Opinion: Obama gets at least one sweet Iowa endorsement

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Now, some people may think that Barack Obama‘s big celebrity endorsement came from that billionairess talk-show diva, who traveled with him to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina last weekend. You may have heard a mention or two about the two.

Obama did not receive the endorsement of the Des Moines Register today. That went to Hillary Clinton, but may actually be an unwelcome blessing: No Democrat endorsed for the caucus by the Register has gone on to win the party’s nomination in more than 20 years.

But all of that was a ruse and head fake when Obama and what’s-her-name drew thousands of cheering fans in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. It turns out that Obama has another endorser, a secret weapon to be used only within Iowa. And it’s a secret hitherto unrevealed to the world beyond Dubuque and environs. Only a reporter as resolute as The Times’ Dan Morain could uncover the true story of ...

The Buttercow Lady.

That’s right. You read that correctly. The Buttercow Lady, a.k.a. Norma ‘Duffy’ Lyon. She is very famous in Iowa for a rather unusual work of art. She’s sculpted a cow at the Iowa State Fair out of, you may have guessed it by now, butter. The cow was on special display, which in Iowa’s summers requires full-time refrigeration.

Obama is a Harvard graduate who has taught law in a university and has written two bestselling books, neither one a pick of a certain talk-show hostess. But what could be bigger for a presidential candidate in Iowa than pulling off the coup of lining up the political blessing of the Buttercow Lady?

Not only that. But the Buttercow Lady agreed to tape robo-calls to potential caucus-goers across the Hawkeye State. ‘She’s not only a great artist but an important activist,’ said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. So imagine people’s surprise when the phone rings and the caller identifies herself as the Buttercow Lady and explains how she is udderly enamored of this Illinois fellow named Barack Obama. It could make the difference come Jan. 3.

As Buttercow goes, so goes Davenport?

-- Andrew Malcolm