I find the inevitable Iowa diner meet & greets alienating

[Recursion]

This is a small thing but it's bugged me for years. Who are these people who have the time to sit down for breakfast at a damn diner on a weekday morning? A lot of them look old enough to be retired, so I guess there's that, but seriously I have trouble accepting this as a thing. And they talk about having breakfast there every morning for the past hundred and fifty seven years. Every morning? Do you have a job? When does it start? How are you managing this?

I want a more relatable breakfast meet & greet: I want candidates to talk to people hastily gulping down a still-half-frozen Hot Pocket™ while waiting in the sleet for a bus.

[stopdiggin]

1. a valid point

It IS frustrating as hell. Of course, the mother that's cutting work to pick up a sick child from school (for the 4th time this semester) probably has neither the time or inclination for a friendly little "so how are you feeling about the economy" chat with some putz with a microphone. And if she did .. chances are pretty good those "sentiments" are going to end up on the cutting room floor anyway. (just a wild guess)

But here's another really frustrating thing .. chances are REAL good that every last one of those old farts in the diner ARE going to cast a vote. Single father catching two buses to get to night school classes? Maybe 50-50? If we're lucky?

[ChubbyStar]

94. A mother that is picking up a sick child is NOT CUTTING WORK she is tending to an ill child

The cutting remark, and the putz with a microphone jab show me you have no clue how to connect with people.

[stopdiggin]

97. yep. at's me. clueless

and of course that remark about the woman was intended as derogatory.

--

[ChubbyStar]

99. If I miscontrused your intent

I apologize, sincerely. I think talking to people at bus stops is a great idea. No microphone needed.

[Sinistrous]

2. Not every job starts at 8:00 AM or earlier

Some start as late as 10:00 AM.
Some of these folks may have just gotten off from a mid-shift.
There are many work schedules that allow people to have an early morning meal or snack.

[Recursion]

3. In Bumblefuck, Iowa? Really?

I'm sure there probably are midwest factories that run three shifts, somewhere, but that kind of gets to the point of how unusual this is from a nationwide perspective.

[Sinistrous]

4. Yeah really....

Health care workers,
Police,
Firefighters,
Sanitation workers,
Farmers who bring in product and stop by for a bite to eat.

I get alienated when words such as “patronizing” and “elitism” keep running through my head.

[Tipperary]

5. Yep.

Thank you.

[Recursion]

70. If the factory is running 3 shifts why the fuck is there so much economic anxiety?

Sorry, I don't buy that: the people candidates parade in front of for approval are simply not getting off overnight shifts.

[Recursion]

6. Yeah, no: the 107 year old guy at the diner is not an EMT, sorry (nt)

[Drunken Irishman]

24. Are you a parody?

Are you suggesting that 107 year old guy (I'm assuming hyperbole here) still is out there working anyway?

What an extremely weird, and odd post. Almost as if an alien is trying to grasp how humans operate.

[Historic NY]

27. We had a 108 yr old barber worked everyday until he suddenly died...

of old age. He is in Guinness Book of world records. Truth.

[Recursion]

29. A guy who has never in his life had time to sit down for breakfast on a weekday

is wondering how people manage to do it all the time.

I'm also wondering how this gets somehow presented as "normal" or "real" rather than a really, really rare subset of Americans who can do this.

[Drunken Irishman]

30. I'm sitting down at my computer before going into work later today.

I do this every single day.

I guess it could be a diner. Or a coffee shop.

The fact you find this so utterly strange and unique is more an indictment on you than anyone who has this opportunity.

[TidalWave46]

41. "A guy who has never in his life had time to sit down for breakfast on a weekday"

That is damn near no one. Literally.

[Recursion]

44. Wow. You are out of touch. That's a whole lot of us. (nt)

[TidalWave46]

48. Not even close to out of touch.

Out of touch is your statement. You should try visiting a diner at 7 am. It will be a great experience for you.

[Recursion]

50. I've delivered things to a diner at 7am. I am aware that people eat there

It's simply not a situation I or anyone I know can imagine emulating.

Can you at least grant that? That a lot of the country just doesn't understand this and probably never will, and this is kind of an affectation of a particular small minority of people?

[TidalWave46]

52. "I am aware that people eat there"

That's a great start!

