First Person: There is Political Tension in Iowa

COMMENTARY | With the 2012 presidential election right around the corner, there is angst in the tall corn state.

As a 50-year-old living in a college town, it's entertaining to watch the party loyalists as they try to out-message each other and attract voters to their preferred candidate. Republicans have a tough time of it here, being outnumbered by Democrats about 3-1. But the angst in the air is real, as Romney has closed the gap on Obama and even taken the lead in some polls.

I'll be casting my vote for Mitt Romney in November and that's not popular here in Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa and a lot of liberal-minded students.

Like the party registration, Obama yard signs outnumber Romney signs by about a 3-1 margin throughout the community. Some yards have upwards of five or six signs on display for the various candidates on the general election ballot, but absolutely no party mixing! It's like that's not allowed, multi-sign displays are always straight ticket.

Bumper stickers are also prevalent; my favorite one is an anti-Obama sticker that reads, "Like a bad online date! He wasn't anything like his profile!"

As a conservative blogger in a liberal town, I attended a congressional candidate debate forum at the local library last Tuesday afternoon. It was a classic Republican challenger vs. a Democrat incumbent matchup. At times it got to be downright rude, feisty even, especially on the issue of ObamaCare. But it wasn't the candidates getting rude, it was the audience! Hoping to represent Iowa's Second Congressional District, Republican John Archer was booed by the Democrats in the audience when he was trying to make a rebuttal statement. His opponent, Democrat Dave Loebsack, was given ill-treatment by a few Republicans in the audience during the questions from the audience segment of the forum. If there were any undecided voters in attendance, I'm not sure they walked out of the event knowing who they'll vote for because of the many times audience members were commenting and talking over each other, drowning out the message each candidate was trying to convey.

That's OK, just tune in to TV; there are plenty of 30 second sound bites airing from now until Election Day to help you make up your mind?.. Yes, written in sarcasm?. If you haven't made up your mind on a candidate by now, shame on you. Get informed!

Mike Thayer calls 'em as he sees 'em, providing folks the Heartland perspective. He reports on the news and offers news analysis with a unique take on events and the issues of the day. Mike isn't typical media, he's Sick Of Spin... View profile

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-person-political-tension-iowa-213900434.html

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