Iowa
updated
9:23 p.m.
Everyone's talking about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation's decision this week to defund (or perhaps not defund) Planned Parenthood. After the jump I've posted ten links about the controversy. Hat tip to Political Carnival for this cartoon. I don't have anything profound to add to the debate. As a strong Planned Parenthood supporter, I was offended to see "pro-life" people cheer...
Bleeding Heartland - 6:03 p.m.
Yesterday the U.S. House approved a bill to require additional Congressional Budget Office analysis on legislation with a large price tag. The concept is intended to reduce the apparent cost of tax cuts to the federal budget. Iowa's representatives split on party lines over this bill and proposed amendments, including one offered by Democrat Leonard Boswell (IA-03). Pete Kasperowicz explained t...
Bleeding Heartland - 8:47 a.m. - 10 clicks 
I have spent not inconsiderable time on this, just so you know. So, you can take my ruminations with some degree of thoughtfulness. I mean, you should probably believe me. Or at least lean heavily in my direction. There are … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - 7:41 a.m.
Iowa Rivers Revival announced today that Charles City won its 2011 "Iowa River Town of the Year" award. The non-profit organization, created to advocate for protecting Iowa rivers and streams, honored the Floyd County seat because city leaders "responded to record floods in 1999 and 2008 by embracing the Cedar River with new ideas and bold projects, such as transforming a low-head dam into Iowa'...
Bleeding Heartland - 6:08 a.m. - 12 clicks
U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin both voted for a bill to ban insider trading by members of Congress, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. Senate today. Follow me after the jump for details on how the Iowans voted on significant amendments to the bill, including one backing term limits for members of Congress. S. 2038, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge or STOCK Act, ...
Bleeding Heartland - Thu 6:08 p.m. - 11 clicks
The Beltway conventional wisdom : If Obama is on the rebound, someone forgot to tell swing voters in the most important up-for-grabs states in 2012. The idea is that while Obama may be up nationally, he's lagging in the battleground states. But is that true? It's not. You'll see why below. FLORIDA : It looks like the week of GOP primary campaigning in Florida didn't help their chanc...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Thu 1:03 p.m. - 18 clicks
Iowa Senate Democrats received unwelcome news from Marshalltown yesterday when former Republican State Senator Larry McKibben announced that he will run in the new Iowa Senate district 36 this year. McKibben's decision makes this seat a tougher hold for first-term Democratic incumbent Steve Sodders. The new Senate district 36 covers all of Marshall and Tama Counties, plus a small rural area in s...
Bleeding Heartland - Thu 10:00 a.m. - 11 clicks
Yep, Mittens just can’t keep the old foot out of the mouth. When unscripted, the dude just falls to pieces. You can almost hear the wheels turning–focus on the middle class Mitt, focus on the middle class. And he did. … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Thu 8:48 a.m.
Candidates love to empathize with struggling middle-class Americans, but middle-income government employees are an easy target for politicians trying to earn their deficit warrior stripes. Today more than a third of U.S. House Democrats voted with nearly all the House Republicans to keep most civilian federal employees' salaries frozen through 2013. All five Iowans voted for the legislation, even ...
Bleeding Heartland - Wed 6:23 p.m. - 14 clicks
Yesterday was the deadline for Congressional candidates to file financial reports on the fourth quarter of 2011. Details on fundraising by all the incumbents and challengers in Iowa are after the jump. As I did last quarter , I'm covering the districts in reverse order, because the most interesting money stories came out of the new fourth and third Congressional districts. IA-04 Demo...
Bleeding Heartland - Wed 7:44 a.m. - 15 clicks
With about 80 percent of the votes counted in the Florida GOP primary, Mitt Romney is beating Newt Gingrich by 47 percent to 32 percent, a wider margin than most of the last week's polls had indicated. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are well back with 13 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Any comments about the Republican presidential race are welcome in this thread. It's hard for me to see a path...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 6:49 p.m.
