REUTERS/Jason Reed

President Obama eats a cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream from Deb's Ice Cream and Deli in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 10. During the swing-state campaign stop, Obama reminded Iowans of his surprise 2008 caucus victory: "This was the state that gave me a chance when nobody else would." He also called on Iowa to "cut through the nonsense" of negative political ads, even though, as the Des Moines Register points out, he has aired more ads in the Hawkeye State than Mitt Romney — most of them attack ads.