The Candidate Chase
If it's Independence Day, it must be Iowa.
A small army of presidential candidates, their strategists, staffs, and media entourages is converging on the first-in-the-nation caucus state to celebrate July 4th—and compete for votes at a seemingly endless series of barbecues, ice-cream socials, parades, and speeches.
Some of the contenders are already there.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, the senator from New York, has a full schedule of campaigning with her husband, a former president named Bill. Their joint appearance at a Monday-night rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines drew saturation coverage—partly to see if Hillary could avoid being overshadowed by her charismatic spouse. On Tuesday, Bill and Hillary are campaigning at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and at an event in Davenport. On the Fourth, they will march in a parade in Clear Lake and attend events in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids.
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, whose campaign got a boost from his record-smashing fundraising total for the second quarter—more than $32.5 million, compared with Hillary Clinton's $27 million—was stumping Monday in Keokuk, Mt. Pleasant, and Fairfield. He's following up Tuesday at Independence Day celebrations in Oskaloosa, Pella, and Beaverdale.
Republican Mitt Romney conducted two "Ask Mitt Anything" forums Monday—one in Jefferson and the other in Carroll—and attended a Christian Alliance house party in Council Bluffs. The former Massachusetts governor has one of the most active schedules of any candidate this week, following up Tuesday with three more "Ask Mitt Anything" events in Council Bluffs, Red Oak, and Atlantic and other events in Creston and West Des Moines. On the Fourth, Romney marches in the Clear Lake Fourth of July parade and the Ames parade and goes on to distribute free ice cream in Waukee and march in its parade.
Among the other candidates who will stump through Iowa this week are Republican Sam Brownback and Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. By late this week, even Hawkeyes may have had their fill of retail politics.
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