EPB II, featuring Bachmann, Perry, Santorum (AUDIO)

It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was sitting at this very booth in the Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo (it was June 26), but tonight there’s not just one candidate but three GOP hopefuls who are scheduled to speak here.

Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the ballroom as the folks running the sound system blasted “Deep in the Heart of Texas” over the speakers.  A swarm of cameras, microphones, reporters, and photographers followed Perry through the landscape of round tables where the local folks were seated, enjoying pre-dinner drinks before the meal was served.

Perry spoke about the “green” of Iowa, compared to the tinder-dry Texas landscape. A reporter asked whether economic or social issues were paramount in 2012.

“Everybody’s got their own issues that matter, but at the end of the day, getting America working again is what the bulk of the people really care about,” Perry said.

Several people in the room said they didn’t know much about Perry, but were willing to give him a look-see.  One man suggested “Perry/Bachmann 2012” might be a good idea.

Perry told reporters he would spend “a lot of time in Iowa” — but he uttered the “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” line about the nature of the presidential race.

At 6:08 p.m. former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, #4 in the Straw Poll, gets introduced to the crowd. Audio of Santorum’s speech in Waterloo

Santorum said this was his fourth visit to Black Hawk County, noting his last visit generated attention from The Waterloo Courier and a couple of other local reporters, whereas tonight there are almost more media present than actual Black Hawk County Republicans.

Santorum called his 4th place Straw Poll finish a “shot in the arm” and “for dollars spent for votes, we won yesterday.”

Santorum again referred to his “Little Engine that Could campaign” and called competitors like Perry and Bachmann “shiny engines”.

“God bless ’em,” Santorum said — but added he’ll continue his shoestring campaign “because we’ve got a message.”

Santorum confronted Perry, without naming him, over Perry’s initial reaction to New York’s law on gay marrage.

“I have differences with some in this race who say that states can do whatever they want to do. I think it is a corrupt view of the 10th amendment,” Santorum said. “…States cannot do whatever they want to do…and when we have people that say, ‘States have the right to pass gay marriage,’ I say, ‘No, they do not, because they do not have the right to do wrong,'” Santorum said, getting a loud burst of applause.  Can’t see from my vantage point whether Perry applauded.

At 6:21 p.m. Perry is introduced and speaking. AUDIO of Perry’s speech in Waterloo

“Rick, I don’t know where you are, but I’m glad to see you out here on the trail,” he began.

Perry began by mentioning the green fields of Iowa, then launched into his biography.

“Unless you’ve got a state map you’re not going to find it anywhere. It doesn’t even have a zip code.” Perry said of his hometown.

He winds through the bio, mentioning both 4-H and his Eagle Scout status before mentioning he started taking piano lessons as a child and “sat by a little blond-headed girl” he eventually started dating as a teen, and then married 16 years later.

“Sometimes it takes me a while to get into something, but when I get in, I get in all the way,” he said, to applause.

Perry mentions his military service, the Navy Seal from Iowa who was killed in Afghanistan, and suggested one of the “powerful reasons” he’s running is so that the military “respects highly the president of the United States.”

Perry shifts to the economy. “I think I’ve only mentioned Texas one time and I’m jus a little bit remiss,” he said, mentioning Texas stats.

He vowed to use his veto pen as president “and I will use it until the ink runs out to give the message that we’re not spending all the money.”

:”Are we going to take the reigns of our future over the next 15 months? We may have issues that separate us, but bringing those diverse groups together and making sure that we have a candidate who can beat Barack Obama.” applause.

Of the Tea Party: “We’re not angry, we’re indignant,” he said. “We’re indignant at the arrogance and the audacity (of the Obama Administration),” he said.

Perry concluded and volunteered to take a few questions from the crowd.  He took off his jacket, and gave it to his daughter, who was cold in this Electric Park Ballroom. “If this shirt’s got a few wrinkles in it, it’s not my wife’s fault,” he told the crowd before taking the first question, which was about oil.

