(DUBUQUE, IA) – Flagging in polls and reeling from an uncomfortable encounter with an editorial board in Wisconsin, Herman Cain dodged reporters in Iowa today.

Cain hosted a very informal meet-and-greet in Dubuque right outside the local Cafe Manna. Arriving late after doing a couple of sit-down interviews with local press, Cain gave an abridged stump speech. He touched on foreign policy, energy independence, the economy and how his “bold solution” – 999 – could fix all that.

But Cain skipped out on an appearance which local and national press were told would follow the event. Reporters chased him around the venue and then eventually to his car, one question he did answer was, “What do you read on a daily basis?”

Cain: “What I read on a daily basis? Obviously I read newspaper publications and read some of the stuff on the website.”

Reporter: “Which newspapers?”

“I read the Wall Street Journal, I read the USA Today, and I read, sometimes my local paper, also read some of the online publications and I also read some of the special bulletins I get from the Republican National Committee which summarizes a lot of the stuff. So trust me, I feel like I’m in school.”