Brent Oleson over at his well-written and insightful The Marion Contrarian blog recently wrote on the proposed litmus test (or purity test) that will be presented at the Winter meeting of the Republican National Committee in Hawaii. The proposal lists 10 points with the [...]
Today, my friend Christian Fong suspended his campaign for governor.
On July 9, 2009, I resigned my position as a member of the State Central Committee in order to publicly support Christian's campaign. I did so because I saw in Christian, a man [...]
I read with interest all of the articles and blogs about Governor Culver's triathlon. As a big guy myself. I was impressed! Chet did an Olympic distance tri.
1500m swim 32km bike 10km runHe got second in his age group (of 2), but his time of 3:03:27 was 50 minutes slower than even [...]
This morning I was listening to the WMT (AM 600) morning show with Andy Peterson. It was the regular Friday before a Hawkeye game segment with Iowa Equipment Manager β Greg Morris, aka the Shoe Guy.
Greg was talking about the Ohio State game. He said something like:
If we don't [...]Today is Veterans Day. Last week, I was able to fulfill a dream and visit Pearl Harbor. I took this picture as our boat approached the Arizona Memorial along Battleship Row. Looking down on the remains of the Arizona and the more than 1000 sailors entombed [...]
When I ran for the State Central Committee I promised to support our Republican candidates. As a party leader, I felt it my duty to support every Republican who had passed the essential litmus test -- a Republican primary. Further I promised my district that I would stay out of [...]
The buzz is that the mystery candidate to challenge Chuck Grassley may be Vilsack -- Christie not Tom. Since he has been in the Senate, Grassley has not had a credible challenger.Christie Vilsack would be another story.
Vilsack is certainly someone that Democrats would rally around. She would be a credible [...]
With the resignation of Rep Dick Taylor in HD33, Cedar Rapids will be having a special election. The Des Moines Register reports that Governor Culver has called for a special election on Tuesday, Nov 24.
Unlike the recent battle in HD90, the HD33 race looks pretty lopsided. In 2008, [...]
The Iowa Republican is reporting this morning that RPI Executive Director Jeff Boeyink is resigning to take a position with the Branstad campaign. Jeff is one of the top political operatives in Iowa. I was excited when he took the ED position and as I got to work with [...]
I like David Vaudt he has done a great job for Iowa serving as our state auditor. He is exactly the type of watchdog our state needs β especially at this time with spending gone wild and the governor in denial. He is after all the [...]
I must be living under a rock. I and every other Republican observer in the district have known that we were going to have a three-way primary between 2008 nominee, Dr. Marianette Miller-Meeks, 2008 Senate nominee Christopher Reed and 2008 Senate primary 3rd place finisher, Steve Rathje. I just didn't [...]
I posted Wieneke's Wheel Tax this morning after hearing Wieneke on the radio. Since then I have learned more about it. The Gazette had an article on the front page about it this morning.
First I was vague about whether the scope was Linn County or the city of Cedar [...]
The morning while driving my kids to school, I heard my city councilman, Chuck Wieneke on the radio. Now, Wieneke is a Republican and he has done some good things on the council.
When the city wanted to demolish some flood damaged homes, they decided they [...]
I have nothing witty or clever to say today. Only before and after photos that I took β never forget.
[...]I am one of those parents who was concerned about Obama's speech to school children this week. I was concerned that it would consist of political propaganda at worst or be simply a waste of time. My friend Art Smith over at the Conservative Reader was right β it' [...]
Last night the 2nd District Executive Committee met to elect a replacement for me on the State Central Committee. The winner on the third ballot was my friend Joni Scotter of Linn County. Joni ran against Trudy Caviness of Wapello County and Sarah Henderson of Linn [...]
I attended 2nd District Congressman Dave Loebsack's town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids this morning. The meeting was at Ballantyne Auditorium on the campus at Kirkwood Community College. I estimated the crowd at about 300 seated, 200 standing and perhaps a couple hundred outside.
To his credit, [...]