Apologies for the lateness of this post: it's past time to reveal the Bleeding Heartland Iowa caucus prediction contest winners. 1. How many Iowans will participate in the Republican caucuses? According to the Iowa GOP, attendance was 121,503 this year, a little higher than the 2008 participation of 119,188 Iowans. Winner for this question: Bleeding Heartland user albert, who guessed...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 3:25 p.m. - 12 clicks
Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Joe Bolkcom took to the Senate floor today with a clear message for Iowa House Republicans and Governor Terry Branstad: "no tax cut will pass the Senate Ways and Means Committee" until an expansion of Iowa's earned income tax credit has been signed into law. The federal government established the earned income tax credit in the 1970s, and Iowa created i...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 12:28 p.m. - 17 clicks
Can't wait to learn more of the backstory on this one: Matt Strawn announced this morning that he is resigning as the Republican Party of Iowa's state chairman. In a videotaped statement, Strawn cited competing business, personal, and political interests. He did not refer to the controversy over his attempt to declare the Iowa caucuses a tie with no clear winner . Supporters of Rick Santorum were...
Bleeding Heartland - Tue 8:27 a.m. - 18 clicks
Wheeeee! They are at it again. Voting. Or as we call it, “eating their spinach.” Which idiot this time? Odds on favorite is Mittens. Mittens reminds us all again that he wants to be president more than anything in the … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Tue 8:27 a.m.
A new progressive super-PAC pledged today to support grassroots organizing in Iowa's new fourth Congressional district against five-term Representative Steve King. UPDATE: Added King's reaction to this development below. The CREDO SuperPAC was created by the CREDO mobile phone company, which has long donated a portion of its revenues to numerous progressive non-profit organizations . (For the...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 12:09 p.m. - 18 clicks
Hey, you like pallin’ around with terrorists? Ya like your socialist agenda? Are you tired of all that flag-wavin’ family values namby-pamby rhetoric? Do your nether regions get all excited when the name Saul Alinsky or Van Jones is mentioned? … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Mon 8:04 a.m.
After a few months of exploring a second run for Congress in Iowa's first district, Republican Ben Lange has confirmed that he will soon make his candidacy official. James Q. Lynch reports today that Lange will formally announce his candidacy in February. "Throughout the exploratory process, I have kept an open mind and listened carefully to the feedback I received," Lange said. "Our perfo...
Bleeding Heartland - Mon 6:22 a.m. - 15 clicks
Mitt Romney is offering Florida voters a "history lesson" about Newt Gingrich this weekend. Gingrich never seems to tire of his "speaking as a historian" routine, so it was clever for Romney to throw a little history in the former House Speaker's face. Script for "History Lesson": [Words on screen: "NBC Nightly News," January 21, 1997] Voice and video footage of NBC news anchor Tom Brok...
Bleeding Heartland - Sun 3:21 p.m.
(crossposted from Buffalo Ridge Blog ) Yup, this is Florida's week in the sun(?), as the four survivors of the seven dwarfs AKA the republican presidential candidates are making the rounds. The other day we were underwhelmed with Newt, today it was Mitt's turn to enable noontime napping...Too bad there wasn't anyplace to lay down at the event. Let's set the scene: Downtown Naples, home to ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Sun 1:47 p.m. - 16 clicks
On Saturday night the Des Moines Register announced the major stops on the 2012 Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). The 471-mile ride will start in Sioux Center on July 21 and end in Clinton on July 28. Overnight stops are after the jump, along with findings from a new study on the economic impacts of recreational bicycling for Iowa. The official RAGBRAI site includes de...
Bleeding Heartland - Sun 9:25 a.m. - 14 clicks
Yes, Penelope, pictured here, has determined that she is a bird. She visits during the day and at night. You can open the door and talk to here. She just continues munching. We have a lot of freeloaders here in … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Sat 8:25 a.m.
Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker will represent Zach Edwards, a Democratic operative who is charged with attempting identity theft against Republican Secretary of State Matt Schultz. Edwards was arrested in Des Moines on January 20 : According to the Criminal Complaint, on June 24, 2011, Edwards fraudulently used, or attempted to use, the identity of Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz and...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 27 - 15 clicks
Our Secretary of State still wants to see your ID. Make that a photo ID with an expiration date on it, please, so your Iowa State student ID card will not suffice. You need it unless you vote absentee, or get someone to swear you are really you, or swear it yourself if you are in a nursing home and can't vote like other absentee voters. Or unless you have a religious objection or sw...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 27 - 13 clicks
“To the moon, Alice, to the Moon!” I just love Newt. He gets in front of a bunch of ex-NASA employees, in a very depressed part of the state of FLOOREDA, and he garrrunteees that in his SECOND term of … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 27
I do not believe the Reverend Kelly. But I am not sure if I don’t believe him when he said he didn’t murder those eight people, or when he said he did. What I do know is that five years later, passangers on board the westbound number 5 train, which had pulled out of Villisca, Iowa at 5:19 A.M. that Monday morning, remembered the twitchy, diminutive preacher telling his fellow bleary eyed travele...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 27 - 18 clicks
Yesterday U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta revealed some proposed cuts to the military budget, part of a plan to save $487 billion over the next decade. Click here or here for details on the reductions, which will slow the rate of growth in defense spending but are far from the "massive cuts" opponents decry. Representatives Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02) responded to ye...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 27
Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul spar tonight in Jacksonville, their last debate before next Tuesday's Florida primary. Several polls released this week have shown slight leads for Romney, but Gingrich is still in contention. It helps that a couple of wealthy supporters have given a pro-Gingrich super-PAC $10 million . A large chunk of that money is funding anti-Romney telev...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 26
Geesh, you guys should’a shut me up. You know I can talk on forever. It doesn’t seem that I missed a lot. Same o’ same o’ as they say. The Mitt/Not Mitt heavyweight champeenship is still underway. It’s a slugfest. … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 26
The House Majority PAC, a super-PAC created last year to help Democrats win back control of the U.S. House, is running a television commercial criticizing Representative Tom Latham, the Republican candidate in Iowa's new third Congressional district. House Majority PAC is also showing interest in Iowa's fourth Congressional district. Yesterday the group released topline poll numbers from eight H...
Bleeding Heartland - Jan 26 - 6 clicks
(crossposted from Buffalo Ridge Blog ) Greetings from the swamp AKA greater Naples, in Collier County, so named because they actually sold the naming rights to the county to wealthy Barron Collier back in the 1920s. Naples is another republican homeland, and a wealthy one at that- Naples citizens have already showered the republicans with over a million dollars this election cycle, and ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 25 - 2 clicks
For those of you who are gluttons for punishment, you may read Part I here, and Part II here. We have been discussing how a core GOP party goes about defining and then co-opting a voting bloc. Such of course … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 25
Yesterday we discussed how a small core party goes about establishing a voting bloc sufficient to place it in power so it can accomplish its goals. Part I can be found here. Essentially we argue the following: The GOP is … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 24
As the returns from South Carolina came in, and the result became oh so clear, a couple of points stuck out in my mind and caused me to redigest everything I have learned about the GOP. A party which seemingly is … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 23
The news out of Iowa this week is that the final results of the Iowa Caucus have been tallied and certified. In the immediate aftermath of the vote, Mitt Romney was declared the winner by all of eight votes. However, it has taken the Iowa GOP the past two weeks to actually count and certify all the votes, and a funny thing happened on the way to that final tally. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 21
This is from my apolitical SF hipster friend. A guy whom until recently couldn't name a political candidate to save his life. I thought it fascinating that this primary is now bleeding into the detached hipster psyche...! Anyway the shirts are kitschy, but cute. He's generally struggling, so support him and buy a shirt if you like em... http://www.cafepress.com/... PS. They're m...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 21 - 3 clicks
