DAVENPORT, Iowa (Reuters) - Competing for votes in corn-growing Iowa, John Kerry waved to crowds with one ear in each hand. Not to be outdone by his Democratic rival, President Bush ate one raw. Cultivating the corn vote is serious business in the battleground Midwestern state, where the rival presidential candidates converged on Wednesday. Bush lost the state to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 by just 4,144 votes, or roughly two votes for every precinct. Polls show the 2004 race is another dead heat. Iowa is the No. 1 corn-producing state in the nation, and Bush and Kerry are campaigning here with promises to help the state's farmers.
Kerry declared his enthusiasm for corn by sticking his head out the window of his campaign bus. He waved both hands with corn.
| Producing yet another goofy picture. |
After their simultaneous rallies in Davenport in eastern Iowa, Bush stopped at a farmer's market in nearby Bettendorf and bought some ears of sweet corn. The president took a bite of one on the spot. "Oh yeah. You don't even have to cook it. It's really good," Bush declared.
| Showing the farmers he really does know his way around a ear of corn. I don't know any people who haven't picked a ear of corn off a stalk in the field who would even think to eat it raw. |
Raw corn is typically fed to livestock, but Irvin Anderson, a professor of corn physiology and biochemistry at Iowa State University, said some people liked it raw. "Most people will boil it and put butter on it. But you can eat it off the cob raw. It has a sweet taste to it," he said.
| Use to do it as a kid myself, it's good stuff. |
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