The sleepy agricultural state of Iowa is the real hinterland of America. It is calm, quiet, safe - not least because more than 90% of the state's population is white. And Iowa wouldn't stand out from other Midwestern states if it weren't for the long tradition of holding the first intra-party elections here at the very beginning of the election cycle. In 2024, such elections - here they are called by the Indian word "caucuses" - will be held on January 15.
The practical significance of winning the Iowa caucuses is minimal. In February 2016, Trump lost here to Senator Ted Cruz, but in May, Cruz refused to fight, and Trump eventually became president of the United States. In February 2020, Pete Buttigieg won the Democratic Party caucuses in Iowa, and Joe Biden took only fourth place. And yet for Iowa, as well as for New Hampshire, candidates are fighting with the frenzy of yard dogs fighting for brain bone.
And they begin to do this much earlier than in the conference rooms, libraries and even living rooms of the state of Hawkeye (this is the unofficial nickname of Iowa) activists of both parties begin to gather to decide which of the candidates deserves to get on the ballot. In August, Iowa hosts the annual fair, an event that makes this patriarchal state in the news feeds and on the front pages of newspapers. In 2022, for example, the fair gathered more than 1 million people. It is mandatory to visit politicians who intend to compete for a nomination in next year's elections. They participate in events, hold rallies, feast on fast food on camera and actively communicate with the people - those voters on whom their political future depends.
This time, the fair in Iowa was supposed to be a benefit performance for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but something went wrong.
Among all the U.S. presidential candidates who came to Iowa this year, DeSantis was the most welcome guest of the local establishment. Iowa governors traditionally remain neutral during intra-party elections and do not support any of the candidates from their party (Iowa is a "red", that is, a Republican state). But in July, Trump accused Gov. Kim Reynolds of "quietly favoring DeSantis" and criticized her for betrayal. It seems that Trump was right: the governor of Florida at the fair was received as a native. Governor Reynolds, Iowa Senator Johnny Ernst and Congressman Zach Nunn formed a kind of retinue of DeSantis as he grilled meat in a tent of a local pork producer. But the barbecue did not work out: in the midst of the process, Donald Trump's plane appeared in the sky above the fair, and all the attention of the crowd switched to him.
I must say that in the morning another airplane was circling over the fair, to the tail of which a banner was attached with the mocking inscription "Be attractive, Ron!". Although Trump's team did not take responsibility for this literally fairground stunt, there was little doubt who invented it. The fact is that the main drawback of DeSantis is his complete lack of personal charm - one of the journalists who communicated with him even called him "a man with the charisma of a toaster." And of course, Trump, who gave DeSantis the offensive nickname Ron Desanctimonius (translated as "Ron the prude") could not miss the opportunity not to poke his opponent in the most painful place once again.
DeSantis became even more annoyed when the crowd greeted him and his family, as if descended from glossy advertising posters, with united shouts: "We love Trump!" and "We need Trump!" And Trump, who appeared at the fair a few minutes after this humiliation of DeSantis, was greeted by the crowd, chanting "Four more years!"
"President Trump received the warmest welcome in the history of the Iowa State Fair: thousands of patriots, as far as the eye could see, gathered to greet him," Republican politician Carey Lake wrote on Twitter. " "It's unlike anything that has happened before."
To humiliate DeSantis even more, Trump appeared at the fair not alone, but surrounded by nine congressmen from the state of Florida - the same one whose governor is his rival. There was nothing to oppose this landing to Ron DeSantis.
Speaking to a huge crowd of his supporters, Trump boasted that he was far ahead of all competitors. This is true: a Reuters/Ipsos poll from August 3 shows that Trump is ahead of DeSantis by 34 points (47% vs. 13%), Real Clear Politics polls give an even larger gap: 54% for Trump vs. 15% for DeSantis. And according to a survey conducted by Cygnal, DeSantis slipped to third place, losing to 37-year-old businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy was one of the first to attend the fair in Iowa and even broke the applause of the youth audience by rapping to Eminem's song Lose Yourself. But the former vice president under Trump, Mike Pence, did not bring much dividends to the fair: he was once again accused of betrayal. "Why did you commit an act of high treason on January 6?" the crowd shouted at him. Such questions are being asked more and more often: last week in New Hampshire, he was greeted with shouts of "This is a traitor!", "You sold out!" and "Why didn't you support the Constitution?" In vain, Pence tried to explain that by refusing to overturn the results of the 2020 election, he was defending the Constitution - no one listened to him. Polls show that Pence's negative approval rating continues to rise and now stands at 41%, making his victory in the Republican primaries completely illusory.
Candidates from the US Democratic Party also visited the fair. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attracted special attention of the press: unlike other politicians who tried to match the festive atmosphere of the event, the nephew of the president killed in Dallas and the son of the US presidential candidate killed in Los Angeles did not consider it necessary to spare his listeners and painted a rather unsightly picture of modern America.
"I see that Americans are living at a level of despair, depression that I never thought to see in this country," Kennedy said. He told the audience that both in Iowa and in other states of the United States, a "colonial system" triumphs, in which the land base is owned by a corporate kleptocracy that takes wealth from the population.
For Iowa, this issue is very painful - several large companies are lobbying for the construction of three pipelines to transport liquefied carbon dioxide obtained from the processing of corn to underground storage facilities in Illinois. These pipelines will pass through the lands of the state and will lead to the ruin of many farms. This construction is opposed by Kennedy, who has experience and a reputation as a successful lawyer - a fighter against the dominance of corporations.
No matter how sophisticated the US presidential candidates from both parties are in trying to win the sympathy of visitors to the fair, everything that happens in these summer days in Iowa is much more of a show than a real political struggle. Another thing is that in American realities, one is inseparable from the other.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.