Posts with the tag Iowa

What do we know about local politics and why does it matter?

Democrat in Lake Charles, LA — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:56:56 EST

How good is the quality of your state, local, and federal offical's service?
How much does it affect your life and how sure are you of that answer?
What would be your recomendations to these guys?

Join Us! Del. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner in Des Moines Thurs. Sep 18

Erin Medlicott — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:02:49 EDT

You are invited to the 9th Annual Women's Event for the Polk County Democrats in Des Moines this Thursday night with the guest of honor, Governor Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware.

Tamyra Harrison, Executive Director of Polk County Democrats, has asked me to help her spread the word about the eventt. Many of us met Gov. Minner last year when she came to Iowa to campaign for Sen. Joe Biden, now Barack Obama's VP running mate. Hers is a very inspirational "rags to riches" story about how she was able to overcome many obstacles in her life to be elected as Governor of her state.

The event will be held at the home of Dr. Andy McGuire at 100 37th St. (South of Grand on 37th St). Contribution levels for the event are from $35 per person to $100 for "Friend" to $250 for "Supporter" to $500 for "Sponsor" and $1,000 for the "Host" level.

Please call to RSVP at 515-285-1800 or email Tamyra at polkdems@polkcountydemocrats.org.

Let's welcome Governor Minner back to Iowa while helping out the Polk County Democrats, too! Hope you can make it.

Join Us! Dem. VP nominee Sen. Joe Biden At Iowa State Fairgrounds Monday Sep 8

Erin Medlicott — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:22:13 EDT

NOTES FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL:

Dear Obama/Biden friends and supporters:

We've just gotten word that Sen. Biden's event in Des Moines on Monday afternoon will be at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in the Paul Knapp Animal Learning Center, beginning at 3:15 p.m. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m.

There is no charge for the event, which is open to the public.

An email will be sent by the campaign tomorrow morning which will have a link to a special Web site for people to RSVP.

We may have more information Saturday morning about any special seating arrangements.

Pass the word among your Iowa Obama/Biden friends who may be able to attend. Hope to see you Monday.

Attention Biden Supporters In The State Of Iowa...

Erin Medlicott — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:34:04 EDT

Hello Biden friends,

I've been asked by the Obama/Biden campaign to send to them a list of Biden supporters who should receive a special invitation to Sen. Biden's appearance in Des Moines on Monday.

I have a pretty good list, but don't have contact information for many of those who caucused for Joe in local precincts.and who would love to see him again. That's where we need your help.

Would you search your memory (or call lists, or personal email contact list) and pass along to me the names and email addresses of Biden loyalists who might like to have a ringside seat for his appearance next Monday, and perhaps the chance to personally welcome him back to Iowa as the next Vice President of the United States?

Just send them to me and I'll get them to the campaign staff ASAP.

Hope you'll be able to be part of the "welcome home event" on Monday!

Erin Medlicott
(201) 592-9994
Erin_Medlicott@yahoo.com

A moment of your time

Fri, 30 May 2008 22:33:41 EDT

I am new to this site, I dont really know the in's and the outs but I really wanted to try and get the word out about democratic congressional candidates. I thought I could do one a day. So... Here is my first, his name is Rob Hubler and he is running against Republican Steven King in the Fifth district in Iowa, here is some information and a link to his site, get a hold of me, or his campaign if you want to help. I have no affilation with this campaign but am very hopeful that he can win. http://www.hublercongress.com/home.html

What do the 2008 Pollsters Have in Common with a Meterologist*

Liz — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:55:00 EDT

Answer: Their lack of accuracy.

Polls are fun—especially those that show your candidate in the lead. They are like those great horoscopes that tell us that we will come into money today. However, in looking back over this campaign season, they have missed their marks in predicting important races.

IOWA PREDICTIONS from December 24, 2007
American Research Group

Hillary 34% Edwards 20% Obama 19%
The outcome of Iowa:
Hillary 29% Edwards 30% Obama 38%
Obama won Iowa by 19 percentage points -- twice as much as was predicted for his slice of the piece.

The New Hampshire Predictions were also wrong.