Everybody is talking about what a week it was in South Carolina. I guess they are right. The drop-outs, the lead changes, tax returns, open marriage, the dirty old media. Pick your poison. I gotta admire Ricky S. He just … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 21
You know what I mean. Say you’re like me. You really don’t like fennel. You know tons of people who do. And it looks like a pretty and quite interesting veggie. You try it. You take a bite. “Oh, no” … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 20
Mitt Romney: Will two flips make a flop? (Orig. photo: Pool/Reuters) Mitt Romney on Jan. 4 , one day after unofficial results from the Iowa Caucuses showed him leading Rick Santorum by eight votes: It sure is nice to have a win, I tell you. And Mitt Romney today , shortly after the Iowa Republican Party revealed their final certified tally showed Rick Santorum was ahead by 34 ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 19
Bless her shriveled little pumper, masquerading as a heart, self. My girl has gone and tried again to make herself relevant. We been waitin’ ever so long for her to tell us what end is up. We considered it to be … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 19
Here's how it works in the GOP: When Mitt Romney leads unofficial tally by 8, he "wins." When Rick Santorum leads final results by 34, he "tied." Guess what happened to Mr. Inevitability? The unprecedented winner of three straight Republican primaries, Mitt Romney, apparently didn't win the first one. From today's Des Moines Register : THE RESULTS : Santorum finished ahea...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 19
Congressman Bruce Braley has a video up that responds to the threat of SOPA/PIPA. As he speaks, his words are beeped out and black strips keep appearing over his face. Braley is trying to let us know that he gets it, and I let him know that I approve. If you are in Iowa, please do likewise. When we get what we want from a politician, we need to reward and reinfo...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 18
I had done a rather nice post folks. The people here at WordPress asked us to join in the protest against web piracy bills now before Congress. I complied to have a banner across the top of mine. I posted … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 18
Who really won Iowa, Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney? And at this point, does it matter? Iowa Republicans are currently tabulating the final certified results for their caucuses—and the results could show that the real winner was Rick Santorum, not Mitt Romney. The final, official results of the Iowa caucuses are expected to be released as early as Wednesday and as late as Friday, ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 17 - 10 clicks
They have lots of time on their hands in Myrtle Beach I guess. Just so you know, from L-R, it’s Romney, Newt, Huntsman, Perry, Santorum and Paul. While we were busy doing other things (getting totally immersed in the new … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 17
Hey, Mitt Romney here. I recently spoke with some residents from the publicly-owned state of Iowa and explained to these individual corporations of voters that "corporations make money... everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people," which therefore means that "corporations are people." Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm no Satan, but I can't understand why this concept is so har...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 16
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I began my odyssey of blogging. Before you gasp and run for a knife to slash your wrists, no, I’m not abandoning you. And with that, you see the depth of … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 16
A few weeks ago, Cenk Uygur, host of the online show The Young Turks (now on Current TV as well) wrote an article which appeared on this website as well as the Huffington Post entitled: Vote Against Obama . It's premise was that democratic voters, instead of voting for Obama in the Iowa primary, should vote "uncommitted". Given the results of the primaries in Iowa, obviously Cenk Uy...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 16 - 3 clicks
NOT ROMNEY Well, our evangelical leaders are gathered in the great Lone Star (Lone Brain Cell) state of Texas to discuss the impending GOP nomination. It’s not that they don’t like Romney, they just don’t like Romney, in that fuzzy … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 14
Hold on there dude, this is not a diatribe against men. Just making a subtle point in a loud way. (Can you do that?) We are wont, as people of the moment, to define all events given the world as … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 13
Now that a lot of redistricting maps at all levels-- Congress, State Legislatures, local-- are complete I thought it would be a good idea for the redistricting community here to work on getting the official maps into the tool of our choice-- Dave's Redistricting App. I started a GDocs folder to collect these maps, but I'll put the links to the maps themselves in this diary as well, and upd...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 13
