Celebrity Envy

I think I may know why the Republicans and John McCain are so obsessed with Barack Obama's celebrity status. There was a very telling incident just this week at the Iowa State Fair. On Thursday, August 7, the state fair (one of the biggest in the country) opened with a local radio sponsored corn dog eating contest. Everyone arriving at the fair before 8:30 AM that day was promised free admission to the fair in exchange for their willingness to join with the others who showed up to eat corn dogs simultaneously. They hoped to set a Guinness World Record for people eating corn dogs at the same time. The station planned for 8000, but 42,000 people created traffic snarls and long lines at the gates! The entire east side of Des Moines,Iowa was in gridlock during the morning commute.

The following day, with much hoopla and local media coverage, it had been announced that John McCain would visit the fair and make a speech. Estimates were that only about 200 diehards huddled together to hear what he had to say. The remaining more than 100,000 fair attendees that day ignored him. That's right. The Republican nominee for president of the United States could only get about 200 people to pay attention to what he had to say when he visited the Iowa State Fair. In comparison, Barack Obama has had hundreds of thousands show up for some of his recent speeches.

I guess we can forgive McCain for a little celebrity envy.

I think we can also say with certainty that, like many voters, Iowa State Fair goers are pushovers for free lunches and pork.