Iowa ( CNN ) -- The day did not start well . Lightning , thunder and torrential rain poured down over Bloomfield , Iowa , where I had come to watch a civil war reenactment . In 1864 , here in Davis County , the Confederates made one of their most daring and northerly guerrilla raids of the war . Each year , enthusiasts from the Unionists and Confederates remember that battle . Amtrak train : No better way to connect with U.S. voters . I have chosen to leave Amtrak 's California Zephyr train in Iowa , because this swing state is in play -- with President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney jockeying for the lead . While Iowa 's six Electoral College votes may be few , at this stage of the campaign every one counts . And Iowa has split the last 10 elections five to five Republican and Democrat ( although more Democrat since 1988 ) . Crucially it has voted for the winner in seven of those ten races . This swing state could be a barometer of the way other swing states are trending . So I am at the battle ground , watching the men and women dressed in period costumes and waiting for the storms to subside ( they will fight in the rain , but holding metal tipped muskets in the air is too dangerous with lightning ) .The attention to detail is impressive . Honest Abe 's 19th century wisdom for 20th century problem . The players each have individual characters and play them with gusto , rarely coming out of role . One soldier would only answer me as if we were still in 1861 . Another believed Abraham Lincoln had the right answers for today too . With muskets set aside , it soon became clear why this is a swing state . A Unionist soldier said it was only now that people like him were really focusing on their choices . His Confederate rival bemoaned the deceit in the campaign , which made it hard to know who was telling the truth . And the civil war nurse , tending to her potions and lotions , admitted it was hard to know who was best . American Quest begins in Obama country . At the core of the election , all agreed , was the role of government in America . Getting government `` out of our lives '' was the constant refrain . Government had gone too far , they believed . `` A return to the Constitution '' was needed I was told , again and again . There needed to be more respect for individual freedoms . `` Government '' was the problem , not the solution . Nowhere was this more crystallized than on the issue of gun control . I would hardly expect men and women running around the Iowa countryside brandishing civil war weaponry to favor stricter gun laws , but they believed their `` right to bear arms , '' enshrined in the second amendment , was under threat . Although neither candidate has really taken up the issue of gun control , here there was a stronger anti-Obama tone . Romney was the candidate of choice . Amish life : An America without sound bites . This `` role of government '' theme is now at the heart of the election . It permeates all issues : Economic : Should the government have rescued the banks in 2008 ? Social : Is it the government 's business to legislate on marriage ? In commerce the phrase I keep hearing is , `` get government off the backs of business , '' and in issues seen as highly personal , the refrain is `` that 's none of the government 's damned business . '' Americans seem to want everything and nothing from their government at the same time . It is the great contradiction of this country , which makes covering its elections so fascinating . It is perfectly displayed on this civil war field in the views of the soldiers and their families . The U.S. election : The world looking in . In this battle both sides agreed to let the Confederates win , as they did in 1864 . Tomorrow it will be the Unionists ' turn to enjoy victory . I guarantee that the election for Iowa 's six electoral votes will see no such gentlemanly agreement . They will be fought for with the passion , but thankfully , not the violence of their predecessors . I wo n't be here to see Unionist victory . I have a train to catch . The horn of the California Zephyr is calling and Colorado is a night ride away .
CNN 's David Quest is in Davis County , where in 1864 the Confederates launched one of their most daring raids of the war . He is in the U.S. as part of American Quest , a series on the election airing from October 29 . Quest stops in Alabama because it is a swing state which often votes for the election winner . He finds the ` ` role of government '' theme is at the heart of the election , permeating all of the country 's issues .