IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

So, I'm listening to the radio this morning, and there was a little
one sentence news blurb telling me than Leonard Boswell will be
leaving the hospital tomorrow. Did anyone else realize that he was
even still in the hospital? That means he has been in the hospital for
TWO WEEKS. Of course, we still don't really know what's going on with
him because he won't tell us anything, just that it was a "routine"
procedure. What kind of "routine" procedure requires two weeks in the
hospital? What's the deal Boz? Why won't you tell us what's going on
with you? Ted Kennedy has brain surgery, and we know so much about it,
it feels like we're on the hospital staff. Leonard Boswell has
surgery, and you have to be a member of the CIA to know what's going
on.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

I received a fundraising letter from Congressman Leonard Boswell's
campaign recently. It contained a healthy dose of the misleading spin
I have come to expect from Boswell's mailings this year. I'm not going
to retype the whole text, but this passage made me laugh (emphasis is
in the original): "My republican opponent has had four months to raise
money and plan for the general election; an election that I am only
able to focus my attention on now. While I was competing against an
opponent for the Democratic nomination, the republicans were getting
ready to once again challenge us in this competitive district. This
time they have the advantage of a large head start." Get real. Iowa's
third Congressional district is not on the National Republican
Congressional Committee's list of 2008 targets.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

More than a week after the primary, it's time to put Leonard Boswell's
victory over Ed Fallon into perspective. While the Fallon campaign is
claiming "a partial victory," the facts don't bear out the silver
lining that Fallon is trying to discern from his defeat. (Although
after such a devastating loss, one certainly can understand while
Fallon is looking for a silver lining). Fallon seems to think that his
primarying Boswell was the reason Leonard Boswell's voting record
suddenly improved in 2007. However, Fallon didn't have anything to do
with it. Nancy Pelosi did. Democrats taking control of the House of
Representatives meant that Republicans weren't able to bring bills up
that would place Democrats in swing districts like Boswell in tough
positions.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

I will write more about the third district primary later this week,
but for now I want to say this: challenging Congressman Leonard
Boswell was a worthwhile effort. This race forced Boswell to work a
little harder on constituent service. To cite just one example,
Windsor Heights is about to get a new zip code, which probably
wouldn't be happening if not for the primary. More important, this
race forced Boswell to move to a better place on several issues of
national importance. If not for Ed Fallon, I doubt Boswell would have
signed on to a strong global warming bill, and I think he would still
be voting for blank checks to fund the war in Iraq.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

It seems like a surprise on the surface, but the Des Moines Register
endorsed Ed Fallon Tuesday in the 3rd Congressional District, over
incumbent Leonard Boswell. Why alienate an incumbent who, according to
all public polls, is likely to win re-nomination by a two to one
margin? Let me help you think like journalists. We've got this weird
mix of cynicism and idealism, always looking for the motivations
behind seemingly straightforward moves, yet still wishing for the Mr.
Smith Goes To Washington vision of how government and politics are
really supposed to work. Think John Stewart meets Jimmy Stewart, and
you'll get the idea.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

Congressman Leonard Boswell's campaign finally released some results
from its internal polling today. An e-mail from campaign manager Scott
Ourth said that according to a survey by Anzalone Liszt Research, 65
percent of likely primary voters would vote for Boswell. If Boswell
did win 65 percent of the vote on June 3, he would do slightly better
than 8-year incumbent Jane Harman did in the 2006 primary to represent
California's 36th district. Harman, who like Boswell was backed by
pretty much the whole state Democratic Party establishment, defeated
peace activist Marcy Winograd by 62.4 percent to 37.5 percent. The
e-mail from the Boswell campaign did not contain details such as:
which days the poll was in the field; the number of respondents
surveyed; what criteria were used to code a respondent as a likely
voter...

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell, polling

A little more than two weeks before the Democratic primary in Iowa's
third Congressional district, Ed Fallon has challenged Congressman
Leonard Boswell to shift his support as a superdelegate from Hillary
Clinton to Barack Obama. It's a shrewd move for several reasons.
First, Iowa's third district went for Obama in January, as yesterday's
press release from Fallon underscores: "Fallon says, 'Even though
Hillary Clinton finished behind Barack Obama and John Edwards in the
Third Congressional District, Congressman Boswell continues to ignore
the will of the majority by saying he will cast his superdelegate vote
for Clinton.' ... As I've written before, Fallon yard signs are often
seen in the same yards as the Obama "HOPE" signs, while Boswell's yard
signs are frequently paired with Hillary signs.

