OK, this time I didn’t fall for their negative reporting. I read between the lines and discovered some positive news for Thompson’s supporters. He appears to be running a very smart campaign by focusing on creating a buzz and letting the local media advertise for him. He’s maximizing each stop by focusing on key areas instead of spending hours hanging out on a street corner waiting to shake hands with any random person who walks by:

Thompson’s bus tour is aimed less at retail, one-on-one politicking than at earning media attention to compensate for his lack of ads and direct mail.
Daily “Radio Town Halls,” coordinated with local radio stations, are a potentially smart way to do that. Akin to a weekend “live remote” from, say, a car dealership or restaurant, stations broadcast Thompson’s events live with questions of their own mixed with those from the audience.
Meanwhile, Thompson is visiting small-town newspapers every day. A 15-minute chat with the editors at The Tipton Conservative, for example, will likely merit him a front-page photo and story in next week’s edition.
He is also visiting businesses on or near the main drag, meeting few people but perhaps garnering do-you-know-who-stopped-in-the-other-day buzz.

Though the media and some voters expect Iowans to be greeted by each of the candidates personally:

“Iowa expects that you’re going to come see them,” Muscatine County GOP activist Marilyn Wedel said, after a Thompson tour that consisted of sticking his head into two stores for a total of 15 minutes.
[…]
“We haven’t seen as much of him,” said Janet Rudolph after a radio town hall meeting in Coralville. “I get a phone call from Mitt Romney every day.”

OK, these prima donnas in Iowa are starting to tick me off. Who the heck died and made them in charge of selecting our nominee? I think each state should get the chance to be the first state to cast a vote for president. These people are too spoiled by their position and act like petulant 2 year olds who don’t get their way when a presidential candidate doesn’t spend hours listening to their problems or promise to underwrite their corn corp or something. It makes me want to kick them every time I read their complaints. Spoiled, little whiny brats. Go to the corner until you have a change of attitude. No more political pandering for you, missy!