My good friend Chris Cillizza had an interesting post on the race for the next chair of the RNC yesterday. I found the names that he mentioned to be fascinating, not because it included the name of a former Congressman from Iowa, but because the RNC chair could have a major impact on the Iowa Caucuses so we better not mess this up.
It should come as no surprise that the majority of the names he mentioned come from states who want to see their state either preserve their status as an early presidential primary or caucus or want to elevate their states status. Simply put there is a lot of risk to Iowa’s 1st in the Nation status if we have a RNC chair who is hostile to us.
In honor of Cillizza, here is the list.
Jim Nussle, Iowa. I was surprised to see Nussle on the list and think and find it to be intriguing. As we all know Nussle was a heck of a Congressman but a poor gubernatorial candidate. Having seen him speak after his gubernatorial campaign, it is clear that Nussle’s comfort zone in national politics not state government. Nussle has always done well in the fundraising department and can speak intelligently on a host of issues. Being from Iowa he should support our First in the Nation status, but his candidate of choice in 2008, Rudy Giuliani didn’t fully embrace Iowa, and skipped the Iowa Straw Poll. (I believe that Rudy would have done much better in his quest for the Republican nomination had he fully competed in Iowa.
Katon Dawson, South Carolina. Mr. Dawson is the chair of the Republican Party in South Carolina and has helped to cement his state’s First in the South status. It is my belief that Dawson would help preserve our current nomination calendar, not alter it. I can’t speak to Dawson’s ability to communicate and fundraise but I have talked to national types who speak highly of him.
Jim Greer, Florida. Here’s where we start getting in trouble folks. Florida and Michigan created a lot of havoc in the nomination calendar in 2008. There is no doubt that they both want a prominent spot. Now from my vantage point they received a ton of attention in the primary, if Greer’s being mentioned he obviously wants more.
Saul Anuis, Michigan. See above. For those of you who don’t know Saul he’s a little like Ted Sporer. Now we know how that cuts both ways. Anuis is a great communicator and full of energy, and there is no secret that he would want a more prominent role for Michigan to play in the nomination calendar. Also don’t fool yourself and think potential presidential candidates are not playing in this game. I don’t who Anuis supported in the primary, but a more prominent role for Michigan is good for one candidate, Mitt Romney.
Mike Duncan, current chair. Moving right along.
Michael Steele, Maryland. Steele is a rising star in the GOP. He is the former Lt. Governor of Maryland, and their US Senate candidate in 2006. Last cycle he served as Chairman of GOPAC, and supported Rudy Giuliani. I like Steele a lot but I think I remember him saying some not so supportive things about Iowa’s First in the Nation Status.
Chip Saltsman, Tennessee. Chip is the former Chair of the Tenn GOP, was Bill Frist’s main political guy, and then engineered Huckabee’s Huck-a-boom. Saltsman is extremely likable and young, something the GOP needs. Selecting him however might be too blatant for fans of other potential presidential candidates. However, Saltsman has seen the value of Iowa first hand.
It’s too early to guess who it’s going to be, but never too early to start talking about it.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Postmortem
Good news first. Congressman Latham and Congressman King should be commended, not only did they win reelection they won convincingly. We expected this from King, but Time magazine called the 4th District race one of the top 12 house races in the county to watch. I guess they got that wrong. Krusty Kudos to both campaigns.
The rest just flat out sucked. McCain was a disaster, Reed, Hartsuch, Miller-Meeks, and Schmett all got a whooping. Christopher Rants still has not had an election where he has picked up seats; House Republicans return with 44 seats in January. And the Republicans in the Iowa Senate out preformed and lost only one seat.
There is no need to try and write about all that ails the Republican Party in Iowa in one post, there is plenty of time to do that in the months ahead. We have a lot of work to do if we want conservative leadership in Iowa.
