Ah, the good old days, when Barack Obama was a nobody…
WATERLOO, Iowa (Reuters) – He avoids the State Fair bumper cars, speaks to smaller groups, and makes fewer promises than he did in 2008.
Four years after Iowa propelled President Barack Obama to the White House, he needs the state more than ever, but a tour through his old campaign stomping grounds this week revealed a much different political climate – and a much different candidate – than the Iowa and the Obama of four years ago.
…”The last time I went to the State Fair, Secret Service let me do the bumper cars. … I wasn’t president yet, so I could do that,” he said to laughter at a campaign event in Council Bluffs on Monday. “But not this time.”
When he made it to the fair in Des Moines later that day, he wasn’t allowed to get anywhere near the rides, though he did make a beeline for the Bud Light stand, where he bought beer for himself and a few bystanders.
We’ve been around long enough to know why. Witness the winning caption for the August 18, 2007 Wizbang Weekend Caption Contest™ for this photo:
(fustian) – “He’s an Army helmet away from doing the full Dukakis.”
If you get the reference in the title, you can see the video here.
