Who has White House ambitions? Iowa visits offer hints

Is Democrat Cory Booker, the bachelor vegetarian Rhodes scholar who played football at Stanford, harboring a quiet hankering for the White House? What about Cory Gardner, the amiable conservative from the Colorado eastern plains who nailed an upset win in a tough U.S. Senate election last year?

Both U.S. senators are on a lengthy roster of celebrities and politicians who hit the campaign trail in Iowa to stump for their favorite presidential candidate before the 2016 caucuses.

There’s good reason to take note of who sought a first-in-the-nation microphone: Not every high-profile spotlight-seeker will eventually run for president, but almost everyone who does run for president has logged an Iowa trip.

“Chances are you’re not going to run for president if you haven’t visited Iowa at least once in your life,” said Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee of Washington, D.C., who has worked on four presidential campaigns.

“They come to Iowa to look around, assess and better understand what it takes for a future caucus run,” said Des Moines Republican David Oman, a veteran of 10 presidential campaigns.

Before Republican John McCain ran for president in 2000 and 2008, he was in Iowa, serving as attack dog for Phil Gramm in 1996. Banjo-strumming Democratic contender Martin O’Malley publicly foreshadowed his 2016 intentions when he sought out Iowa Democrats at the national convention in 2012. Republican Chris Christie test-drove his blunt, wise-cracking speaking style by appearing on Mitt Romney’s behalf in 2012 and may have taken it to heart when more than one Iowan told him they thought he was more engaging than the candidate.

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Iowa political activists sketch out moves in the presidential game years into the future, Oman said. They size up the potential contenders who make their way here and follow their careers, “knowing we might see them again,” he said.

Even if the Iowa visitors say they’re not interested in the White House, part of the sport is to demur, demur, demur — right up until filing the presidential campaign paperwork.

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Among those who made an Iowa foray during the 2016 cycle: Republicans Ben Sasse, Tom Massie, Trey Gowdy, Kristi Noem, Louie Gohmert, Adam Kinzinger, Ivanka Trump and George P. Bush, and Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Bill de Blasio, Keith Ellison, Julián Castro and Chelsea Clinton. There were dozens of others.

Hillary Clinton went hog wild on the surrogate front, bringing in members of Congress, gunshot survivor Gabby Giffords, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and rock stars Katy Perry and Demi Lovato, among others. Bernie Sanders dueled her with famed philosopher Cornel West, actress Susan Sarandon, Ben & Jerry's ice cream founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, musicians from Foster the People and Vampire Weekend, and others.

Celebrity appearances on the campaign trail are often designed to attract voters who wouldn’t normally show up at such an event, Elleithee said.

But the success of much-scoffed-at TV star Donald Trump proves that even a seemingly unlikely candidate with an activist streak can fan their aspirations into a bonfire. Iowa is known as a place where nontraditional presidential hopefuls, far from the Party Chosen One, can get a foothold.

Some politicians find themselves in Iowa because a presidential campaign calls them in to help with a certain constituency or geographic region.

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Marco Rubio hauled in truckloads of Washington insiders to give speeches for him at precincts around the state on caucus night. Rubio won five counties — Johnson, Polk, Dallas, Story and Scott — but his aides strategically placed surrogates in other areas to ensure he didn’t underperform. That’s how California U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa found himself making a pitch for Rubio in Greenfield; Michigan U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga was in LeMars; Georgia U.S. Rep. Austin Scott was in Pella, and so on.

Trump didn’t score many surrogates until after Iowa. One notable exception: his extensively predicted “surprise” endorsement by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Some predicted Palin’s imprimatur would be a game changer for Trump in Iowa, but he finished a disappointing second behind Ted Cruz.

The children of candidates sometimes grow into candidates themselves. The sons of George H.W. Bush got their feet wet in Iowa campaign politics in the 1980s. Two eventually ran for president.

This cycle, both of Jeb Bush’s sons roamed Iowa: Jeb Jr., 32, mostly as a behind-the-scenes aide, and George P., 39, who did some solo events. Chelsea Clinton, then 35, stumped with her parents and anchored events on her own, acting at times as her mother’s attack dog when a surging Sanders was no longer an underdog. Ivanka Trump, 34, joined her stepmother, Melania, 45, and father on the trail in Iowa in the closing hours.

What an Iowa visitor says and does on the stump can telegraph the future. Democrats described the speech Booker gave just before the caucuses in the Cedar Rapids suburb of Marion as electric.

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"Cory Booker is firing up this crowd in Marion more than any other surrogate I have seen on the campaign trail," CNN's Dan Merica tweeted. Bret Nilles, chairman of the Linn County Democrats, told The Des Moines Register: "He did get the crowd going."

