By Gary Bauer
The Obama/Biden ticket is finding out that times have changed. Four years ago, fawning crowds greeted them everywhere they went. Women swooned. Four years later, the campaign trail is far different terrain.For example, Obama’s recent three-day swing through Iowa did not go quite as planned. When Obama went to the Iowa State Fair and wanted to visit the Bud Tent, the Secret Service sweep shut it down for two hours, costing the owner $25,000 in lost revenue. The owner complained that he felt like he had been forced to make a “campaign contribution against my will.”
The next day, Obama visited a farm in Haverhill, Iowa, to promote wind energy. Obama met with the farmer, Jeff Heil, and his son, Jarret. It was perfect photo op for the president’s alternative energy agenda.
But after Obama left, the Heils told reporters that they were voting for Mitt Romney. While they said it was an honor to have the president visit their farm, they said, “It is important to not get caught up in the president’s glamorous re-election words and remember President Obama’s first term record and rhetoric.”
Then Obama went to a campaign event in Davenport only to find that the
caterer was wearing a T-shirt with bold letters reading, “Government Didn’t Build My Business, I Did.”And when Joe Biden asked to drop in on a
local bakery in Virginia, the owner told his advance team, “No!” It is reported that security officials then returned to the store, thanked the owner and bought some cupcakes. When word spread of the baker’s “cupcake mutiny,” locals flocked to the store, and it sold out in a matter of hours.Finally, it was
announced yesterday that former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis will speak at the Republican National Convention this year. Why is that significant?Davis, a black former Democrat, was an early supporter of Obama’s 2008 campaign. In fact, he even delivered the seconding speech for Barack Obama’s nomination at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Four years later, Davis is endorsing Mitt Romney.