Hillary 31% Edwards 20% Obama 40%
The outcome of New Hampshire:
Hillary 39% Edwards 17% Obama 36% Richardson 5% K. 1%

Instead of losing by 8 percentage points as predicted, Hillary won by 3 percentage points.

No, in spite of the fun and entertainment they provide, especially when they show our candidate looking good, I don't think the pollsters opinion should be the determining factor in our primary any more than I think that it was right for corporate owned mainstream media to decide who could and could not participate in our National debates.

Who do you think owns these polls? If your answer was "neocon", you answered correctly. In fact, many of them are owned by the neocon owned media outlets themselves.

Those that are not such as Mark Penn's firm are pollsters that have a long history of supporting the Republican viewpoint and pro-military firms like Blackwater.

About Immigration and Remembering the Fallen Laborers of the World

Liz — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:12:29 EDT

I just heard the news of a large government raid on undocumented workers from a meat packing plant in Iowa. Let's begin now to solve our immigration problem in this country--not by punishing the workers, whether they are immigrants or American citizens. Let's start holding the ones accountable who are responsible for creating this problem. All workers are brothers and sisters regardless the color of our skin or our gender or our country.

Who is responsible for our immigration problems? Don't blame it on the desperate people who are trying to survive. Blame it on the wealthy who are exploiting their labor.

It is the people in our Congress who approve trade agreements like NAFTA that enable corporate America to have slave labor in Mexico (Yes slave labor. The average price for workers wages in these foreign owned factories in Mexico is $6.50 a day. This is NOT a liveable wage even in a border town in Mexico.

Naturally, this administration who support Corporate America want to keep the borders closed to labor crossing over because that depletes the slave labor supply in the border towns of Mexico for corporate America and other multinational friends of theirs who do business over there. That is why they keep ignorant Americans all stirred up about immigration problems and pit the poor against the poor--the blacks against the whites and the Mexican workers against the American workers.

the iowa family slayings: an update

annie b (mcliberal) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:18:12 EDT

i believe that drugs are a scourge on humanity. as you may recall, my home was burglarized last year by one of my own neighbors who needed the money to buy cocaine. the good news? he's been clean for a year now and is happily raising his beautiful girl. the bad news? the sueppel family did not have a good result. the dad was embezzling from the bank he worked for; the indictment stated he used most of the money to purchase cocaine. another american tragedy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/25/national/main3965312.shtml

My State

Adam — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:54:06 EDT

My State, The swing state of Iowa will go blue, I doesnt matter who is on the ballot, WE WILL WIN IOWA.

Hopefully you guys feel the same about your state. No matter if you are in Mass. or Utah, for our respective presidential candidate to win, we need a large infrastructure and a competitive base in all states. That means all 50, that also means the Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and of course our many citizens living, working and serving abroad.

More about my state...

In 2006 Democrats won the Governorship, both state houses and 2 more congressional seats (we have 3 of 5). In January we hosted the first in the nation caucus, where 50,000 Independants and non-voters registered Democrat to the Republicans 4,000. Obama won by an easy margin in what turned out to be the largest democratic turnout ever.

Here is some info on my state, I would also like to hear about yours!

Iowa's 4th District

Adam — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:07:54 EST

In all this hub bub about the presidential election, it is no wonder that republicans are letting there guard down in the close congressional districts. Mine, Iowa's fourth, has a great, competitive race.
Tom Latham, a Do nothing Republican, has been here WAY too long and is on his way out. We have a democrativ primary that I am hoping will put our best candidate forward.
I would like to know about the Congressional races where you live, and how your making a difference.
I always believed it was important for dems to share support for other dems. Lets go out and get out 60% majority!
It would make things easier on WHOEVER is our next Democratic President

In Florida the primary plays on both speakers

Jim Callahan — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:22:36 EST

Well I know everyone listens to iPods these days ;) but back in the day, when we listened to stereo systems with loudspeakers, sometimes one speaker would work, but the other did not.

Well the lopsided effect of having only one speaker playing is what the Nevada Caucuses and the South Carolina Primary were like. Senator Hillary Clinton is said to have won Nevada because of the Women and Latino vote, while Senator Barack Obama is said to have won South Carolina because of the Black vote.

