Donald Trump gets rock star greeting in Ames, Iowa-NY Times

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9/12/15, "Donald Trump Gets Rock Star Greeting in Iowa," NY Times, Trip Gabriel, Ames, Iowa 

Trump, Ames, Iowa, 9/12/15

"It probably made sense on paper: invite presidential candidates to visit the Iowa Republican Party’s tent in the parking lot before the big Iowa vs. Iowa State football game on Saturday.

What planners did not anticipate was the portable mob scene that characterizes the candidacy of Donald J. Trump.

Arriving more than an hour late, Mr. Trump offered a speech of less than a minute on the state party’s stage. But that was beside the point, as star-struck supporters greeted him like a stadium rocker during a sprawling tailgate party before kickoff.

“Donald, you rock!” a young man shouted as Mr. Trump, encircled by a security team, walked through a parking lot.

Another man fought his way into the mob and said, “Donald, I’m wearing your hat!”

“Shook his hand. I shook his hand!” a burly student shouted to two friends, sounding faint with excitement. ........

Three other Republican candidates not named Trump also glad-handed and posed for selfies among the tailgating football fans before the game. But their receptions were of a different order. Rarely has the contrast between a conventional politician and the celebrity candidacy of Mr. Trump seemed clearer.
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Many Iowa Republicans expected Mr. Trump’s lead in the primary race to be fleeting. On Friday night, a seasoned party activist compared him to “the bad boy you date over the summer before returning to college.”

Instead, Mr. Trump continues to dominate Iowa polls as summer turns to fall. A Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa last week showed he is the first choice of all age groups of Republicans, including young people, who predominated outside Jack Trice Stadium, where the Iowa State Cyclones hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“We’re killing everybody in the polls,” Mr. Trump said in brief remarks from the stage. He wore a new “Make America Great Again” hat, this one in camouflage.

He wished people luck with whichever team they supported, stepped down and began the walk back to his S.U.V., a knot of students and others pressing close.

Though he said nothing about the issues of the day, the audience seemed satisfied. “It was pretty cool; we got to see him,” said Braiden Loreno, a sophomore. “I’m definitely voting for him.”

The crowd of several hundred had waited more than an hour for Mr. Trump. They had chanted “Don-ald! Don-ald!” Cheers went up several times over false sightings. A sign read: “The Trump Will Set You Free.” (It was countered by a protester’s sign: “Mr. Hate, Leave My State.”)

At 2:30, the appointed hour for Mr. Trump to speak, a candidate appeared and the crowd parted to reveal....Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, running late.

There was no applause for Mr. Walker, who for months had led in the polls in Iowa, but whose popularity in the Quinnipiac poll was measured at 3 percent. In brief remarks, Mr. Walker promised to “wreak havoc on Washington,” as he had in Wisconsin when he faced down thousands of pro-union protesters.

Mr. Walker’s abbreviated version of his stump speech also included a veiled swipe at Mr. Trump. “It takes more than just talk,” he said. “It takes action. Actions speak louder than words.”

Earlier, Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky worked the tailgaters, not all of whom were thrilled to have a presidential candidate and his entourage interfering with their meat grilling, beer drinking and game playing.

“Come on, bro, this is a tailgate,” Dionne Harden, an Iowa State fan, protested as Mr. Rubio walked in front of him just as he was about to toss a bean bag." via commenter at The Conservative Treehouse

Image caption: "Donald J. Trump outside Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday before the Iowa-Iowa State football game. Credit Scott Morgan for The New York Times"

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9/13 print ed., p. A13, NY ed. 

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