[Recursion]

53. Now: how about people who snarf down a breakfast burrito while waiting for a bus?

Which of the two sets of voters do you imagine there are more of?

[TidalWave46]

60. That would probably be a close call.

Considering over forty percent of the population doesn't even have access to public transportation, an even higher percentage not having access to public transportation that would actually get them to work.

As someone who took the bus to work for years it was very rare for me to see someone waiting at the stop with a breakfast burrito. I'm sure some even just came from the diner. Not sure how you view people who take the bus but it's not what you think it is.

I would wager that more people eat in a diner at least once a week than people you will find waiting for a bus eating a breakfast burrito.

BTW, for the price of a breakfast burrito meal at McDonalds you can get a sold breakfast at many diners. You seem completely unaware of that. Go look at a McDonalds in the morning. People buying breakfast burrito meals aren't who you think they are, as a whole. It's not even that you are broad brushing. You are broad brushing and using the wrong side of the brush.

[cwydro]

107. You don't get up early enough then.

During my working years, I ran before work every day. Then showered; then made a good breakfast.

Not a diner kind of person, but I ALWAYS ate breakfast that I took time to cook at home. SO I could have had time to go to a diner if that had been something I desired.

Anyone who has to settle for a “half frozen hot pocket” (yuck), is either staying up too late or not getting up early enough. Ew, I wouldn’t even want a fully cooked hot pocket.

[getagrip_already]

85. hate to break it to you.....

But just about everyone in a part time job has really wierd hours, all the time. One day you might come in at noon, the next 8 am, and then then 4 pm. You never know your shift schedule more than a week in advance, so your life kind of sucks. It makes having more than one part time job almost impossible (that's intentional).

So duhhh, yes, there are millions of people who can have a meal in the morning and not screw up their workday. Sure, most wouldn't eat in a diner. But in a small town, your options are limited. You might not even have a real supermarket you can easily get to.

Oh, and that high and might bus stop? Guess what, even in des moines, it's mostly commuters. Not low wage earners. It's a hub and spoke system, not point to point. The objective is to get people in and out of the city, not across town.

You are more likely to get an office worker or professional than a worker at a hospital or hotel.

I don't give a royal crap where they interview people in iowa. They are all the same. And they aren't who will elect the next president. They are nice enough if they aren't a gop zealot. but they don't amount to page of trumps tweets in the end. RI would be a better choice for an early voting state; it is actually diverse.

So save your russian image of what goes on in a diner. Go to one. See who is there. It isn't just retired republicans. But for some reason, thats who they seem to like to interview. You have to ask the tv producers why (hint, it's what people like you expect)

[TwilightZone]

65. "Are you a parody?"

Yeah, that's where I'm leaning. I think this is some weird form of satire.

[Recursion]

69. What's satiric about it to you?

I'm saying a commonly-represented aspect of "American life" isn't actually representative of a whole lot of Americans. What about that do you find satirical?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. Yep. A lot of those farmers have already been up for 3 or 4 hours.

My partner comes from small town rural Illinois. The diner is the busiest place in town.

[Recursion]

23. And that's fascinating to the 2% of the country who are farmers

I'm still looking for the still-frozen Hot Pocket moment.

[TidalWave46]

42. Agriculture employees over ten percent of Americans.

Sorry you have such a short sighted view of them as many of these farmers are under brutal attack.

[stopdiggin]

102. not on farms they don't. it's ridiculous to suggest ...

sympathy for the farm crowd (which I claim) is completely different from saying they represent anything more than a very tiny minority.

And the frustration in the OP .. and on down through the string .. is the continuing hackneyed efforts by the media to try to frame them, and small town life, as the "real America" or the "true Americans." (and the implied corollary that the guy standing on a subway platform really isn't!) THAT'S the short-sided (actually to be more accurate, fictional) point of view.

And .. given results dealt up by the electoral college, and a few other things .. it's starting to kinda' piss people off a little bit that we're still playing this game!

[Recursion]

104. Thank you (nt)

[TidalWave46]

106. The topic is people at an Iowa diner and the ops thoughts on them...

And the media. No one in their right mind would think it’s just farmers. There is a higher chance they would be attached to the industry.

I take minor exception with two things you state but overall agree. You came at the same issue without shitting on people you(the op)admittedly have never known and acting offended that the media acts like the media.

