U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., was at the Iowa State Fair on Friday speaking in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Voters concerned about federal agriculture policies will gravitate toward Barack Obama, said Nebraska senator Ben Nelson at the Iowa State Fair Thursday.

In an interview with the Iowa Independent Thursday afternoon, Nelson said that there are many important differences in the two major presidential candidates on farm policy.

The key difference, said Nelson, is on biofuels.

“Senator Obama supports corn-based ethanol and moving to other bio-based ethanol products as well,” Nelson said. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., “has fought against, and does not support corn-based ethanol and has resisted it and voted against it.”

The Nebraska Democrat, who serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, played an important role in crafting the new farm bill that was passed into law earlier this year. He worked alongside Iowa’s senators, Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican Chuck Grassley, to bring the bill out of committee and ultimately to passage through an override of a veto by President Bush.

“Senator Obama comes from a state that’s rich in agriculture — Illinois,” said Nelson. “He understands agriculture and is willing to work with farmers and ranchers to find better ways. And he supported the farm bill.”

McCain, said Nelson, voted against the farm bill and is “still opposed to the farm bill and to any kind of government support for ethanol.”

He said voters in Iowa and in Nebraska who are concerned about agriculture will have a clear decision. “It’s a matter of what people decide to support, and what their agenda is, that will cause voters to decide who to vote for. Either in favor of the farm bill, in favor of supporting agriculture — or in favor of the positions of Senator Obama’s opponent, which in my opinion certainly should not be attractive to Nebraskans or Iowans or anybody in agriculture.”

Nelson went on to speak in support of Obama at the Des Moines Register building, where he discussed how he believes Obama’s health care proposals will benefit rural areas.

Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain visited the Iowa State Fair on Friday.

U.S. Sen. John McCain promised to open new markets for Iowa agricultural products during a visit to the Iowa State Fair.

“I get a chance to come here and meet and greet the real America, the people that are providing products all over this world,” said McCain. “All over the world, people are consuming the quality products that are produced right here in the great state of Iowa. And I want to say thank you for that. And my mission and my job as president of the United States, one of them, will be to make sure that every market in the world is open to your products.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke to a crowd of several hundred people who had gathered at the Des Moines Register building at the fair, emphasizing the value that can be added to pork products when new markets are opened up around the world. McCain was joined by his wife, Cindy, as well as fellow Republican, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Lang also stood with McCain during the speech. Northey and Lang — two long-time, vocal supporters of government programs that promote ethanol –applauded as McCain discussed his views on energy policy, despite McCain’s opposition to federal subsidies for renewable fuels.

“I want to tell you, we will disagree from time to time,” said McCain. “I believe in renewable fuels. I don’t believe in ethanol subsidies. But I believe in renewable fuels. I believe we have to do all of those things to restore our economy, but my friends, we will disagree on a specific issue, and that’s healthy.”

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain speaks to the crowd at the Iowa State Fair. He was joined by Iowa agriculture secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation president Craig Lang.

The Arizona senator said that the United States needs to enact an “all of the above” strategy to attempt to achieve energy independence. “We must achieve energy independence,” he said. “I call it the Lexington Project. It’s got to be wind, tide, solar, nuclear. Nuclear power has to be part of any solution. My friends, we’re a long way from the ocean, but we’ve got to drill offshore and we’ve got to drill now.”

McCain ridiculed a statement from his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who had called on Americans to check for proper tire inflation to reduce fuel costs. “My friends, I’m all in favor of inflating our tires, don’t get me wrong. But that’s a public service announcement, it’s not an energy policy.”

The presidential candidate also visited various Iowa State Fair landmarks Friday, constantly surrounded by curious fair-goers as he viewed such displays as the famous Butter Cow and the 1,250-pound winner of the largest boar contest.

Following McCain’s speech, Iowa Independent interviewed Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan and Iowa House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. John Whitaker.

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan and Iowa House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. John Whitaker respond to McCain's visit at the fair.

