BOONE, Ia. — Pete Buttigieg was inside his campaign bus, with reporters an arm's length away all looking directly at him, their notebooks, pens and recorders in hand.

They wanted to know what the Democratic presidential candidate thought about, well, everything: What does he think about growing calls for an impeachment investigation against President Donald Trump? Did he have a comment on the Republican Party's talking points about the presidential race? How does he assess the current psyche of American voters? What does he miss about home?

With each question, Buttigieg barely paused before jumping into lengthy responses. He was beginning to discuss the history of civil rights in his attempt to make a point about social justice when the bus stopped for the first town hall of the day.

As everyone exited, a reporter threw out one more question: How many of his signature white shirts and jeans had he packed for his four-day bus tour across Iowa? And was he ironing?

Four shirts, Buttigieg said Sunday, adding that he ironed them himself. He brought just one pair of jeans.

“Hopefully, they don’t get too smelly,” he said.

Lis Smith, Buttigieg’s senior communications adviser, jumped in and reminded everyone there would be plenty of time for the group to ask the South Bend, Indiana, mayor about his clothing and any other topic they could think of.

Smith was not kidding. Ahead of Buttigieg’s trip to Iowa, which included a stop at Saturday's Polk County Steak Fry, his campaign announced that reporters would be able to travel with Buttigieg on his campaign bus the whole time. Everything would be on the record.

Buttigieg said he welcomed the questions.

“It’s definitely different than anything we’ve done in the campaign before,” Buttigieg said Sunday from the bus, which began its tour on Saturday in Des Moines and wraps Tuesday in Davenport. “But I think it’s healthy. I think it’s a richer conversation than we’ve had so far.”

The format is the most accessible of any major Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle. Campaign officials acknowledged the similarities to late U.S. Sen. John McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” campaign bus that traveled around Iowa when the Republican ran for president in 2000.

Smith said the campaign hadn’t come up with a name for Buttigieg's bus, which was painted blue and yellow and had the candidate's name splashed on the outside.

“It needs to have a message-value,” Smith said about the bus. “'Straight Talk Express' had message value.”

The ramifications of this unfiltered access: A whole lot of questions, nearly nonstop, from both local and national press. There was no particular order on the subject or its gravity. In nearly the same breath that Buttigieg was asked about foreign policy or his military service, he was asked about his favorite road snack (beef jerky). Oh, and should Iowa switch to a more inclusive primary and lose its first-in-the-nation status? Buttigieg declined to offer up his take on the sometimes controversial issue.

On Monday, Buttigieg also invited Twitter users to join in on the question asking.

Buttigieg’s tour bus hit the road on the same day that a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed he's dropped 6 percentage points since June in the portion of respondents who pick him as their first choice for president, though his favorability has grown.

Buttigieg was asked about that, too. He noted the poll showed just one in five likely Democratic caucusgoers say their minds are made up. Buttigieg has hired additional Iowa staff and opened 20 field offices in the state this month.

“I think the important thing is, do people know you? Do they know what you're about? And do they like what they see?" he said. "We've seen a lot of encouragement on that front."

Buttigieg's latest swing through Iowa included town halls in small communities, meet-and-greets in parks and large outdoor rallies that drew hundreds despite heavy rain.

Ryan Arndorfer, the mayor of Britt, a community in northern Iowa, recently endorsed Buttigieg. Arndorfer thinks the candidate needs to visit Iowa's rural areas to win on caucus night.

Arndorfer also thinks Buttigieg should emphasize the ways his health care plan differs from the "Medicare for All" plan touted by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

"I think there's going to be a point relatively soon where he's going to have to start making the differences between them more apparent," Arndorfer said.

Rena Hall, a 66-year-old retiree of Ames who caucused for Sanders in 2016, said she's all in for Buttigieg now. She likes what she described as his more plausible policy ideas.

"He's more in the middle," Hall said. "The right is just a mess. But the left makes promises they can't keep ... if he isn't certain he can do something, I don't think Pete makes a promise."

Barbara Rodriguez covers health care and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at bcrodriguez@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8011. Follow her on Twitter @bcrodriguez.

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