[Funtatlaguy]

15. Bumblefuck, lol....right next to Whereinthehellistat.

[betsuni]

7. Diner people: the retired, bachelor farmers, and when a guy has a fight with his wife and she says,

"Make your own breakfast, you big dummy" so he pretends he's not hungry and goes to the Chatterbox Cafe. At least in Lake Wobegon. And my hometown.

[whistler162]

8. Nice 1990's reference to Hot Pockets...

maybe have the candidates stand in the drive-through lane, would trim down the candidate field quickly (oops not quick enough to jump out of the way of that pickup so sorry you are out), of McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts, or equivalent.

As others have said not everyone has a 9 am to 5 pm job.

[TwilightZone]

58. Hot Pockets are still around

They're advertised pretty heavily, particularly on TV. Most people would likely understand the reference.

The OP's assertions on diners, however, are woefully misguided.

[brush]

9. Agreed. The MSM's idea of typical voters being an older white person...

in a Mid-western diner is so hackneyed it's not even funny. It's sad and shows the persistent lack of diversity among assignment editors and reporters in journalism.

The people most often interviewed may be typical repug voters but they are not the majority of hardworking voters who don't have time to gab at a diner in the morning, or the voter who doesn't have the money to eat at a diner—those interviewed are typical though of people who have time to spend 3-4 hours participating in Iowa's totally exclusionary and undemocratic caucus.

The state should get rid of that archaic system, and a 95% white state should not be the first vote as that undue influence has repercussions on which candidates continue on and who gets more funding.

[brooklynite]

12. What does this have to do with "the MSM"?

The candidates see value in going there. I'm sure the blogosphere knows better.

[brush]

13. Who airs interviews of voters in Iowa diners?

And candidates only see value because Iowa's undemocratic caucus is first. Come on!

[brooklynite]

14. So you don't want face-to-face candidate events with actual voters?

If Ohio was first, do you imagine the campaign would run differently?

[brush]

16. Are you really being serious? Try South Carolina or one of Super...

Tuesday states that represent the Democratic Party demographic instead of 95% white Iowa or repug Ohio.

This is DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND, remember?

[brooklynite]

17. Fine, pick any State you want: candidates will still go to diners.

[brush]

19. Do you specialize in missing points? It's not the diners, it's who's in the diners.

Other states that aren't 95% white and vote repug in the GE have diners, and actual primaries. Who thinks what comes out of 95% white Iowa is representative of Democratic Party sentiment nationwide?

[brooklynite]

20. MY point is that the CANDIDATES think those voters have value, even if YOU don't..

Andrew could announce today that he'll no longer campaign in Iowa as an unrepresentative State. I'll wait with bated breath...

[brush]

22. He's doing well in Iowa and NH but not so in South Carolina where...

there are black voters, who no Dem candidate can win without.

I like Mayor Pete and his stand on reparations but that's just me. He's not resonating with the rest of the African American POC constituency.

That's just reality. See betsumi's post #18 on this thread.

[Recursion]

63. OK, I have to hand that one to you

Well played

[Drunken Irishman]

26. The OP said nothing of the demographic makeup of Iowa...

It was pointing out that people are at diners in the morning. What state it is is irrelevant. Go into any diner in the morning and you'll find people. The OP seems to just not grasp that this is a real reality.

[Recursion]

34. Go to a quinceanera and you'll find a lot of people too

And I'm willing to bet more Americans have gone to a quinceañera than regularly eat breakfast at a diner. But our candidates line up to talk to the latter group, and the media talks about "authenticity" when they do.

[Drunken Irishman]

45. I've seen plenty of candidates all over the place...

Not just diners.

I've seen 'em at Labor Day picnics. 4th of July parades. Churches. Factories. Schoolhouses. Pizza places. Coffee shops.

Candidates go to where the people congregate the most.

[Recursion]

54. I've got to agree with brush

If the media stopped making the diner scene a rite of passage the candidates would stop doing it. It's just not a scene the majority of the country relates to.

[brooklynite]

108. Here's a secret: not every political event is broadcast, whether at a diner or a community center

Candidates go where there are voters and the media follows.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. I bet they have diners in South Carolina too.

But I could be wrong.

