Marathon Pundit: Iowa I Opener: Conclusion

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Iowa I Opener: Conclusion

I've finished another travel series--it's time for Iowa I Opener to move to the blogroll corner. By now, it was my firm belief that my later posts in this series would appear alongside news of the opening up of campaign offices in the Hawkeye State. Even before the 2006 midterm elections, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) formed an exploratory committee for the 2008 presidential campaign.

Okay, I was wrong, just as I was when I predicted Judy Baar Topinka would defeat Rod Blagojevich in his reelection attempt. Although I was able to take some consolation in seeing Blago fall short of a majority of the vote.

Marquette, Clayton County

Still...I'm not sure when, but you'll be hearing a lot about Iowa soon enough. The Iowa Caucuses are 51 weeks away. The Iowa Republican Straw Poll in Ames will take place in August.

Although Iowa's population is dominated by Protestant and Catholic whites, in Fairfield you will find followers of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Postville there is a heavy Hispanic and Somali presence. Colorado has Pikes Peak, but so does Iowa.

America's most famous painting, American Gothic, was painted in Iowa by Grant Wood, who was Iowa-born. He died there, too.

Iowa isn't only about cornfields.

One place I would have included in this blog-o-vacation was the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch. The site also includes the 31st president's birthplace. But I visited there the year before, which you can read about here and here.

Yes, I traveled to Iowa, but I also learned about Denmark during my trip.