WHAT THEY MISS WHEN THEY FLYOVER :

At Iowa State Fair, Bush and Democrats Argue About Economy (Dan Balz and Mike Allen, August 15, 2002, Washington Post)

Food seemed to be the fair's main attraction, and the candidates indulged. Gephardt and Harkin met outside the pork producers' tent for a quick news conference to denounce Bush's plan to let younger workers put some of their Social Security taxes into private accounts, then flipped 16-ounce pork chops for television crews.

Nearby, Vilsack and his wife, Christie, munched on what she called "a walking pork chop," a unique cut with the meat removed from a portion of bone so that it resembles pork on a stick. "I wanted to tantalize you with this," the governor said, and before they left, Gephardt and Harkin were chewing on them, too.

Atop a small tractor along the midway sat Lynn Smith, wearing a green skirt, white gloves, work boots and blond wig that only partially hid his salt-and-pepper beard. He was part of the eight-man team of "square-dancing tractors," a popular attraction from Nemaha, Iowa. More popular than the president? he was asked.

"I'm sure it's us," Smith said. "He came to see us, didn't he? That's what he came for."

A walking pork chop and a fried Milky Way while you watch the square-dancing tractors and you're pretty much ready to meet your Maker--I mean, what's left? Posted by Orrin Judd at August 15, 2002 8:53 PM