[Recursion]

32. Some good ones!

Again: I love diners. I've just never had time to make a habit of eating breakfast at them on a weekday.

[Drunken Irishman]

46. And I don't go to church on Sundays...

But a lot of Americans do. Cool.

[Recursion]

49. About a third do

Not really all that many

[MineralMan]

98. I used to live in Santa Barbara, CA. I was the very young manager of a

very busy gas station on the northern end of that city. I worked about 12 hours a day at that job, and for not a lot of pay, back in 1965. Every morning, at 6 AM, I went to a diner about a block away from my work. I sat down and ate a fried egg sandwich with bacon on it. It cost a dollar. I didn't have a kitchen where I lived, so I ate at that diner every morning, and I worked there six days a week.

Every morning at 6 AM that little diner was full of people doing just what I was doing - having breakfast before going to work nearby. I got up early enough so I could do that.

The place also made burgers. About half of the time, I called that diner and ordered a cheeseburger for myself and whatever the guys working at that gas station wanted. Then, I walked down there and got the food and carried it back to the gas station.

Diners are full of working people who eat there because it's the most convenient place for them to eat. Working people. The food's cheap and the service is fast. The cook is standing right in front of you at the flattop grill and knows what you want when you walk in the door. You eat, chat with the person next to you, and then you go to work.

I think you have a mistaken idea about small town or urban diners and cafes. I truly do.

[Recursion]

101. And that's not a very common point of view, is it?

That is my point. Don't mistake your own experience as being somehow "normal" compared to most people when their experiences are radically different.

[MineralMan]

103. Isn't it? Explain how you know that, please.

Come and drop in on Mickey's Diner in downtown St. Paul. See who's in there any time of day. You'll be surprised, I guarantee.

[MineralMan]

110. I don't know, actually.

I like diners. I seek them out wherever I go. I eat in them. When I do, I see a cross-section of the people who live in that place.

I don't see just one demographic group in the diners I visit. I never have. What I see, instead, is people of all sorts in there to eat.

I don't go to fast food restaurants when I travel. I go to small cafes and diners. I've been doing that for decades, because I find them reflective of the local population and they're generally friendly to strangers. That's true in small towns and large cities. You just walk in and sit down at the counter. Soon, you'll be in a conversation with someone who is local to that place.

[LonePirate]

77. Thank you! This is Democratic Underground, not White Moderates Central. So many forget that.

[abqtommy]

10. When I lived in S. Dakota in 1996-97 the small town (pop. 400) had no bus stop but it did have

a diner and on any morning that's where you'd find some people. Not all, but some. Your op is a cry
out for understanding. The people in the diner could help you out there. It's good to remember that it
takes all kinds of people to make up this world.

[Recursion]

33. That sounds really nice

It also sounds completely unrepresentative of the vast majority of Americans' experiences.

[abqtommy]

55. I found lot of good people living in S. Dakota. I minded my business and they minded theirs.

How many Americans make up this vast majority you speak of?

[Recursion]

56. About 80%, by census numbers

Look, I'm from a small town in Mississippi: I get what you're saying. But the fact is that there just aren't that many people who live like this.

I don't understand why small-town people get so damn defensive when I point this out. We're one of many smaller special interest groups.

[abqtommy]

62. Well, if you get what I'm saying then my work here is done.

[betsuni]

18. ...

[evertonfc]

21. Remember,

At this point, only the most political active are even engaged. Seriously. These are people who are in campaign 360 days per year, every year. There are exceptions but I find these conversations informative but understand it's like Japanese to most working Americans.

[Historic NY]

28. When I was younger I worked mainly nights so

one would get to see the breakfast club. When I was on days I head first thing to a meet up to the breakfast club, day in and day out it was mostly the same people. When one gets older it becomes and important thing, I don't do it any more since the old Perkins place was torn down, it was an independent.

[Recursion]

31. I've done 3rd shift too. Warehouse fulfillment, 10pm-6am

Personally when I got done I stopped at the 7-11 for a burrito (they were 39 cents back then) and fell the fuck asleep. I think there even were diners in the area (this was SW Virginia) but I could never imagine staying awake long enough to go to one.

(I also want to be clear I'm not anti-diner. I absolutely love diners. On a Saturday morning. When I have time to eat.)

[SharonClark]

35. There's more media in those diners than candidates

and its every state, not just Iowa.

