Extreme makeover, Iowa style: Candidates country-fry campaign

EXIRA, IOWA - At Jan's Main Street Salon in Exira, a perfectly fine haircut will set a man back $9.63.

So when Sen. John Edwards, the guy who made news for a $400 haircut a while back, took his presidential campaign to Exira two weeks ago, he asked an old friend to warm up the crowd, which included men in coveralls and baseball caps and a woman in a sweat shirt with dancing teddy bears on it.

"I want to introduce you to someone who resonates with the heart of America, just like 'The Dukes of Hazzard' resonates," said Ben (Cooter) Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on the television series and once was a Georgia congressman. "The reason I like John Edwards is he hasn't for-got who he was.

"He's not gotten above his raisin'."

Call it the Iowa Makeover.

As a group, presidential hopefuls are among the most privileged people in America, but when they descend on Iowa this year, most are trying to find a way to connect with potential voters and tell them, "I'm one of you."

Statistics released recently showed that the nation's income-inequality gap was at its widest, with the richest 1 percent of Americans owning more than 21 percent of the nation's wealth. The Wall Street Journal called that a challenge for presidential candidates.

Even New York Times columnist David Brooks prodded fellow Republicans to reach out to "the working-class dreamer."

Candidates have taken notice. But attempts to country-fry their acts have not always been graceful.

Hillary Rodham Clinton got national attention for showing up at campaign stops in Minnetonka Moccasins she bought in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Barack Obama fretted about the price of arugula at Whole Foods to Iowa farmers, which caused some snickering. Though there are no Whole Foods stores in Iowa, the salad green is grown there and available in Des Moines. The remark caused some to accuse Obama of appealing to the "chardonnay set."

In August, Fred Thompson showed up at the Iowa State Fair and held a baby pig. However a photographer blew his cover when he noticed that Thompson was wearing a pair of pricey Ferragamo loafers.

And at a Des Moines appearance this month, Rudy Giuliani reminisced about going to the John Deere factory as a boy, and used a different spin to convey his message of helping the common man.

"Keep taxes low," he told a mostly college-age crowd at Drake University. "It's a mistake to raise taxes in our economy. It's going to hurt poor people."

Giuliani warned against "overspending, overregulating and overtaxing [Americans]. If you do that, young people don't have a future."

Iowans aren't what they seem

According to Steffen Schmidt, a professor of political science at Iowa State University, Iowans are not always thrilled with the President Six-Pack routine.

"The truth of the matter is that the Iowa voter is polite and won't react, but they hate the well-rehearsed condescension, the idea that Iowa is some redneck southern state," Schmidt said. "And Iowa is not really that agricultural anymore. So if you are trying to stereotype people like that, they walk away shaking their heads."

Bonnie Boal, a Des Moines caterer who follows politics closely, agreed.

"I believe that the number of Iowans who don't want to be governed by any 'highfalutin' rich folks' is quite small," she said. "[But] I also think that many of us find it insulting when candidates like Edwards and Giuliani try to pretend that they live like everybody else, when clearly they don't.

"And God save us from the ones who don overalls and seed corn caps and ride in on tractors! What I believe we do want is a candidate that understands what life is like for the majority of Americans, and not just their aristocratic friends."

Schmidt said that Republican candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has struck the best tone, "simply by being himself."

And when one Republican said Huckabee couldn't be president because his name was "too hick," the candidate turned it to his advantage. He embraced his inner Huckabee, saying a lot of average Americans had funny names and aren't embarrassed about it.

Eric Woolson, the manager for Huckabee's campaign in Iowa, said the candidate was "comfortable in this environment. Little Rock and Des Moines have a very similar feel. And he's just extremely likable."

At least one Iowan was won over, writing to the Des Moines Register that Huckabee seems like a guy that "you can have a cup of coffee with at the Main Street cafe."

Edwards, on the other hand, has dropped 6 percentage points since the Register's Iowa Poll in May. One question in the most recent poll, taken at the start of October: might explain why: Almost one-quarter of Democrats said they thought Edwards' wealthy lifestyle undermined his credibility when speaking about poverty.

'Wealthy people care deeply'

Dressed in worn jeans, a casual jacket and shoes that could have used a shine, Edwards talked about his working-class upbringing.

"My parents weren't able to go to college," he said. "Today, we have a few people getting rich and the rest suffering."

Boal, for one, is willing to believe Edwards actually does care.

"We certainly realize that there are many wealthy people who care deeply about the poor, and not just the ones between our borders," she said.

She continued, saying that it worked for Hillary Clinton "to talk about her not-so-privileged upbringing. It didn't work for Gore to be the good ol' boy from Tennessee because everyone knew that he mostly grew up inside the Beltway, in very upper-class surroundings."

Jan Sorensen, who owns the Exira salon, saw Edwards and liked what he had to say. She's not concerned about his wealth or his haircut.

Paying $400 for a haircut "was unreal to me, but $20 is unreal," she said, adding: "I was kind of hoping he'd need a haircut. I would have given it to him for free.

"He's just too cute."

Jon Tevlin • 612-673-1702

Jon Tevlin • jtevlin@startribune.com