Hours After Rep. Paul Ryan Visit, President Obama Takes Campaign to Iowa State Fair

President Obama on Monday took his fight to remain in office to the Iowa State Fair, where he jumped from his presidential bus in a quest for a cold beer and as many votes as he can capture in this battleground state.

The president didn't go see the Butter Cow or the chocolate moose, which he talked about earlier in the day.

Security cordoned off a small section of the fair for Obama and allowed about 200 people the opportunity to meet the president. It was a very controlled sampling of Iowa's summer tradition. 

The president's visit is part of a three-day swing through Iowa, which propelled his unlikely bid for the presidency in 2008 and is now considered a toss-up state in November's general election. A Real Clear Politics poll shows Obama ahead of Romney in Iowa by a single point.

At the fair in Des Moines, Obama made the brief appearance only hours after Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's newly announced running mate. , while the president bounced to chants of, "Four more years!"

Obama, who was accompanied by Tom Vilsack, Iowa's former governor and the current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, walked down 33rd Street and shook every one's hand, and then slugged down a fair beer and a plate of pork chops.

Gina McClelland of Carlisle got a presidential hug after waiting for Obama to pass by. He heard her yelling and the president told her she "deserves a hug."

"He's really good looking in person," she said. "The funny thing is, I'm a conservative but I don't know. I might go the other way."

The president left at about 8:30 p.m. He did not speak to the press.

Obama started his day in Council Bluffs, then moved to Boone, where he told the crowd he wants .

In Council Bluffs, he told the crowd that the choice of Ryan crystalized the differences between the parties.

“This weekend, my opponent chose as his running mate the ideological leader of the conservative Republican agenda,” Obama said. “He is an articulate spokesman for Governor Romney’s vision, but the problem is that vision is one which I fundamentally disagree with.”

Earlier in the day, the "soap box" podium at the fair had been lent to Rep. Paul Ryan, who got a taste of how presidential politics can devolve.

Two minutes into Ryan's speech, a  protester disguised as a Mitt Romney in front of several thousand people and began yelling about saving the middle class. Later in his speech, Ryan had criticized Obama for not appearing at the fair.

Obama's answer was to show up.

"Michelle has told me I cannot have a fried Twinkie. But I will be checking out Butter Cow, and I understand this year there's a chocolate moose," he said prior to his arrival, according to Yahoo News, adding that he would "take a look at that if I can."