IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

Just teach them how to read in kindergarten and first grade. Then they
won't be "identified" by the state as having special needs. No,
really, that's what Iowa Senate Republican leader Paul McKinley said
in a meeting on Tuesday with journalists from the Des Moines Register.
... I'm astounded that McKinley seems to believe special-needs
children simply weren't taught to read well enough. Many kids with
special needs can read. Some kids on the autism spectrum are even
advanced readers, or are gifted in some other area ("twice
exceptional" children). Reading doesn't make their learning
disabilities or other difficulties disappear. If McKinley thinks the
state of Iowa artificially inflates the number of special-needs
children to secure more funding, how does he imagine parents fit in
with this scheme? I have friends raising children on the autism
spectrum, as well as friends whose children have genetic defects, were
exposed to drugs in utero or were abused and neglected as infants.

Labels: Paul_McKinley

Paul McKinley dropped out of the governor's race today to focus on
next year's Iowa Senate elections. His move made sense, because the
Iowa Senate Republican caucus has never been smaller than the current
18 members. With 19 Senate Democrats and only 6 Republicans up for
re-election in 2010, the GOP is almost bound to make some gains. My
question is, why did McKinley wait so long to make this announcement?
Although he promised in July to "aggressively explore" a gubernatorial
campaign, McKinley failed to turn up in most places you'd expect to
find potential Republican candidates. In fact, Craig Robinson wrote
last month, "McKinley's indecisiveness since announcing his
gubernatorial campaign hasn't just sunk any aspirations he may have
for higher office in the future, but it might also have impacted his
effectiveness as the Senate Republicans' chief fundraiser, recruiter,
and strategist."

Labels: Paul_McKinley

Last week started much like it ended the Friday before, with a
potentially huge political scandal involving the Culver
administration's mishandling of the Film, Television, and Video
Project Promotion Program. With so much attention on this scandal,
I've decided to grade our GOP gubernatorial candidates on how they
performed last week. Just like in our struggling schools, I had to
grade on a curve because if I didn't, everyone would fail. Before we
get started, I've decided not to include Paul McKinley in these
ratings because he is not a candidate for Governor. He's made that
very clear, and he should do us all a favor and just make the
announcement. I hope he is having a good time in Italy. I'm sure
Culver wishes he was out of the country.

Labels: Iowa GOP, Paul_McKinley

The Republican Party of Iowa is celebrating its "rising stars" tonight
at an event featuring Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. Judging by
what we've heard lately from Iowa GOP leaders, they're gonna party
like it's 1929. Case in point: Iowa Senate Minority leader Paul
McKinley. The possible gubernatorial candidate's weekly memos continue
to whine about spending and borrowing by Democrats (see also here).
Republicans would rather slash government programs and provide
"targeted" one-year tax credits. The lessons of Herbert Hoover's
presidency are still lost on these people. I apologize for repeating
myself, but excessive government spending cuts can turn an economic
recession into a depression.

Labels: Iowa GOP, Paul_McKinley

The Iowa Republican has learned that State Senator Paul McKinley is flirting with a gubernatorial run. McKinley is the latest addition to the list of possible Republican gubernatorial candidates, which is beginning to get lengthy. ... Out of all the candidates who have shown interest, McKinley may be in the most difficult position of all of them. McKinley just finished his first session as the Minority Leader in the State Senate, and with that position comes the responsibility to recruit candidates and raise significant funds to help them get elected, which means he has to make up his mind sooner rather than later on a gubernatorial run. Below are the positives and negates that McKinley brings to the table in a gubernatorial campaign. Positives: Conservative Credentials ... Always On Message ... A Statesman ... Negatives: No Marriage Amendment Bill Filed in the State Senate ... Limited State-Wide Name ID ... Lack of a Donor Base ... Limited Geographical Advantage.

Labels: Paul_McKinley

... I don't know about you, but the priority that I want is a government that is fiscally responsible. You know, a government that spends the taxpayers' money wisely. Unfortunately as long as we have this bunch of big spenders in Des Moines that is unlikely to happen. Fortunately a few of our leaders in the Iowa Legislature understand that the amount of spending that Culver and his groupies have been spending is outrageous. According to Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley the State of Iowa is spending at an unsustainable level and is calling for more fiscal common sense. Unfortunately I think that his plea is going to fall on deaf ears as the majority of our current government does not even understand the need for basic common sense let alone fiscal common sense.

Labels: Paul_McKinley

Yesterday Senate Republicans elected Sen. Paul McKinley to lead them
in the State Senate. The move came as no surprise as many of the
Senators who supported Sen. Ron Wieck are no longer serving in the
Senate. McKinley a conservative Republican, now resides over a more
unified caucus than his predecessors when it comes to ideology. I
think there will be a noticeable difference coming from the minority
in the Senate this session. While the State House has been the focus
for Iowa Republicans in the past 2 elections, it's the Senates turn to
get some much needed love and attention. While Republicans are firmly
in the minority with only 18 Republicans compared to 32 Democrats,
it's the senate who has some very good opportunities to pick up seats
in the next election. Sure it might take time to regain the majority,
but it's an effort we must be committed to.

Labels: Paul_McKinley, state Senate

Sen. Paul McKinley just took over the reigns as minority leader in the
Iowa Senate. McKinley is a very good conservative who should be able
to start making up ground in the Senate. This is the second real sign
that Republicans are finally willing to make some changes for this
election cycle. It is also the second sign that Republicans view
conservatism as the path to future victories (the first being the
election of Paulsen as minority leader of the House). Both Paulsen and
McKinley have the opportunity to take Iowa back from our liberal
friends. Unfortunately a conservative message won't do it by itself.
We will have to run each campaign by copying some of the Iowa
Democrats playbook and also ramping up our efforts that we typically
do best.

Labels: Paul_McKinley, state Senate, Steve Rathje