Mixing free food, free goodies, free entertainment, political activism, large crowds, and candidates desperate for votes makes for a unique experience under any circumstance, but the circus that is the Ames Straw Poll beats anything I’ve ever seen. Wandering through the University of Iowa grounds with my trusty Canon Digital Rebel, I did my best to capture the sights. Here is my experience in chronological order:
The bus to Ames we were on was packed with self proclaimed “terrorists” and “hobbits” who had so much fun together it should have been outlawed. Maybe I shouldn’t have written that, the government might get ideas.
Once we were disembarked, we found some of the campaigns had volunteers to greet us at the entrance to the grounds. First up were from the Rick Santorum campaign.
This gal from the Ron Paul volunteers was happy to smile for the camera.
There was a small stage with flood lights that messed with my first attempt to photograph these two gentlemen from the Tim Pawlenty campaign. They didn’t hesitate to move to a better position when asked. Having a big camera confers unusual power, I found out.
This is Jerry Lanser, one of what I call “micro-candidates” running for President. He was handing out business cards and was very frustrated at being barred from the debate. There were more like him who don’t have a prayer, but Mr. Lanser was the only one I was able to talk to.
Michelle Bachmann had a lot of gals walking around to show her colors. Her organization was very impressive.
A couple of volunteers from the Herman Cain campaign. He’s my favorite candidate and doesn’t have much of a chance at the nomination. I have to say his supporters were the mellowest of the bunch there.
You see a lot of advocacy groups at the Straw Poll, but this year it was amazing how much “green” energy groups dominated. While the Iowa Republicans were enthusiastic about it, many of the people attending from out of state weren’t.
Patch.com was there and I had no clue what they were about. Looking at their website, it appears to be a social network with news and views oriented around community hubs.
The Faith Family Freedom Fund had their Values Bus there. You guessed it, they promote family values.
Citizens United Productions were selling DVDs from this tent. Traffic was a little higher later in the day. No doubt it was hard to compete with the freebies being given away.
Another vendor was selling T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers. Oddly there were no free bumper stickers being given away by candidates or advocacy groups, which is the norm at big political gatherings.
Mike Huckabee was everywhere and I managed to miss him every time. But his people from his PAC were all over the place. He hasn’t lost any of his popularity in Iowa.
The NRA presence was much bigger than in 2007. Even bigger was its popularity, people were swarming the tents. Fortunately for me, I got there early enough to score one of the extremely popular blaze orange NRA hats they were giving to new members. Good thing I mentioned I was a lifetime member or I wouldn’t have gotten the hat.
Another micro-candidate was Fred Karger. Having no clue who he was, I looked up his web site. Karger is extremely far left socially and his only claim to fame is that he’s the only gay Republican running for president. Running on a platform lowering the voting age to 16, legalizing marijuana, federal gay marriage, and amnesty for illegals isn’t going to get you far. I wonder what goes through some of these candidates’ heads.
Across from the NRA tents was the Iowa Gun Owners tent. Like the NRA tent it ended up getting huge traffic as the day went on.
The National Association for Gun Rights was there and got decent traffic, but nothing like the NRA. They are a more recent rival to the NRA and formed by people who didn’t think the NRA was right wing enough.
The bulk of the candidates were in back of the coliseum where the actual vote takes place. The busiest tent there was Bachmann’s and I never did get decent photos since I vowed not to stand in any lines. Her bus was parked outside the huge air conditioned tent.
Drifting above the massive tent was a balloon. At first I though it had come unmoored but discovered there was another line besides the one with streamers. My 18-55mm IS lens did a good job and I never had to get the big lens out.
I finally found Herman Cain’s tents when I spotted the bus.
Cain never had the huge crowds Bachmann and Santorum had in the same lot, but I saw a lot of supporters from other campaigns avidly watch him speak. I never heard a disparaging word about him and suspect he was the number two choice for many of them. Cain even sang a couple of gospel tunes and was accompanied by Mike Huckabee on base guitar on one of them.
Cain and McCotter both had inflatable rubber rooms for the little kids, which I thought was a nice touch. There were a lot of young families in attendance.
To get in Bachmann’s tent, you had to stand in line and get a paper bracelet taped around your wrist. This did not deter people and I later heard she had bussed in 6000 supporters. I can’t verify that but it looked like that many. Like mentioned before, she had the best organization on the grounds.
To be continued…
