Enthusiasm -- and Signs of Trouble -- on Obama's Iowa Bus Route (Ruh-roh!)

RealClearPolitics ^ | August 16, 2012 | Tom Bevan

[2ndDivisionVet]

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- With the first lady at his side, an energized President Obama wrapped up his bus tour of Iowa on Wednesday, firing up crowds in Dubuque and Davenport by outlining the huge stakes in November and urging Iowans to stand with him to "finish the work we started together four years ago."

Under mostly clear skies in picturesque settings along the Mississippi River, the Obamas recaptured at least some of the magic that embodied the unlikely 2008 run that put them in the White House.

Yet despite the meticulously scripted events and adoring crowds during the president’s three-day visit, there were small signs along the way, as Bruce Springsteen famously sang, of trouble in the heartland.

--snip--

On Day 2 of Obama’s bus tour, he visited a wind farm in central Iowa to highlight his support for -- and Mitt Romney’s opposition to -- tax credits for the wind energy industry. Again, the campaign was thrilled with the picture-perfect optics of the event.

But shortly after Obama’s caravan departed, Jeff Heil, the owner of the farm, and his son Jarret, let it be known that although the president was “gracious, personable, and very respectful” -- and that Jeff and Obama actually said a quick prayer together at the farm Tuesday, neither man will be voting for him in November.

“It is important to not get caught up in the president's glamorous re-election words and remember President Obama's first term record and rhetoric does not represent Middle America, entrepreneurs, small business owners and farmers,” Jarret Heil said in a statement to the media...

[2ndDivisionVet]

If he can't win Iowa again, the place where this all started, I don't see how the math works for him. He is now close or losing in most of the swing states and Mitt is gaining on him in Pennsylvania. He won't get even ONE state of the former Confederacy, you can write that down and if he can't roll up the Midwest, what does he have?

[Old Sarge]

THE OBAMA BUS TOUR:

[LS]

The change in red McCain states represent a +6 in EVs right off the bat, so the loss of an IA or WI is fatal to Zero.

[niteowl77]

meticulously scripted events and adoring crowds

A nearby small E Iowa town got a "surprise" visit from The Messiah at the town's high school where the elementary school teachers were - miraculously, I suppose - also in attendance. That certain local Democrat loudmouths were emphasizing the "surprise" aspect indicates that it was anything but a surprise (the old "their lips were moving" truism being as applicable in Dubuque County as in Washington DC). The fact that a taxpayer-funded building and members of the teachers' union were (respectively) the venue and the adoring crowd was not lost on at least some of the local proletariat.

Mr. niteowl77

[Rocky]

“I wouldn’t have voted for him before,” Cunningham told the Des Moines Register. “I won’t again.”

“It is important to not get caught up in the president's glamorous re-election words and remember President Obama's first term record and rhetoric does not represent Middle America, entrepreneurs, small business owners and farmers,” Jarret Heil said in a statement to the media.

Some great comments.

[Ann Archy]

I like how they prayed.......maybe an exorcism of the property??

[newnhdad]

I expect the media to attempt to bring Romney down next week with another series if false insinuations..

[Haiku Guy]

When I was living in various Third World African Hell-holes back in the 1980s, one of the routines of life was that when the President for Life drove through your village in his Mercedes limosine, the Army would roust out the peasants to line his route and wave.

I always wondered why they did this. Certainly the people were not happy to see the motorcade. They were only waving because they would be beheaded if they refused. The Army surely had better things to do, and there were no TV cameras around to capture the images.

Then I figured out that the Army was doing it for the President for Life, so everywhere he looked, he saw adoring crowds of people waving, all the way. This is how they let the boss know they were doing their jobs.

[Mich Patriot]

"I like how they prayed.......maybe an exorcism of the property??"

I bet he scripted that to make sure they were facing Mecca.

[reagan_fanatic]

Under mostly clear skies in picturesque settings along the Mississippi River, the Obamas recaptured at least some of the magic that embodied the unlikely 2008 run that put them in the White House.

I take exception to that statement. It was not 'unlikely', it was a certainty. The Republicans put up a doddering old RINO who would have struggled to win if he were running against himself, while Obama has the entire press cheerleading him all the way, not to mention the most important thing he had going for him- white guilt.

Obama had it in the bag and everyone knew it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’m surprised the Register printed those words.
They are such hard core leftists...

[Hemingway's Ghost]

if he can't roll up the Midwest, what does he have?

Unfortunately, Dear Leader plays very well in metropolitan areas and on college campuses.

[arasina]

A nearby small E Iowa town got a "surprise" visit from The Messiah at the town's high school where the elementary school teachers were - miraculously, I suppose - also in attendance.

A lot like Moochelle's trip to Target last year. Just shoppin' like one of the regular folks and darned if some photographer didn't get a picture of it somehow!

[RightField]

Worth reading . . . White Guilt