President Obama has kicked off a three-day bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, where the corn is high and at least some factories are spewing smoke. He won these Midwestern states handily in 2008, but he's not taking anything for granted these days. To understand the political economy of the region, it helps to put it in historic perspective.

Molly Ivins is a lovable left-wing cynic–and a shameless word theif.