With Iowa still considered a toss-up state in this fall’s presidential election, expect the two major candidates to spend more time here in the next 89 days to try to close the sale personally. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney spent a lot of time in Iowa in 2007, as both ran for president back then. On Wednesday, Romney reminisced.
“Des Moines almost feels like a second home, you know that?” Romney told a crowd in Des Moines yesterday morning. “We get here and stay downtown and get to have a bite to eat at Centro, if we’re lucky, and enjoy the fine food and the hospitality and the warmth of the community.”
Congressman Tom Latham spoke just before Romney at the campaign rally in a Des Moines school auditorium and Latham reminded the audience of the reason for these frequent visits. “We have a great opportunity here in Iowa to make the difference,” Latham said.
“Every road to the White House runs through Iowa.” President Obama plans to ride through Iowa on a bus tour next week, starting in Council Bluffs on Monday.
During a visit to Cedar Rapids last month, Obama made this observation: “Unless you’ve managed to hide your television somewhere for the last year you may be aware that it is now campaign season and, here in Iowa, it seems like it’s always campaign season. You guys can’t get away from it.”
According to a national firm that tracks advertising dollars, Obama spent over $50-million on campaign ads in July alone. Romney’s campaign spent nearly $31 million on television and radio ads last month. Broadcast outlets in Iowa and nine other states are the primary targets for the advertising from both campaigns.