Herman Cain speaks at Monday’s rally in Council Bluffs.
Last night there was no time to blog about the late-afternoon Herman Cain rally at Bayliss Park in Council Bluffs. Dave Weigel, who had been there for Michele Bachmann’s earlier event, said Cain actually drew a slightly larger crowd than Bachmann. But I didn’t have time to blog it, because I was working on my American Spectator column:
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Lois Vanderbur drove 30 miles from her home in Mapleton to attend Herman Cain’s event Monday in Denison. When the event was over, she went to eat at a nearby McDonald’s, where I overheard her tell her friend Rose Wolden: “Obama was an hour late for his speech and promised to raise taxes, and then the Dow fell 550 points.”
Mrs. Vanderbur, 68, is a very well-informed grandmother. When I asked her about the stock market tumble, she whipped out her iPhone, called up the latest numbers and told me that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had, in fact, closed at 10,809.85 for a one-day loss of 634.67 points. Forget all that stereotypical talk about Iowans being a bunch of ignorant hicks from flyover country. Their state’s most famous product is still corn — and the cornfields here are better measured by the square mile than by the acre — but the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses have made politics at least the state’s second-most important export, and few Americans are more civic-minded than a politically active Iowan.
Mrs. Vanderbur and Mrs. Wolden were among more than 60 area residents who crowded into Cronk’s Café in downtown Denison for Cain’s mid-afternoon event, the second stop on his statewide “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour. . . .
I’m in Des Moines today, and am taking the day away from the Cain campaign to catch up with Tim Pawlenty, who will speak at the state capitol this morning. Please hit the tip jar!
DENISON, Iowa
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain today denounced as “pathetic” the response of President Obama and other Democrats to the recent downgrade of U.S. credit.
“Today, the president, Senator [John] Kerry and other Democrats now want to blame somebody for the credit downgrade – other than themselves,” Cain told a standing-room only crowd at Crunk’s Café here. “They control the Senate. They control the White House. Obama’s Treasury secretary [Tim Geithner] is in charge of the Treasury. Now they are trying to blame the Tea Party movement for the downgrade. How pathetic is that? That’s not leadership, folks – that’s not leadership.“
Cain’s campaign team was pleased with the strong attendance for the event here on the second stop of the Atlanta businessman’s “Common Sense Solutions” tour of Iowa leading up to the Aug. 13 Ames Straw Poll. After filling up the banquet room where Cain spoke, attendees sat outside the door of the room in the main dining area of Crunk’s, a local landmark here in Denison. Cain’s Iowa campaign director, Larry Tuel, credited Crawford County coordinator Gwen Eckland for the overflow crowd.
Immediately following the debt ceiling debacle, the White House announced that the president will take a three-day bus tour through the Midwest to hear people’s concerns about the economy, and talk about measures to boost economic growth and job creation.
Is President Obama that out of touch? . . .
After the president’s tour, we will get another speech. He will once again promise his laser-like focus on economic growth and job creation. We have heard this speech many times before only to get the same results. More talk, talk, talk.
I have been traveling the country and listening to people for the last year, and I can tell you their concerns and fears. Namely, the economy is stuck in neutral and the president’s policies of spend, spend, spend are not working. Since the president has not put forth any new ideas to boost economic growth and job creation, people also know that nothing is going to change simply because he is going to do another tour and give some more speeches.
Mr. President, speeches do not fuel the economic engine of this economy, which is the business sector. And speeches are not going to reduce the latest unemployment rate of 9.1 percent, nor will they ease the pain of the nearly 15 million people who can’t find jobs because your administration wants to raise taxes and continue your regulatory onslaught on American businesses. . . .
SIOUX CITY, Iowa
Herman Cain just arrived at Eldon’s Restaurant aboard his spiffy new tour bus:
This event is sponsored by the Sioux City Jewish Coaliton. I asked one of the staffers, “Do they have a significant Jewish population in Sioux City?” But the answer was a mystified shrug. Anyway, here is a video tour of the Cain “Common Sense Solutions” bus, inside and out:
I’ll have a report on Cain’s speech later. Right now, he’s meeting backstage with local supporters. Here are a few photos:
Dale Petersen, Cain’s agriculture issues adviser, and Larry Tuel, Cain’s Iowa state director, in the parking lot of the hotel before the start of the bus tour. The hotel was actually in South Sioux City, Nebraska, so you could say that Cain is the first 2012 Republican candidate to visit Nebraska.
