| August 11-19, 2011--The Des
Moines
Register Soapbox presents an interesting challenge to presidential
candidates. Candidates
have twenty minutes to address fairgoers. The audience, sitting
on hay bales ringing the
stage and extending out to people standing on the concourse, can
include, in addition to ordinary fairgoers, local supporters of the
candidate, interest group representatives with carefully prepared
questions, and, although it is unusual, a few hecklers.
Candidates
took different
approaches to the soapbox. Most delivered a speech but did
not take questions; several did engage give and
take. Former Gov. Mitt Romney
was first to appear on the soapbox at this year's Fair, on August
11. He delivered his speech uninterrupted, but in Q&A he
encountered heckling on Social Security; the exchange and his response
made national news. August 12 was a busy date at the soapbox,
as nine candidates and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz
spoke.
There
as some threat of rain early on, but it cleared up. Rep. Thad
McCotter fielded eight questions. Sen. Rick Santorum spoke
without answering questions and went beyond the alloted twenty
minutes. Register
political editor Carol
Hunter noted, "We had to just about yank Santorum off the stage."
Rep. Michele Bachmann, in contrast, seemed to flee the stage, putting
in a prefunctory
appearance of about three minutes. On August 15 newly minted
candidate Gov.
Rick Perry spoke. All told a total of 13
candidates, including several longshots, spoke
from the soapbox as did the DNC's Wasserman Schultz.
Former Gov. Jon Huntsman and possible candidate Sarah Palin visited the
Fair but they did not speak from the soapbox. |
