Chair and Co-Chair Candidate Forum Canceled

I know many in the Iowa Blogosphere were disappointed that the RPI Chair and Co-Chair forum was cancelled. I think we all thought it was going to be a turning point in the race; its cancelation only benefited one candidate, the Dark Horse.

I think the candidate forum was a good idea, but the SCC came up with the idea a little late in the game. A better idea might be to invite those interested in leading the party to the SCC meeting before the election. I also think they would be wise to give these candidates more than 2 minutes to state their case to the SCC and visiting activist. That said, it might be a good thing that the forum was canceled so that the dark horse candidate still is able to emerge.

As many of you have probably figured out by now, I’m not overly supportive of any of the current candidates. They are all fine people, and I’m glad that they are involved with the Party, but with the current financial crisis nationally and in here Iowa, and with 2010 being a do or die election cycle for Iowa Republicans, its imperative that we get the right person for the job.

I know many of the people who post comments on this blog in support or in opposition to a particular candidate for personal reasons and I understand why people do that, but we need to put personal friendships and loyalties beside and focus on one thing, who gives us the best chance at winning.

As you can tell in the comment section, none of the current candidates seem to universally respected, it seems they all have their fair share if detractors. There is no way we can win in November 2010 if we are a divided party. We need a chair who the SCC and our county leaders respect.

We also need a chair who has the ability to raise massive amounts of money for our 2010 election efforts. Currently there are only a few candidates who have raised anything significant money from Iowa donors and none of the current candidate have raised anywhere near the amount of money the party will need to raise if we are hoping for a major turnaround which should include an early voting program. I hate to say that fundraising ability is one of the most important attributes for a chair, but without it, we can’t make the changes needed.

I think a Dark Horse exists, the question is can we entice them to do it? This is where Grassley, Latham, King, Vaudt, and Northey could be helpful in convincing a Dark Horse to run. While I respect the SCC’s right to elect the next Chair, it’s the five people mentioned above who will be impacted by the next chair.

Get ready for City and County Income Tax

The tax proposal from the League of Cities should scare the daylights out of you. We are already taxed to the max. Our home assessments are already out of whack so that local government can generated their needed income without “raising” taxes. Chet Culver and the Democrats have raised taxes and fees, and will have to do it again to balance the books, and a gas tax increase still looms. And now the cities and counties want to tax your income.

I just have one question, when will we audit state government and get rid of government programs that are not needed or are duplicated by other state agencies? Sure, Governor Culver ordered a 1.5% across the board cut, but why can’t we make it 10%? I know it would hurt, but why should state government feel less pain in the pocket book than the citizens of our state?

Stop the Nonsense

Again the comment section is out of hand. This time there is some BS about the Huckabee campaign spreading anti-catholic messages. I got this message from Eric Woolson this morning:

“Trainor did not leave the campaign because of any supposed anti-Catholic message.

And Chip Saltsman and I have had our differences but he did not “spread any anti-Catholic messages.” And I would not have tolerated that stuff. Do you want to know how I know all that? Chip is a Roman Catholic. I am a Roman Catholic. The governor’s body man, Drake Jarman, is a Roman Catholic. Kirsten Fedewa, the governor’s communications person is Washington D.C., is a devout Roman Catholic. Karen Johnson, who was on the Governor’s inner circle, is a Roman Catholic.

I was Trainor’s boss. He did not leave because of any anti-Catholic messaging. He left because he had a tremendous opportunity on the campaign of a close family friend.

Please put an end to this nonsense. You can post this e-mail verbatim, if you like. But I tell you from my heart, I would have left the campaign had there been any sort of anti-Catholic activity. I owe that to my faith and my party.”

As for those who think I should patrol the comment section and are upset with me. Newsflash, I actually have a life unlike many who post BS comments. Grow up.