While that is an improvement over Iowa and New Hampshire, where neither Blacks nor Latinos were represented; why can't we have a primary state that sounds like the nation?

We do; it is called Florida.

Unfortunately, the DNC Chair and the "gang of 4" are going deaf (guess we shouldn't pick on the handicapped).

The four self interested state chairs put their states' advantage above the national interest and so we have four states primaries yielding noise or at best distorted sound with at least one stereo channel missing.

Perhaps the gang of 4 are going deaf because the have been listening to the chairman's scream at high volume through a bad sound system.

Can you hear me now?

Don't tase me bro!

Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

Iowa Congressional District Four more win-able than you think

Adam — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:32:29 EST

There are not many things that come along in a persons life in which they can look back and say "Yes", I was apart of history. I was fortunate enough to be apart of the war in Iraq. I believe that, although we went under false pretenses, that we (as soldiers) did the best we can.
Another part of history I can look back on is this election.
The 2008 election is very important for the future of America, more important than in the last 40 years and more important than any election in the future 40 years. However, while our eyes are on the national scene, we cannot forget about our senatoral and congressional races.
I live in 4th congressional district of Iowa, the only one that is currently seated by a Republican. He will be running against Democrat William Meyers, a veteran and a very strong willed ambassador for democratic ideals. I believe that America is set for change, and Iowa is also ready to experience this change.
Meyers can bring about this change. He supports key health care issues to bring everyone fair and balanced care. He also has a plan for to help veterans, and keep Washington honest.
His opponent Tom Latham is a nice guy. I am not a mudd slinger, but Latham has his eyes on bigger prizes and will sacrifice absolutely every ideal that people voted him into office for, merely to be looked upon well by the republican party. He flip flops often to appease Bush and other GOP heads and has done very little by way of the people of Iowa in his decade plus span in office.
We caucused for change in January, and we need to keep that message going on to the election on November 4th.

Latinos Disenfranchised in Iowa

Democrat in Washington, DC — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:01:40 EST

January 7, 2008

Letter from Iowa:

One month ago, I took leave of absence from my work and graduate studies to volunteer full-time for Gov. Bill Richardson's presidential campaign in Iowa. My objective was to help increase voter participation within Iowa's growing Latino community, which at present composes 3.8 percent, or 114,000, of the total population of the state, with roughly 33,000 registered to vote.

I focused most of my efforts in Northern Iowa, and specifically the town of Estherville, Iowa, population 6,600, and the county seat of Emmet County. The town boasts two factories â€" a meat-packing plant and an egg-packing plant â€" where the majority of area Latinos work. My co-worker Ana â€" a fellow volunteer and local democratic leader from Richardson's home state of New Mexico â€" and I spent several days meeting with scores of Latin Americans in the state, detailing the often-confusing caucus process and providing them additional information we translated into Spanish, something the state does not provide. Of course, we also provided all the Iowans we met information about Richardson's policies and experience.

We were eager canvassers. We spent our afternoons going door to door to Latino residences, as identified by a local supporter and translator for the town of Estherville. We posted signs in Latino-owned small businesses, and hosted informal campaign gatherings in Don Jose's Family Restaurant. Gradually, we had grown a small but excited group of Latinos ready and eager to cast their first votes in any U.S. election at the Jan. 3 Democratic caucus.

On caucus night, they did as they promised. The Latinos we had engaged in Estherville arrived with their families, all eager to see their relatives cast their first votes in their new home country. They arrived holding hands, well dressed, timid, but hopeful. They were received disgracefully. Sadly, they were treated as if they had crashed a party and did not deserve to be there among the other Estherville citizens.

In one precinct, Ana witnessed Edwards supporters openly mock the Latino voters. Later, they were told the room was too full for their group to claim an official gathering-point as Richardson supporters. Instead, I was told they could stand in a far corner of the room behind the media station clearly preventing them from being seen or from seeing the action inside the room. After repeated entreaties from Ana and myself on behalf of the Latino voters, it was clear that the precinct caucus director had no sympathy for these foreign-born voters.