Not exactly. But ain’t they just the cutest? New World monkeys are not, evolutionarily speaking our “ancestors”. We are related (having a common ancestor) with apes, which are not the same as monkeys. Still, this study of facial characteristics is … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 12
I hate to tell you this, but I’m approaching 62. Frightening, I know. One wants, or at least I think one wants to leave some sort of legacy in the world. It may be as mothers, or wives, or corporate … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 11
New Hampshirites go to the polls today to determine which flav of the week they are hungry for. Ask them next week, and they might well change their mind. For folks who are in love with “things as they are/were/always have … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 10
Contrary to popular belief, or at least the belief of some, God does not take Sunday off. No, like many of us, He watches NFL football. This should come as no surprise actually, nor that he keeps a close eye … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 9
Republicons do not care about the constitution, they pretend to. They do not care about democracy, they pretend to. There is nowhere in the Constitution that requires an ID card to vote. They forget that. For all of their "concern" about securing the validity of elections by denying the elderly, the poor and ethnic minorities the vote, as Maddow points out - their Iowa caucus leaves many quest...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 8 - 4 clicks
In one of the strangest moments from Iowa was Rick Perry's announcement that he was going back to Texas then the next day magically deciding to head back into the breach in South Carolina. One could say that this is just another in a long line of Perry-isms, it is however much deeper and far more money driven. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 8 - 2 clicks
Mitt Romney was not attacked at the debate Saturday night. This was the last opportunity to reduce the size of Mitt Romney's win in New Hampshire. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why they did not take advantage of this opportunity. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 8
In truth, (and why would I lie), I have never aspired to be a vulcanologist. No, not a studier of Vulcans, as in Mr. Spock and the planet Vulcan, where live a rather stiff and sober people who preceded Earthlings … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 7
Nate Silver, while noting that it doesn't really matter from a substantive perspective, points out that Iowa may not have actually been won by Mitt Romney after all: Mr. Romney’s victory is unofficial — the counties have up to two weeks from the caucuses to send their final certified results to the state party. However, there is no provision for a recount in the caucuses, and the campaign ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 6 - 2 clicks
In a bold, and what a few would call a draconian move, the Alabama legislature has moved to create a new law in the state. While the upper house has yet to weigh in, it too, with it’s Republican majority, … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 6
The national media covering the presidential primaries have become sportswriters. Their coverage leaves readers and viewers wondering if there is more to the story than "top 10" lists, predictions, and game scores. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 6
I am appalled with Iowa giving Rick Santorum's candidacy a boost. He has got to be the least plausible, dumbest contender of all in the Republican field. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 5 - 2 clicks
A musical tribute (again to a sixties tune) to the lower tier Republican candidates in Iowa, who might just drop out soon (well, actually Bachmann already has). ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 5 - 2 clicks
Judge: put both names on the birth certificate A Polk County district court judge ruled today that the spouse in a same-sex marriage should be listed on their child's birth certificate without going through adoption proceedings. Judge Eliza Ovrom ordered the Iowa Department of Public Health to issue a birth certificate naming Melissa Gartner as a parent of Mackenzie Jean Gartner. “Pursuant...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 5 - 2 clicks
In French Revolutionary terms, the split in Iowa demonstrates the clear division in the Republican party between the 1st and 2nd Estates. The First Estate being the established power structure, in this case the wealthy corporate interests that benefit from de-regulation and targeted tax incentives and subsidies they are positioned to lobby for. Not much headway can be made with this group. The...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 5
With Iowa finally behind us and New Hampshire the next stop on the Travellin' Salvation Show; and all those college kids that cheered on Obama now cheering on Ron Paul, and... well, just when you thought this election cycle couldn't get any whackier... well, we're yacking about it on the radio. Still Up? Call the Show! Jibber your Jabber is Live on Blue Skies 9pm-Mid. Left Kos Time! ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