Whitaker said McCain is apparently out of touch with what is happening right now in the grain markets. “He talked about the export market, but he apparently didn’t check the markets this morning,” said Whitaker. “The dollar went up and corn and beans just plummeted overnight because of that. You know, they were up yesterday, then boom. One little bit of news on the dollar and then you have a lack of exports because of that. And our export market dries up like a hot August wind.”

Brennan said McCain’s opposition to renewable fuels programs in the past has put the Republican candidate at odds with Iowa’s values. “He’s against the farm bill and against the ethanol subsidies, and has been from the get-go,” said Brennan. “He’s just wrong for Iowa. He’s always been wrong for Iowa.”

Brennan went on to say McCain’s 10th-place finish in the Republican Straw Poll last year and his fourth-place finish in the Iowa Republican caucuses is enough to show that the candidate does not understand Iowa’s values. “Iowans, the little bit they know of him, they haven’t liked him,” said Brennan. “And for good reason. He doesn’t stand up for Iowa values.”

On Monday, a Polk County judge refused to grant the coalition of bar owners a restraining order that would block state officials from enforcing the statewide smoking ban that has been in effect since July 1.

The umbrella group for the bar owners involved in the lawsuit, Choose Freedom Iowa, said it is “disappointed but not undaunted” by the court’s decision.

Disgruntled bar owners argued the new state law is “bizarre,” burdensome and unconstitutional in its application and enforcement.

However, the district judge ruled the bar owners failed to show the smoking ban is causing irreparable harm to Iowa businesses, and that the overarching goal of improving health for the general public and employees in establishments where smoking had been permitted outweigh other concerns.

Smokers, apparently, are a resilient bunch, and won’t let something like a court ruling bring them down.

Leaders of an effort to overturn Iowa’s public smoking ban say a judge’s ruling that allows enforcement while the case works its way through the courts represents only a temporary setback.

“Asking a judge to overturn the Legislature is no small task; we fully understand that,” said a press release issued by Choose Freedom Iowa, a coalition of bar owners. “Now we are looking forward to taking the next steps. We will pursue our full lawsuit to get all Iowans’ freedoms permanently restored.”

But in a bit of good news for smokers, the Iowa State Fair is not kicking the nicotine addicted to the curb. Parts of the fairgrounds are exempt from the ban, giving smokers at least one respite from the harsh realities of the outside world.

Despite the restrictions, fairgoers will still be permitted a cigarette chaser with their deep-fried Twinkies.

And, for those concerned about their health, the fair has had portable heart defibrillators since 2001.

Anyone caught puffing in a prohibited area is subject to a $50 fine. That’s roughly 14 corn dogs.

Preparations are going full steam ahead for the construction of a new climate-controlled livestock exhibition center at the fairgrounds.

The Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation is developing the plans and raising funds for the project, which is expected to cost approximately $20 million.

"What it will ultimately be is a pretty major transformation to the southwest corner of the fairgrounds," said Bridget Anderson, Blue Ribbon Foundation special programs manager. "The ag exhibition center will actually be an indoor arena that will really open us up to more national livestock shows and rodeos that can occur not only during the fair, but throughout the year."
Anderson said that the new Ag Exhibition Center will be built on the present location of the West Arena, an open-air livestock arena just west of the horse barn at the fairgrounds.

"That West Arena facility will be moved to the east side of the swine barn," said Anderson "So we'll still have the open-air warm-up arena, it will just be relocated."

The entire project is expected to be completed in three phases, which will take approximately three years in total. The first phase, moving the West Arena to its new location, will be completed before next year's fair. "Then Phase 2 will consist of adding parking lots. There will be a lot of new parking and street areas for the new exhibition center," said Anderson. Phase 3 of the project will be the actual construction of the exhibition center, which should be completed by 2010.

The new arena will be approximately 80,000 square feet, somewhat larger than the existing Livestock Pavilion at the fairgrounds. "One of the great things about this new arena is it will have stadium seating, and it will be a climate-controlled facility so it will provide a comfortable atmosphere. For people that are very interested in agriculture or for people who are just learning about livestock, it will be a comfortable place to watch those shows."