In another Estherville precinct three Latina women arrived to a mostly packed room and were told there were no more seats, no place to hang their sign, and that they could participate but should remain in the hallway. White voters pushed their way into the crowded room and seats were procured. While all the caucuses experienced overflows from extremely high voter turnout rates, the only voters ordered to stand outside this precinct room in the hallway were undeniably people of color.

They showed up. They were ready to vote. They believed that for the first time their vote could matter. They trusted that if they showed up together they would be counted. After being stared at, laughed at, mocked, made to feel unwelcome, denied seats, asked to stand in the hallways, humiliated, and otherwise treated as lesser human beings â€" all but two of the Latino voters went home.

This is not about Bill Richardson or any other candidate or political party. It is about a political system that in parts of the country remains exclusive and denies eligible citizens the right to genuine political participation. It is about Doña Maria and her daughters who came to watch their father vote, la familia Segura who came to vote together, Ernestina Hernandez and her grandson who were turned away, Silvia and Maria Diaz who were asked to stand in the hall, Victor Fuentes, Pablo Leal, and Arturo and Jose Leon who were laughed at and told to stand out of sight.

My faith in the system took a beating on Jan. 3. Not because of my own efforts or the political aspirations of any candidate or campaign, but for the people in the Latino community of Estherville who deserve a system infinitely better and more just than the one we witnessed at work this past Thursday.

Congrats Mr. Obama...now let's do more

Doc McTague — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:35:55 EST

I just wanted to congratulate Barack Obama on a great victory in Iowa, and to wish him luck tomorrow in New Hampshire. Mr. Obama's success demonstrates that even in the face of overwhelming odds someone with a great message and conviction for change can succeed. This idea needs to also be applied on the local level and our upcoming County Board race...out with the broken old system and in with a new one full of hope and prosperity.

I'm ready to talk

D. in Nebraska — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:53:04 EST

I am finally coming out of my funk enough to talk about what I experienced in my first Iowa caucus. It was absolute chaos. People were not allowed to make speeches. The noise by Clinton and Obama supporters was so loud we could barely hear each other. We were close to being viable, but before the second vote, we were swarmed by the other candidates people who cajoled and physically pulled our people away. Our people seemed to have gone back to high school and wanted to be with the popular people. If it had been more orderly, less noisy, more physically separated, we could have gotten a count and I think gotten enough people too. At least we could have been given the chance to try. I really was disappointed in my first caucus. Absolute mayhem and disorder.

This is a Huffington Post article I found that discribes a different caucus than the one I went to.

"At the end of the night, Obama won the caucus by one vote -173 to Clinton's 172. Who knows how the night would have ended had the woman in the red coat been allowed to stand up for her candidate. Kevin Owens stood alone where a swarm of sign carrying cacausers once chanted Biden's name. For him, the night's events stripped not only his ability to exercise his democratic right, but also silenced an important voice from outside of mainstream America."

I don't know if this link will work, but if it doesn't, just cut and paste it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-palevsky-and-bess-kalb/biden-stripped-of-caucus-_b_79709.html

A letter from Michael Moore

Liz — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:13:45 EST

Here is a letter I got from Michael Moore. Others of you may have gotten this letter as well, but for those who did not. It's a good one on Iowa:

"It's the War," Says Iowa to Hillary -- And a "Happy Blue Year" To All! ...from Michael Moore

January 3, 2007

Friends,

There was no doubt about it. The message from Iowa tonight was simple, but deafening:

If you're a candidate for President, and you voted for the war, you lose. And if you voted and voted and voted for the war -- and never once showed any remorse -- you really lose.

In short, if you had something to do with keeping us in this war for four-plus years, you are not allowed to be the next president of the United States.

Over 70% of Iowan Democrats voted for candidates who either never voted for the invasion of Iraq (Obama, Richardson, Kucinich) or who have since admitted their mistake (Edwards, Biden, Dodd). I can't tell you how bad I feel for Senator Clinton tonight. I don't believe she was ever really for this war. But she did -- and continued to do -- what she thought was the politically expedient thing to eventually get elected. And she was wrong. And tonight she must go to sleep wondering what would have happened if she had voted her conscience instead of her calculator.

