Clinton, Trump make State Fair campaign stops

DES MOINES - Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump became added attractions Saturday for hordes of Iowans taking in the Americana spectacle that is the Iowa State Fair.

The front-running contenders from both major political parties waded through throngs of fairgoers - many who will participate in Iowa's first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses next Feb. 1 - stopping to shake hands, view the fair's famous butter cow, sample the fair's fare, and pose for photos amid a cluster of TV cameras, boom microphones and national media recording their every move.

Trump made a grand entry aboard a helicopter that made a pass over the expansive fairgrounds before landing at a nearby softball field where the New York billionaire offered free rides to kids and answered reporters' questions before being shuttled to the fairgrounds to peruse its offerings and mingle with the weekend crowd of up to 100,000 fairgoers.

'I love children. I love Iowa - a great place,” said Trump, who has climbed to the top of a crowded 2016 Republican presidential field in recent polls. He arrived wearing a red cap, a dark jacket with white shirt, white pants and white shoes that weren't the normal footwear of people familiar with the fair venue.

Clinton arrived at the fairgrounds with former Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who escorted her around the fairgrounds for sightseeing, pork chops on a stick and lemonade after stopping by a media gaggle to give his endorsement of Clinton's bid to land the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination.

Harkin said he's known the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state for about 25 years and believes she has the experience, global expertise, bipartisan temperament and 'fight” to be the next president.

'I'd like to think that Hillary and I have the same kind of values,” said Harkin. 'She's a fighter. She's a fighter for our families, for our kids.”

Again Saturday Clinton was asked about her use of a personal email server while she served as U.S. Secretary of State and again she responded that she neither sent nor received materials on the server that were deemed classified at the time. She also dismissed any concern that the ongoing probe would open vulnerabilities for her presidential bid.

'I'm going to let whatever this inquiry is go forward, and we'll await the outcome of it,” she said, noting that the topic does not come up on the campaign trail where Americans are more interested in jobs, college affordability and the nation's economic well-being.

Clinton said she is enjoying her time campaigning and learning a lot first hand in her conversations. 'We're only four months into this. I feel very positive about the organization we're building here in Iowa and across the country, particularly the early states,” she noted. 'I will fight as hard as I can to earn every vote here and across the country.”

Harkin said Clinton is 'doing everything right” this time compared to 2008 by being 'personally involved” and focusing on issues that are 'reaching the people.”

'I believe in the caucuses Hillary is going to come out way on top,” he said.

Trump offered a different view of Clinton's 2016 prospects, saying her 'email situation” poses a 'very serious” problem for her campaign going forward.

'I wish her luck, but I think she's got some big problems,” said Trump. 'I think it's going to be very tough for her.”

For his own part, Trump shook off any fallout left over from his first GOP debate appearance earlier this month, saying 'I don't think I've made any mistakes. I'm sure I will at some point, but so far you would have to say it hasn't worked out badly, right?”

Trump said Americans are responding in record numbers to his calls to make the nation great again at a time when 'the world hates us” probably like never before. One way he would turn the country around would be to build up the U.S. military and take better care of the nation's veterans.

'We have to have the finest military and equipment anywhere in the world by a factor of 10,” he said. 'We have to be protected. We have to be so tough and so strong and so smart that nobody will ever mess with us.”

Before making his fair debut as a presidential contender, Trump took a swipe at fellow 2016 GOP candidate Jeb Bush, calling the former Florida governor 'a puppet of his donors” and criticizing comments he made recently about the war in Iraq that began under his brother George W. Bush's presidency.

'He made statements over the last couple of days that are incredible, trying to justify the war in Iraq. It can't be justified,” Trump said, pointing most notably to a 'skin in the game” reference Bush made in a foreign policy statement.

'We've spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives lost, wounded warriors who I love all over the place, and he said we have to prove that we have skin in the game. I think it may be one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard. We don't have to prove anything,” Trump said. 'I think he should apologize to the families of the people.”