See You At The Fair
Well, I won’t see you there…I’m not able to attend…but they could almost hold a Trump Administration cabinet meeting at the fairgrounds this year, with the number of officials who made Des Moines their office for a day or more this cycle.
In no particular order, there was War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, plus NATO Ambassador and Iowa native Matt Whitaker, Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. And there are probably more I missed.
I’ve checked, and while it’s not as good as at the Iowa State Fair…there is “food on a stick” available elsewhere, so they’re not coming here just for that.
Democrats say it’s because Republicans on the November ballot are in trouble here in Iowa. But those kinds of names were here last year, as well. And there have been plenty of high-profile Democrats who have made their way to our fair—although given the rough time Senator Mark Kelly got the other day, they might think twice (especially since the Democratic National Committee thumbed its nose at Iowa last week regarding 2028).
The visits by so many high-profile Republicans shows how important Iowa is to the success of the GOP nationally. Yes, with statewide races…yes, with congressional races…but also as a bellwether for the heartland of the country. Showing Iowans that they aren’t forgotten in D.C., with the problems on the farm and high gas and grocery prices, does matter.
Oh, and Iowa is still the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus state. That might play a role, as well.