The New Jersey U.S. senator's campaign trail debut with Hillary Clinton immediately triggered speculation that he'd be a good presidential contender himself or running mate material.

“I think you all got more than a little taste about why this young man still is still so special to so many," Clinton told the audience that day in late January. “There is nobody I'd rather have by my side.”

— Register staff writer Mackenzie Ryan contributed to this report. 

Who has made Iowa visits

Here’s a list of some of the politicos who might be dreaming of crawling up the ladder into the nation’s top job or are viewed by Iowans as presidential material. All made an Iowa trip during the 2016 presidential election cycle, firing up the speculation machine for the 2020 presidential race.

REPUBLICANS

Ben Sasse

The Nebraska U.S. senator, a self-described Huskers football addict, crossed the river to stump in Iowa for three presidential contenders: Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio. Sasse, 44, laid it on the line as an early public face of the “never Trump” movement — and began to make a name for himself as well. Sasse, who has a doctorate in history from Yale, works on staying in favor with the establishment and the tea party. “Ted Cruz would do well to study how Ben Sasse communicates constitutional conservatism in an earnest, non-annoying, on-point manner,” tweeted Ken Shepherd, managing editor of NewsBusters. Sasse has been staking out a position as a policy leader, guiding the discussion on what Republican health care reform would look like.

Cory Gardner

The 41-year-old U.S. senator and green energy advocate from Colorado was one of a slew of GOP elected officials that Marco Rubio hauled in to speak for him in Iowa, but Gardner was a standout in that bunch, politics watchers say. Gardner leaned on his talent and likability to beat an incumbent, even after Democrats attacked him as “anti-women” and accused him of scheming to ban some forms of contraception. Gardner has a reputation for being relentlessly cheerful. “Not since Mona Lisa has a smile been discussed this much,” the Denver Post wrote before his election. He’s projected to wind up on vice presidential shortlists or on presidential watchlists in future cycles. “He’s a definite rising star in the party, having won a high-profile Senate race in 2014,” said Kyle Kondik, an analyst with the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

Adam Kinzinger

The six-year congressman is a U.S. Air Force pilot who served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. At age 32, he defeated an incumbent in Illinois to win his first term in the U.S. House. Kinzinger, who was endorsed in 2010 by former Govs. Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, was the first member of Congress to endorse presidential hopeful Jeb Bush. Unlike Sasse, who played the field, Kinzinger campaigned exclusively for Bush in Iowa — and against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. An Illinois congressional seat isn’t an ideal jumping-off point for a presidential bid, but a Cabinet position could launch him, or he might be an appealing vice presidential possibility along the same lines as Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, politics watchers said.

Trey Gowdy

The South Carolina congressman is best known for his leadership on the House Select Committee on Benghazi. “Before he was a ho-hum congressman, he was a spectacular lawyer, a crusading prosecutor with a specialty in long-unsolved murder cases,” GQ magazine wrote in an article last fall headlined “The guy who could beat Hillary (but isn’t running for president).” Gowdy, 51, worked Iowa hard doing town halls for Marco Rubio in Clinton, Sioux City, Pella, Newton and Boone. Rubio told one audience: "I think it's very exciting that we have so many strong, conservative leaders of this generation." He said the party "needs to turn the page. We can't just keep electing the same people."

Tom Massie

The libertarian, gun-rights congressman stumped in Iowa twice for fellow Kentuckian Rand Paul, adding his voice to Paul surrogates that included former Oklahoma U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts, mixed martial arts fighter Pat Miletich and the candidate’s father, Ron Paul. Liberty Republicans enthusiastically view Massie as presidential material, describing him as a whiz kid with a great personality. Massie, who earned engineering degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and made millions as a technology inventor, is known for his regular-guy demeanor and residence on an off-the-grid cattle farm. He won points with anti-establishment conservatives for declining to endorse U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and for helping stage the coup on House Speaker John Boehner. “Thomas is someone who would see broad support from the liberty movement, the tea party and constitutional conservatives, as well as everyday Republicans who want to see things changed in Washington,” said A.J. Spiker, a past chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa.

Louie Gohmert 

The long-winded Texas congressman last spring briefly hinted that he’d explore a presidential bid in 2016, but it’s unclear how many Republicans took him seriously. Gohmert, 62, then endorsed fellow Texan Ted Cruz and campaigned for him in Iowa. Gohmert remains outside of leadership and lacks a committee or subcommittee chairmanship, and the left mocks the lengthy floor statements he delivers, sometimes to a deserted chamber. But the former chief justice of the Texas 12th Court of Appeals is considered an honest broker by conservative activists.