She said the the historic Livestock Pavilion at the fairgrounds is still quite useful and will remain an important part of the fair.

It's all part of the continuing mission of the Iowa State Fair to serve as an agricultural education experience for fair-goers.

Iowa State Fair marketing director Lori Chappell said that the fair this year served that purpose well. "Agriculture is certainly the backbone of the fair, and the fair was built on the mission of ag education. Even as many rural people have migrated into the urban and suburban areas, we still are very much based on agriculture. For example, we have one of the world's largest livestock shows. This year we had more than 25,000 animals that were on the grounds, either as part of a contest or display or exhibiting, which is one of our largest years ever."

Chappell said that one of the biggest draws at the fair this year was the new Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center, which is essentially a maternity ward for animals. "It was very popular at all hours of the day," said Chappell. "Some fair-goers that may not have any connection to rural or farm life were just in awe of what they were seeing, and then you'd see other people who probably had grown up on a farm that were caught in the amazement of the miracle of birth."

Over 1 million people came through the gates to enjoy the 2007 Iowa State Fair, despite several days of very hot and humid weather.

While the turbine is producing power at the fair, it's also sending a message to visitors from out-of-state that Iowa is serious about renewable energy. The turbine was dedicated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday with Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, who said that as people from all around the globe descend upon Des Moines to enjoy the fair, "they are able to see one more reason why Iowa is great — renewable energy."

Culver noted the fact that in the past two years, three of the five major wind energy manufacturers, Acciona, Siemens, and Clipper, have chosen Iowa as the place to establish their North American production facilities.

There are currently more than 1,000 wind turbines in operation in Iowa, capable of producing more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 250,000 homes, Culver said.
The new MidAmerican Energy wind turbine at the Iowa State Fairgrounds was dedicated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the fair on Tuesday. Pictured are, from left, MidAmerican president Greg Abel, Iowa State Fair manager Gary Slater, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge.

The wind turbine at the fair begins producing electricity any time the wind starts blowing at 11 miles per hour or more. It attains maximum power output when the wind speed hits 34 mph.

The tower itself stands 133 feet above the ground, and each of its three rotor blades are 64 feet long.

Agriculture is the driving force of rural Iowa’s economy, and farm land is a precious gift that is passed from one generation to the next.

Farms that are kept in the same family through the generations are cherished in our state, and those that have been held in the same family for 100 years are honored as Century Farms.

This week there are 321 family farms being recognized as Century Farms during ceremonies at the Iowa State Fair. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will bestow the honors today on the Terrible’s/Channel 5 Stage.

An even higher honor, the Heritage Farm distinction, goes to farms that have been kept in the same family for 150 years. The Heritage Farm ceremonies will be held Thursday at the fair, where 87 Heritage Farms will be recognized.

The Century Farm program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, with additional sponsorship by Farm Bureau. The program began in 1976 as a part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations, and has continued its tradition of honoring more than 15,000 family farms in Iowa.

The Heritage Farm honor was added just last year, on the 30th anniversary of the Century Farm program.

Construction was just completed this week, and the result is the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center, a state-of-the-art facility focusing on animal agriculture.

It's all part of the state fair's legacy of providing agriculture-based learning opportunities for visitors young and old. One of the main attractions is that visitors will have the opportunity to watch livestock animals give birth and care for their newborns right before their eyes.  Several of the exhibits' cattle, sheep and pigs are very near their due-dates and could give birth at any moment. And baby chicks, just hatched from the egg, provide plenty of entertainment and education for fair-goers.

The new facility was made possible in part by a donation of $750,000 to the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation from Iowa businessman William Knapp, and named in honor of his brother and lifelong business partner. A long-term sponsorship commitment for the center has been pledged by Christensen Farms, a major swine-production company based in Minnesota.

