Politicians battered and fried at the State Fair

So U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the shiny new vice presidential running mate of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, made his first solo campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair Monday. Later in the day, President Obama stopped by the fair.

One was battered at the soapbox. The other is now being battered for chasing away beer drinkers.

Ryan was scheduled to speak for 20 minutes at the Des Moines Register's Soapbox, where politicians appear without a net in front of often large crowds that are not of the carefully vetted and handpicked variety. Things can get, uh, spirited:

Nearly two dozen members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement were on hand to denounce the federal budget plan Ryan drafted as chairman of the House Budget Committee. The protesters shouted questions and phrases like “stop the war” almost from the moment Ryan took the stage.

“You know what, it's funny because Iowans and Wisconsinites, we like to be respectful of one another and peaceful with one another and listen to one another. These ladies must not be from Iowa or Wisconsin,” Ryan said, to cheers from his supporters in the crowd.

One woman tried to get up on the stage and had to be dragged away by the State Patrol. A state senator got into the scuffle.

The jokes Ryan was telling were kinda lame, but there's no reason to come unglued. It's his first gig.

I also understand the value of asking these vote-hunters tough questions, either during Q&A time or as he or she shakes hands and mingles afterward. But this tactic of trying to shout and chant down a candidate who is attempting to simply make a stump speech is rude and stupid. The scene Monday reminded me of the town hall meetings in 2009 when it was Democrats getting shouted down. It's ugly no matter who's on the receiving end.

No, this isn't another tired call for "civility." It's about knowing how to effectively express your displeasure or opposition without looking like a ranting 3-year-old in need of a long time out.

WaPo's Dana Millbank sizes up Ryan's extreme fair visit here.

Later, the president stopped on by for a spell. From Radio Iowa:

Last night, at about 7:30, Obama walked through one of the gates into the Iowa State Fairgrounds, talking with fair-goers and posing for pictures for about an hour before going into a beer tent and ordering a Bud Light.

Many in the crowd at one point joined in a “four more beers” cheer. Obama also ate a cold pork chop. The president-elect of the Iowa Pork Producers had been holding two pork chops on a styrofoam plate for 45 minutes, waiting to give them to Obama.

Being president is a lonely, solemn journey, filled with grave decisions and cold pork chops. Bud Light? You know, Mr. President, the Iowa Craft Beer tent is just a stone's throw thataway.

But one man was not cheering all this presidential beering. The owner of the Bud Tent, Mike Cunningham II. From the Register's Kyle Munson:

On one hand, Cunningham, 39, appreciated the historical significance of Obama's visit: His great-grandfather, Lloyd Cunningham, was secretary of the fair board from 1942 to 1962 and was on hand to greet then-President Dwight Eisenhower when Ike visited the centennial fair in 1954 with Iowa's own President Herbert Hoover in tow. (That was the first of four visits by sitting presidents, followed by Gerald Ford in 1975, George W. Bush in 2002 and Obama on Monday.)

On the other hand, the small business owner side of Cunningham fumes that the president “put a damper on what I'm trying to do here.” His Bud Tent was shut down at the most lucrative time of day, with a popular rock cover band, Hairball, about to perform at the Susan B. Knapp Amphitheater next door ­ with legions of thirsty fans.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley tweeted that Obama's visit cost Cunningham $50,000. Cunningham says it's more like $25,000. And, at state fair beer prices, that's easily 10 cups. Maybe even 20. (Prices I have gladly paid many times, so I can poke fun.)

So, congressman, you think you're gonna give a little jokey, friendly speech at the soapbox?  Instead, you end up departing early after being shouted down by yahoos.

So, Mr. President,  you think it'd be fun to have a few cold beers like an average fair-going guy? Instead, you end up robbing the Bud Tent of its all-American right to profit handsomely from Hairball. Because of you, they didn't Bud that.

So why do they come? Why do they come? Why do they stride blue-jeaned, open-collared and often-cowboy-booted into this historic hall of homespun political horrors?

I guess it's simply because they have to. They must. Like flies to a funnel cake.

The must run the gauntlet of the Grand Concourse, risk being photographed with the Big Boar and sink their teeth into the delicious breaded meaty core of Middle America. Some survive and move on, better for having been tested. Some flip a pork chop into the dirt, or proclaim that corporations are people. If you're Romney, you do both. And still, he may be president.

In any event, it's a critical proving ground. You're welcome, America.

And I salute you, oh heckled and small-business-ravaging state fair politics warriors. You tried, but got fried. It happens. Safe travels on the trail. And watch where you step around the livestock barns.