mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
It’s hard to get around Des Moines this week without bumping into a presidential candidate or the press. I was surprised to learn that CNN American Morning was at the Waveland Café, a delicious hole-in-the-wall two blocks down from my house. They were chatting with Ron Paul. Later this afternoon, Ron Paul is headed to Palmer’s Deli for a quick bite to eat. Another excellent choice, Ron. I think you’re really going to enjoy Palmer’s.
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, in town to stump for Hillary, had breakfast at the Drake Diner today – another local favorite. They’ve got a full day of eating ahead of them, because they’re also scheduled to do lunch in Ames (home of Iowa State University) at the Old Main Brewing Company. Ted and Mary, I have to say you dropped the ball on that one – as an Iowa State grad I can tell you that Great Plains Pizza or Hickory Park really should have been your restaurant of choice. Old Main isn’t going to impress anyone.
Mitt Romney is at Principal Financial Group chatting with employees this morning. That’s a few blocks away from where I work on the skywalk.
John McCain is meeting up with people at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor at the Ice Cream Capital of the world, LeMars, Iowa.
Fred Thompson is hitting up the hotel circuit, with stops planned at the West Des Moines Marriott and the Quality Inn & Suites in Council Bluffs. He is also holding his caucus party at a different Des Moines Marriott. Downtown Des Moines is going to be more hopping tonight than it has been since… well… caucus night ‘00.
f I was voting purely based on how I feel about the stops the candidates are making, I’d totally be voting for Ron Paul right now. The Waveland Café is an excellent choice. I hope he got the steak and eggs. At Palmer’s… well, you really can’t go wrong at Palmer’s, but if they have the creamy chicken noodle soup on their menu today, I’d definitely be checking that out. It’s only 21 degrees (with wind chill it feels like about five degrees). Don’t worry, I’m not voting based on restaurant choices. I promise.
Anyway, you can see that I’m serious when I say you can hardly take your dogs for a walk around the block without tripping over Ron or Mitt or Hillary or one of their celebrity supporters. I even heard Chuck Norris has been spotted making the rounds for Huckabee.
My husband and I are caucusing for the first time ever tonight, so I should have a full report for you tomorrow on what the whole experience was like. It should be an interesting evening!
Have any of you caucused before? What can I expect?
[Image courtesy of IntelligentTravel.com.]
Comments (16)
Comment
Great Plains and Hickory Park are good choices, but for a larger group I would have to recommend Little Taipai where a 10 meal punch card saves you about $4.29. (At least it did when I was in school…)
I wonder if Pizza Pit would send a pie to me in Knob Noster, Missouri? Mmmmmm.
posted by Troy on 1-3-2008 at 3:13 pm
Why would Thompson campaign at hotels where one would expect to find out-of-towners, presumably out-of-staters visiting to cover the event?
posted by Zach on 1-3-2008 at 3:15 pm
It’s almost as if Thompson is more interested in the media than in the caucusers…
posted by Tom on 1-3-2008 at 3:32 pm
Troy,
No pun intended, but you’re out to lunch. You know as well as I do that the best food was in the Friley Hall Food Stores.
posted by Tony on 1-3-2008 at 3:41 pm
I imagine he will be campaigning there because the big ball rooms are available. Also, I imagine he is interested in the media because he isn’t going to win Iowa. He is focusing on Super Tuesday.
posted by Nick on 1-3-2008 at 3:42 pm
I swear I’m not making political commentary (wink wink). When I first saw the title of your article I thought I saw “Live from the Iowa Circus.
posted by John Pedersen on 1-3-2008 at 4:02 pm
my sister is a media embed in iowa. her christmas present to me was a tshirt that reads “iowa 2008: rock out with your caucus out.” i’m wearing it with pride today. (well, pride UNDER a heavy sweater. it ain’t cold here by iowa standards, but it’s freezing for birmingham.)
posted by terri on 1-3-2008 at 4:07 pm
Friley Hall Food Service was the place to be- the only question is Dungeon or Windows?
posted by Tim on 1-3-2008 at 4:13 pm
I do the Texas Caucus circuit! We don’t vote for candidates there, but we choose the delegates to represent whoever the voters chose. We also go by the party platform point by point letting the county level know just how our precinct feels. It takes a couple hours, but if you are as much of a nerd as I am you will have a good time.
posted by Witty Nickname on 1-3-2008 at 4:21 pm
I love the Iowa and ISU love! As a fellow ISU grad I also agree that the Brewery was a bad choice. That place was/is awful! I’m really surprised HP wasn’t chosen since it is huge and could handle a big crowd, but I guess the Brew Pub would have a better layout for a meet & greet etc.
Thanks for mentioning LeMars the Ice Cream Capital of the World aka my hometown!
posted by lacey on 1-3-2008 at 5:32 pm
mitt romney gave my graduation speech in 06 at coe college in cedar rapids… i fell asleep. sorry, not too interested in starting a family imediatly. but my republican parents liked it.
on another note, i keep seeing the stereotypical “iowa shots” on the news. yes, there is alot of farm land here, but i, for one, have never riden a tractor and i’ve lived in iowa my whole life. move past the hick presentation!
posted by kat on 1-3-2008 at 6:11 pm
Hit the Pit after the stunning Cyclone gridiron victory over Colorado - The cheesy goodness was enjoyed by all.
BTW, during the mid-80’s, the guy in charge of the Friley Hall Food Stores - and all other ISU food stores - was aptly named Stew Burger!
posted by Dennis P. on 1-3-2008 at 6:26 pm
I love caucus night! It was wild at my precinct tonight, I’ve gone to every caucus I was eligible for 2000 (I was still 17 but turned 18 before the general election) -2004 and now 2008. I love the three hour process (people will say two hours- they lie, it always takes longer) of picking delegates, trying to convince people to come to your side, choosing the party platform… great times for politico-geeks like me. But the best part? Everyone leaves by tomorrow! We get our city back! Is it a coincidence that tomorrow starts a (relative) warm up in the weather? It just might be the ice cold political types taking their leave.
posted by Hawkeyegirl on 1-3-2008 at 11:37 pm
Too bad its not warmer out… that way they could have had a gyro or a superdog from the vendors.
posted by John on 1-4-2008 at 12:04 am
Regarding the trip up to Ames, the only potential problem, for a political candidate, would be running into Zev Cosmos and his advertisements for the Nudist Christian Church.
Those pictures wouldn’t play very well.
posted by Tony on 1-4-2008 at 8:47 am
Hallelujah Hawkeyegirl! As a fellow Iowan, I am also glad the caucus is over. Seventy-five percent of phone calls I received over the last two weeks were from political candidates. My husband is registered as an independent, so we get all the calls! Yeah us!!
My favorite call was in the form of an automated, voice activated response survey. It went a little like this:
Question: Do you agree with issue #1.
Answer: No
Question: Do you agree with issue #2.
Answer: No
Question: Candidate X has a former advisor that was sent to prison for XYZ. Does this make you question Cadidate X’s integrity?
Answer: No
Question: Will you be supporting Candidate Z in the January 3 Iowa Caucus?
Answer: No
Statement: We did not understand your response. Please reply to the question again.
Really makes you question the accuracy of the numbers prior to the caucus.
Well, as I come down from my soapbox, I wish the rest of the nation good luck. Please make good choices!!
posted by bzzyb on 1-4-2008 at 9:06 am