It must have been a momentary lapse of conscience ... or lapse of sanity perhaps? Gingrich: Romney's a 'Liar' link to clip Cenk Uygur zeroes in on the audacity and then the hypocrisy of Newt. And then the feigned shock of Norah O'Donnell, asking the "impartial" questions. Norah can't get over it -- that one Politician actually told the truth for a mi...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
Maybe I should leave it alone. Maybe I should just let Rick Santorum enjoy the 15 minutes of fame that comes with getting 30,000 Republicans to vote for you. (Less than one-hundredth of one percent of the U.S. population, by the way.) But there is something that Rick Santorum said last month that really bothers me. And I’m going to tell you what it is. ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
By John Gehring Cross-posted from Faith in Public Life Action GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a proud Catholic who often speaks about his faith on the campaign trail, is attracting some formidable buzz from pundits who view his strong showing in the Iowa caucuses as a sign that the former Pennsylvania senator might have enough mojo to rally a coalition of religious and blue-c...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
Pity poor Newt Gingrich. Alright, I admit it’s hard to muster much pity for Gingrich. Still, he now stands as not the first, but the most recent, prominent victim of the Supreme Court’s abysmal decision in Citizens United v. FEC . So if you don’t have any sympathy for Gingrich, at least feel profound worry about the state of our democracy – and make sure you do something about it. There...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
With the Iowa caucuses now preserved in the fossil record beneath layers of political detritus, there’s finally some real extinction news to report. Initial score: GOP 5, Darwin 1, or maybe, just maybe, GOP4, Darwin 2. This is more like it! While our Mesozoic misfits managed to stay alive through a series of low-expectation debates , Iowa is where the rubber hits the road (in an ethanol-fue...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
A technician irons the U.S. flag on the back of the stage before Mitt Romney's Iowa Caucus night rally. (Rick Wilking/Reuters) 123,000 people in Iowa got to decide that at least two of the GOP field weren't worthy to continue. This is fair to the rest of America, how? Iowa will say that they're worthy of this monopoly on the process because they are better at vetting candidates via re...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
Michele Bachmann chose to run on the basis of "repealing Obamacare" and she ended with reiterating the need to "repeal Obamacare". Eleven times she said it in her drop out speech. The call fell on deaf ears. She didn't get it. She says she will remain true to her principles. Her principles were not enough for Iowa. There aren't enough bone heads in America to support her bone headed agenda. Al...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
This morning's Washington Post Blog had perhaps the most important piece of evidence about Mitt Romney's approach to this election: You tell him you’re going to be in a race, and he wants to win it,” said Russ Schriefer, Romney’s senior media adviser. “His mind-set was: ‘Look, if you guys think it’s worth me going to Iowa, great. Send me there. . But can we win? And what does winning mean?’ ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
We didn’t want to start a panic, but in the early hours of this morning, I mean just after midnight, citizens of Iowa were alerted to a grave danger. Dozens of UFOs were spotted over various parts of the state. … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 4
(Bachmann: Jim Young/Reuters, Perry: Brian Snyder/Reuters) If it weren't for Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry running in Iowa, Mitt Romney's eight point "victory" over Rick Santorum would have been a double-digit defeat, so he can't be happy to learn that both candidates are apparently planning to end their bids. Last night, Perry announced he wouldn't be heading to South Carolina...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
I’ve been biting my tongue the past few weeks while being told repeatedly not only by the TeeVee Talking Heads (who do little but spew Conventional Wisdom) but also by most of the independent political bloggers whom I respect, that Newt Gingrich’s campaign to snag the Republican nomination is over and done with. Looking at the Iowa results, I still can’t see that. Here’s my own fast-n-lo...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
(Caricature by courtesy of DonkeyHotey, via Flickr) Okay, so Iowa is over, yay! If nothing else it showed that it really is not relevant in terms of helping the nation decide which candidate to pick. The Republican field was the most volatile that Gallop has seen since it started tracking primary races. Mitt Romney “won” by getting exactly the same amount (minus a few) that he did when ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
