All's Fair at the Fair
Aug. 15th, 2012 07:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23I loved the Fair last year, as it was right before the Ames Straw Poll, and so it was filled with politicos and journalists. The Soapbox,. of course, being my favorite where front runners, people without a chance, and people who fall in both categories (Newt) stood and talked in front of the people, without a rope, if you will.
I barely looked at the schedule this year, noting all the state's biggest names were going to be there, but none provided much potential (outside of a Socialist Workers candidate running for a state house seat. that might have been fun).
Both Romney and Obama had booths in the Varied Industries Building, sat across from each other, and in amidst the tables of various colleges, 'As Seen on TV'-style kitchen appliances, hot tubs, and the rest.
At the GOP table, you could enter your name and info in to win a pair of tickets for Iowa's biggest sporting event, the Iowa vs Iowa State football game. At the Democratic tent, the contest was to win Obama gear. I considered this a victory for Obama (Romney having to go to great lengths to get supporters) though I wasn't sure. A friend who is a lifelong Democrat heard my story and said he might head back to the fair just for the chance to win the Iowa/ISU tickets, so I guess the advantage is Romney's.
We all know how Paul Ryan's speech on the soapbox went- heckled and leaving without talking to the media; but the President visited the fair next.
Well, come to find out, you can't just do anything when you are the President. For starters, Health-conscious Michelle forbade Barack from eating a deep-fried twinkie. Then the Fair barred Barry from the Bumper cars. Sure, he had rode on them four years before, but as President, the Fair just wasn't going to take any chances.
While Ryan's fair appearance was a misstep, Obama's looked to be successful as he had a Pork Chop and a Beer. Of course, Beer Tent owner Mike Cunningham criticized the President by saying the revenue he lost from having to close his shop for a couple of hours wasn't worth the trouble. Obama ended up buying the first ten people in the area a beer on him, and shooing business Cunningham's way.
Cunningham (a Republican) claims at the end of the day, he lost $25,000 because the Prez preferred a Busch to a Smoothie. Still, other tent owners in the area said the Presidential visit had no effect on their sales.
Still, if you need the talking point, here goes. Obama loathes free enterprise. He hates small businesses and small business owners. This was all an evil ploy to stick it to the little guy. Beergate. Now go and disperse.
Obama's next iowa appearance was less controversial, and Obama dished on the secret White House brewery.
The revelation came incidentally, when a man at the Knoxville coffee shop where Obama stopped today somehow got the president onto the subject of beer, and Obama noted that a sample of the White House’s home brew was just outside.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Obama gave the man a full bottle of said beer, retrieved from the bus.
In a press gaggle a short time later, White House Spokesman Jay Carney took several questions about the beer, some which he could answer, others he could not.
The beer comes in two varieties, light and dark, Carney said. He has personally sampled the lighter brew, and declared it “refreshing.”
“It is superb,” he said. “It is quite good.”
Does the president himself drink the beer? Indeed he does, Carney said.
And why wasn’t the ultra-local ale served at the famed beer summit at the White House in 2009? Because that was before the brewing began he said.
So, nothing controversial, just an interesting tidbit. Except for maybe "President Compromises national Security; Reveals Heretofore Secret Brewery" or "President Takes Money From the Hands of American Microbrewers". Ok, you got it. Disperse.
I barely looked at the schedule this year, noting all the state's biggest names were going to be there, but none provided much potential (outside of a Socialist Workers candidate running for a state house seat. that might have been fun).
Both Romney and Obama had booths in the Varied Industries Building, sat across from each other, and in amidst the tables of various colleges, 'As Seen on TV'-style kitchen appliances, hot tubs, and the rest.
At the GOP table, you could enter your name and info in to win a pair of tickets for Iowa's biggest sporting event, the Iowa vs Iowa State football game. At the Democratic tent, the contest was to win Obama gear. I considered this a victory for Obama (Romney having to go to great lengths to get supporters) though I wasn't sure. A friend who is a lifelong Democrat heard my story and said he might head back to the fair just for the chance to win the Iowa/ISU tickets, so I guess the advantage is Romney's.
We all know how Paul Ryan's speech on the soapbox went- heckled and leaving without talking to the media; but the President visited the fair next.
Well, come to find out, you can't just do anything when you are the President. For starters, Health-conscious Michelle forbade Barack from eating a deep-fried twinkie. Then the Fair barred Barry from the Bumper cars. Sure, he had rode on them four years before, but as President, the Fair just wasn't going to take any chances.
While Ryan's fair appearance was a misstep, Obama's looked to be successful as he had a Pork Chop and a Beer. Of course, Beer Tent owner Mike Cunningham criticized the President by saying the revenue he lost from having to close his shop for a couple of hours wasn't worth the trouble. Obama ended up buying the first ten people in the area a beer on him, and shooing business Cunningham's way.
Cunningham (a Republican) claims at the end of the day, he lost $25,000 because the Prez preferred a Busch to a Smoothie. Still, other tent owners in the area said the Presidential visit had no effect on their sales.
Still, if you need the talking point, here goes. Obama loathes free enterprise. He hates small businesses and small business owners. This was all an evil ploy to stick it to the little guy. Beergate. Now go and disperse.
Obama's next iowa appearance was less controversial, and Obama dished on the secret White House brewery.
The revelation came incidentally, when a man at the Knoxville coffee shop where Obama stopped today somehow got the president onto the subject of beer, and Obama noted that a sample of the White House’s home brew was just outside.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Obama gave the man a full bottle of said beer, retrieved from the bus.
In a press gaggle a short time later, White House Spokesman Jay Carney took several questions about the beer, some which he could answer, others he could not.
The beer comes in two varieties, light and dark, Carney said. He has personally sampled the lighter brew, and declared it “refreshing.”
“It is superb,” he said. “It is quite good.”
Does the president himself drink the beer? Indeed he does, Carney said.
And why wasn’t the ultra-local ale served at the famed beer summit at the White House in 2009? Because that was before the brewing began he said.
So, nothing controversial, just an interesting tidbit. Except for maybe "President Compromises national Security; Reveals Heretofore Secret Brewery" or "President Takes Money From the Hands of American Microbrewers". Ok, you got it. Disperse.