Labels: Barack_Obama, Ed_Fallon, Hillary_Clinton, Leonard_Boswell

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 shouldn't support Fallon either. Fallon notoriously betrayed
the Democratic Party and stabbed Gore in the back and is now facing
the consequences of his actions. This endorsement came the same day as
a KCCI poll came out that showed Boswell thumping Fallon by nearly 25
points. Even if every undecided voter broke for Fallon, Boswell would
still win 52-48. In addition, national publications such as the
Hotline and Real Clear Politics are counting Fallon out.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

Ed Fallon attacked a mailing by Leonard Boswell today that criticized
Fallon for his support of Ralph Nader as "very cynical [and] very
deceptive" today. While Iowa Progress has previously addressed
Fallon's support for Nader, including stating "I can't, I won't and
you shouldn't [vote for Al Gore] either" in a speech that was
reproduced nationally. As a result of the strong Nader organizing in
Iowa, in which Ed Fallon was actively involved, the Gore campaign had
to devote a disproportionate amount of resources to a state that
Michael Dukakis won handily in 1988 and that Bill Clinton won twice.
Gore even was in Iowa the day before the election in 2000. If Al Gore
instead could have paid an extra visit to Florida or was able to run a
few more ads there, it certainly would have shifted 500 votes and
changed history.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

My husband dumped this in the recycling bin today, thinking it was the
same mailing we got from Congressman Leonard Boswell's campaign
yesterday. But no, although it uses the same color scheme and the same
"scary font," this is indeed a separate mailing emphasizing Ed
Fallon's support for Ralph Nader in 2000. I've transcribed the piece
that arrived today after the jump. This is one 8 1/2 by 11 piece,
front and back with a flap that folds out from the front side. On the
front, there are large black and white photos of George W. Bush and
Ralph Nader. Below that, in black "scary font" on a Hawkeye gold
background, it says "Which Iowa candidate helped Ralph Nader elect
George Bush..."

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

I still don't have any information about Congressman Leonard Boswell's
internal polling, and six weeks before the June 3 primary, there are
still no public polls on this race. However, it's notable that the
Boswell campaign has sent out a negative direct-mail piece focusing on
Ed Fallon's support for Ralph Nader's 2000 presidential campaign. My
husband and I received the latest mailing today. Most of the text is
in a bizarre font, in which the letters are not aligned properly and
each letter looks as if a tiny piece has been broken off or torn away.
The effect is to make the text look unstable, somewhat like a ransom
note.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

As I've noted recently, the primary to represent Iowa's third
Congressional district has taken a strange turn, whereby the incumbent
seems to be trying to make the race primarily about the challenger's
faults rather than the incumbent's record of service. I've been too
busy in non-blog life to write up the day to day sparring following a
recent e-mail from Leonard Boswell's campaign, which attacked Ed
Fallon on several fronts. The criticism of Fallon by Boswell's
surrogates and supporters has focused on four issues in particular: 1.
alleged ethical questions related to Fallon's work for the
Independence Movement for Iowa (I'M for Iowa).

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

I didn't see this last week, because despite my requests, the Boswell
campaign is still not sending their press releases to me. But on
Friday the United Auto Workers came out for Boswell in the Democratic
primary to represent Iowa's third Congressional district. Via Iowa
True Blue, here is the release from the campaign: "Des Moines, IA -
Congressman Leonard Boswell received the support of the Iowa United
Auto Workers State Community Action League (CAP) today."... It's not
clear how many UAW members in Iowa live in the third district. There
used to be a sizable number in Jasper County, but that was before
Maytag closed.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell, unions

Ed Fallon is being accused by Leonard Boswell's campaign of being hypocritical about receiving support through PACs. At issue is that Democracy for America, which is a PAC has encouraged its members to support Ed Fallon, who has not received a SINGLE dime from DFA, but did receive direct contributions from 730 DFA members to the tune of about $20,000. Many people are members of organizations that encourage supporting candidates, the National Board of Realtors as an example encourages its membership to choose pro-real estate candidates, but that doesn't mean the same thing as the NBR cutting a check for a candidate.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

I got an e-mail today from Democracy for America, confirming that they are backing Ed Fallon in the primary to represent Iowa's third Congressional district. Excerpt: "Last Tuesday, our Primaries Matter campaign delivered results and helped lead Donna Edwards to a resounding 24-point victory over Bush-Democrat Al Wynn in MD-04. Ed Fallon is the next DFA-List endorsement and he's taking on Bush-Democrat, Rep. Leonard Boswell in IA-03. Contribute $20.08 right now and support a Democrat with the backbone to stand up for progressive values. ..." I don't know how many members Democracy for America has, but it will be interesting to see how much money this appeal raises for Fallon's campaign. Donna Edwards' convincing victory may make people more willing to invest in another primary challenger. ... As of 10:30 pm, this appeal has raised $20,024 for Fallon from 582 donors. That's an average of just under $35 per donor. Looks like a lot of those people will be willing and able to donate again before this race is over.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

Leonard Boswell prominently displays a "Blue Dog Conservative Democrat" logo on his House web page. And this week, his Blue Dog partners control the fate of federal legislation granting telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for cooperating with the government in warrantless surveillance. Boswell and other self-described Blue Dogs are bucking Democratic leadership and joining with House Republicans to keep the retroactive immunity provision the Bush Administration wants. The Protect America Act, a stopgap measure, has been in place since a classified ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court reportedly imposed limitations on the government's warrantless eavesdropping activities.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

