking the start of the 2016 primary and caucus season, Young said this is where the fun of the race really starts.

“Politics Politics Politics” brings humor to the political sphere in a way that’s different to most shows. Instead of punchlines that call out the other side’s stupidity, Young said he looks at the “inherent silliness” of everything.

The entire podcast can be summed up in the “poll dance” segment, Young said. In one of the most popular parts of the show, he takes on the voice of a strip club DJ and reads results from the latest polls in a way that makes them sound more exciting than they actually are.

“It’s the spirit animal for the ‘Politics Politics Politics show,’” Young said.

Young said he keeps the show impartial, equally criticizing and defending candidates on both sides of the aisle. He chalks this up to the fact that he loves politics but really doesn’t care about government itself; he’s more interested in the horse race than watching a bill become a law.

Des Moines is the place to be for self-proclaimed politics nerds like Teasdale and Young. When candidates arrived for the Jan. 28 Fox News GOP debate, media sources flooded in to cover it and the caucus. Young said he can’t turn on the radio or TV without being flooded by political ads.

This is especially great for Young, as he said campaign ads are one of his favorite things to dissect on the show.

“It’s like the McRib of television art,” Young said. “It’s not around all the time but when it is, I can’t get it fast enough.”

Attack ads are especially interesting, as candidates say things that could start a bar fight and then respectfully acknowledge each other the next day in a debate, Young said.

But no matter what presidential candidates do, if it gets people talking, Young will probably discuss it on “Politics Politics Politics.” He’s always excited to see what attention-seeking stunts candidates will pull next, especially since so many things they do, don’t fit their personalities.

“This has definitely been the election where, because Obama won twice, everyone wants to put out a backwards hat and out-skateboard each other, everyone wants to write the first all-emoji State of the Union,” Young said.

With so many media sources spotlighting Iowa, there’s always an outlet for candidates to try and revamp their image. But this hub of media attention also makes Iowa the perfect place to promote the Contender and build content for “Politics Politics Politics.”

Young and Teasdale have kept busy during downtime between the debate and the caucus. They’ve stopped at every candidate’s office to drop off games and worked to generate media attention. Right now, The Contender can only be bought online, but a store in Des Moines placed the first wholesale order so it can sell the game in stores.

“We’re definitely running our own mini campaign around the great state of Iowa,” Teasdale said.

But today, caucus day, Teasdale and Young are ready to just enjoy the craziness of politics.

Published on January 31, 2016 at 9:36 pm

Contact Kathryn: kjkrawcz@syr.edu | @kathrynkrawczyk