Kristi Noem

South Dakota’s lone member of the U.S. House is viewed as a generational figure — a young Republican who appeals to women. Time magazine named Noem, a no-nonsense rancher, to its “40 under 40” in 2010 and likened her to Sarah Palin. A pivotal moment in her life was the death of her father in a grain bin accident in 1994. Noem, who at the time was 22, married and expecting her first child, dropped out of college and took over the family farm and ranch. She hit Iowa as a Marco Rubio surrogate.

Marsha Blackburn

The conservative Tennessee congresswoman appeared to be openly flirting with a 2016 presidential bid when she made an appearance at presidential forums in New Hampshire in 2014, and Iowa and South Carolina last year. Blackburn, 63, told The Hill newspaper she was in Iowa to give a speech at Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King’s Freedom Summit because she is the “chief mama in charge of new ideas.”

SOME OTHER GOP VISITORS:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for Donald Trump
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., for Trump
Ivanka Trump, daughter of the New York businessman, for her father
George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner, for his father, Jeb Bush
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who was neutral until after the Iowa caucuses, then endorsed Ted Cruz
U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, for Carly Fiorina
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, for Marco Rubio
U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, for Rubio
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, for Rubio
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, for Rubio  
U.S. Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California, for Rubio
U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, neutral
Former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, neutral

DEMOCRATS

Cory Booker

The 46-year-old U.S. senator from New Jersey gave a speech in Iowa in January that Democrats in the audience said was spellbinding and a harbinger that he has a shot at higher federal office. Booker’s argument for why Iowans should stand with Hillary Clinton sometimes rose to a shout. He threw in his Iowa connection, saying he knows “my grandmother from Iowa is dancing in heaven” at the prospect that Clinton will be the next president. “Rising star on the Democratic side, potentially a future candidate,” Kyle Kondik, with the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told the Register. The Daily Beast wrote in 2014: “Booker has mastered a recipe for success and magnetism that few else have: mix small but principled actions with a huge talent for motivational public speaking, and even massive problems start to seem tractable.” Iowans who want to know more about him can watch the documentary series “Brick City.” Or follow him on Twitter at @CoryBooker. He likes to tweet.

Tim Kaine

This U.S. senator lives in Virginia, a state that’s about as purple as you get in politics these days. A fairly moderate Democrat from a swing state, Kaine could be an attractive pick for Hillary Clinton if she’s looking for a white male on her ticket, politics watchers said. Kaine, a 58-year-old civil rights attorney who speaks fluent Spanish and attends a majority African-American Catholic church, was on Barack Obama’s vice presidential short list in 2008. Kaine worked hard for Clinton in Iowa, vouching for her at events in Davenport, Mount Vernon, Grinnell, Iowa Falls, Mason City and Ames. Clinton will “almost certainly” consider him for running mate if she wins the nomination,  analyst Kyle Kondik said.

Tom Perez

The U.S. Labor secretary promoted Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in Iowa, but also talked quite a bit about himself — a hint that he wanted the Iowa voters who vet presidential candidates to get to know him better. He has been the subject of much Clinton veep chatter lately, but he downplays the talk. Politico wrote: “To Perez’s fans, he’s the under-the-radar choice who checks every box Clinton’s going to need if she is the nominee: progressives, unions, African-Americans, Obama loyalists, Latinos.”

Tammy Baldwin

The Wisconsin Democrat is one of the most underrated senators, politics watchers said. Baldwin, 54, was the first openly gay person elected to Congress. She served in the U.S. House from 1998 until 2012, when she decided to run for an open U.S. Senate seat. More recently, she has gotten a lot of notice for her work on sexual assault in the military.

Tulsi Gabbard

The Hawaii congresswoman is “a rising Democrat who is quickly becoming something of a rebel in terms of her relationship with some party leaders,” analyst Kyle Kondik said. Gabbard, a 34-year-old military veteran, didn’t endorse Bernie Sanders until a few weeks after Iowa, but she’s no stranger to Iowa activists who embrace a populist message. Iowa Democratic strategist Jessica Vanden Berg was a congressional chief of staff for Gabbard. Gabbard spoke in July at a Polk County Democrats event. “Elected in 2012, she is the first American Samoan and the first Hindu member of Congress,” an event flier told Iowans.

SOME OTHER DEMOCRATIC VISITORS

Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, for Bernie Sanders
U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, for Sanders

Chuy Garcia, a commissioner in Cook County, Ill., for Sanders
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, for Hillary Clinton

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, for Clinton
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, for Clinton
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, for Clinton
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, for Clinton
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand of New York, for Clinton

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, for Clinton

Chelsea Clinton, for her mother
Former President Bill Clinton, for his wife