Fort Madison, IA – Lee County has been quiet during this presidential election cycle.
The only candidate to visit was former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and that took place several months ago.
That changed this week as two of the GOP candidates made their first trips to the county.
Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke to a crowd of about 150 at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Fort Madison.
He says, if elected, he would eliminate the U-S Department of Education.
"We don't need the federal government to tells us how to educate your kids," says Paul, "you can save billions of dollars. Since government got involved in education, the quality has gone down and the cost has skyrocketed."
Paul even told a student considering college to think twice about accumulating a great deal of debt.
The Congressman says he would eliminate inheritance taxes, cut the federal budget to 2006 levels and work to trade with other countries as opposed to bombing them.
Paul was already on his way to his next stop when one of his colleagues arrived in the Pen City.
Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) spent about 20 minutes shaking hands, posing for pictures and signing autographs at the Ivy Bake Shoppe.
While Bachmann did that, several supporters spoke to the crowd of about 50 about the campaign.
The Congresswoman said, while walking to her tour bus after the event, she is willing to make difficult choices.
"I am not going in to be a politician, to dance around," says Bachmann, "I am going in to get the country on the right track, that is all I care about. If I am a one-term (President), so be it."
Bachmann says she is the one true conservative who can defeat President Barack Obama.
She says she will balance the budget, secure this country's southern border and protect life from conception until natural death.
The Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for January 3.
There will be three sites in Lee County: Keokuk, Fort Madison, and West Point.