Republican Declares Intent to Run Against Tom Harkin

Cedar Rapids businessman Steve Rathje (pronounced Rah-CHEE) filed papers to run for the Republican nomination for US Senate over a year ago, but yesterday he made it public. How serious a candidate is he? And how does he feel about higher-profile candidates getting into the race?

Still, he isn’t well-known to the broader public and there has been speculation that someone better known might mount a bid.

Much of that talk has centered on U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican from western Iowa. King is a favorite with conservatives but hasn’t shown any signs yet that he’s running.

Rathje dismissed the idea that another congressman could win. Three already have lost to Harkin.

“There is no doubt in my mind history will repeat itself if given the opportunity,” he said.

He added Republicans are taking his candidacy seriously, pointing to the attendance of Leon Mosley, co-chair of the Republican Party of Iowa, at his announcement.

I’m not sure if the fact that one person from the RPI appearing at an announcement event is a sign that the campaign is actually serious, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.  I wish I could tell you about his positions on issues, but that page on his web site is blank.   But guessing from the information that we do have available, his campaign is going to be fun:

One member of his steering committee, Linda Smith of Cedar Rapids, is the former Linn County chair of Pat Robertson’s presidential campaign.  Another member, Bonnie K. Bell, is an executive rent-a-cop at HyVee.  Also on board are former chemical company executive Steve Weeber, who serves as Chair of the Simpson College Trustees, and J. David Nichols, whom BEEF Magazine selected as one of the 40 most important BEEF people over the past 40 years.  In general, the list is pretty heavy on Johnson, Linn, and Hamilton Counties.

On Rathje’s contact page, he lists his campaign manager as Bill Wirth, and his committee address is Coralville.  That leads me to deduce that Wirth is probably the same man who, in 1979, lost one of the closest city council elections in Coralville history (scroll to the bottom of this page for information).  He is also a State Farm insurance salesman.  This probably isn’t the mark of a serious campaign.

Unfortunately, that’s about all I have been able to find out about him.  News reports don’t even mention him when they speculate on Harkin’s reelection campaign — and that may be for good reason.

Add comment March 7th, 2007

Campaign Announcement: Palmer “Strict About Homework”

A big thanks to Chris over at Political Forecast for highlighting our favorite candidate Eric Palmer’s new television ad. In 1992 they used to say that a vote for Clinton was a 2 for 1 deal. I’d say that this year a vote for Palmer is a 6 for 1 deal. Heck, they may be young, but I think those kids know more about what Iowa needs than Danny Carroll.

I can imagine Danny’s negative response ads already.

Black silhouette appears on screen amidst sounds of nails on a chalkboard.

Action movie announcer voice- Candidate Eric Palmer says he wants to get “strict about homework” with Iowa’s families. But it is theoretically possible that his children have forgotten to complete an assignment in full. Tell Eric Palmer that he should watch his own litter before he goes into your home and starts burying your pups in pencils and paper. Tell Eric Palmer that Iowa needs more than homework–it needs fun. And tell Eric Palmer that while homework may be good for his family, he needs to stop imposing his values on hardworking, humble Iowans. On November 7th, teach Eric Palmer a lesson.”

Can we expect anything less from the Republican Party? The swift-dopes are accusing Boswell of scraping children’s knees…

1 comment October 18th, 2006

Update: Fallon

The Register is also covering Fallon’s statement of support for the party’s nominee.  For the most part it’s the same statement on his website & stuff we already know, but it does include a positive mention: 

Fallon has a loyal, grass-roots following and often scores the loudest applause during candidate events where he appears with the others.

The article also mentions some new Blouin proposals:

In other primary news, Blouin proposed restoring cuts to the state’s community college system over the past five years. The proposal was the third in a series related to education by the Blouin campaign this spring.

Blouin also proposed spending an additional $40 million on job-training programs affiliated with Iowa’s community colleges. The announcement came in the wake of a financial scandal involving the management of a central Iowa job-training program.

Add comment April 11th, 2006

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Add comment March 13th, 2006