As for my predictions I have a little crow to eat today. I’m still surprised that our congressional candidates were only able to garner 40% of the vote. It clearly shows the erosion of the Republican base in Iowa. For me the biggest surprise of the night was how poorly both female candidates in Iowa did. Greenwald and Miller-Meeks garnered 39%. And while I’ll eat crow on my Miller-Meeks prediction. Last night’s results confirm that she was the strongest female candidate in Iowa.
Becky Greenwald had a voter registration advantage in her district, while Miller-Meeks had a huge deficit in voter registration in hers, yet Miller-Meeks was able to garner the same percentage of the vote. It’s also interesting to note that congressional challengers were only able to win 8 counties last night. King, Latham, and Braley won every county in their districts, Kim Schmett won one county in the 3rd vs Boswell, and Miller-Meeks won 7 of the 15 counties in the 2nd, but failed to win in the larger counties.
Miller-Meeks showed promise and I still believe she was our best candidates out there; unfortunately the 2nd District looks to have been impossible for any Republican to win this cycle. It will be a shame if we don’t see Miller-Meeks on the ballot again. Personally I think she would be an outstanding Lt. Governor candidate who would bring tremendous assets to any campaign, especially with health care issues. I don’t mean to insinuate that Miller-Meeks can’t win a campaign of her own, it’s just that the 2nd district as it currently is difficult for any republican to win, and I don’t think she’s well enough known yet to run for statewide office.
On a more philosophical note, many people are now saying that it took a Carter to make Reagan possible. I hope that’s the case, but I’m sure Democrats are saying today it took a Bush to make Obama possible. I believe that Obama has huge expectations to live up to, we need to hold him to these high standards.
One final thought. I could not help but see the symbolic nature of what happened last night from the city of Phoenix. Our party nationally and locally grew tired and lost. We no longer has a soul… we became The Government. There are many disgusted people, but remember the phoenix. A phoenix is a mythical bird with a long life, and near the end the phoenix builds itself a nest and then ignites it. Both nest and bird burn and are reduced to ashes. From these ashes a new, young phoenix arises, reborn anew to live again.
Out of the city of Phoenix, our Party has been reborn.
Smackdown
Incumbents win Federal Races by large margin.
State Senate Republicans only lost one seat (19 seats)
State House Republicans lost 3 seats (44 Seats)
I’ll have more thoughts later and come back to eat some crow, but so does the Register and all the Greenwald groupies.
State Senate Republicans only lost one seat (19 seats)
State House Republicans lost 3 seats (44 Seats)
I’ll have more thoughts later and come back to eat some crow, but so does the Register and all the Greenwald groupies.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
State Legislative Predictions
I apologize for not posting my State House predictions yesterday afternoon as I said I would. I was pulled away from the office and couldn’t get them posted.
Just like the presidential race here in Iowa, predicting the outcome of the races for the Iowa House of Representatives is a tossup. The media and most Democrats tell us there is another blue wave coming, and Republican insiders really believe they have a chance at taking the majority in the House.
I’ve studied at these House races and I see some very promising things, and then find some races that are equally disturbing. I’ll be up front from the start, I can get Republicans to 49 seats in the House but I don’t know how realistic I’m being in that scenario. I think the more likely outcome is that the Republican’s return in January with 46 or 47 seats.
Open Seats
Republicans have to defend 9 open seats and the Democrats have to defend 4. For Republicans to take the majority they need to be perfect, and I think that’s a tall order in this election cycle. Here are the Republican open seats.
I believe that Republicans will win the following of their open seats.
HD 60 where Peter Cownie is running in Libby Jacobs’ seat in Polk County. Republican Hold
HD 13 where Scott Thornquist is running for Bill Shickel’s seat in Mason City. Republican Hold
HD 55 where Jason Schultz is running for Clarence Hoffman’s seat in Western Iowa. Republican Hold
HD 69 where Eric Helland is running for Walt Tomenga’s seat in Johnston. Republican Hold
HD 70 where Kevin Koester is running for Carmen Boal’s seat in Ankeny. Republican Hold
While that’s good news, I believe we will lose 4 Republican seats that should be solidly Republican. Three of these seats are clear targets where the Iowa Democrats are playing on offense. They are outspending Republican candidates by a large margin.