For some reason (lazy stereotypes?) the media goes to backwater diners to interview the 'man on the street'.
That usually means they find old, white, retired men. Interviews at diners are a con.

[brush]

51. Spot on. Funny they never do diner/voter interviews in Brooklyn...

during the NY primary. I used to go to those diners and they were full authentic POC voters too.

[Skidmore]

36. My that's incredibly judgmental.

Very few places in Iowa have public transportation. When I go to such a meeting, I have to arrange my day to do so. There are evening meetings and those in larger venues. The older people in the venues you refer to are citizens and voters. They deserve the same respect and access to candidates as any other prospective voters.

[Recursion]

38. Exactly: the deserve *the same* respect as any other prospective voters

They get much, much, much more respect than that.

[Skidmore]

47. Hardly. How many of this type

of assembly do you think occurs? Until Obama ran, we had no candidate for president from the Democratic party set foot in our county in decades. Our county was red because people saw Grassley blow through as surrogate. The impression was that only the Rs gave a damn. That visit from Obama and one other turned this county blue. It carried through until this midterm when we were finally able to oust the GOP rep. Don't underestimate the power of the rural voter.

[Recursion]

75. I mean.... I remember diner meet & greets from the 1984 primary

So, it goes back at least that far, though back then it was probably a good deal more representative of the country.

[Skidmore]

83. So, was it this attitude you describe

that left this "flyover country " abandoned to Republicans for decades? That older people left by their children in small towns were not worth the time of Democratic party candidates? Is this how the Republicans could so readily claim they had our interests at heart even though there were Democrats out here who would have welcomed the support?

[Recursion]

84. No, I'm asking candidates to talk to actual working people waiting at bus stops in Iowa

So, no, it's not that. It's just that I want us to stop pretending that ancient white people with lots of leisure time are somehow more important than everybody else.

[TidalWave46]

37. I am a father and also work very hard at my job.

I have breakfast and dinner with my family almost every day. One day a week, without fail, I also have breakfast at 7 am with forty business owners.

One of my best friends eats at a diner for breakfast with friends five days a week. He does it before going into the landscaping job he has had for almost two decades. One of the hardest workers I have ever met.

I wish they would come talk to us over a meal. Sounds awesome. Stability isn't something to fear. That is not to say that all people who don't take part in something like this are "unstable". Gotta put that in there for those who read things that aren't there.

[Recursion]

39. I have breakfast and dinner with my family every day too

What I don't do is go to a diner and sit around while somebody brings me food and coffee. Like, do you get that for a lot of the country that's simply not imaginable as a normal thing on a workday morning? Nor do I sit around with "business owners", incidentally, but otherwise I'll let that part go for now.

[TidalWave46]

40. It's far more common that you know.

But as you can see from my post above, I don't broad brush as you do and think it's really bad form.

You should stop by a diner at 7 am and see how many extremely hard working people you will find in them. Really sad to see this kind of attack on american workers on a progressive board. And you admittedly come from a position of ignorance. You literally say you really know nothing about the people and then in your next breath absolutely trash them.

[Recursion]

59. Amazing how defensive people get when I point out how rare this is

I'm not saying it's a bad life, in any way, I'm saying it's a life that just doesn't at all connect with the vast majority of Americans.

What can we do to get small-town diner-goers out of this bubble? How can we get them to reconnect with the majority of the country?

[TidalWave46]

61. I don't see many defensive people.

I do see a lot of people with more real world experiences chiming in. That is a good thing.

[TheRealNorth]

95. You were very defensive

You are attacking people on this board by saying that they don't have "real world" experience -whatever that means.

[TheRealNorth]

93. I think you are injecting your own biases into the argument

The point is that the news organizations are not interviewing voters outside of the narrow segment of diner-goers, who in my experience skew a little older.

You don't see News Organizations camp out at the local Starbucks or McDonalds at lunch time to see what those voters think.

[TidalWave46]

100. I directly addressed the content of the op.

"You don't see News Organizations camp out at the local Starbucks or McDonalds at lunch time to see what those voters think."

That still invalidates the point of the op. Many value meals at McDonalds or a drink and pastry at a Starbucks will run you more than the cost of breakfast at a diner. The op trashes them far more than you are stating in your reply.