As readers of this blog know, I recently resigned my position as a member of the GOP State Central Committee from the Second Congressional District. I resigned in order to give my support to Christian Fong's gubernatorial campaign.
Since that time, I have been [...]
I saw over at the Des Moines Register that Des Moines Area Rapid Transit (DART) has pulled ads placed by an atheist group off their buses. The ads said:
Don't believe in God? You are not alone.The ads were sponsored by a group called Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers. According to [...]
I heard on Headline News this morning that Senator John McCain is going to vote no on the nomination of Sonia Sotamayor's. McCain said:
During her confirmation she said that as a federal judge I do not make the law. I applaud this statement, but it does not reflect her record [...]There has been a great deal of discussion lately of whether it is appropriate to take a stand for principles or party. I believe that this discussion is healthy. If my readers will indulge me, I will share a story that illustrates where I stand in this debate.
In his recent [...]
I was at the Night of the Rising Stars event in Des Moines last month. I talked my brother Brian into going with me. When we were milling around waiting for the event to stat, I introduced him to several of the rising stars. When we [...]
The Republican Party of Iowa announced today that the 2010 Cacucuses will be held on Saturday, January 23rd at 1pm. The Iowa Democratic Party has agreed to hold their caucuses at the same time.
I was on the State Central Committee when we chose the date and the intent was [...]
In my previous post, I printed the letter I sent to Republican leaders in the Second Congressional District announcing my resignation from the State Central Committee. I resigned in order to keep my promise to not endorse candidates in Republican primaries while serving on the SCC.
In the interest of full [...]
Dear Second District Republicans,
Fifteen months ago, I was elected to represent the Second Congressional District on the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Iowa. During my tenure, I have worked to bring openness to the process of electing a State Party Chairman and for the first time in my memory, the [...]
This last summer, I had the honor and privilege of representing Iowa on the Republican National Platform Committee. As a delegate from Iowa, I did my best to work with other delegates to try and shape the National Platform so that it reflects the same values that the Iowa Platform [...]
Today is Independence Day and across Iowa and the nation there will be all sorts of festivities including TEA Parties. I had hoped to attend the Cedar Rapids TEA Party but today is the last day of my son's leave before he and his fellow soldiers of the 82nd Airborne [...]
I am a conservative. I am a fiscal conservative. I am a social conservative. I am a constitutional conservative. I am also a father of eight.
My eight children are politically involved to different degrees. They run the full gamut from moderates to conservative like their [...]
This is not a Republican Story or a Democrat Story β it is an Iowa story. So with Fathers Day coming up this weekend, I thought I would share this story from CNN.
[...]Constitution Daily has had two posts featuring possible GOP candidates for state treasurer. The two are former Sioux County Treasurer and freshman State Senator Randy Feenstra and current Story County Treasurer Dave Jamison.
Both of these guys would be credible candidates for State Treasurer. More importantly either [...]
I am a fan of Bill Salier. I first met him during his primary campaign in Cedar Rapids at the home of a good Republican friend, Billboard Bob. I liked his message of family values, strong defense and limited, constitutional government. (I am also a big fan of Steve [...]
I am a big fan of Craig Robinson's Iowa Republican and Tim Albrecht's The Bean Walker. I read them daily and frequently check for updates throughout the day. Further, the inclusion of Krusty Konservative, Battleground Iowa and Constitution Daily has increased the profile of these excellent blogs. (Or [...]
Memorial Day. We Americans have much for which to be thankful. On December 8, 1941, my mother was in church on the island of Guam. Guam is on the other side of the International dateline so December 8 was their Pearl Harbor Day. Her [...]
Only Nixon could go to China ... In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Mr. Spock quotes this old Vulcan proverb.
This morning WHO radio reports that former 2nd District Republican congressman, Jim Leach may be the next United States Ambassador to China.
Of course, on [...]
In 1999, Robin Willians starred in the film, Jakob the Liar. In the film, Williams character, Jakob is in a Jewish ghetto in World War II. Jakob pretends to have a radio. Jakob lies to his fellow Jews about the proximity of the Russian Army, [...]