HD 59 where Chris Hagenow is running to fill Dan Clute’s seat. Clute won the seat in 2006 easily, but the Dems have put on a full court press. They have a big lead in absentees, and have out spent Hagenow by a huge margin. Chris is a great candidate, but the party just couldn’t afford to match the nearly $350k the Dems have dumped in to that race. Plus Jerry Sullivan’s ads are really good. Republican Loss
HD 89 where Jared Klein is running to fill Sandy Greiner’s seat. This should be a seat we hold, and many people tell me that we will. I’m sorry to rain on the parade but I don’t see it. Now Jared is a nice guy so don’t take this the wrong way, but his opponent is running an ad where he lists his resume which is impressive, then it lists Klein’s which it only states that he worked for George W. Bush. Is the ad fair to Klein? Probably not, but it’s deadly in this political environment. Klein’s opponent is also outspending him 2 to 1. Republican Loss
HD 44 where Annette Sweeney is running to fill Polly Granzow’s seat in Hardin County. Now this is a seat that I could be wrong about, but once again the Democrats have poured in tons of money and have a good shot of picking up this seat. Republican Loss.
The fourth open seat I have down for a loss is Chuck Gipp’s seat (HD 16) in Decorah. I really go back and fourth on this one, but the reason I have it as a loss is because there is also a hotly contested state senate race up there and that really hurts our chances in my opinion. While the Dems have spent more money on their candidate, the difference isn’t as vast as the races mentioned above. Republican Loss.
Democrat Open Seats
HD 29 (Foege), HD 27 (Jochum), and HD 92 (Wise) are all easy holds for the Democrats. The only seat they need to defend is HD 36 which was held by Rep. Dandekar who is running for the State Senate. The Republicans have a strong candidate in Nick Wagner who I think will win this seat. Republican Gain
So that means out of the 13 open seats Republican win 6 and Democrats win 7. This basically makes it impossible for Republicans to take back the majority as they would 5 challengers to win and all incumbents to be reelected. Now it is possible for Republicans to do better than my projections, but they also have incumbents with some feisty competition.
Most notably is Dan Rasmussen of Independence. Rasmussen always has a close reelection but this time he’s got his hands full. Also Jamie Van Fossen in Bettendorf is facing a well funded challenge, and we also need to keep an eye on Dawn Pettengill and Tami Wiencek.
On the bright side we do have some good challengers who could knock off some Democrat incumbents.
Jamie Johnson in HD 9 has run a great race against Rep. McKinley Bailey. Republican Gain
Ross Paustian in HD 84 is a great candidate and Rep. Elesha Gayman stepped in it when she brought up a family matter in one of her attack ads. Republican Gain
After the two mentioned above our chances to knock off a Democrat incumbent drop.
Renee Schulte HD 37 has a chance to knock off Rep. Art Staed in Cedar Rapids. Possible Pick Up.
Scott Belt HD 100 won on Election Day in 2006 but I fear he may suffer the same fate against Rep. Paul Shomshor. Possible Pick Up.
Jeremy Taylor HD 1 has a chance to beat Wes Whitead but it all depends on the mood of the moderates in both parties in Sioux City. Possible Pick Up.
Rick Bertrand HD 2 - loss vs Rep. Roger Wendt.
Austin Lorenzen HD 18 – loss vs Rep. Andrew Wenthe
Danny Carroll HD 75 – sadly a loss vs Rep. Eric Palmer
Steven Richards HD 8 – loss vs Rep. Dolores Mertz
Carlin Hageman HD 19 – loss vs Bob Kressig
So here is how I get to or 46 Republican seats in the house.
38 Republican Incumbent Wins
6 Open Seat Victories
2 Challenger Victories
Now, the number might stay the same but how we get there could change. For example it wouldn’t surprise me to see a Republican incumbent lose and a challenger like Schulte and Belt win. That said I just don’t see State House Republicans winning 9 open seats, 4 challenger races, and reelecting all 38 incumbents in this environment.
