Pork chops more popular than politics at the Iowa State Fair

Foot-long corn dogs, salt-water taffies, a butter sculpture of a cow – and a collection of would-be presidents of the United States.

There are 70 different kinds of fried foods on a stick, and new delicacies such as deep-fried nacho balls, fried peanut butter and jelly on a stick, and pumpkin spice funnel cake, among others, are on the menu this year. The Def Leppard and Carrie Underwood shows have done so, while nearly 9,800 tickets are sold for Reba McEntire. “Let’s start acting like a civilized people rather than barbarians”.

O’Malley also seemed to challenge Clinton to take a 20-minute turn on the “soapbox” at the fair as he and the three others candidates for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination are doing.

George W. Bush chomps on an ear of corn at a political rally and fundraiser on June 12, 1999, at the State Fair grounds in Des Moines, Iowa. Candidates have 20 minutes to speak from a stage in front of the Horner Service Center on the Grand Concourse.

Elected officials and presidential candidates often stop for the treat, which has become a pork tent tradition.

In Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign he said at The Des Moines Register’s soapbox: “Corporations are people, my friend”. In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama skipped the soapbox, instead taking daughters Sasha and Malia for a spin on the bumper cars.

At least 19 presidential candidates have confirmed that they will deliver a speech at the soapbox.

Clinton and Trump are planning to visit the fair on Saturday.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, left, and his wife, Janet, eat pork chops on a stick at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on August 10, 2007.

“The caucuses are about face-to-face campaigning, and you’re going to get the biggest audience possible by walking around the fairgrounds”. Statements about morality, abortion and eliminating the IRS got the most rousing applause.

Martin O’Malley at the Des Moines Register’s Soap Box. From there, Bernie Sanders will launch a campaign swing through Dubuque, Iowa. How will candidates respond to heckling?

Huckabee’s visit to the state came as he nabbed just 6% in the CNN/ORC poll of Iowa Republicans released just a day earlier – tying with Carly Fiorina and 15 points behind frontrunner Donald Trump, followed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Ben Carson and Texas Sen.

“But over five months away from caucus night, top Iowa GOP strategists suggest it’s still anyone’s game”.

JIM YOUNG/REUTERS Hillary Clinton has a supporter in former Iowa Sen. In June, the Iowa Republican Party decided to officially scrap its high-profile presidential straw poll which had traditionally served as a test of a candidate’s popularity.