Tonight, my friend Ed Failor Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief led a group of 400-600 Iowans to the statehouse to speak against the Democrats' attempt to end federal detectability on Iowa taxes.
As Ed points out it is a tax on a tax. This message resonates with Iowans and [...]
In January, I had written off former SCC Member and Polk County GOP Chair, Ted Sporer's The Real Sporer blog. After his curious absence from the RPI Chair race, the blog had been dormant.
Since then, Ted can be heard weekly on the Steve Deace show. Ted is part [...]
I read over at Craig Robinson's IowaRepublican that:
Ron Corbett plans to announce his candidacy for Cedar Rapids Mayor ...
During the recent flood, two things were apparent. 1) The flood was going to be much worse than 1993. 2) We were not going to find any real leadership from [...]
Dave Price at The Price of Politics reports that Steve Rathje is forming an exploratory committee to consider a run for the 2nd District congressional seat held by Dave Loebsack. Rathje of course, ran a primary campaign for Senate in 2008. Rathje finished third in a three way [...]
The April State Central Committee will be held April 25 in Waterloo. It will be combined with an event to honor the service of long-time party co-chair Leon Mosely.
This is the first time I can remember an SCC meeting being held outside of Des Moines. I think it is a [...]
Each member of the State Central Committee is assigned to at least one of the party's standing committees. I currently serve on the Organization Committee headed up by Monte Shaw from the fourth congressional district. The organization committee is responsible for the Caucus to Convention process as well as the [...]
Tomorrow is the day the blogosphere changes. By now you all know that Craig Robinson is launching TheIowaRepublican.com tomorrow at 7:00 am. Now, I find it hard to get excited in advance about one more blog. But this time, is different.
Three of my favorite blogs, Battleground Iowa, [...]
I am sad to report that due to his ongoing medical condition, my friend Karl (Big Killer) Gilbertson is resigning from the State Central Committee effective immediately. Karl is one of the good guys and he will be missed.
Karl's replacement will be selected by the District Executive Committee for [...]
There has been a great deal of talk this year about party unity. Some have portrayed it as social vs. fiscal conservatives. More colorful commentators have referred to the battle as being between the mods and the gods.
For all the talk about conflict within our ranks, I am pleased to [...]
According to the Des Moines Register, Democrats in the Iowa Senate are proposing a change to Iowa law that would grant Iowa's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Currently Iowa's electoral votes go the winner of the vote in here Iowa.
Democrat Senate majority leader Gronstal [...]
In my previous post I wrote about the Linn County Board of Supervisors and my support for Kraig Paulson's proposed bill allowing voters to petition to recall local officials. I wrote:
If the petition and recall bill included state officials, I would be all for it.I was just being snarky. [...]
I mentioned in a previous post that I agreed halfway with my friend Brent Oelson over at The Marion Contrarion about the LOST bill that that just passed in the Iowa House. Oelson supported the measure and another friend, newly-elected State Rep Renee Schulte, voted for it. I [...]
A shout out to Republicans in Congress, the Iowa Legislature and our new leadership at RPI. You guys have all been on the same page and on message. Of course I might ask where some of you were last year for the original bailout or SILO or when we had [...]
After a flurry of activity (both online and not) related to the RPI chair elections, I have been busy catching up on little things like work. I haven't posted in a while but I am back. Between the federal bailout and Cluver's budget β there is plenty to write about.
First [...]
On the way to work this morning, WMT radio reported that Rosemary Thomson passed away. I will post funeral details as they become available.
Let us continue to pray for the Thomson and Lundby families.
[...]The Bible says it best:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ... A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ... Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 3:4The Linn County and Iowa Republican families are [...]
By now most of you know that the RPI leadership elections are over. The new leadership team is: Matt Strawn chairman, Jim Kurtenbach co-chairman, Matt Randall treasurer and Bill Schickel secretary.