State Senate
I’m not going to break it down like the House but I think they come back with 17 Republican Seats. Now before you freak out on me, I’m excited about what type of Senators those 17 are. Gone are Mulder, Lundby, Putney, and Angelo. And while we will not hold all of those seats the new Republican Senators will give us solid foundation to build on in two years.
Just like the presidential race here in Iowa, predicting the outcome of the races for the Iowa House of Representatives is a tossup. The media and most Democrats tell us there is another blue wave coming, and Republican insiders really believe they have a chance at taking the majority in the House.
I’ve studied at these House races and I see some very promising things, and then find some races that are equally disturbing. I’ll be up front from the start, I can get Republicans to 49 seats in the House but I don’t know how realistic I’m being in that scenario. I think the more likely outcome is that the Republican’s return in January with 46 or 47 seats.
Open Seats
Republicans have to defend 9 open seats and the Democrats have to defend 4. For Republicans to take the majority they need to be perfect, and I think that’s a tall order in this election cycle. Here are the Republican open seats.
I believe that Republicans will win the following of their open seats.
HD 60 where Peter Cownie is running in Libby Jacobs’ seat in Polk County. Republican Hold
HD 13 where Scott Thornquist is running for Bill Shickel’s seat in Mason City. Republican Hold
HD 55 where Jason Schultz is running for Clarence Hoffman’s seat in Western Iowa. Republican Hold
HD 69 where Eric Helland is running for Walt Tomenga’s seat in Johnston. Republican Hold
HD 70 where Kevin Koester is running for Carmen Boal’s seat in Ankeny. Republican Hold
While that’s good news, I believe we will lose 4 Republican seats that should be solidly Republican. Three of these seats are clear targets where the Iowa Democrats are playing on offense. They are outspending Republican candidates by a large margin.
HD 59 where Chris Hagenow is running to fill Dan Clute’s seat. Clute won the seat in 2006 easily, but the Dems have put on a full court press. They have a big lead in absentees, and have out spent Hagenow by a huge margin. Chris is a great candidate, but the party just couldn’t afford to match the nearly $350k the Dems have dumped in to that race. Plus Jerry Sullivan’s ads are really good. Republican Loss
HD 89 where Jared Klein is running to fill Sandy Greiner’s seat. This should be a seat we hold, and many people tell me that we will. I’m sorry to rain on the parade but I don’t see it. Now Jared is a nice guy so don’t take this the wrong way, but his opponent is running an ad where he lists his resume which is impressive, then it lists Klein’s which it only states that he worked for George W. Bush. Is the ad fair to Klein? Probably not, but it’s deadly in this political environment. Klein’s opponent is also outspending him 2 to 1. Republican Loss
HD 44 where Annette Sweeney is running to fill Polly Granzow’s seat in Hardin County. Now this is a seat that I could be wrong about, but once again the Democrats have poured in tons of money and have a good shot of picking up this seat. Republican Loss.
The fourth open seat I have down for a loss is Chuck Gipp’s seat (HD 16) in Decorah. I really go back and fourth on this one, but the reason I have it as a loss is because there is also a hotly contested state senate race up there and that really hurts our chances in my opinion. While the Dems have spent more money on their candidate, the difference isn’t as vast as the races mentioned above. Republican Loss.
Democrat Open Seats
HD 29 (Foege), HD 27 (Jochum), and HD 92 (Wise) are all easy holds for the Democrats. The only seat they need to defend is HD 36 which was held by Rep. Dandekar who is running for the State Senate. The Republicans have a strong candidate in Nick Wagner who I think will win this seat. Republican Gain
So that means out of the 13 open seats Republican win 6 and Democrats win 7. This basically makes it impossible for Republicans to take back the majority as they would 5 challengers to win and all incumbents to be reelected. Now it is possible for Republicans to do better than my projections, but they also have incumbents with some feisty competition.
Most notably is Dan Rasmussen of Independence. Rasmussen always has a close reelection but this time he’s got his hands full. Also Jamie Van Fossen in Bettendorf is facing a well funded challenge, and we also need to keep an eye on Dawn Pettengill and Tami Wiencek.