Livestock at the displays were provided by Iowa State University, Dwayne Faidley and Sleezer Select Stock, and the project has received input from the College of Veterinary Medicine at ISU and the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association.

Located just south of the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit on the fairgrounds, the center features a stage for a variety of educational programming throughout the fair, as well as six plasma TVs and two projection screens playing pre-recorded and live footage of animal births. While this is not the first animal birthing display at the fair, this is the first facility at the fair dedicated to many different types of livestock educational programs.

Divided We Fail is a group working to “engage the American people, elected officials and the business community to find broad-based, bi-partisan solutions to the most compelling domestic issues facing the nation.” Those issues include health care and the long-term financial security of Americans.

Republican presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Mitt Romney, John Cox and Tommy Thompson will be participating in today’s event.

The crowd is beginning to file in the room….

  Everybody is wearing red T-shirts .with the DividedWeFail.org logo.

A little more about Divided We Fail from the handouts we’ve been given: it’s a group that includes AARP, former Republican Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, Communications Workers of America, DeWaay Capital Management, Des Moines University, Easter Seals, Iowa Association of Homes & Services for the Aging, Iowa Caregivers Association, Iowa Credit Union League, Iowa Health Care Association, Long Term Care Guild of Des Moines, Qwest Communications, SEIU Iowa and Wells Dairy.

It’s a steady stream of folks now coming into this wonderful air-conditioned building, as the crew is putting the final touches on the stage set.

Getting close to the start of the program. Most of the seats are full. I’m sitting next to Marc Cooper, contributing editor of The Nation. Having a nice coversation. He’s traveling around Iowa covering the campaign.

Bruce Koeppl, Divided We Fail campaign manager, is now welcoming everyone and explaining the importance of health care and long-term financial security. He said he wants to put a spotlight on these issues and demand answers.

Koeppl is now talking about a pledge card that all of the audience has been given, looking for volunteers to work with their program. “That’s the whole point folks, we’ve got to keep our efforts visible to these candidates.”

Koeppl announced that there will be a Democratic candidates forum on Sept. 20 in Davenport. Another Republican forum will be held in Sioux City on Oct. 25.

Now we’re hearing some stats: only nine minutes of a 90 minute forum was devoted to health care questions at the recent Drake debate.

Ray Hoffmann, chair of Republican party just arrived.

And now…former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is being introduced.

Huckabee: We need to be talking about health care more in these debates. Remarkable that it touches every American and number one economic issue. Thanks to AARP. And also thanks for having this forum in and air-conditioned room!
Huckabee is talking about his time as a governor and dealing with Medicaid. Health care is having an impact on economic development.
Also a personal issue. If I had been here two years ago, there would have been 150 pounds more of me here with you today. I’m now doing things at age 51 that I couldn’t do at age 18.

Health care system is designed so that we wait until people are catastrophically ill. Need fundamental shift to a preventive health system.

Wants people to have personal ownership of their own health care. Not employer-based. People need to know more about the quality of their health care, bring more competition into health care.

Huckabee hopes to have a health care plan by November. More than enough money in the system. Need to truly recognize that chronic disease is the main cost in health care, mostly from unhealthy eating, smoking and other problems.

Talking about time as governor, reducing co-pays and deductibles for preventive exams.
“We give people breaks on company time to smoke, but what about if they want to walk or exercise? We don’t reward people for taking care of themselves.”

This is a cultural shift, it’s transformational. It’s not impossible. We have done it before. Littering, seat belt use, smoking, drunk driving, we’ve changed dramatically the habits of people before we can do it again.

Now time for questions. Huckabee is asked about how 87 percent of Americans feel that health care is important issue. Prescription drug costs are a problem What will you do about it. Provides an an
Also asked about personal retirement security. Need to look at different ways to approach the retirement system. He’s funny, says: Folks, you’re just living too long, and I’m sorry we’re just going to need to take some of you out today. Big laughs. Goes on to talk about some basic changes and then talks about tax code changes and the Fair Tax, getting big applause.