Cain’s chief of staff Mark Block behind the scenes at the Sioux City event. I said, “Mark, you look worried.” He said, “The’s just my game face.”
Volunteers staff the welcome table at the Sioux City event.
UPDATE: Cain was greeted with a standing ovation by the 60-70 people in attendance. Discussing the tour schedule — which takes a day off Thursday for “debate prep” for the Fox News debate in Ames — Herman Cain said, “You know what I do when I prepare for a debate? I pray.”
The attendance at the Jewish Coalition luncheon was impressive.
Cain starts his speech. While he was discussing his opposition to the 2009 financial regulation legislation, sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank, Cain said: “Here’s two other problems I have with the Dodd-Frank bill — Dodd and Frank.”
Cain talks to an Iowa newspaper reporter while, at left, his campaign staffer Nathan Naidu waits. The speech ran long and dozens of people wanted to have their photo taken with the candidate, which had the staff slightly panicked about keeping on schedule to their next event in Denison.
Speaking of schedules, I’m running late myself, so that’s it from Sioux City. Hit the freaking tip jar!
SIOUX CITY, Iowa
OK, no more messing around. Time to get seriously into gonzo as I hit the road following Herman Cain’s “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour across the state. Three stops today, covering 150 miles:
11 a.m. Eldon’s Restaurant
3322 Singing Hills Blvd., Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City Jewish Coalition meeting
“CainCast,” a weekly Internet radio show offering an inside look at Herman Cain’s presidential campaign, will premiere at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 7, 2011.
“CainCast” will be hosted by Friends of Herman Cain Communications Director Ellen Carmichael and Director of New Media Michael Johnson. The hosts will be joined by special guests, and the program will run for 30 minutes. Listeners can submit questions through the “chat-room” function.
“Our aim is to be an extension of Mr. Cain using a dynamic platform that engages supporters and press,” Johnson said. “This is yet another fun and innovative approach to utilizing new media in our campaign.”
This week’s “CainCast” will broadcast live from Sioux City, Iowa, as the Herman Cain campaign prepares to embark on its “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour throughout the state, leading up to the FOX News debate and straw poll in Ames. Listeners can tune in Sunday evening by visiting http://www.blogtalkradio.com/caincast
OK, so that’s 7:30 p.m. ET — something new and different and I’ll be interested to see how it works. The call-in number is 714-816-4675, although I think they’re mainly expecting listen input via their online chatroom. Me? I’ll be here in my cheap motel room pounding away on deadline, so readers should go check it out tonight and then tell me how you think it went.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Just got off the phone with Dale Peterson, who’s meeting with agriculture groups — including the Iowa Turkey Federation — on behalf of the Herman Cain campaign today. Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out the logistics for the rest of my trip.
Right now, I’m staying at the Quality Inn downtown, which is a nice enough place — free breakfast every morning in the restaurant — except that it’s across the highway from Mercy Hospital, and this means that many of the guests are relatives of patients being tended there. Yesterday, while I was waiting for the elevator, there was a lady talking on her cell phone, crying about her father who just had a heart attack and is in ICU at Mercy.
Speaking of people on life-support (this is what we journalists call a “transition”) the TV just showed this Tim Pawlenty ad again:
TV in Iowa is crammed full of these ads, as well as ads for Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann. I’ve posted all three at Right Wing News so you can watch them back-to-back, which is how they’re running during local cable breaks here on Fox News. Like the weeping relatives of ICU patients, these non-stop ads are bumming me out, so I’m going need to get back on the road.
Herman Cain seemed to raise the bar Thursday for his performance in the Iowa Republican straw poll, saying he needs a top-three finish in the Aug. 13 event.
However, the presidential candidate added later that failure to reach that wouldn’t drive him out of the race. “I don’t believe I have to win the straw poll, but I do believe I need to finish in the top three,” Cain said during a forum sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership.
