I Went to Iowa to See the Young Democrat Packing Town Halls. It Felt a Bit Like Obama in 2008.

Mr. Rhodes is a contributing opinion writer. He spent several days in Iowa and went to town halls in Fort Dodge, Boone and Newton for this essay.

Iowa has a cancer problem: The state has the fastest growing rate of new cases in the nation. On the margins of a high school gymnasium, I talked to a young man whose father died of leukemia that he attributes to herbicides or pesticides. On local radio, a woman described spending thousands of dollars on a home system to filter nitrates from her drinking water.

Rob Sand, the state auditor, is running for governor with a slogan “Costs, Corruption and Cancer,” and I followed him to several town halls recently. In 2007, I’d spent months idealistically canvassing the state for Barack Obama’s caucus campaign. Now, well into middle age and the Trump era, I still recognized the neighborliness of the people and postcard Americana of the venues. But in addition to the sweltering........

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