On the bright side we do have some good challengers who could knock off some Democrat incumbents.
Jamie Johnson in HD 9 has run a great race against Rep. McKinley Bailey. Republican Gain
Ross Paustian in HD 84 is a great candidate and Rep. Elesha Gayman stepped in it when she brought up a family matter in one of her attack ads. Republican Gain
After the two mentioned above our chances to knock off a Democrat incumbent drop.
Renee Schulte HD 37 has a chance to knock off Rep. Art Staed in Cedar Rapids. Possible Pick Up.
Scott Belt HD 100 won on Election Day in 2006 but I fear he may suffer the same fate against Rep. Paul Shomshor. Possible Pick Up.
Jeremy Taylor HD 1 has a chance to beat Wes Whitead but it all depends on the mood of the moderates in both parties in Sioux City. Possible Pick Up.
Rick Bertrand HD 2 - loss vs Rep. Roger Wendt.
Austin Lorenzen HD 18 – loss vs Rep. Andrew Wenthe
Danny Carroll HD 75 – sadly a loss vs Rep. Eric Palmer
Steven Richards HD 8 – loss vs Rep. Dolores Mertz
Carlin Hageman HD 19 – loss vs Bob Kressig
So here is how I get to or 46 Republican seats in the house.
38 Republican Incumbent Wins
6 Open Seat Victories
2 Challenger Victories
Now, the number might stay the same but how we get there could change. For example it wouldn’t surprise me to see a Republican incumbent lose and a challenger like Schulte and Belt win. That said I just don’t see State House Republicans winning 9 open seats, 4 challenger races, and reelecting all 38 incumbents in this environment.
State Senate
I’m not going to break it down like the House but I think they come back with 17 Republican Seats. Now before you freak out on me, I’m excited about what type of Senators those 17 are. Gone are Mulder, Lundby, Putney, and Angelo. And while we will not hold all of those seats the new Republican Senators will give us solid foundation to build on in two years.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Predictions
I was going to post these tomorrow but I thought about it and wanted to give you guys more time to chew on them and post your own. I think in rural Iowa Republicans will do well but the urban areas of the state could see huge democrat turnout. Remember this is just my take, I’ve been wrong before…
President of the United States
Iowa Results: Obama 53%, McCain 46%
Electoral College: Obama 286, McCain 252
I know I’m not the only one feeling this way, I went to a local gun shop this weekend and the place was packed. I wonder why?
United States Senate
Harkin 56%, Reed 44%
Now I’ve mentioned this before and many of you have disagreed. I just don’t see Harkin doing much more than he’s ever done in his past elections. The simple fact is that there are a lot of people who really dislike him and are not going to hold their nose because they don’t know his opponent. In their minds anyone is better than Harkin.
United States House of Representatives
1st CD: Braley 56%, Hartsuch 44%
See above. While we all know that David Hartsuch hasn’t run your typical campaign, neither has Braley. Neither has run TV ads and Braley isn’t campaigning. Now Braley is safe but if I were him I would have built my name ID with some ads or something.
2nd CD: Miller-Meeks 49%, Loebsack 48%, Other 3%
I’m going against conventional wisdom here. If you listen to the media they cite the registration numbers and quickly focus on another race. I think that’s lazy journalism and flat out wrong. Miller-Meeks is everywhere, and has somehow found away to match Loebsack on the air. She spanked Professor Pacman at their televised debate, and has clearly claimed the leadership issue as her own.
On the other hand Loebsack has been in hiding and isn’t doing anything to motivate his base. Think about that, the State Dems are running ads against Renee Schulte about her wanting to privatize Social Security, but it’s not an issue in the Congressional race, shocking. In every election there is a race that comes out of nowhere and surprises people. I think the 2nd District race is primed to do just that. Watch this one on election night.
