IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

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 background places her in a perfect position to take the lead on
health care issues, national defense, and economic development,"
Kaufmann said. ... I'm not one that puts a lot of weight into political
endorsements, however in a primary I think they are quite valuable in
helping make some inroads in certain communities and groups of people.

Labels: Iowa GOP

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 joy a few minutes later when Stephanopoulos
said that Iowa's position as the first-in-the-nation caucus state
would continue. "I want to tell you that I do think this race -- the
Democratic race -- is over," Stephanopoulos said. "Tuesday night was a
decisive tipping point. Mathematically it is simply not possible for
Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton to catch Sen. [Barack] Obama in the
elected delegates."

Labels: Barack_Obama, caucus dates, Hillary_Clinton

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 and others. It's geared to the major vacation
driving season, and taking away the 18.4 cent federal gas tax would
offer relief at the pump, goes the theory. Unleaded gas just rose by a
dime to $3.52 at most Sioux City stations two days ago. But Dykstra
says the tax holiday would do more harm than good. He contends there's
"no guarantee that a reduction in the tax would benefit consumers."

Labels: taxes

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 into Iowa's 2nd Congressional District. There is a three
way primary between Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Ottumwa, Peter
Teahen from Cedar Rapids, and Lee Harder, and if I looked harder I'd
know where he's from too, but he's a non factor so I'm not going to
waste my time.

Labels: 2nd CD

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
it komes to 2008 in Iowa. Konsider the following: The words "great
depression" adequately described the konservative activist following
the 2006 general elections. Yet more Iowans voted in the Republican
kaucuses than ever before. And while we are having a little kaucus
talk, I must say I absolutely nailed my 2007 Breakout Kandidate of the
year. I was Huckabee when Huckabee wasn't kool!

Labels: elections, Iowa GOP

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 (that race) I should do better than the
first year and I'm not doing better because my first year was 27
minutes (and) 20 seconds," Grassley said, "and now this one was 29
minutes and 29 seconds." Grassley ran the three-mile course this year
with a faster time than in 2007. "By about half a minute, so I'm not
as bad as I was last year," Grassley said.

Labels: Charles Grassley

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 already. But the important difference between the tax is
one of financial fairness, advocates of the proposal have said." The
Iowa Legislature and Governor Chet Culver basically said "Screw The
Taxpayers" and took away the option of eliminating the tax in their
area if they felt the local school district was spending the money the
wrong way.

Labels: education, taxes

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
there is no legitimate way for either candidate to win the nomination
outright without the influence of the superdelegates who may be more
likely to use "electability" as determined by polling to affect their
decision-making. As a John Edwards supporter, we learned first hand
that electability as measured by polls is hardly reliable.

Labels: Barack_Obama, Hillary_Clinton

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 nonprofit Center for College Affordability and
Productivity (CCAP) writing for Forbes, took a direct swipe at the
popular college and university rankings produced by U.S. News & World
Report, saying the "rankings ought to get a D."

Labels: University of Iowa

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 it, the falcon snares a pigeon,
pins it down by its wings and, well, lunch is served. Trouble is, the
pigeon-stuffed falcon then leaves its less-than-appetizing meal
remnants on an outdoor balcony just off the House chamber. The
presence of these spent pigeons apparently have spoiled the speaker's
plans for a balcony lunch of his own. Understandable.

Labels: Mike Gronstal, Pat_Murphy

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 $4.5 Million expense: Find $10.6 Million in savings. But that's
just where the lunacy started. Not only did they fail to give us value
for our $4.5 Million, they found only $3 Million in savings. We lost
$2 Million on the deal. Nice.

Labels: taxes

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 inroads in the delegate race? Possibly, she can. HRC
clearly has the support of the political establishment in both IN and
NC. In the Hoosier State, Senator Bayh -- scion of IN's most powerful
political family -- has been by her side at every stop. Same in North
Carolina, where Governor Easley has campaigned extremely hard for her.

Labels: Barack_Obama, Hillary_Clinton

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 Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Russ Feingold of
Wisconsin. Senator Jon Tester of Montana has also co-sponsored the
bill. All four co-sponsors are Democrats from states with election day
voter registration. The issue has a long partisan history.

Labels: voting

"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
after we finish on June 3rd, in the next couple weeks after that we'll
have some clarity, and I'll never have to make that decision," said
Brennan. Part of Brennan's reticence is his wish to protect Iowa's
first in the nation role. "Part of the reason I think Iowa remains
first and why we attract candidates is that we been an honest broker,"
he said.

Labels: IDP

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 make a good living running for office).
There are several possibilities for Fallon. The first is running for
Mayor of Des Moines against Frank Cownie in 2011. Cownie is a leading
environmentalist, which makes him a prime target for Fallon who
actively worked to defeat Al Gore in 2000. However, that election is
three years away and the Mayor of Des Moines only makes $31,500 a
year.

Labels: Ed_Fallon

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 was speechless. He had that smug "but, but,
we're right and she's wrong" look that many Obamicans have. Amy looked
at me sheepishly and said, "I plan to be a party girl." Good for her.
Here's the deal, Democrats. We're all on the same train together.

Labels: Barack_Obama, Hillary_Clinton

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. The Good: In 1980, then Governor Ronald Reagan won
a hotly kontested primary fight over his closest and bitter rival
George Herbert Walker Bush. In an effort to unify and mobilize the
party to defeat an incumbant president, Gov. Reagan chose Bush whose
foreign policy experience as the former head of the Central
Intelligence Agency komplimented his own executive leadership on the
ticket.

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 the crowd of about 250, asking questions which
require yes or no answers. After The Pledge and The National Anthem,
longtime Iowa GOP insider Marvin Pomerantz of Des Moines made an
appeal to the crowd for money. "We don't have the conflict that some
other parties have. Thanks goodness," Pomerantz said.

Labels: John_McCain

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 Congressional earmarks. Polk County Department Of Public Safety
Received Earmark To Combat Meth. The Polk County Department of Public
Safety received a $291,000 earmark in Fiscal Year 2008 to intercept
imported meth. The earmark was included in the FY 2008 Consolidated
Appropriations Bill, which McCain skipped the vote on.

Labels: John_McCain

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 taking 57%. I had mixed feelings about this. Tax
increases suck, but I can see the need for more space, and the idea of
keeping the criminal stuff separate also appeals to me. There's
nothing like going to pay a traffic ticket and having a guy in a
striped jumpsuit and cuffs sit next to you while you wait to be
helped.

Labels: Legislature, taxes

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, who is mad that Gore is helping Boswell's
campaign, I can't fault him for getting involved. It won't change the
minds of many Gore voters like myself, who favor Fallon, but it might
activate other Gore supporters who are unreliable primary voters.
Frankly, I'm more annoyed at Gore for sitting out this presidential
election.

Labels: Ed_Fallon

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 and Florida delegates by the
composite results of three public opinion polls. "Simple, accurate and
cost effective, this solution is nevertheless no substitute for actual
voting," Kucinich wrote in a letter to House colleagues. "But it is
better than any other solution proposed thus far."

Labels: Dennis_Kucinich