On the same day that Hillary Clinton is having her rally in Des Moines, Tom Vilsack is having one of his community gatherings in Fort Dodge. The difference in attendance between a major rally organized by a team of advance people and a community gathering in Fort Dodge will be staggering, to say the least. Although the events are not comparable at all, the fact that they are held on the same day will be enough for plenty of people to make comparisions. But none of those comparisions will be flattering to Vilsack. In fact, I’d bet that David Yepsen is already drooling over the possibilities to mock Vilsack that this provides. It’s not fair to Vilsack but that doesn’t matter. It’s just going to be too tempting a cheap shot for many people to avoid.
January 26th, 2007
According to today’s Register, “Des Moines-area tourism officials have launched an effort to attract “A-list” rock stars, comedians and other Hollywood types for what they hope will be a nationally televised show to kick off the 2008 Iowa caucuses…No performers have been booked, but organizers say names like pop princess Britney Spears and patriotic country western star Lee Greenwood are on their early wish list.”
Unlike other commentators like David Yepsen, I think this is a great idea. (And not just because “Oops I Did It Again” is the story of John Kerry’s candidacy for 2008) The best way to draw attention to the Iowa Caucuses is having a second rate version of the Super Bowl halftime show. After all, if concerts can end famine in Africa, it might just get America hooked on the Iowa Caucuses. So hooked that everyone outside Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, might realize that they don’t have any say who the Presidential nominees are. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing Wu Tang perform an Iowa caucus version of one of their hits, come on everyone, check out my Mike Gravel Pit.
January 3rd, 2007
Because this fair web site hasn’t been around for more than two and a half days, we didn’t post about it when it came up, but Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen wrote last Thursday under a headline “Left/right extremes drive Iowa political landscape.” He argued that “social conservatives” like the Christian Coalition are becoming more and more influential in Iowa:
Religious conservatives will also be a factor in the re-election plans of Des Moines Democrat Matt McCoy, an openly gay legislator. He’s already got a primary challenger, and Republicans are also planning to field a candidate. While his district is heavily Democratic, it also includes many south-side Catholics and blue-collar evangelicals.
Bottom line: Republicans are hoping the work of the alliance can counter the Democratic trends and intense passions coming from the left these days. The election of 2006 in Iowa seems no place for moderates or middle-of-the-roaders. ’Tis a battle of the zealous.
And then he forgot to talk about any groups on the “extreme left.” All he says about us is some dismissive remark about our “intense passions” — whatever that means.
March 13th, 2006
