DES MOINES — A year from now, this will be the political epicenter of the country.

The Iowa State Fair: where presidential ambitions are made and broken; where a selfie of a candidate eating a double bacon corn dog is worth its weight in electoral gold.

The New York Times spent four days talking to fairgoers, who provide a political bellwether for the 2020 presidential election and the midterms in November.

“It’s not Iowa’s job to pick the president,” said Paul D. Pate, the Iowa secretary of State. “It’s our job to ask the questions you would want asked.”