This post comes to us from ONE Volunteer, Brody Armstrong.
When people think of the Iowa State Fair, massive butter-cows and comfort foods are usually the first things that enter their minds. But there is one thing that the Iowa State Fair has in even more excess than butter sculptures and fried food-on-stick…presidential candidates!
That’s right, since the Iowa Caucuses are the first in the nation, Iowa gets plenty of attention from candidates seeking their party’s nomination. Over a dozen candidates from both sides of the aisle came to the fair to make a speech, see the sites and, of course, enjoy the food.
I was so excited to help kick off ONE Vote 2016 by meeting several of the candidates and talking with them about how they planned to address extreme poverty.
My first day started off by meeting Governor Scott Walker. I ducked and weaved through the crowd of people and cameras finally got a chance to chat with him about ONE, but… gah! I forgot to take a picture! Luckily TV political analyst and Managing Editor of Bloomberg Politics and had me covered:
.@ScottWalker talks to @ONECampaign cc: @Mje51 pic.twitter.com/GbMbjPtDgr
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) August 17, 2015
Next up was Vermont Senator and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Sanders Selfie!
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican Presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina, made an appearance as well. After her speech, I waited patiently for her to shuck some corn:
But wait, who is that in the back?
It’s Iowa Congressman, Steve King! Sounds like an excellent opportunity to lobby for the Electrify Africa Act. Both he and his staff were very receptive and agreed to take a picture (look at that ONE wristband!):
By the time I was finished talking with the congressman, Carly Fiorina was available for a quick chat and a picture:
Day 1 ended with a picture with candidate and South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham, who knew all about the ONE Campaign from his work as Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.
On day 2 of bird-dogging presidential candidates, I discovered that the best place to meet politicians was at the Iowa Pork Producers Pork Tent. I wandered inside the tent and immediately found Florida Senator, Marco Rubio. It turns out he was as excited to see me as I was to see him, and he even posted on Instagram!
Ohio Governor John Kasich didn’t let the rain stop him from talking to me about extreme poverty!
The Iowa State Fair was filled with food, fun and future presidential hopefuls!