"The point is that the news organizations are not interviewing voters outside of the narrow segment of diner-goers, who in my experience skew a little older."

I do find this to be an acceptable argument. It doesn't really mean much in the big scheme of things but I do get your point. Millenials and younger voters are far more likely to get breakfast from a McDonalds than going to a diner. There are actually studies on this. Probably didn't need the studies. Just like I don't need to state that many in the younger generations will substitute their McMeal with a diner experience as they age. I really don't think it's strange for a news organization to talk to people who are far far far more likely to vote.

[sarge43]

57. One diner owner here in New Hampshire banned candidates, staff and press.

Fed up with the wait staff being pushed out of the way, cameras all up the face and so forth.

Answering your question, upcheer most everyone stops at the diner for breakfast, providing they want the daily news. The Selectmen are doing town business in the corner booth, the road crews have the counter filled up except for one seat. That's the town cop's. The waitress knows where all the bodies are buried.

Iowa's may vary.

[TwilightZone]

64. I assume this is satire?

[Recursion]

66. OK, I'm curious: why do you assume that?

It's really just not a regular thing for most of the country. We need to find a different scene to get the media to report.

[redqueen]

67. I get what you're saying.

If one doesn't have much disposable income, then diner meals are a luxury. That's just not the lifestyle of a good portion of the working class. Maybe even the majority.

[Recursion]

68. Not just the money; it's the time

It takes a good 30-45 minutes to get breakfast at a diner, even a fast one. I just can't think of a morning where I've had that much time to spare.

[redqueen]

71. True! If one has extra $ and transportation it's time that's the issue.

I just happen to know more people in the former group.

[Recursion]

72. Though, ironically, a diner set-up is kind of perfect for Andrew

He's really, really good with small groups like that.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

73. The idea that the small-town diner is where the "real people" go is populist garbage.

The people who go to diners are the ones who have the time and ability to go to diners and want to eat diner food. They are a small segment of "real people," in that every person in the world is a "real person." In the small town I live near, the people who go to diners are going to be retired, tourists or cops. Shift workers get fast food so they can get home and go to sleep. Part-time workers have to get to their next job or don't often have money to eat out.

Any news story that starts at a diner just tells me the journalist is lazy. It doesn't give me the perspective of a class or town, it gives me the perspective of people who have the time to sit at a diner.

[Recursion]

74. Thank you

That's what I'm getting at. It's not that there's something evil about eating at a diner, I just am sick of the idea that this is something normative that the rest of us should "learn" from. Everybody is a real person.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

80. I mean, I get it -- they're ideal for candidate visits because they're full of people who have a lot

of time to talk and are seen as salt of the earth, and the diners themselves are owned by people who are generally happy that their business is getting the attention. But the coverage around diner visits is routine, tiresome, and unoriginal, and perpetuates the idea that the people we see in them are more authentic people than those who don't go to diners.

[LonePirate]

76. Apart from maybe a few low income people in Des Moines, those bus stop people do not exist in Iowa.

Public transportation is largely a non-entity in rural states which is why a party with a base that is overwhelmingly urban and suburban should not rely on a rural state to significantly impact the nomination. Not only that but most candidates would not stand in the sleet at a bus stop to talk to mostly poor people.

[Recursion]

78. Cedar Rapids has 13 local bus routes

Ames has 13
Iowa City has 2
Davenport has 3
Des Moines has 26

This is what I'm talking about. People -- real people -- use those buses every day to get to work. But nobody pays attention to them at all.

[TwilightZone]

81. Real people eat at diners, too.

Your assertion to the contrary is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen on this site. It's so laughable that one has to assume that you're not serious.

[Recursion]

82. So if we went to equal time between bus stops and diners, would you be OK with that?

I'd be ecstatic at that, personally.

Even though I'm willing to bet significantly more Iowans wait at a bus stop than eat a leisurely breakfast at a diner.

[Bettie]

91. So, which people get to be counted as "real" and which of us

are "not real enough"? I'd like to get that straight.

People in Iowa/flyover country: Not Real.

People on the coasts: Real

People who drive to work: Not real

People who take the bus: Real

Any other categories of not real people I should add? Oh, wait..people who eat breakfast in diners, Not Real.

[getagrip_already]

96. where isn't the important part....

Diversity is real, but that includes iowans.

