All's Fair at the Fair (Slight Return)
Aug. 21st, 2012 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Last year, the Iowa State fair was the place for politicians- taking place a week before the Ames Straw Poll- it was the place to be, and the Soapbox specifically was where you could meet the people.
It's those hopeless dreamers who have no chance who make the best Soapbox speakers. Usually, they look like this.
So, little wonder I was most looking forward to David Rosenfeld (pictured above), running for a Congress seat in a redrawn district that pits two incumbents against each other. The Des Moines Register breaks his speech down.
He gathered a crowd of two (an elderly man and an young boy). Of course, the State Fair is all about foot traffic, and the Register reports that one stopped to cheer him 9as he defended freedom of speech) and one stopped to yell obscenities at him.
Of course, Rosenfeld's stop was overshadowed by the Big Boys. There was Paul Ryan being shouted at, whether it was asking if he was going to cut medicare, or simply being called a 'f---ing disgrace'.
Even that wasn't the biggest Fair story.
That was Beergate.
Beer Tent owner and registered Republican Mike Cunningham claimed that Obama cost him $25,000 in beer sales.
I covered this in a previous post, but I feel it is deserving of some follow-up (as done by The Register's Kyle Munson), so here's some back story on the Obama "stealin' my $25,000" and some facts around the Shutting of Bud Tent 123.
-Cunningham's only complaints seem to come after the visit and Sen. Grassley's attention. Before meeting Obama, he greeted Barack with a "Save water, Drink Beer" t-shirt
-The Bud Tent was closed just over two hours.
-The nearbyJalapeno Pete's (another permanent beer-selling fixture at the Fair) aid he saw no effect in sales due to the President
-Cunningham was allowed to set up his own temporary beer stand near Hairball (think "Rock of Ages") to recoup some of his sales. Cunningham claims that the President's event coinciding with the wildly popular local Hairball was a big cause of his financial loss. The Fair also let him discount his beer to $4 from $6 on the next night of the fair.
-Beer sales are done by tickets, so $25,000 in beer sales comes out to 4,166 beers ( 1beer = 1 ticket) or a few thousand beers (2 tickets = 1 larger beer option)
-The Bud Tent hands over 17.5% of their profits to the Fair. Last year, they paid $105,875 for ten days including two weekends.
Of course, one expects those political stories from the candidates' visits. still, there was one more Fair story, and unexpectedly, it came from the Main Stage.
Hank Williams Jr. has slowly moved towards the deep end in the last few years, and may have capped that Blue Collar patriotism with this nugget. "We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US – and we hate him!"
I probably shouldn't be mad at Bocephus. He is the father and the son of two of my all-time favorite artists. Besides, country radio doesn't play anyone over 40 (let alone 60) so the job of "Right Wing Nutjob" is a fairly lucrative one all things considered.
Still, I can only imagine this plays to an audience that already thinks that stuff (Hates farming? Really?), and those disagree with Hank Jr aren't likely to change their mind, and those that agree probably don't think Mitt's a Christian either.
It's those hopeless dreamers who have no chance who make the best Soapbox speakers. Usually, they look like this.
So, little wonder I was most looking forward to David Rosenfeld (pictured above), running for a Congress seat in a redrawn district that pits two incumbents against each other. The Des Moines Register breaks his speech down.
He gathered a crowd of two (an elderly man and an young boy). Of course, the State Fair is all about foot traffic, and the Register reports that one stopped to cheer him 9as he defended freedom of speech) and one stopped to yell obscenities at him.
Of course, Rosenfeld's stop was overshadowed by the Big Boys. There was Paul Ryan being shouted at, whether it was asking if he was going to cut medicare, or simply being called a 'f---ing disgrace'.
Even that wasn't the biggest Fair story.
That was Beergate.
Beer Tent owner and registered Republican Mike Cunningham claimed that Obama cost him $25,000 in beer sales.
I covered this in a previous post, but I feel it is deserving of some follow-up (as done by The Register's Kyle Munson), so here's some back story on the Obama "stealin' my $25,000" and some facts around the Shutting of Bud Tent 123.
-Cunningham's only complaints seem to come after the visit and Sen. Grassley's attention. Before meeting Obama, he greeted Barack with a "Save water, Drink Beer" t-shirt
-The Bud Tent was closed just over two hours.
-The nearbyJalapeno Pete's (another permanent beer-selling fixture at the Fair) aid he saw no effect in sales due to the President
-Cunningham was allowed to set up his own temporary beer stand near Hairball (think "Rock of Ages") to recoup some of his sales. Cunningham claims that the President's event coinciding with the wildly popular local Hairball was a big cause of his financial loss. The Fair also let him discount his beer to $4 from $6 on the next night of the fair.
-Beer sales are done by tickets, so $25,000 in beer sales comes out to 4,166 beers ( 1beer = 1 ticket) or a few thousand beers (2 tickets = 1 larger beer option)
-The Bud Tent hands over 17.5% of their profits to the Fair. Last year, they paid $105,875 for ten days including two weekends.
Of course, one expects those political stories from the candidates' visits. still, there was one more Fair story, and unexpectedly, it came from the Main Stage.
Hank Williams Jr. has slowly moved towards the deep end in the last few years, and may have capped that Blue Collar patriotism with this nugget. "We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US – and we hate him!"
I probably shouldn't be mad at Bocephus. He is the father and the son of two of my all-time favorite artists. Besides, country radio doesn't play anyone over 40 (let alone 60) so the job of "Right Wing Nutjob" is a fairly lucrative one all things considered.
Still, I can only imagine this plays to an audience that already thinks that stuff (Hates farming? Really?), and those disagree with Hank Jr aren't likely to change their mind, and those that agree probably don't think Mitt's a Christian either.