Huckabee wraps up, getting in a plug for support at the straw poll. Ends by saying that health care is a national security issue.

Next up, California Rep. Duncan Hunter. Starts off with a little trouble with his microphone. Begins talking about his son who is serving in Afghanistan. And introduces his other son, Sam, who is with him today. Quick to mention how nice Huckabee is.

Tells a story about a constituent who had to wear a plastic wrist brace. Says the brace couldn’t be worth $10, but the price was over $500.

Need to end the policy that bans purchasing health care policies across state lines. “Let’s let people buy across state lines. You can buy almost anything, but you can’t by a health care policy across state lines.”

Hunter explains some of the problems in health care regarding the inability of people to only purchase coverage for things they will need to be covered for. Get rid of all the state-level mandates added by powerful lobbies in state legislatures.

Hunter wraps it up, and begins taking questions. Question about long-term care, while preserving one’s dignity. He says, wherever possible, he’d like to see a system that works toward keeping senior citizens in their own home. Use tax incentives, incentives to family members, other incentives to encourage people to stay in their homes. Maybe provide tax incentives to home health care providers.

Hunter finishes by saying freedom is the catalyst for improvement. Socialist medicine won’t work. Freedom made this country great, let’s pursue freedom for quality medical care.

And now it’s time for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Romney is widely seen as the front-runner here in Iowa, and this is his first appearance at the Iowa State Fair. It will be interesting to see his level of applause.

Romney comes out with his wife, Ann. The only candidate to come out on the stage with somebody else. Romney tells a joke that I didn’t get.

Ann takes the mic and tells everybody how much they love Iowa. And they’ve brought the whole family to the fair, having a great time.

Now Mitt takes the mic, leading off with a story about a car. An American Rambler. Moral of the story, change is good.

Tells his story about getting things done, providing results in the private sector, and fixing problems in government. Making advances in education. Able to balance the budget without raising taxes.

Romney says we keep hearing people year after year talking about fixing health care, but nothing ever gets done. Tells the story about how he got everyone in Massachusetts health insurance by working together with 85 percent Democratic legislature.

Says he doesn’t have a political career. Spent most of his life working in the private sector. Says we need a leader in Washington who will tell the truth and work together to overcome challenges.

Time for questions. First question is from a fifth grade girl. Asks about preventive health care.

Romney says everyone needs to have health insurance, keep families together, live healthier. Second question is from a guy asking about what can be done to improve financial or economic literacy.

Romney talks about teaching people the economics of saving. Problems with credit card purchasing. Helping kids learn more about economics would have a big impact. Also a special savings plan. New tax plan. Zero taxes on savings interest.

Romney is now finishing with his closing remarks. Talks about the Republican party being the party of strength.

After his closing remarks, Romney makes sure to step over into the audience and shake hands with Terry Branstad.

Now it’s time for John Cox. He turned around a failing potato chip business. At least 20 to 25 people just left the room after Romney was done.

Cox begins with basically the same stump speech as  the one he gave earlier at the Des Moines Register soapbox. He’s talking about health care as being no different than any other service or product. No matter what, it can’t escape from the laws of supply and demand. What’s wrong with health care is that there is a huge demand, and not enough supply.
He mentions the British legal system as being a model that has been successful, and not as detrimental to doctors.

Cox keeps hammering away at pure capitalist principles as being the way to bring down health care costs. Supply and demand, and more freedom in the system will bring things back into equilibrium, bring more market efficiencies.

Cox is receiving a question from Sara Swisher, representing SEIU, the largest health care union in the country. Question, what can be done to break the Washington gridlock that has stopped change in health care.

Cox is closing with a talk about his experience in finance, and discusses ways to teach children how to improve their financial security throughout their lives. Says we need to start finding market-based solutions to our problems. The only way that we’re going to be able to address our problems is through the free market.
He finishes by talking about the problem of career politicians. Closes with a call for support in the caucuses.

