McCain has invite to Clay County Fair

(Photo by Russ Mitchell) Sen. John McCain shakes a few hands following a June 2007 town hall meeting in Okoboji. Arizona's senior senator is making his second bid for the White House. [Order this photo]

State Rep. Mike May, a Spirit Lake Republican, said he has been in contact with the John McCain campaign and hopes the likely Republican nominee will include Spencer's biggest event in a post-convention victory tour.

The 2008 Republican National Convention will take place Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis. The 2008 edition of the Clay County Fair is Sept. 6-14. Along with timing, crowd numbers can't hurt the odds of a Spencer visit -- the fair drew more than 319,000 visitors in 2007.

May gives a Spencer visit a 1-in-4 chance of happening.

"I have extended an invitation to him and they have replied back to me that they are considering it," May said, a day after McCain's opponent, Barack Obama, reopened an office on Grand Avenue in Spencer. "I think there's at least a fair chance he may come."

Then GOP frontrunner George W. Bush visited the fair in 1999 and gained election 14 months later. The 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, made a pre-caucus visit in September 2003.

Barack Obama made two previous stops in Spencer when he was trying to gather support from potential caucus-goers in the second half of 2007.

"They do have a heavy schedule," May said of the McCain campaign.

"But what I told them is that this is a regional fair. Not only do you get Iowa people but you get Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska. You get a lot of folks and they understand that, I think."

David Roederer, the state chairman for the McCain campaign in Iowa isn't sure what the candidate's schedule will look like.

"Obviously, we are always reassessing that and the schedule for post-convention has not been put together, so I don't have any idea when the senator will be back in Iowa," he said.

Roederer doesn't think McCain has made his last visit, however.

"The more the senator is in Iowa, the better we like it, but we also realize there are a lot of other states that are key as well," he said.

McCain has yet to schedule a Spencer event, but he isn't a stranger to the region. Crowd estimates ranged from 200 to 250 for an Okoboji event in June 2007. Organizers had to round up extra chairs for the appearance.

"He was really on fire and I thought he did a great job in that," May said. "The folks were really in tune with him and it was a great meeting."

At the time, the McCain campaign was struggling to get a foothold and fundraising was difficult.

"We hear about all of these town meetings," May said. "Much of that came from his experience in Okoboji. He had a great experience here. He liked it and he decided that's what they could do."