tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194661012008-05-09T10:39:29.461-05:00Administratornoreply@blogger.comBlogger1830125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-91012846172619234302008-05-09T10:38:00.000-05:002008-05-09T10:39:12.779-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Battleground Iowa Well it seems like yesterday was endorsement day for Republicans who have primaries on June 3rd. The first one to grace my inbox was from the Miller-Meeks campaign, who received the endorsement from State Representative Jeff Kaufmann. "Mariannette represents the best that the Republican Party has to offer for service to this state. Her unique

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-70762958796456142452008-05-09T10:37:00.001-05:002008-05-09T10:39:29.912-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Iowa Independent The audience in King's Chapel on the campus of Cornell College in Mount Vernon seemed to hold its collective breath Thursday night as George Stephanopoulos gave voice to words about the Democratic presidential nomination process that most in the nation have been impatiently waiting to hear: "The race is over." The same quiet audience emitted whoops of

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-4171720350983579382008-05-09T10:36:00.001-05:002008-05-09T10:36:53.340-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Politically Speaking Some issues don't break down on party lines. A release by Joel Dykstra, a Canton Republican who wants to join the U.S. Senate in January 2009, serves as a good reminder. Dykstra lays out his opposition to the idea of a federal gas tax holiday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, an idea floated by Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-7749528959950082012008-05-08T10:35:00.000-05:002008-05-08T10:38:53.008-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Battleground Iowa With the June 3rd primary less than a month away, it has been relatively quiet. The there candidates running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate don't have the funds or ability to run TV ads, and I doubt they will be running radio spots. But for all you campaign junkies who like to watch a heated primary battle you just need to tune

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-27255636372543854192008-05-08T10:34:00.002-05:002008-05-08T10:35:37.428-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Krusty Konservative Being inkognito has it advantages. During my extended time away from the blog I was able to travel the state and get a better grasp of what is on the hearts and mind of Iowa's konservative activists. I wish I kould kome back here and tell you how fired up they were about the '08 elections but I kan't. Now that doesn't mean that we are hopeless when

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-15414579508468164342008-05-08T10:34:00.001-05:002008-05-08T10:34:41.891-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Radio Iowa As noted last week, I have a friend in DC who ran in the Capital Challenge and saw Senator Charles Grassley cross the finish line. Yesterday, at the conclusion of Grassley's weekly conference call with Iowa radio reporters, I asked him about the race and Grassley expressed some discomfort with not improving his time. "You know, after nine years of doing (

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-46475133813118928112008-05-07T10:42:00.001-05:002008-05-07T10:42:32.431-05:00

Excerpted from this post at State 29 From the Des Moines Register: "Iowa will hike its sales tax by 1 cent per dollar, replacing local-option sales taxes that each of Iowa's 99 counties collect for school infrastructure, under a bill signed into law today by Gov. Chet Culver. For most Iowans, there will be no out-of-pocket difference because one tax is simply replacing another that they pay

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-16878683456818748572008-05-07T10:40:00.002-05:002008-05-07T10:41:48.588-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Popular Progressive Barack Obama won a decisive victory in North Carolina by slightly less than 230,000 votes last night and Hillary Clinton has won in Indiana by slightly more than 22,000 votes, so where does it leave things? If the statements of the candidates count for anything, it looks like more of the same all the way to the convention. The sad thing is that

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-2575943692620861452008-05-07T10:40:00.001-05:002008-05-07T10:40:28.972-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Essential Estrogen High school students still debating which college or university to attend in the fall have some new information at their fingertips. Unfortunately, the information, provided by an organization with conservative ties, doesn't shine a favorable light on most Iowa institutions of higher education. Richard Vedder, director of the Washington, D.C.-based

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-36569714683131312842008-05-07T10:37:00.000-05:002008-05-07T10:39:56.108-05:00

Excerpted from this post at 24-Hour Dorman Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and House Speaker Pat Murphy stopped at The Gazette today to tout their legislative accomplishments. But before we dug into the meaty details of health care, the leaders shared dead pigeon anecdotes. Apparently, the Statehouse's resident nesting Peregrine Falcon catches and eats resident pigeons. As Murphy described

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-31119955094949013512008-05-06T10:37:00.001-05:002008-05-06T10:39:03.597-05:00

Excerpted from this post at The Iowa Conservative State Auditor Dave Vaudt released a report today revealing yet another way that Iowa Taxpayers have gotten the shaft from our state government. Our esteemed leaders have paid A.T. Kearney, a consulting firm roughly $4.5 million dollars over the past two years. Their task was to find cost savings in the state budget. The justification for this

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-21606866303241039572008-05-06T10:36:00.001-05:002008-05-06T10:37:12.832-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Iowa True Blue With a whopping 46 contests behind us, Senator Obama is now a mere 276 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination. Tonight, as the polls close, we will hear candidates, campaign staff, surrogates, newspeople, pundits, and so on, ask (and answer) all sorts of questions. There is, however, only one serious question today: Can HRC make serious

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-80281271390238872612008-05-06T10:35:00.000-05:002008-05-06T10:36:25.461-05:00

Excerpted from this post at John Deeth Blog Senator Tom Harkin has joined other senators from states with election day voter registration is backing a bill that would extend same-day registration to all states. But the delegation from Iowa, the newest same-day registration state, is not united, with Rep. Steve King voicing his opposition. Harkin is cosponsoring Senate bill 2959, first offered by