Our neighbor from the Badger State, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, is now on the stage and really feels in his element. I never would have expected, but Tommy got the loudest welcome of all the candidates here today. He’s got some history with working with this organization on health care issues in the past.

Thompson is the most well-versed on health care issues of the candidates here today. He talks about his long record of working with health care solutions, “I know health care, I speak it, I lecture it. I go all around the country.” He said he also knows about personal health care crises. Pledges to end breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer.

The crowd is really on his side. as he closes.

Thompson is now taking a couple of questions. The first is about Medicare reimbursement rates, something that is a big issue with Iowa having the worst reimbursement rate in the nation.
Second question is about Social Security. He says Medicare is in much worse shape than Social Security. Wants to make sure that kids can start individual thrift accounts for retirement savings.

Tommy is now closing his presentation. He says he passionate about transforming health care, passionate about Social Security. He says he is different than other candidates because he is offering real solutions. Says we have to start solving problems. Stop tearing each other down and start solving problems together.

Branstad is now offering the closing remarks for the event, thanking everyone for being here and taking the initiative with the organization. Urges people to take their role in the presidential process in a very thoughtful way.
That’s all from the Maytag Theater.

Brownback pointed to a bale of straw at the Des Moines Register's Soapbox area and said that someday we'll even be making cellulosic ethanol fuels from straw. He said he likes to call it a "grass to gas" program, "and no, I'm not talking about marijuana," he said.

Brownback, one of many Republicans running for president, drew a much larger crowd than other GOP candidates who spoke at the State Fair earlier in the day. He hit on many of his main campaign themes during his speech, focusing on "returning to the basics" of family and cultural values. He also discussed agricultural policies during his speech.

More than once Brownback asked for the support of Iowans at the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday.  He is hoping to make a big impression at the Republican fund-raiser.

After speaking and taking questions from the crowd and reporters, Brownback walked up the hill to the Iowa Pork Producers stand and waited in line to buy a pork-chop-on-a-stick. He made sure to allow photographers plenty of opportunities to snap photos of him taking a big bite.

Brownback continued to munch on the chop  and sip a glass of lemonade as reporters and Iowans asked him questions.

It didn't take long for several Republican presidential candidates to arrive at the fair and begin shaking hands.

California Congressman Duncan Hunter was the first to take to the mic at the Des Moines Register's Soapbox, which really is just a few bales of straw and a PA system. Hunter's stump speech focused mostly on the familiar themes of national defense and "criminal immigrants."

Hunter brought with him a small group of sign-wavers, and an equally small number of fair-goers stopped to listen to his speech. He was a bit overdressed for a day at the fair, sweating in a suit and tie. He quickly removed his jacket.

With the Iowa Republican Straw Poll just days away, Hunter was asked by reporters about his expectations. He was quick to emphasize that he hasn't spent as much time on the campaign trail as some of the candidates, but he expects to do well at the Ames event.

Iowa Independent asked Hunter about his vote against the 2007 Farm Bill on July 27 in the U.S. House. He said he couldn't recall the specific vote on the farm legislation or exactly why he voted against it except that it was "probably because of the cost."

Hunter said he was planning to walk around a bit then stop by the WHO-Radio studios.

Hunter's path intersected with another Republican congressman running for president, Ron Paul of Texas.  (More on Paul inside.)

Ron Paul Outshines Hunter 

Paul had a noticeably larger and louder contingent of followers at the fair. He took to the soapbox to share his belief in limited government and a return to original constitutional principles.
Paul's stance is what drives his beliefs that the war in Iraq was wrong, the income tax should be abolished, and government programs should be slashed.

Iowa Independent asked Paul about his vote against the 2007 Farm Bill. "I don't believe the government should be involved in farming at all," he said, adding he favored a federal policy that has no subsidies whatsoever for farmers.

As the two congressmen were meeting with Iowans along the Grand Concourse, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, one of several undeclared potential candidates for the Republican nomination, was at the WHO Radio studio on the fairgrounds, speaking with conservative talk-show host Jan Mickelson.