A Cynical View of Iowa

You think Obama will spend much time in California? I don't... He could not visit the state once between now and November and would win handily. The same could probably be said about New York.

You think the republican nominee will be that worried about winning Texas? I doubt it.

Those are the three biggest states and I'd be surprised if either of the candidates will spend much time in any of them compared to Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia etc...

 

;D

 

Obama won't win in Indiana again. That was an utter fluke. It's red.

 

I'd think that's because, like you said, those states have been pretty much decided.

The states you listed all have electoral vote amounts (as of 2008) of between 11 and 27 votes.

If the smaller states (like Vermont, South Dakota) were more toss-ups, would we see the candidates making more trips there for the 3 electoral votes, or would they spend more time in the states you listed. I have a feeling they'd be in those state you listed a lot more than the smaller states.

With NH (3 votes) and Iowa (7), this way, they're at least forced to spend some time earning their nominations.

 

As a native Iowan, this piece was definitely inflammatory. Particularly because this man is a tenured professor of journalism at the state's flagship university and this piece was filled with inaccuracies and was completely one-sided. The threats crossed way, way over the line, but he deserves as much heat as he can get after publishing this.
This coming from a 27-year-old agnostic who has never tried meth and is not waiting to die.
Full disclosure: That asshole blew me off in a writing critique session a few years back when I was just getting my feet wet in the business.

 

The issue is the number of factual inaccuracies in that Atlantic feature. I'd almost guarantee no lifelong Iowa resident read it before publication. I lived in Iowa very briefly and could point out at least 10 issues where the article either grievously stretched the truth or simply got its facts wrong.

 

One sided and inaccurate is right. I've spent enough time in Iowa to understand the culture and the people and feel that that the writer has done a great injustice to the state.

Iowa to me is a time warps.It's a place that much of the country used to be like. I mean that in a good way.At the risk of sounding sappy it's a state where hard work is admired, family values are important and a handshake still means something. Some of the nicest folks I've ever met live in the small Iowa towns. Don't let the John Deere caps fool you. Go have breakfast at one of those local spots that are in every small town. Strike up a conversation with one of the old guys wearing a hearing aid. You will get a better education on the world futures market than Ragu could ever provide.

 

To your point,at end of Atlantic article there is a bunch of corrections that were added.

Ironic that the guy who wrote article is a journalism professor.

 

Pathetic more than ironic. Also, the article was written poorly.

 

A buddy of mine runs the largest movie tracking company in Hollywood -- his peeps are the folks who fly around the country and show 15-minute segments of in production movies to a cross section of folks and then report back to the studios what the general public thinks of the movies.

He too says West Va. is the most un-representative state in the nation. As for his best test market, it's Kansas City, by far. Which is why he and other firms like his that work for other industries have offices there.

 

I don't think this appears in the printed magazine. It's part of the Atlantic online. Which leads me to this: every error here would have been caught by an editor, fact-checker or desker at the actual magazine.

Also, the complaints in the comment field all sound remarkably the same as the comments that greeted the movie "Fargo" when it opened in Minnesota.

As to the truth of Iowans themselves, there's a reason The Music Man opens with a song called 'Iowa Stubborn'

Townspeople:

Oh, there's nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you,
When we treat you
Which we may not do at all.
There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.
We've never been without.
That we recall.
We can be cold
As our falling thermometers in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We could stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But what the heck, you're welcome,
Join us at the picnic.

You can eat your fill
Of all the food you bring yourself.
You really ought to give Iowa a try.
Provided you are contrary,
We can be cold
As our falling thermometer in December
If you ask about our weather in July.
And we're so by God stubborn
We can stand touchin' noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye.
But we'll give you our shirt
And a back to go with it
If your crops should happen to die.

Farmer:

So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.

Farmer and Wife:

Even though we may not ever mention it again.

Townspeople:

You really ought to give Iowa
Hawkeye Iowa
Dubuque, Des
Moines, Davenport, Marshalltown,
Mason City, Keokuk, Ames,
Clear Lake
Ought to give Iowa a try!