Iowa State Fairgrounds

The Politics of Eating Corn Dogs at the Iowa State Fair | Eater

"This annual Midwestern state fair is deeply entwined with American fair food culture and national politics: it features nearly 70 types of food-on-a-stick (including 11 distinct styles of corn dog), and the corn dog ranks as the fair’s top seller, outselling items like pork tenderloin on a stick, lemonade, and funnel cake. The event even holds a 2008 record for most people simultaneously eating corn dogs, has offered novelty items such as corn dog ale, and uses a corn dog motif (complete with yellow mustard) in its food-finder app icon. As a major campaign stop tied to the early presidential nominating calendar, the fair’s Soapbox platform and ubiquitous handheld foods create high-visibility photo opportunities; candidates often use corn dogs to convey a folksy, everyman image, though strategists warn the same prop can generate awkward or meme-able images that campaigns sometimes avoid." - Brenna Houck