I think that this is an exciting new day at RPI. This is a leadership team that I believe we [...]
The race for chair has completely overshadowed the fact that there are four positions being voted on this Saturday, In addition to a chair, the SCC will elect a co-chair, treasurer and secretary.
The co-chair race has not gotten any attention but it could get interesting. An anonymous commenter over at [...]
Just a short post to clear up a couple of misconceptions. Both the Des Moines Register and Iowa Independent have stated that the SCC meeting this Saturday is closed to the public and the press. This information is incorrect. This meeting, and all other SCC meetings are open [...]
I am ready for the race for RPI chair to be over. I think we have a great set of candidates and the party is well positioned to prepare for 2010 and beyond. There are two updates today.
First Gopal. I and others on the State Central Committee were lobbied to [...]
The RPI Chair candidateβs forum was held at RPI offices in Des Moines this morning. As I drove up, I was surprised to see cars parked up and down the streets surrounding the office. As I entered through the back door, the place was standing room only. I have never [...]
The Coralville Courier has an article titled Congressman Kraig Paulsen comments on Governor Culver's hypocrisy. Hmm.. Congressman Paulsen β I like the sound of that.
I think they mean Representative Paulsen, our new Iowa House Minority Leader. In the article Kraig takes on the governor's hypocrisy in appointing a [...]
In this post, I will probably ramble a bit. I have thoughts on several issues relating to the Chair race and I will address them here:
Handicapping the Race
IMHO, the blogs are wrong. Both Krusty and Flyover Country list Gopal Krishna as the frontrunner (Krusty) or in [...]
The RPI Chair Candidate Forum will likely be re-scheduled for Saturday, December January 3rd at 10:00 am at RPI headquarters. Look for an official announcement later today.
[...]Due to icy weather in central Iowa, today's RPI Chair Candidate Forum has been postponed. At this point it is unclear whether it will be re-scheduled.
[...]As most of you know, RPI is sponsoring a public forum from 10 am-12 noon, Saturday, December 27th. The forum will take place at RPI headquarters at 621 E. 9th St. Des Moines. This forum is open to the public, so feel free to stop by. A shout out to [...]
Merry Christmas. Today's Cedar Rapids Gazette had a beautiful photo of St. Wenceslaus Church and some flood damaged homes at night. Superimposed over the photo were these familiar words:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the [...]
In a post on the chairman race last week, I suggested that Matt Strawn was something of a wild card in the race. He is the owner of the Iowa Barnstormers and has an impressive political resume. He was raised in Iowa but has only [...]
At this weekend's State Central Committee meeting, there was a great deal of talk about technology. Someone pointed out that even Senator Grassley has a Twitter. Someone else asked whether it could be cured.
In the spirit of using technology, Barstormer's principle owner, Matt Strawn has made a formal [...]
The race for RPI Chairman is heating up. As of now, here are the contenders that have declared their candidacy (at least to me) in alphabetical order.
Danny Carroll
Danny is a former legislator from Poweshiek County. Danny has a lot of support in the blogosphere and from legislators.
Andy [...]
Censure was not the only thing on the agenda of Saturday's SCC Meeting. In this post, I want to recap some of the rest of the meeting.
First, kudos to Chairman Stewart Iverson. On Friday night, before our committee meetings, Stewart informed us that he had told people who were interested [...]
Bloggers and commentors (mostly anons) have been posting about this weekend's GOP State Central Committee meeting. I would like to share my perspective. Of course the burning issue was the censure of National Committeewoman Kim Lehman.
In the weeks leading up to the meeting, several county central committees from the Second [...]
The Iowa GOP Blogosphere is abuzz with discussions about the future of the Republican Party of Iowa. The two most immediate issues being discussed are Kim Lehman and the election for State Party Chair. I want to take a moment and briefly discuss both.
First, Kim Lehman. Krusty has his first [...]
It's official! In HD 37 Renee Schulte had defeated the Democrat incumbent Art Staid. Schulte had a 14 vote lead after the canvass byt the county supervisors. After the recount was complete today that lead had been reduced to 13 votes.
