The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Greetings From Iowa

Posted on | December 26, 2011 | 21 Comments

Aaron Rupp is an industrial control systems engineer from Cedar Rapids who sent me an e-mail yesterday wondering if I needed a ride from the airport. By the time I took off this morning from BWI, my plan had already progressed to include a 140-mile drive to Adel – clear on the other side of Des Moines – for a 4 p.m. “media availability” with Rick Santorum. If you’re going to impose on someone, I say, go ahead and really impose.

Right now, I’m typing this in the passenger seat while Aaron is driving his brand new Honda Civic with less than 9,000 miles on the odometer. I’m sure this car could hit 110 mph, but Aaron has this whole Midwestern law-abiding thing going on, so he refuses to push it past 80. He’s a Santorum supporter. All the high-speed reckless drivers in Iowa are probably backing Ron Paul. (Libertarians consider speed limits the first step on the road to fascism. And they’re right!)

There was a brief rumor this morning that Rep. Steve King might be preparing to endorse Santorum. However, Aaron tells me, staff for both King and Santorum have denied this rumor. We shall see.

OK – we just pulled off at a McDonald’s near I-80 so I could get online, check the news and get this posted. William Petroski of the Des Moines Register has the lowdown on today’s event:

U.S. Rep. Steve King, one of Iowa’s most prominent conservative politicians, is spending this afternoon hunting pheasants near Adel with former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum – their second hunting trip in the past three months.
But King, whose endorsement is highly sought by Republican presidential candidates, told the Des Moines Register he has no plans today to make an endorsement of Santorum or anyone else.
“I have not made a decision,” King said, acknowledging that time is running short before the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses. “There has not been a constitutional conservative to run away from the pack.”
King, who represents a heavily Republican congressional district in western Iowa, said he was joining Santorum at Doc’s Hunt Club near Adel because he and the candidate are good friends and because it offered a chance to give Santorum’s campaign some publicity. They were joined here by former Iowa State University wrestling coach Jim Gibbons of Perry, who has endorsed Santorum; Kevin Reynolds, the husband of Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds; Dave Funk, the Polk County Republican Party co-chair, and about a dozen other shotgun-toting pheasant hunters.
Santorum, who served two U.S. Senate terms from Pennsylvania, is scheduled to meet with reporters at 4 p.m. to discuss his campaign. Santorum and King had hunted together in October in northwest Iowa, and King has also hunted with Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

That’s as much as we know at this point. Time to get back on the road.

UPDATE: Linked by Zilla of the Resistance — thanks! — and welcome, Instapundit readers!

Meanwhile, Bill Quick at Daily Pundit has the answer to the question: “What Would Hunter Thompson Do?”


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Category: Election 2012, Fear and Loathing in Iowa, Iowa, Rick Santorum

Comments

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    Actually, the fascists conceived of the Autobahn without any speed limit, so the Ron Paul backers would be dead wrong, as usual.

    Thanks to Aaron for sacrificing his time and allowing his new car smell to be replaced by old fedora smell.   Just keep telling yourself, “It’s for the chiiiiiiiiiildren!”

  • http://twitter.com/richard_mcenroe richard mcenroe

    Well, Santorum’s proven he’s better for the conservative movement than Dick Cheney at least.  He didn’t shoot Steve King…

  • http://twitter.com/AmPowerBlog Donald Douglas

    Well, I got you linked up on my Ron Paul post, but I’m dropping this off for now, ‘cuz it’s smokin:  ‘Merry Christmas! Katy Perry Holiday Bikini Pictures!’.

  • http://evilbloggerlady.blogger.com/ EBL

    http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/santorum-surges/

    This might cheer you up Stacy.  Did someone step on the accelerator?  

  • http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/ EBL

    Good to have some good news about your guy!  

  • http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/EU5DQWQTTHTPO4A4ZYSL3AAV2U Adjoran

    The guy Cheney shot was a lawyer.  That’s good for everybody.

  • http://zillablog.marezilla.com Zilla of the Resistance

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  • http://profiles.google.com/jrumpelein John Rumpelein

    My car can do 150 without breaking a sweat, but really, unless you’re a criminal defense attorney, don’t ask me to do that on a public highway.  ;)

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Hopefully she’s wearing her make-up, as without it that is one ugly woman.

  • Jeffw

    If he was law-abiding he wouldn’t be doing 80…

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  • Tennwriter

    I’ve been in a Honda Civic that for a dare was taken up to 110 on Rideout Road near Huntsville, Alabama’s edge.  It rattled like it was beginning to think about flying apart.   Maybe it was a hundred fifteen.

    The same vehicle did do a hundred down the freeway through B’ham at times.

    But, of course, it was not anywhere near brand new when these feats of doubtful sense were accomplished.

  • Tennwriter

    Adjoran’s on a roll today.

  • http://twitter.com/richard_mcenroe richard mcenroe

    Had an old BMW R50/5 bike that I got up over 100 one night on the Southern State Parkway.  No idea HOW much since the analog speedometer needle was thrashing back and forth like Leopold Stokowski on meth.

    Finally found out what it takes to make a BMW vibrate, though.

  • Cedar Rapids Republican

    Pheasants are bad enough, wild turkeys are dangerous, but hitting Bambi at 110 mph could be lethal. When traveling Iowa’s Interstates, McDonalds is not the place to be for breakfast.
    Look for a grain elevator and an exit sign. Drive down Railroad St. or whatever the main drag maybe. Look for pickups parked around a cafe. Enter and order.
    You may not find wi-fi, but ask the locals about the current crop and futures market value of  potential presidents. You may learn more than that your laptop tells.
    Good to meet you. Good hunting. Your bag of stories have been a local lodge hall’s wild game feast.

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  • http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

    I had a ’64 Plymouth Belvedere that vibrated between 45 and 65, so I had had no choice on the highway…for safety reasons, you understand.

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