-Presidential-campaign ads always seem to show
the same few classic scenes of Americana --
flags fluttering, eagles soaring, children laughing,
golden cornfields in Iowa at sunset,
like this one that we came to to make this point.
You also always see politicians in diners,
shaking hands with regular folks.
So I went to the Waveland Cafe in Des Moines, Iowa,
to talk to its owner, Stoney,
about what it's like to run a diner
that's also a campaign stop.
So, my first question for you is,
how annoying is it to have the media come to your diner
constantly and interview you?
-It's not annoying.
It's just a challenge, sometimes.
-Okay, okay. Yeah.
-There's no such thing as a problem.
It's just a solution waiting to happen.
So you figure out the solution, and then you go forward.
-How did your café become a place that media
and presidential candidates are constantly coming through?
-You know, it's nothing that I went after.
We certainly got a good boost
when Tom Brokaw did the "Nightly News" here.
We're an old-style diner, and that's part of the charm
or part of what we wanted to create.
There aren't many of those left in Des Moines.
First, it was CNN.
Then MSNBC was here, then CBS,
then CNN captured us for the next two.
They actually would broadcast for three days,
and a lot of presidential candidates came in here.
That climate has changed a little bit
because of social media.
2016, we only had one presidential candidate,
and all of the media people say,
"Hey, you got to get to the Waveland,
'cause they all come in here."
We didn't see anyone, and it was because they're reaching
a whole lot bigger audience
than just the few people in here,
although this is a good cross-section of people.
You'll find every walk of life.
-Did you find that your customers
would be a little annoyed by them coming,
or do they seem genuinely interested?
-As soon as caucuses were coming around, our business went up,
'cause they knew people were gonna show up.
Someone was gonna be here.
-Sometimes I wonder, you see so many pictures
of these candidates in Iowa diners, and you're like,
"Those poor people are just trying to eat their eggs,
and they're getting glad-handed."
But they're also getting face time, I suppose.
-They're very respectful, my clientele, is.
We've never had, knock on wood, anybody not --
well, Formica -- knock on wood.
We've never had anyone, say, you know,
get volatile with them or challenge their views.
Everybody's been respectful.
-That's so different than on social media, isn't it?
-Yes. -It's a lot harder
to maybe scream at someone -- -Absolutely.
-If you're face-to-face with your hash browns in between you.
So you think more candidates should spend more time
in diners like yours, talking to the voters directly?
-Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
Conversation gets people talking about it
and gets people involved in it.
Last week, we had the Stephen Colbert show
and one of the candidates here.
-Colbert got here first! Colbert!
If Cory Booker came in here -- he's a vegan --
what would you serve him?
-Well, he could have hash browns,
you know, and vegetables. -Yeah.
-And just depends on what he wants, you know?
He could have egg whites instead of with the yolk, I'm assuming.
I don't know. -That's not vegan, I think.
-Maybe not. -I think it's the whole egg.
-Yeah. If you're asking me vegan,
yeah, you would -- -I came to the wrong place.
Have there been any candidates that come in that really seemed
more than anyone else, over the years,
to really connect with people,
to really just not be fake or pandering at all?
Who made a good impression?
-You know, strangely enough, when you said "not be fake,"
I couldn't put that on any candidate.
They're all very genuine,
because they don't know who they're talking to.
And you could be, like, sitting at the counter,
and you might have a judge sitting next to a guy
who's hungover as hell and next to --
-Next to Jason Momoa. -Yeah.
Everybody just gets along.
I don't think there's a preset disposition of how you have
to behave, dress, whatever.
Even the children are pretty well-behaved in here.
-I came in being like, "It must be so annoying,
and, like, they must come in so fake,
and all the candidates just pretending
to like food that they don't."
But that's not your impression, it sounds like.
-No, no.
And you can tell if someone's fake.
It's pretty simple to read through that.
-How can you tell? -You look at them,
and you shake their hand, you talk to them,
and you can tell if they're feeding you a line
or if they're trying to position themselves.
Honestly, I couldn't say that I've had anybody in that
brought that attention to me.
When CBS with Colbert people
were here last Friday -- -Colbert!
-They had a ball. -Do they tip well?
-Oh, goodness, yes. -Yeah?
-Yeah. They were very good.
-Is the media well-behaved when they come through here?
-Mm-hmm. -Are they respectful?
-Yep. -I hope that when we leave,
you're not like, "Until today.
Today was the day it all went wrong."
-No.
You seem really nice. -Oh!
Sir, this means so much. Thank you.
-Oh, you're so full of it.