3rd CD: Boswell 59%, Schmett 41%
Now some might think that I’m being nice to Hartsuch and Reed and taking out some anger at Schmett. That’s not the case. The reason for Schmett’s low number is Polk County. It’s going to be bad folks. Obama has visited that county numerous time and Boswell is the guy they all know.
4th CD: Latham 56%, Des Moines Register err.. Greenwald 43%
Part of me wants to give Latham a larger percentage of the vote because he’s earned it, but 56% is what he did against Spencer last cycle and I think Latham stays the course. Latham is Iowa’s future power player in DC. He has positioned himself well for redistricting and his performance this year should fend off serious challengers in the future.
5th CD: King 59%, Hubler 40%
Welcome to King Country. King has also insulated himself from future attacks by raising the most money of any cycle in his years in Congress. Sure the Register hates him, but the people in his district respect him, and like the Western Iowa straight shooter.
Legislative Predictions will be coming later today.
President of the United States
Iowa Results: Obama 53%, McCain 46%
Electoral College: Obama 286, McCain 252
I know I’m not the only one feeling this way, I went to a local gun shop this weekend and the place was packed. I wonder why?
United States Senate
Harkin 56%, Reed 44%
Now I’ve mentioned this before and many of you have disagreed. I just don’t see Harkin doing much more than he’s ever done in his past elections. The simple fact is that there are a lot of people who really dislike him and are not going to hold their nose because they don’t know his opponent. In their minds anyone is better than Harkin.
United States House of Representatives
1st CD: Braley 56%, Hartsuch 44%
See above. While we all know that David Hartsuch hasn’t run your typical campaign, neither has Braley. Neither has run TV ads and Braley isn’t campaigning. Now Braley is safe but if I were him I would have built my name ID with some ads or something.
2nd CD: Miller-Meeks 49%, Loebsack 48%, Other 3%
I’m going against conventional wisdom here. If you listen to the media they cite the registration numbers and quickly focus on another race. I think that’s lazy journalism and flat out wrong. Miller-Meeks is everywhere, and has somehow found away to match Loebsack on the air. She spanked Professor Pacman at their televised debate, and has clearly claimed the leadership issue as her own.
On the other hand Loebsack has been in hiding and isn’t doing anything to motivate his base. Think about that, the State Dems are running ads against Renee Schulte about her wanting to privatize Social Security, but it’s not an issue in the Congressional race, shocking. In every election there is a race that comes out of nowhere and surprises people. I think the 2nd District race is primed to do just that. Watch this one on election night.
3rd CD: Boswell 59%, Schmett 41%
Now some might think that I’m being nice to Hartsuch and Reed and taking out some anger at Schmett. That’s not the case. The reason for Schmett’s low number is Polk County. It’s going to be bad folks. Obama has visited that county numerous time and Boswell is the guy they all know.
4th CD: Latham 56%, Des Moines Register err.. Greenwald 43%
Part of me wants to give Latham a larger percentage of the vote because he’s earned it, but 56% is what he did against Spencer last cycle and I think Latham stays the course. Latham is Iowa’s future power player in DC. He has positioned himself well for redistricting and his performance this year should fend off serious challengers in the future.
5th CD: King 59%, Hubler 40%
Welcome to King Country. King has also insulated himself from future attacks by raising the most money of any cycle in his years in Congress. Sure the Register hates him, but the people in his district respect him, and like the Western Iowa straight shooter.
Legislative Predictions will be coming later today.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Register’s Candidate: Becky Greenwald
You all know I don’t have a problem posting bad pictures of candidates, just ask Governor Culver. He’s a photo of Becky from the Obama rally. Yikes! Here’s Ms. America according to the Des Moines Register:
While you will never see a Register article pointing out Greenwald’s faults, here’s another one. One would think that a candidate from Perry would know that the historic Hotel Pattee is located in her home town not Boone.