As long as they interview a diverse set of people, I'm fine with it. The problem with iowa is diversity doesn't really exist on election tv.

Sure, the people are there; poor, disabled, students, minorities, homeless, multi-worker families, even lgbt couples. But they never show up on election tv.

Are elderly, affluent, republicans real? Unfortunately, yes. And that's who you tend to see. Or maybe its a gaggle of bernie supporters, or warren supporters, or whoever manages to get a group of supporters there long enough to smile on tee vee. But really, they all end up looking and sounding alike.

But lets face it. Iowa means about as much in this election as trumps last tweet. And probably a lot less.

Iowa sends 56 delegates to the DNC out of a total 4,366. Of those 56, each candidate gets a proportional share. So the "winner" of iowas causus might get 5-10 more dlegates than the next runner up. Out of 4366.

Iowa isn't even a pimple on a pimple. It isn't a bellweather for how the primary or the election will end up.

I like Iowa, and most people I've met from there, but really, it isn't a player in anything except bragging rights.

Real people? Really? Enough of this flyover BS. It's a fox talking point, nothing more.

[Recursion]

111. I mean, that's a pretty useful antidote to what the press feeds us every 4 years

We're all, of course, real, but every 4 years somehow white people living in the middle of nowhere are the only "real" people.

[getagrip_already]

88. des moines does have a transit system......

Believe it or not.

But it's a hub and spoke system, designed to get people into and out of the city quickly (express routes don't even stop in most communities they pass through), not across town. If you live in one part of the city, and work in another, it could be a whole lot of transfers before you get to work.

So yeah, there are people at bus stops, but they are more likely to be professionals or office workers than hospital staff or hotel maids.

[Recursion]

90. I mean, it's 26 bus routes

People wait for them in the morning, to get to work. Why not have our candidates talk to them? Is that less important than the people eating in a diner?

[getagrip_already]

92. easy to google, eh?

You are still wrong. No entertainment value there. The people they would talk to wouldn't want to talk to them. They have tried. They end up standing around for hours trying to find someone with something colorful to say. Bad from a producers viewpoint. The people are in a hurry, and even though they are waiting for a bus, they don't want to talk.

Same with places of work. Either the owners/managers order them to be there or they don't want anything to do with the reporters.

But diners have the right mix of chatty/colorful people that producers like.

What, you think this is about educating the public. Now that right there is a funny thought.

So you have your answer. They have done it, and it is a disaster for them at showtime.

The real question is so what. Nobody really cares what ethyll and bruce have to say over pancakes and coffee.

[nsd]

79. Candidates go where the people are.

Say it's 9:30 in the morning. Sure, most people are at work, but a candidate can't just barge into the typical workplace. So they spend that time talking to the retirees and construction workers at the local diner. Why not? What's wrong with that?

[Bettie]

86. Ah, another post about how people in Iowa aren't actually people

but hicks who deserve to be maligned every day for something they didn't set up?

I get it, we suck simply by virtue of living in this state.

We deserve all the scorn heaped upon us because our location is in flyover country. We should feel lucky that we're still permitted to vote at all.

[Recursion]

87. Yeah, that's what it is

Rather than "we have had crammed down our throats for years that these are the only real people".

Come on.

This is a tiny fragment of American society. It's real. So am I. I'm tired of being told that this is the only reality.

[Bettie]

89. I'm tired of being told that

only "moderates" are real people.

We all have our frustrations.

I would much prefer a primary over a caucus. Do you know who listens to me? NO ONE. Because I am one middle aged woman living in a small town. No one gives a fuck what I think.

[Hortensis]

105. Kids aren't most of the the movers and shakers who've been

activists for years and can be counted on every election to organize and work to elect Democrats. Attendees at these breakfasts are often beginning very long days when the candidates are in town.

Good news, though. What you say you want to happen is what most candidates do, every day. Wherever they go during their long, exhausting hours in town after town. Busboys and cooks, shift workers picking up lunch, LPNs and maintenance folk in nursing homes, people on the sidewalks as they head for their next appointment... on and on. Smiles, chat, selfies, sales pitches. Go find some pix and get happy.

[Blue_true]

109. Honestly, I don't care, you do.

My idea of a good candidate that I like is that I never meet him or her, but am comfortable with their policy proposals.