But when asked what would happen if he didn’t place third or better, he said, “We’re not going to stop. That’s just the desired place where we would like to finish, that’s in the top three. If we finish fourth or fifth, we’re going to evaluate that to determine what the implications are. So it’s not the end of the road, it’s just going to be a harder analysis that we would do to decide if we go forward.”
While it is notoriously difficult to predict the outcome of that vote, a third-place finish for Cain at Ames would likely put him ahead of Pawlenty. At least one longtime Iowa GOP operative has said that, given how much Pawlenty has already invested in this state, his campaign’s viability would be in jeopardy if he didn’t place at least second at Ames. If Pawlenty actually were to place fourth — behind Cain, who wasn’t even considered a “first-tier” candidate three months ago — that likely would be seen as a humiliation for the former Minnesota governor. But that’s a huge “if,” and few Iowa observers expect Cain to place better than fifth at Ames.
Those of you who remember my lost $10 bet with Da Tech Guy last week understand why I don’t usually do predictions. But if Cain finishes ahead of Pawlenty at Ames . . . dude. Here are some photos from Cain’s visit yesterday:
Cain talks to a local reporter at the Smokey Row Coffee shop in Oskaloosa.
I’ve got lots more photos and videos, but the slow WiFi connection makes it difficult to upload them in any kind of efficient fashion. And I’ve still got to figure out how and when I’m getting to Sioux City for the start of Herman Cain’s bus tour Monday. His advance team is supposed to arrive in Sioux City tomorrow night, but I need to catch up with Bachmann on the campaign trail.
My phone just rang with a tip from a source who says his Texas sources tell him that Rick Perry is going to unofficially announce this weekend that he’s going to make an official announcement next week. So the Phantom Menace looms even larger now and, even worse: I just ran out of cigarettes.
So I’m hitting the road and will report back later.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Got back from Oskaloosa — an hour away on Highway 193 — about 6 p.m. local time and spent hours struggling to upload video and photos. Now I’m just a couple hours aways from my deadline for The American Spectator, and so there’s only enough time for a couple of pictures and a quick note.
Basically, the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13 is shaping up to be Tim Pawlenty’s make-or-break moment. And if he is broken, many observers will declare that it is his fellow Minnesotan, Michele Bachmann, who has broken him. Pawlenty and Bachmann are the only two candidates I’ve seen running TV ads here in Des Moines, and when I posted Bachmann’s latest ad here earlier today, it apparently got the attention of some T-Paw supporters.
Let’s just say that there is no love lost between the two rival Minnesota camps, OK? And we can also point out the obvious: If a Bachmann win on Aug. 13 would be a death knell for Team T-Paw, the clock is ticking down on the time at which “Minnesota nice” goes by the wayside and Pawlenty goes negative on Bachmann. Not that the candidate would attack Bachmann personally, you understand. But the oppo-research files on Bachmann wouldn’t be of any value to the Pawlenty campaign after Aug. 13, if a defeat at Ames effectively destroys Pawlenty’s viability.
Keep that stuff in mind, because surely I’m not the only journalist in Iowa who’s getting “friendly tips” about the Bachmann family’s tax records, etc. And I’m not even trying to get that kind of stuff. It’s just out there, as they say, and I can’t help it when stuff shows up in my e-mail inbox.
Now, a couple of photos from today’s events:
Herman Cain holds an impromptu press conference on the town square in Oskaloosa. Note the two handheld digital recorders at the bottom.
Dale Peterson showed up in Des Moines today. He is agricultural adviser to Cain’s campaign. Maybe he’ll also be on the lookout for people trying to steal yard signs.
And here is a video of a nice lady in Oskaloosa talking about the big annual festival:
I’ll have more later. But first I have to hit that deadline.
UPDATE: After hitting my deadline, I went out to Urbandale — about eight miles from my motel here in Des Moines — to take a quick after-hours look-see at Bachmann’s Iowa campaign headquarters, just to scope out the location. It’s in a shopping center near a pub called Groucho’s. So I was heading back out when I looked across the driveway and, less than 100 yards away from Bachmann HQ is the headquarters of . . . Herman Cain’s campaign. You could quite literally throw a rock from one office to the other. Kinda weird.