The Des Moines Register had a lovely little chart in their Saturday
newspaper today that showed the cash on hand and 4th quarter numbers
from the five districts in Iowa but I cannot seem to find it on the
web version of the website at all. What I can tell you is that Steve
King and Tom Latham BOTH topped Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack and
Leonard Boswell in fundraising in the 4th quarter which ran from
October 1 through December 31. For being in the minority party in
Washington D.C., I think that is an interesting development. Normally
it is easier to raise money when you are in the majority because, lets
be honest, you have a bit more access to the legislative calendar and
agenda.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard_Boswell, Steve_King, Tom Latham

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Leonard Boswell officially got his primary opponent today when former State Representative Ed Fallon announced his intentions to take on Boswell. ... Remember back to the 1992 Presidential contest when Iowa's ultra-liberal U.S. Senator Tom Harkin actually ran for the nation's top job? One of his campaign gimmicks was to put little collar type signs around dogs that read "Barkin' for Harkin". It was so people who walked their dog could also advertise on behalf of their buddy Tom. ... I cannot wait for this Boswell v. Fallon race to unfold more. I'm definitely pulling for Fallon to take out Boswell or at least make it really close. Expect Boswell to swerve to the left rather abruptly when it comes to his votes in Congress.

Labels: Ed_Fallon, Leonard_Boswell

It's official, Iowans are going to be treated to primary challenge of
an incumbent Member of Congress. We're about to get six months of
enjoyment out of this. Aging Democrat Leonard Boswell versus ever so
loved liberal activist and former State Representative Ed Fallon.
Cyclone Conservatives was the first blog in Iowa to note this
potential challenge over 13 months ago and within the last several
weeks, several blogs, especially the ones in the left-o-sphere, have
been crowing about this potentially blockbuster race ever since.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

Ed Fallon made his primary challenge official against Leonard Boswell
today. As part of our continuing analysis of the race, it's worth
previewing one of Fallon's likely attacks against Boswell. Fallon is a
campaign finance reform fanatic and Boswell has taken a lot of money
from political action committees. In fact, in the first three quarters
of 2007, Boswell has taken in $433,000 in contributions from PACs,
making up 75% of total contributions recieved. Much of the money is
the result of a simple matter of timing.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

Republicans can't seem to find a candidate to take on Iowa's Third District Congressman Leonard Boswell. But Boswell's own party has. Ed Fallon has filed papers to run against him in the June primary. Fallon gave up his Iowa Statehouse seat in 2006 to run for Governor. I'm told he carried the Third District in that race, for what that's worth. Fallon had been helping out John Edwards' Iowa campaign. The dollars are stacked up against him so far. The Federal Election Commission shows through the third reporting quarter (the four quarter hasn't come out yet), Boswell raised about $600,000.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

The increasing buzz that Leonard Boswell might face a primary
challenge from former State Representative Ed Fallon leads to some
interesting questions. The first question is, what effect does this
have on the caucuses? There are less than two weeks left and a
prominent supporter of John Edwards is going after a prominent
supporter of Hillary Clinton. What effect does this have on media
perceptions of Edwards and Clinton and does it change the storyline at
all? At this point, the political press is so focused on Iowa that the
slightest bit of political news in the state can make national
headlines.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell

As the one-year anniversary of the 2006 general election – in which
the U.S. House and Senate moved from Republican Party to Democratic
hands — approaches, the National Republican Congressional Committee is
asking just what the Dems in power have accomplished. The NRCC is
targeting congresspersons perceived at risk for re-election, and that
includes South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and the
three Iowa Democrats who hail from central and eastern Iowa.
Basically, all the House members from the tri-state area who aren't
Republicans (all three Nebraska congressmen are R's) are being taken
to task for inaction since Congress convened in January. Herseth
Sandlin and Bruce Braley, Sioux City native Dave Loebsack and Leonard
Boswell are being criticized by the NRCC for a host of things.

Labels: Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard_Boswell

So Leonard Boswell voted for the Iraq War supplemental funding bill today, just like we all knew he would. Sad as that is, it's not why I felt compelled to write this post. Pretty much every vote Boswell has ever cast related to Iraq has been the wrong vote, in my opinion. What prompted this post was a press release from the Center for Food Safety, which came to my attention this evening. Leonard Boswell apparently inserted language into the 2007 Farm Bill that would preempt any state prohibitions against any foods or agricultural goods that have been approved by USDA. That would include genetically modified foods. The press release does not name Boswell as the author of the language in question, but advocates have learned that he was behind the move. How disappointing that as the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry (a subcommittee of the House Ag Committee), Boswell is using his influence to weaken consumer protection. Does he think the Farm Bureau will reward him for this? They're always going to endorse his opponent, no matter how much he delivers for big agribusiness in the Farm Bill. As a resident of Iowa's 3rd district, I have long felt that we could do a lot better than Leonard Boswell. He is often not with us on environmental policy, energy policy, tax policy, or foreign policy. Even so, this move disappoints me.

Labels: Leonard_Boswell