Mitt-Mania In Des Moines
Posted on | August 11, 2011 | 5 Comments
Gwen Ifill and Charlie Cook talk to each other while David Weigel talks to
Iowa Republicans at Wednesday’s Polk County GOP fundraiser.
NEWTON, Iowa
One of the things that gets lost in all the horse-race coverage of a political campaign — who’s up? who’s down? — is the sense of what a campaign actually looks like at ground level. News reporters are trying to get The Big Scoop, and so they seldom report about the swirling scene of the campaign. Why? Because political journalists see this stuff everyday and, after a while, they take it for granted. For some reason, however, the scene always catches my eye, as you see from the lead of my latest American Spectator column:
DES MOINES — Charlie Cook of National Journal was talking to Gwen Ifill of PBS in the back yard, and Carl Cameron of Fox News was in the front yard, while reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Philadelphia Inquirer milled around among the guests at the home of a local businessman here. They were all awaiting the arrival of the guest of honor at a fundraiser for the Polk County Republican Party. When Mitt Romney finally did arrive, TV camera crews, photographers and reporters rushed down to the street where they encircled him in a moving scrum as he made his way across the lawn to the front door.
The former Massachusetts governor hasn’t visited Iowa very often this year, and his rare visit Wednesday was occasioned by the same event that brought so many big-name journalists to town: Thursday’s televised debate, two days before Saturday’s Republican straw poll at Iowa State University in Ames. But while the national media turned out in droves to cover the Des Moines visit of the GOP’s national front-runner, these reporters and pundits from out of town aren’t eligible to vote in the straw poll, and few Iowa Republicans are expected to cast their votes Saturday for Romney. …
Please read the whole thing. I happen to have a video of Romney’s arrival at the event. You’ll see I was in the driveway talking to Romney’s senior advisor Eric Fernstrom when The Man arrived and set off a media lemming stampede:
A couple more photos from the event:
Mitt talks with guests near the buffet table. I can now report — I’m not sure if this is a national exclusive — that the former Massachusetts governor ate a pulled pork sandwich.
Mitt locates an actual Iowa Republican amid the horde of media.
My Spectator column, by the way, was half-written before I went to the Romney event. Two of my sources for the column were people I’d met during a monthly Wednesday lunch meeting of Iowa conservative leaders. The guy who invited me to that meeting was Will Upton of Americans for Tax Reform. We then went to Mickey’s Irish Pub on Court Street, where I started working on my column at the patio bar. Here is Will at Mickey’s:
So, with my column half-written, Will and I then went to the Romney event together and, when we got to the sign-in table, I said to the lady, “Grover Norquist sent us.”
How could they say no to that?
After I’d hit my deadline at 11 p.m., Will and I returned to Mickey’s for … uh, serious discussions of tax-related issues. I’m sure Mr. Norquist will understand why Will’s expense account for this trip includes a certain number of beverages under the category of “media relations.”
Because it’s against my religion to pick up the tab.
I’m about to head up to Ames to catch the scene prior to tonight’s debate. Which means it’s time for you to hit the freaking tip jar. But then again, isn’t always time to hit the tip jar?
PREVIOUSLY:
- Aug. 10: Sarah’s Coming to Iowa
- Aug. 9: Mitt Romney Comes to Des Moines, Attracts Massive Media Coverage
- Aug. 9: Meanwhile, on the Cain Campaign …
- Aug. 9: Young Minions of the Sith Lord of Texas UPDATE: Perry Coming to Iowa Sunday
- Aug 9: Council Bluffs Loves Herman Cain
- Aug. 9: The Cain Train Keeps Rolling
- Aug. 8: Denison: Overflow Crowd Hears Herman Cain Slam Obama: ‘That’s Not Leadership!’
- Aug. 8: Sioux City: Herman Cain Begins Iowa Bus Tour With Noon Speech to Jewish Group
- Aug. 8: Fear and Loathing: From Sioux City to Council Bluffs With the Herman Cain Bus
- Aug. 8: VIDEO: ‘Who Is Herman Cain?’
- Aug. 8: Santorum’s Hope
- Aug. 7: Are You Ready for Tonight’s ‘CainCast’?
- Aug. 7: Liberal Head-Explosion Warning VIDEO: Michele Bachmann Testifies for Jesus
- Aug. 7: ‘The Lunatic Derby’
- Aug. 7: The Santorum Family’s Iowa ‘Vacation’
- Aug. 6: Rick Santorum’s Iowa Barn Party
- Aug. 6: ‘Streets’ and ‘Avenues’ in Rural Iowa
- Aug. 6: I Got Iowa, They Got the Virgin Islands
- Aug. 6: On the Scene in Iowa
- Aug. 5: Fear and Loathing at the Quality Inn
- Aug. 5: Long Knives in Iowa
- Aug. 5: Cain, Corn and … the Phantom Menace
- Aug. 4: Fear and Loathing on Highway 193; Pawlenty Aiming at Bachmann?
- Aug. 4: Michele Bachmann Touts ‘No’ Vote on Debt Ceiling Deal in Latest Iowa TV Ad
- Aug. 3: ‘Neo-Confederate Sex Panic’ Becomes the Biggest Political Punchline of the Year?
- Aug. 3: En Route to Des Moines
- Aug. 2: ‘That Evil Hour …’
- July 31: News: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry and I Just Bought My Ticket to Des Moines
Comments
5 Responses to “Mitt-Mania In Des Moines”
August 11th, 2011 @ 5:24 pm
I would like to see the real Mitt Romney. I will 100% support him if he is the nominee, but I cannot support him as nominee until he explains to me why he is the best candidate out of the current field.
August 11th, 2011 @ 7:41 pm
Linked: ‘Mitt Romney Heckled in Iowa’.
August 11th, 2011 @ 8:07 pm
This is the real Mitt Romney:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6UTnS6Z-A
Depraved indifference to human suffering.
August 11th, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
People keep misspelling the man’s last name. It’s Romneycare.
August 11th, 2011 @ 11:25 pm
Someone tell Weigel he needs to lay off the donuts… and dear Lord, that head!