'Stand up for what we believe in': Only Pete Buttigieg gets standing ovation as candidates campaign at Iowa corn feed

CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. — Ten Democratic presidential candidates took the stage Sunday afternoon in 90-degree weather to address would-be Iowa caucusgoers, but only Pete Buttigieg got a standing ovation.

The crowd of more than 1,100 who turned out for the annual Progress Iowa Corn Feed in Cedar Rapids demonstrated the most enthusiasm for the South Bend, Indiana, mayor, who said the 2020 presidential election is about winning the next era in American politics.

"If we embrace a left-wing agenda, the president’s going to say we’re socialists and we’re for open borders. If we adopt a conservative agenda, the president’s going to say we’re socialists and we’re for open borders. So we might as well stand up for what we believe in and take it from there," Buttigieg said.

Christie Steel, a 53-year-old from Marion, came out on Sunday specifically to see Buttigieg, whom she supports.

"I like his thoughts. I love the fact that he's just very even-tempered — he seems to put a lot of thought behind what he thinks and does," said Steel, who works in insurance.

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Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro was also well-received by the crowd. He referenced a series of Sunday morning tweets from President Donald Trump telling U.S. representatives of color to "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."

"Throughout the generations, there have been people who have built their political careers on hate and division and fear and paranoia and making people 'the other'," Castro said. "We are not going to do that. We are going to be about everybody in this country."

In search of breakout moments

Several candidates came to the event looking for a breakout moment to catapult them into top-tier candidate status amid low polling and fundraising numbers.

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U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts called Trump "a criminal and a fraud" and devoted his entire speech to making the case that Congress should impeach the president, a position he's long held.

"I know the polling is against us. I know the Senate may not convict. But you know what? How about just doing the right thing?" Moulton said.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York highlighted her tour of the industrial Midwest, which she's calling the Trump Broken Promises Tour.

"Now is not the time to play it safe or be afraid of firsts. It’s actually time to fight like hell," she said.

And U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said Democrats need to heal the country, but Trump is like "a bully on the playground" standing in the way.

"If you give me the nomination for the Democratic Party, I promise you I will remove the bully from the playground," Ryan said.

Speaking to reporters after his speech, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado went after a fellow candidate, saying that nominating U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont could cause Democrats to lose Colorado in the next election. The senator made the point in highlighting why he disagreed with Sanders' "Medicare for All" policy and instead backs a public option.

"Colorado would be at risk if Bernie Sanders is the nominee," Bennet said.

Iowans still deciding

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price, holding a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone in hand, said he feels the so-called cattle call events, which attract multiple candidates in one place, offer the crowded field an opportunity to stand out.

"We’re still at this phase where there’s a lot of folks who haven’t made up their minds," Price said. "Folks are narrowing their lists, or they might have a few people that they’re looking at. It’s events like this where they can start better forming their decisions."

Some people came to the event even though their favorite candidates weren't there.

"I'm here to see who our next vice president could be," said Lonnie Zingula, 53, of Cedar Rapids.

Zingula, who works in parking enforcement in Cedar Rapids, said he likes U.S. Sens. Sanders, Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey, none of whom attended the Corn Feed.

"I don't think anyone who's here today has a realistic shot of becoming president," Zingula said.

Evan Fowler, a college professor from North Liberty, was sitting on a folding chair with a beer. The 29-year-old said he likes Buttigieg, but he's open to listening to the candidates who are polling low.

"You just never know who's going have a good idea," Fowler said. "All these ideas need to be heard right now. Yeah, and in six months, I'll probably feel pretty differently about if we need to be hearing the people who are in zero percent. But right now, before the end of the summer, I think it's a time when it's good to hear all the different platforms."

The candidates who spoke at the event were former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, author Marianne Williamson, Bennet, Ryan, Gillibrand, Moulton, Castro, Buttigieg and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. Of the candidates who were there, only Buttigieg placed in the top four in the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll in June.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was scheduled to speak but canceled to return to New York after portions of the city lost power in a blackout Saturday night.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee missed taking his place on the event stage because his flight was delayed. He wasn’t too disappointed, even though he’s polling low and these kinds of events could be critical for his campaign.

“I make more friends over a couple of beers, sometimes, than I do giving a speech,” he told reporters.

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand was tasked with keeping track of the clock. He had an air horn ready if one of the candidates went over their allotted speech time of 10 minutes — but he never used it. The event wrapped up ahead of schedule.

Sand had little sympathy for complaints about the time restriction.

"If you can't be creative enough to find a way to make a statement in under five minutes, that's your problem," he said.

The Iowa GOP, in a statement released before the event, criticized Democrats for failing to push for ratification of a trade deal Trump negotiated between the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"At today’s Corn Feed, 2020 Democrats will tout a rainbows and uni-corns agenda, but their actual agenda would cripple Iowa’s agriculture industry," Aaron Britt, a Republican party spokesman, said in the statement.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pete Buttigieg gets strong reception as candidates campaign at Progress Iowa Corn Feed