John Edwards was supposed to have come in third. He had been written off. He was outspent by the other front-runners six to one. But somewhere along the road he threw off the old politico hack jacket and turned into a real person, a fighter for the poor, for the uninsured, for peace. And for that, he came in a surprise second, ending up with just one less delegate than the man who was against the war from the beginning. But, as Joshua Holland of AlterNet pointed out earlier today, Edwards is still the only front-runner who will pull out all the troops and do it as quickly as possible. His speech tonight was brilliant and moving.

What an amazing night, not just for Barack Obama, but for America. I know that Senator Obama is so much more than simply the color of his skin, but all of us must acknowledge -- and celebrate -- the fact that one of the whitest states in the U.S. just voted for a black man to be our next president. Thank you, Iowa, for this historic moment. Thank you for at least letting us believe that we are better than what we often seem to be. And to have so many young people come out and vote -- and vote for Obama -- this is a proud moment. It all began with the record youth turnout in 2004 -- the ONLY age group that Kerry won -- and they came back out tonight en force. Good on every single one of you!

As the only top candidate who was anti-war before the war began, Barack Obama became the vessel through which the people of this Midwestern state were able to say loud and clear: "Bring 'Em Home!" Most pundits won't read the election this way because, well, most pundits merrily led us down the path to war. For them to call this vote tonight a repudiation of the war -- and of Senator Clinton's four years' worth of votes for it -- might require the pundit class to remind their viewers and readers that they share some culpability in starting this war. And, like Hillary, damn few of them have offered us an apology.

With all due respect to Senator Obama's victory, the most important news out of the caucus this evening was the whopping, room-busting turnout of Democrats. 239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, which was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican. And this is a red state! The Republican caucuses looked anemic. The looks on their faces were glum, tired. As the camera followed some of them into their caucus sites, they held their heads down or turned away, sorta like criminals on a perp walk. They know their days of power are over. They know their guy blew it. Their only hope was to vote for a man who has a direct line to heaven. Huckabee is their Hail Mary pass. But don't rule him out. He's got a sense of humor, he's downhome, and he said that if elected, he'd put me on a boat to Cuba. Hey, a free Caribbean vacation!

Bottom line: People have had it. Iowa will go blue (Happy Blue Year, Hawkeyes!). Whomever your candidate is on the Dem side, this was a good night. Get some sleep. The Republicans won't go down without a fight. Look what happened when Kerry tried to play nice. So Barack, you can talk all you want about "let's put the partisanship aside, let's all get along," but the other side has no intention of being anything but the bullies they are. Get your game face on now. And, if you can, tell me why you are now the second largest recipient of health industry payola after Hillary. You now take more money from the people committed to stopping universal health care than any of the Republican candidates.

Despite what your answer may be, I was proud to sit in my living room tonight and see you and your family up on that stage. We became a bit better tonight, and on that I will close by saying, sweet dreams -- and on to that other totally white state of New Hampshire!

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

GO HERE TO SEE INFORMATION ON HIS SICKO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEALTHCARE to see the latest news

http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/index.html

Obama's inspiring Iowa Victory Speech

Jim Callahan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 19:42:03 EST

Senator Obama's victory speech was uplifting. Behind him were young people, and a big sign, CHANGE. You can see the video here:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/iowavictoryspeech/

My analysis of Iowa results.

http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/JBCallahan/CrWL

Text of Speech is in Extended post...
Jim Callahan
Orlando, FL

they elected huckaboo?

annie b (mcliberal) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:46:07 EST

they must not have seen this! ugh!!!

The Concession Speeches

Angel — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:39:11 EST

Weren't too bad. Edwards still had his fire, and Clinton still had her poise.

Senator Obama Wins Iowa!

Asher Heimermann — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:25:40 EST

Barack Obama has won the The Iowa Democratic Caucuses! Senator Obama has over 35% of the vote. You will be able to find updates at www.BarackObama.com and www.ASHERHEIMERMANN.com. Fired Up - Ready to Go!

This would be a great time to show your support for your favorite candidate by voting in the 2008 Presidential Poll that can be found at www.ASHERHEIMERMANN.com/blog. You can vote once per day until Wednesday, January 30th. Feel free to pass this message to your friends and family.