Making his fifth foray into Iowa since the 2000 election, U.S. Sen. John Edwards took part in a time-honored tradition Saturday as he glad-handed his way around the Iowa State Fair, competing for attention with giant butter sculptures, a 3,000-pound bull and midway delicacies including big steer burgers and deep-fried candy bars.
The North Carolina Democrat’s appearance in Des Moines was part of a three-day swing through the nation’s first state scheduled to hold a presidential nominating contest in 2004.
Edwards’ previous visits to Iowa have been built around speeches to Democratic activists and constituency groups, but his itinerary this time also includes some attempts to gain broader exposure among everyday residents. He departed on Sunday afternoon after an appearance at an Iowa Cubs minor league baseball game.
“He’s doing the very kind of things you need to do to get known at this stage of the process,” said Jim Larew, an Iowa City lawyer who hosted an outdoor gathering featuring Edwards earlier Saturday.
“My sense is that the playing field is wide open and people are eager to listen to a variety of voices. There were certainly some moments today where he really connected.”
Though the Iowa caucuses are still 17 months away, a half-dozen Democrats — most better-known than Edwards — are actively jockeying for position. Two others, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, made visits to Iowa two weeks ago that included appearances at the fair. So, too, did President Bush, contributing to a heavy week of political coverage in The Des Moines Register and other Iowa media.
Edwards, who is fashioning his appeal as a fresh face who can compete in Southern states, arrived Friday in Davenport, on the eastern side of the state. He started making his way west through Iowa’s gently rolling cornfields and past places such as “the world’s largest truck stop” en route to Des Moines, the centrally located capital and site of the fair.
Edwards’ trip included several events that — at least technically — are designed to help Iowa politicians on the ballot this year.
Edwards, for example, stood in for U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin at a pair of fund-raisers for the Iowa Democrat’s re-election campaign. At the first of those, held Friday night in a basement in a middle-class neighborhood in Clinton, Iowa, it wasn’t long before Edwards was asked whether he plans to be a presidential contender in 2004.
“There is a possibility,” he dead-panned, generating a smattering of applause from a crowd of about 40 people, which included Harkin’s two daughters.
At a similar event Saturday morning in Iowa City, Edwards drew sustained cheers with calls to roll back part of President Bush’s tax cut, to provide medical benefits to uninsured children and to spend more federal money on education.
He also repeated his support for toppling Saddam Hussein but cautioned that a case needs to be made to the U.S. public and that removing the Iraqi leader may require occupying the country for some period of time while new leadership is put in place.
Many at the event, held on the lawn of a leafy home in the university community, were seeing Edwards for the first time and seemed eager to size him up.
Maria Stadtmueller, a graduate student, approached Edwards to talk about the environment, among the issues that matter most to her.
“I checked you out on the League of Conservation Voters Web site, and they gave you high marks,” she told Edwards. “I hope you keep it up.”
Edwards was quick to recount how he had recently lobbed some tough questions at a Bush administration environmental official during a Senate hearing.
Although Edwards may have been scoring points with activists, his visit also underscored what an unknown quantity he remains in Iowa.
Edwards was ushered around the fair Saturday night by Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver, who is viewed as a rising star among Democrats in the state.
While a couple of photographers clicked away and Culver made periodic introductions, most fairgoers clearly had no idea who either man was.
Several could be overhead asking a friend or companion, “Who’s that?”
Among them was Austin Blank, an 18-year-old from Des Moines, who decided to ask one of the photographers who his subject was.
Upon hearing this, Edwards quickly introduced himself.
“It kind of freaked me out that he shook my hand so suddenly,” Blank said a few moments after Edwards had disappeared down the midway.
The senator seemed to be enjoying himself, as Culver led him by a booth promoting Democratic candidates, into a horse show competition and then — at Edwards’ request— to an exhibit of a life-size cow made out of butter. Buttery characters from the comic strip “Peanuts” were stationed nearby.
Before leaving for a dinner reception featuring several former Chicago Cubs all-stars, Edwards snagged a vanilla ice cream cone at a booth sponsored by the Iowa Dairy Farmers.
Only a tiny percentage of fairgoers will wind up participating in the Iowa caucuses, which party leaders expect to draw about 80,000 to 100,000 of the party’s most faithful in January 2004.
For them, one of the largest unanswered questions is whether Al Gore will run again in 2004. He has been absent from Iowa all summer and has no plans to return before October — a development that has many in Iowa befuddled about his intentions. Gore has indicated he’ll make a decision by the end of the year.
Like many who will participate in the Iowa caucuses in January 2004, Polly Bukta, a state legislator, said she is still assessing several of the Democratic aspirants.
“I’m just going to keep talking, listening and eliminating,” she said, noting that at this point she could see herself supporting any one of four potential candidates.
Edwards “is definitely one of them,” said Bukta, who attended the event in Clinton. “He’s very presidential looking, for one thing.”
John Wagner is Washington correspondent for The News & Observer of Raleigh.