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-86670797746922484402008-05-05T12:12:00.000-05:002008-05-05T12:13:00.278-05:00

Excerpted from this post at John Deeth Blog "I honestly haven't decided when I'll say something," Iowa Democratic Party chair Scott Brennan told party activists in Iowa City Sunday. As party chair, Brennan is also a national convention superdelegate, and he and Senator Tom Harkin are the only two Iowa superdelegates who are still uncommitted. "I'm a Pollyanna but I still have some hope that

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-36842337083575426402008-05-05T12:11:00.000-05:002008-05-05T12:12:06.492-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Iowa Progress It is increasingly unlikely that Ed Fallon will win the Third District Primary as his campaign is both broke and languishing far behind Leonard Boswell in the polls. The question now arises what will professional candidate Ed Fallon run for next? Fallon is a professional candidate at this point (and, thanks to the still open Fallon Loophole, can still

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-34467565279897570812008-05-05T12:08:00.001-05:002008-05-05T12:08:35.839-05:00

Excerpted from this post at The Demo Memo I'm sitting here blogging from my favorite Des Moines, Iowa breakfast/free wi fi place, The Gateway Market. I ran into a couple of good friends of mine, Ross and Amy Daniels, who are Obama supporters. I reminded them that Obama people need to quit being so negative against Sen. Hillary Clinton and start showing some respect. When I "confronted" him, Ross

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-22568615624241655422008-05-05T12:02:00.000-05:002008-05-05T12:03:05.763-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Krusty Konservative Seldom these days is there an exchange of political banter at Wellman's or under the golden dome where the veepstakes doesn't come up. There are seemingly endless possibilities for Sen. McKain to choose from, but before we get into that let's take a look at the good, the bad and the downright ugly schools of thought when deciding on a running mate.

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-15038098757394711562008-05-02T10:43:00.002-05:002008-05-02T10:44:37.512-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Radio Iowa It's Thursday, May 1, 2008, and Republican presidential candidate John McCain is due to speak here at the Polk County Convention Complex at 2 o'clock this afternoon. A sign on the ground floor advises "Eddie's Shoe Shine" is set up on he second floor. I didn't see a McCain campaign sign anywhere. It's 1:25 p.m. McCain Iowa chairman Dave Roederer is quizzing

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-52059932185782559612008-05-02T10:43:00.001-05:002008-05-02T10:43:46.700-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Iowa True Blue Earmarks Helped Des Moines Law Enforcement... Senator McCain has railed against earmarks, dismissing them as pork for the special interests. But during his trip to Des Moines today, McCain will enjoy the protection of local law enforcement agencies that protect the people of Des Moines and Polk County every day, partially with the assistance of

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-83185172186665591462008-05-01T10:58:00.001-05:002008-05-01T10:58:53.309-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Battleground Iowa No New Courthouse for Polk Co. ... A ballot measure that would have raised property taxes in Polk County to get the $132 million needed for a new Polk County Courthouse (and renovations to the old one) failed by a wide margin yesterday. In order to be approved, the measure needed to pass with 60% of the vote. Instead, it failed, with the "no" votes

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-38194725248335614162008-05-01T10:56:00.000-05:002008-05-01T10:58:00.056-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Bleeding Heartland An envelope from the Boswell campaign arrived in the mail today. Inside was a letter from Al Gore asking me to donate $20.00 to Boswell's campaign, symbolizing the 2000 election "when Leonard stood by my side". The text was identical to a recent e-mail Gore sent out on Boswell's behalf, which I reproduced at the end of this post. Unlike Matt Stoller

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-1379065936082906012008-05-01T10:54:00.000-05:002008-05-01T10:55:11.449-05:00

Excerpted from this post at John Deeth Blog Still wringing your hands over the dispute between the Democratic National Committee, the early states who played by the rules, and calendar leapfroggers Florida and Michigan? Have no fear. Dennis Kucinich is going to solve all our problems. The Cleveland congressman, whose own 2008 presidential campaign fizzled, has proposed allocating the Michigan

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-21264859551500391132008-04-29T10:39:00.001-05:002008-04-29T10:39:51.565-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Bleeding Heartland Over at Iowa Independent, Douglas Burns has put up another post complaining about the tough bill on public smoking that the legislature adopted earlier this month. Burns offers 10 ways to deal with the smoking ban which, in his words, will introduce "a radical cultural change in many shot-and-a-beer, small-town taverns that dot the Iowa landscape."

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-82228496398387159802008-04-29T10:35:00.001-05:002008-04-29T10:38:46.240-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Iowa Progress Despite being a city slicker from Sherman Hill, Ed Fallon displayed his agricultural expertise last week when he reaped what he sowed with Al Gore's endorsement of Leonard Boswell. To paraphrase what Fallon said about the former Vice President, Gore can't support Fallon, won't support Fallon and thinks Democratic primary voters in the 3rd District

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19466101.post-29077790656168156182008-04-28T12:02:00.001-05:002008-04-28T12:02:34.590-05:00

Excerpted from this post at Century of the Common Iowan The big news out of the 4th District Democratic Convention was that Barack Obama picked up a national delegate. The 4th District had 507 seats to fill. At first count 425 of the seats were filled with delegates and the first count was Obama 231, Clinton 147, Edwards 42, Uncommitted 5. The remaining seats were filled with alternates. I was

Andy Szalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11231075093580470496noreply@blogger.com