Off to See the Circus

It is that strange time again in politics when the straw poll is held in Ames, Iowa. I’ll be heading to the Twin Cities today to catch a bus down there on Saturday if all goes according to plan. That’s something that could change, but I’m going ahead anyway.

Describing the Ames Straw Poll as a circus is pretty accurate. In 2007, I went there to see it first hand and how the Fairtax pavilion was doing. If you have ever gone to a county or state fair, you have a good idea of what it is like. The only difference is that almost everything is free.

For some reason, I failed to blog about it four years ago in 2007. So here are a few pictures with some hazy memories to accompany them.

Entering the grounds it looks just like a county fair.

Every candidate had their own pavilion. There was live music later at Mitt Romney’s which was a very posh setup.

Mike Huckabee’s wasn’t as elaborate, but got a lot more attention.

Tommy Thompson’s run fizzled shortly after this but the bikers who came out in force for him made an impression while driving there. They were a fun bunch.

Tom Tancredo failed to drum up much excitement. This time around he’s sitting out and sniping at Perry over illegal immigration issues. Perry isn’t as conservative as people believe he is.

John Cox was one of the micro candidates who show up at affairs like this – desperately hoping to gain any kind of traction. Hardly anybody was there.

Ron Paul supporters were ever present and stridently marched around shouting his name to drown out other candidates interviews with reporters or discussions with others. As you can see, there is a heavy hippie influence. Some people were very uptight around Paul’s supporters and you could see they were afraid of them. Not a good impression.

Duncan Hunter had an Elvis impersonator performing. Make your own jokes here.

C-Span made a big deal about having their bus there. I don’t remember getting to see what the fuss was about.

Lance Armstrong’s charity was there. Why? I have no clue.

I have even less of a clue what they were about.

There was no escaping the Ron Paul presence. Nowhere was safe. Nowhere.

Over at the Fairtax pavilion, we had a Ferris wheel giving rides. It was a heavily trafficked pavilion.

One of the less crowded moments in the pavilion. I saw a lot of families in there and the atmosphere was good.

Uncle Sam costumes are always popular at these events.

You see some strange sights at political gatherings.

This is the closest I got to a crowd shot. I was so busy trying to get photos of specific things that I failed to capture just how many people were there. One of these days I should get a wide angle lens.

It was hot down there and misting fans were very popular. A good idea by the Fairtax bunch.

That’s what it looked like in 2007. I wonder what I’ll find tomorrow? At least I’ll have a better camera this time.