Iowa Caucus: Is the Flag Falling on Hillary?

I told myself I wasn’t going to begin posting in earnest to my blog until after Christmas, when I could have finished some formatting and polished the presentation part of the site. But I just couldn’t wait. Although my little blog isn’t about politics, the Iowa Caucuses have brought political luminaries into our state and into my hometown of Dunlap, so I’ve come out of the woodwork early to share some findings. It’s not often that you find a CNN satellite truck parked at the local livestock auction.

More on the Hillary Experience and more links after the break…

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to take in the Hillary Clinton experience at our local livestock auction arena during her helicopter tour of western Iowa (stops in Council Bluffs, Dunlap, and Le Mars). About three weeks prior, I had seen Barack Obama speak to a packed house there. On Sunday, December 16, Hillary was scheduled to arrive via helicopter and speak at 1:30 pm.

The senator was nearly two hours late to the appearance, prompting jokes about her helicopter running out of gas between Dunlap and her morning appearance in Council Bluffs (an hour away by car). Despite the tardiness, it was all the organizers could do to get the seats filled, with many volunteers not showing up to occupy their reserved seats. I even talked to one woman who told me that she had been solicited via automated telephone message to come be in the audience (“press 1 if you can attend”). After a few further jokes, albeit muffled in the rear of the audience, about the Clintons’ very profitable livestock options trading (popularly known as “cattlegate”, a name that has always struck me as odd) and the irony of the venue, the event got underway.

Despite the criticisms and jokes, the crowd was on average very respectful as the senator from New York spoke from her plywood platform above the livestock auction ring below, posed amid sacks of cattle ration. Clinton was able to stir up vocal support with pledges to support big labor and create a health care system where everyone pays as much as they are able. Somehow, though, the irony of the cattle options scandal wasn’t lost on those around me as several continued to discus the original Clinton impeachment.

Speaking of irony, what is it with Hillary and flags? Early on in the campaign, she had the domino effect going with a group of flags. During the first part of the Dunlap speech, a large United States flag draped behind her began to fall until it was no longer properly displayed. It continued to slip as the speech went on.

Were it not for the dramatic tardiness, the poor attendance, the falling flags, and the whispered jokes, Hillary’s Dunlap appearance would have been a strong political performance. As it was, the crowd was cordial and so it didn’t hurt her and she looked outstanding in her all-green pant suit with a necklace of gold balls around her neck, but by the time she finished up in Le Mars later that evening, she appeared exhausted and ready for a nap on the nightly news.

Like her or not, you can’t discount the valiant effort she made to be one of us that day, cattle and all.