So I'm going to the Iowa State Fair tomorrow.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

Saturday, Aug. 10

9 a.m.: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
10:30 a.m.: Sen. Kamala Harris
11:15 a.m.: Rep. Tim Ryan
12:45 p.m.: Sen. Amy Klobuchar
1:30 p.m.: Former Rep. Joe Sestak
2:15 p.m.: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
3 p.m.: Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
3:45 p.m.: Sen. Elizabeth Warren
4:30 p.m.: Sen. Cory Booker


...and (of course) 69 food items on a stick, as well as the legendary Butter Cow.

Should be fun!

[a kennedy]

1. and let me know what the butter sculpture is.....

[madaboutharry]

5. The main one is always a cow.

This year there are also characters from Sesame Street as a tribute to Iowa Public Radio.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

15. Aside from the cow, it was a tribute to Sesame Street

Big Bird looked really good in butter yellow.

[a kennedy]

28. Hey, I found a video of them......

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/travel/2019/08/13/b-butter-sesame-street-butter-sculptures-steal-show-iowa-state-fair/1995725001/

[busterbrown]

2. What about the beer? N/T

[Algernon Moncrieff]

16. There was much beer. Local and national. Root as well.

I did not partake, as I am engaging in weight loss. I did have locally grown apple slices and homemade peanut butter for dipping. That's not a damn thing like beer, but it's as good as it got for me today.

[busterbrown]

27. I'm jealous of you self-control guys/girs

I could never do what you did.. Stuff outside in nice weather always require beer and vodka/juice.

[Blue_true]

3. What is butter cow? nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. It is a model of a full-sized cow, made entirely of butter! n/t

[Blue_true]

6. I learned something new. Thanks. nt

[PunkinPi]

8. Meet butter cow...

[JI7]

9. do they do anything with the butter afterwards ?

[PunkinPi]

10. I don't know, was wondering the same thing.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Everything you ever wanted to know about the butter cow

https://www.iowastatefair.org/about/butter-cow/

The Butter Cow starts with a wood, metal, wire and steel mesh frame and about 600 lbs. of low moisture, pure cream Iowa butter. Once inside the 40-degree cooler, layers of butter are applied until a life-size butter cow emerges - measuring about 5-1/2-ft high and 8-ft long. Each year, much of the butter is recycled and can be reused for up to 10 years.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

17. They also usually sculpt something other than the cow.

This year, it was a tribute to Sesame Street.

[a kennedy]

29. Posted this earlier......here's a video of the Sesame Street characters.......

https://www.usatoday.com/videos/travel/2019/08/13/b-butter-sesame-street-butter-sculptures-steal-show-iowa-state-fair/1995725001/

[Algernon Moncrieff]

30. love it!

[3catwoman3]

7. Gonna eat any corn dogs?

Don't allow any pictures if you do -

[Algernon Moncrieff]

18. No, but I saw many being eaten.

The family got ice cream at the dairy barn run by the dairy association, and my non-red meat eating daughter got turkey tenderloin on a stick from the Turkey Growers food stand.

[BeckyDem]

12. I am so jealous, seriously. Have an awesome time!

K&R

[Algernon Moncrieff]

19. Elizabeth Warren did well with the crowd.

I'll expand further down.

[Lucid Dreamer]

13. Algernon, I'm looking forward to a follow up. How did the fair go? nt

[Algernon Moncrieff]

20. So we arrived too late to see Kamala Harris

We did not stand around and listen to the candidate after candidate. There were, after all, cows and horses to see and food stands that needed to be kept in business.

We heard part of Joe Sestak's speech - the story of his daughter being denied treatment is touching and relevant, but I think his stump speech needs work.

We heard part of Kristin Gillibrand's speech. In the part we heard, she talked about defeating an incumbent who called her names and ran attack ads in a 2 - 1 Republican district. To be fair, I'm not a fan. Objectively, her speech isn't bad, but it's no barn burner.

We heard part of John Hickenlooper's talk. I write "talk" because he was doing Q & A as opposed to giving a stump "speech" at the point that we arrived. In the portion that we heard, he was answering questions about legal Cannabis, and talking about the concept of dry counties that came out of prohibition, and how that related to dividing Cannabis tax revenue with those counties where it remains illegal. He also discussed taxes and indicated he wants to roll back the Trump tax cuts while also indicating that he would have cut corporate taxes, but not as much as Trump. It was a muddle.

We heard all of the Elizabeth Warren speech, and she got a fairly decent crowd. Key talking points of hers that worked with the crowd were "structural change" and "2 cents" (referring to her plan to tax 2% of the total property value of Americans with > $50M). She talked about using those proceeds to fund childcare and UPK for 3 & 4-year-olds and eliminating 95% of student loan debt. Her "biggest anti-corruption investigation since Watergate" point also seemed to sit well with the audience.

As you'd expect, we saw many organizers in the shirts of their respective camps. Warren, Booker, Klobuchar, and Bernie organizers were all in evidence. I also saw some Union Canvasser shirts. There were some folks walking around with Trump 2020 signs, and I was one particularly obnoxious shirt (Trump 2020 . F*** Your Feelings) but I didn't see heckling or harassment of one side by the other.

There was a big crowd today, but the vast majority of fairgoers were doing things having nothing to do with politics, so how much impact this has on the locals will likely depend on coverage by the local TV stations and the Des Moines Register, which sponsors this event.

[BeckyDem]

24. Thanks so much for writing this up!

[xmas74]

26. That could be from my council.

We received t shirts from my council. They're green and on the back says "Caucasing for my union". I believe they planned on being there to ask about legislation. We have all been informed that we should ask every candidate about if they would do anything to fight the Janus decision.

[xmas74]

14. I don't have time to make the trip this year.

I'm in the middle of too much overtime and both mine and the kid's classes start next week.

I will be in Des Moines at the end of September and I hope to catch a few more candidates.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

21. Overtime is good if you are getting the time and a half

I'd stay home and make the money, too!

[xmas74]

22. I work for the state.

It's a whole process to cash out my time and takes several pay cycles to receive.

The ot is mandatory and it's exhausting. This has gone on for years.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

23. Arrrrrgh!

Sorry. And here I was thinking you were going to get a windfall.

[xmas74]

25. It's ok.

State employees don't make all that much and my state (Missouri) is the lowest paid in the nation.