The second question was about illegal immigration and entitlements.  “It’s really an issue that has to be addressed…It’s something I’ve been dealing with for a long time…Unfortunately, the issue is about border security,” he said. Perry called the border a “war zone” in many places. He said Texas is spending $150-million-plus over two years on border security.  “you can’t even have a conversation about a immigration policy until you first secure the border. That is the first issue that has to be addressed.”

He vowed to send US military and the National Guard to the border until the Border Patrol is “trained up” in border security.  “These issues that we face are substantial. We’ve got to get America back to work,” he said.

As for the part of the question about entitlements: “Have you read my book, Fed Up? Get a copy of it and read it.”

“…We have to have an adult conversation with this country” about entitlements, he said.

Perry was asked about the 10th Amendment. He said he didn’t want the federal government telling him how to educate his kids, etc., but added a caveat: “If there are issues out there of importance enough that we can pass constitutional amendments…We must pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, so that’s the way that we will deal with those.”

He finished and Michele Bachmann was introduced. The familiar Elvis music blared as she made her way through the crwod. “Iowa and Waterloo’s very own and the winner of the Iowa Straw Poll,” an announcer intones, before asking the crowd to welcome Bachmann.

Bachmann begins speaking at 6:55 p.m.  “What an absolutely exciting night that we’re having tonight, isn’t it? It’s been great so far…It’s just been thrilling to all of us.”

Audio of Bachmann’s speech

Bachmann held up a copy of today’s Waterloo Courier.  “I just wanted to come back today and say thank you to all of you for what you have done.  Was anyone here 50 days ago?” Bachmann asked the crowd.  Many raised their hands.

“Fifty days ago we launched the beginning of our candidacy to take the White House back…and we’re making that downpayment this weekened here in Iowa,” she said.

She mentioned a family reunion today, an elderly friend she visited, and how her own grandmother “would change her snow tires in her dress.” The crowd chuckled.

Real life, she said, “bears absolutely no relation to what goes on in Washington, D.C.”

She mentions the “good news” that Barack Obama’s approval rating is “now below 40 percent.”  The crowd applauded. “It is going to nosedive even further.”

A little later, she talked about Obama’s bus tour, which will bring him to northeast Iowa tomorrow. “Job creation is number one in Iowa. Do you agree with that?” she asked the crowd.

She launched into a long sequence about the Tea Party. “We are a movement. It’s a movement that’s been coming together. a movement of social conservatives and fiscal conservatives.”

She called the Tea Party “the best antidote” to what ails the country. “Rather than dissingthe Tea Party, we should be praising the Tea Party,” she said.

Bachmann talked about the nation’sdebt. “We are the brokest nation inthe world,” Bachmann said.

She named a bunch of Iowa towns she’s visited, a clear distinction with Perry, who has just landed.

“The umph is gone out of Barack Obama,” she said. Several moments later she said Obmaa and his team are “absolutely apopletic” about the power of the Tea Party.

“People feel it now,” Bachmann said of 2012 and prospects for defeating Obama, suggesting the country wants someone with “guts” who will “mean what they say and say what they mean and that’s what I’ve been doing in Washington.”

Her biggest applause comes from her call for the repeal of ObamaCare.

“I’m an extremely hard-working person,” Bachmann said.

She repeats the “real person” line that she talked about earlier during our interview.

‘The poison water of Wasington didn’t change me and I went there and I fought.” she said.

Bachmann said her goal wasn’t to “be feathering my cap” with a victory in the presidential race.  She closed by bringing a treat for someone in the crowd, from The Machine Shed.  “There is nothing more American than apple pie,” Bachmann said.  She determined to give it to the “oldest Republican mother in the room.”  There is a 100 year old woman in the room. The crowd gets to its feet to applaud Mary Canfield.  “You may not be the oldest,” Bachmann said, playing out the moment. No one else was older, so Mary goes home with pie.