While you will never see a Register article pointing out Greenwald’s faults, here’s another one. One would think that a candidate from Perry would know that the historic Hotel Pattee is located in her home town not Boone.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
3M = Miller-Meeks Momentum
Congressman Dave Loebsack is in real trouble. Yesterday the Miller-Meeks campaign released internal polling numbers to Jim Lynch of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The poll showed incumbent Rep. Dave Loebsack leading 45.4 percent to 42.7 percent with a 2.06 percent margin of error. An incumbent polling at 45% just days before Election Day is lethal.
The Loebsack campaign questioned the numbers, suggesting they were the result of “soft methodology,” not a significant shift in voters’ sentiment and Loebsack’s spokesperson said, “These numbers are manufactured.” Now let’s compare this development to what happened in the 4th CD list last week. The Greenwald campaign released a poll showing Latham with a 5 point lead, the Latham campaign countered with numbers of their own which showed a much larger lead for the Congressman. The simple fact that Loebsack’s campaign didn’t counter with their own internal numbers tells you all you need to know, Miller-Meeks campaign has caught fire and Loebsack is in real trouble.
Also in this morning’s Gazette is their endorsement for the 2nd Congressional District. Sorry Dave, its more bad news as they enthusiastically endorsed Miller-Meeks.
“We were pretty comfortable with endorsing Loebsack for a second term ... until we met Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The dynamo Ottumwa Republican physician and military veteran, who entered college at age 16, runs a small business and has been president of the Iowa Medical Society and a university professor. She impressed us with her command of key issues and a track record that proves she gets things done.”
Ummm Dave, it looks like you should have run a more aggressive campaign, because your headed back to school, not Congress.
So while the Des Moines Register has been obsessed with Becky Greenwald, it’s now obvious that if Iowa is going to elect a female to congress for the first time it’s going to be Dr. Miller-Meeks. Many people are now aware of her amazing life story of her continuously pulling herself up by her boot straps, but don’t over look what she has over come in this campaign.
1. She wasn’t given a chance in the primary because she wasn’t from Cedar Rapids or Iowa City.
2. She was quickly written off after the primary because of the voter registration numbers in the District.
3. The entire district was affected by the massive June floods making it difficult to campaign and raise money.
4. Former Congressman Jim Leach endorsed Obama, putting her in a difficult position in her race to take back his seat.
Despite all of that she soldiered on and is now in a great position to win a seat in Congress.
The Loebsack campaign questioned the numbers, suggesting they were the result of “soft methodology,” not a significant shift in voters’ sentiment and Loebsack’s spokesperson said, “These numbers are manufactured.” Now let’s compare this development to what happened in the 4th CD list last week. The Greenwald campaign released a poll showing Latham with a 5 point lead, the Latham campaign countered with numbers of their own which showed a much larger lead for the Congressman. The simple fact that Loebsack’s campaign didn’t counter with their own internal numbers tells you all you need to know, Miller-Meeks campaign has caught fire and Loebsack is in real trouble.
Also in this morning’s Gazette is their endorsement for the 2nd Congressional District. Sorry Dave, its more bad news as they enthusiastically endorsed Miller-Meeks.
“We were pretty comfortable with endorsing Loebsack for a second term ... until we met Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The dynamo Ottumwa Republican physician and military veteran, who entered college at age 16, runs a small business and has been president of the Iowa Medical Society and a university professor. She impressed us with her command of key issues and a track record that proves she gets things done.”
Ummm Dave, it looks like you should have run a more aggressive campaign, because your headed back to school, not Congress.
So while the Des Moines Register has been obsessed with Becky Greenwald, it’s now obvious that if Iowa is going to elect a female to congress for the first time it’s going to be Dr. Miller-Meeks. Many people are now aware of her amazing life story of her continuously pulling herself up by her boot straps, but don’t over look what she has over come in this campaign.
1. She wasn’t given a chance in the primary because she wasn’t from Cedar Rapids or Iowa City.
2. She was quickly written off after the primary because of the voter registration numbers in the District.
3. The entire district was affected by the massive June floods making it difficult to campaign and raise money.
4. Former Congressman Jim Leach endorsed Obama, putting her in a difficult position in her race to take back his seat.
Despite all of that she soldiered on and is now in a great position to win a seat in Congress.
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