I have one of these signs hanging proudly in my front window. Since late in the summer, I have been an active volunteer. That was after being contacted by the organizer from the OFA office in our county. I didn't want to start doing the volunteer things of phone calls, etc, this early for the 2012 election. But, the organizer was convincing that we needed to start. We needed to build our base...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
Mitt Romney's "win" wasn't much of a victory (Orig. photo: Pool/Reuters) Mitt Romney in the 2008 Iowa caucuses: 30,021 votes, 25.2% Mitt Romney in the 2012 Iowa caucuses: 30,015 votes, 24.6% So Mitt Romney managed to "win" in 2012 not by building on his 2008 performance, but rather by holding nearly even—and dividing his opposition. That's some kind of a big victory, eh?...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4 - 2 clicks
Charles P. Pierce writes The Iowa Where No Candidates Come : DES MOINES — The afternoon ran cloudy toward evening, and there were no camera crews in the old industrial area down at the end of 15th Street here. There were no television lights to illuminate the darkening skies. There was nobody in a suit. There was nobody with a microphone. There were no talking heads. There were no consultan...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 4
Yes, Iowa was close. Yes, Newt finished fourth, which is where John McCain finished in Iowa four years ago. Here's what the media won't report: Iowa is losing Republicans like crazy. At least, they're losing the caucus-going kind, which is the kind that might actually volunteer to campaign for a candidate. Here are the numbers: ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
Five years and millions of dollars later and Willard won even fewer votes than he got four years ago. This candidate has a hard time winning elections. Outside of his home state of NH , he has a hard time winning more than 25 percent of the vote. Mr. 1 % is running at the worst possible time . Newt beating Willard up and Rick Perry dropping out helps Rick Santorum a lot. Ricky's numbers in NH wi...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
The most important result of the night from the Democratic perspective -- a real game-changer -- is tucked into two updates from Jed Lewison in Liveblog Thread 9 : 8:22 PM PT (Jed Lewison): Newt Gingrich salutes Rick Santorum, says he "an a great positive campaign." Then he says "I wish I could say that for all the candidates." He then says Ron Paul is "stunningly dangerous" for his foreign p...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
Sitting here approaching 1 AM on the East Coast, and as he gives his speech Rick Santorum is ahead of Mitt Romney by 5 votes with 99% of precincts reporting. Subject to change, but thats where we are right now. 5 votes. Thats one minivan of voters driven to the polls by a volunteer. Thats 5 96-year olds turned away at the polls for not having the arbitrary GOP-defined standar...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
We have waited for this moment forever. We went through Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum as co-front runners. We've eagerly watched the likes of Jesus and Reagan being said simultaneously with the same conviction. We've protested Planned Parenthood and black people. But now it's time for the first GOP caucus of 20...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3 - 2 clicks
Negative Ads work -- anyone remember the Swift Boaters? Thing is saturating the Air-ways with such Ads -- is expensive. But under the guise of Free-Corporate-Speech -- Money is no Object ... 'Super PACs' already a winner in 2012 by Tom Hamburger and Melanie Mason, LATimes.com -- January 3, 2012 [...] That group, Restore Our Future , has spent $2.8 million in the state , contri...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
Haha! It looks like the Republicans from Emmet County have made the only logical choice: ...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3 - 2 clicks
A calling to all Kossaks who reside in or around the Kansas City area! I have begun a new group to act as a rally point for all news or activity in the KC area. It is my hope that the page can become a hub for discussion, calls to action, volunteerism, GOTV, news, and everything else relating to our little corner in the middle of nowhere! The groups name is Kansas City Kossaks, so if you are i...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3
Breaking AP Report - Jan. 3., 2012 -- "None of the above" has won the Iowa Republican Caucuses, and is expected to have a better chance against President Barack Obama than any of the current contenders for the GOP nomination. (This report is brought to you via my own mental SatireWire.) Reports state that former First Lady Nancy Reagan has rebuffed requests for her to help channel the former...
DailyKos (Iowa) - Jan 3 - 2 clicks
I suppose if you’ve been reading along the past week or so, you might have concluded that I was going a bit wiggers. Losin’ the mind, not playing with a full deck any more, seeing aliens under my bed. Naw, … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 3
I don’t ask for much. I truly don’t. I’m fully lodged in the 21st century, unlike the Contrarian who often seems happier contemplating the 19th. (You should hear his rant about “episodal ” TV and how Dallas ruined television forever) … Continue reading → ...
A Feather Adrift - Jan 2
