The Presidency by Hugh Sidey: Politics as Gong Show

Last week in Ames, Iowa, real farmers asked Democratic presidential candidates questions about agriculture, which the farmers feel is in dismal condition. The idea was to get a measure of the knowledge and concern of these would-be Presidents. In a couple of weeks, a debate sponsored by the Des Moines Register will allow these men to question one another and answer a few queries from the newspaper's scholarly Washington bureau chief James Risser and a few more from knowledgeable lowans. No Phil Donahue, no Ted Koppel, no Hollywood, lowans have always had a bit more than their share of...