Congratulations Representative Schulte!
[...]Liberal blogger John Deeth (he of the raspberry beret) has an excellent post on Saturday's fundraiser for flood relief in Cedar Rapids. I also meet blogger Lynda Waddington of Iowa Independent. The event was keynoted by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Jindal was considered by many to be a [...]
The Boys are back in town. We are not even through pointing fingers and placing blame for the 2008 elections β the race for 2012 is on.
This morning, I was running some errands and I had some time to kill. I took my daughters to Barnes [...]
Two years ago, before I was on the SCC, this blog was anonymous. At that time I expressed my frustration at the SCC when they re-elected Ray Hoffman as party chairman. To make matters worse, rather than report the vote, they kept the vote secret and declared that the election [...]
One of the bright spots on election night was Renee Schulte defeating Democratic incumbent Art Staed in HD-37 in Linn County. Renee is an awesome young lady and a great candidate. She worked hard in her race, she articulated the issues and she will be a great asset in Des [...]
I just heard on WHO radio that state GOP Chairman Stewart Iverson will not seek re-election in January. That makes the race for the chairman wide-open. Stewart stepped in at a difficult time and presided over an even more difficult time. As a new SCC member, I didn't get to [...]
I woke up early this morning to drive my daughter to school and on the way she remarked how pretty the leaves were. We turned east and drove into a beautiful pink sunrise. I guess the world didn't end last night. Today is a new day.
I spent yesterday poll watching. [...]
The excellent blog, Iowa Defense Alliance has a post today entitled: The Hypocrisy is Astounding. In it they assert that Republican leaders in Iowa should be outraged at Clayton County Chair Gwen Eilers for her anti-Reed write in campaign rather than at Kim Lehman for Iowa Right to Life's [...]
I am an NRA member and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. This week, I sat down and read the November issue of the NRA magazine, America's First Freedom. I was shocked to see that my friend, Joe Childers, received an F!
Joe is the GOP candidate in Senate District [...]
Governor Palin's Des Moines visit Saturday conflicts with the State Central Committee meeting scheduled for this Saturday. The meeting has been put off until December 5-6.
Originally, I complained that the meeting was being held too close to the election. There really is little that the SCC can do [...]
There has been some buzz recently about the McCain-Palin campaign pulling out of Iowa. Well, it is time to lay that rumor to rest. This Saturday, Governor Palin is making two Iowa appearances, in Sioux City and Des Moines. Senator McCain will be in Cedar Falls on Sunday.
Iowa is in [...]
This is an e-mail piece that I and my colleagues on the State Central Committee from the Second District sent to Republicans in our district. I believe that it is self-explanatory.
Dear Second District Republican,
We are almost there! The campaigns of our fantastic candidates are moving full speed ahead as [...]
In this post, I want to take a moment and state what my policy is on this blog regarding issues within the Republican Party. As most readers know, I was elected to my first term on the Republican State Central Committee at the Second District Convention this April.
This blog used [...]
There is a revolution going on in Iowa's second congressional district. It centers around Republican candidate, Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks or as I prefer β M3 (m-cubed - I did major in math after all).
As Krusty points out:
... Miller-Meeks was able to out raise Congressman Loebsack in the last three [...]Tolstoy's Anna Karenina begins with the immortal words:
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.Tolstoy's observation applies to political families too. I was going to post today about 1st District GOP House Candidate, David Hartsuch's press release: McCain β08 Shows Gay Pride By [...]
Earlier this week, Republican US Senate Candidate Christopher Reed was on Steve Deace's show on WHO radio. Reed had been on WHO earlier in the day and afterward he was told that RPI Executive Director Caleb Hunter had been at an event or events telling people not to support [...]
Christopher Reed is the Republican candidate for US Senate. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Christopher Reed supporter. Reed and I agree on issues right down the line. Whether it be the right to life, gun rights, opposition to the bailout, etc. Reed and I are on [...]
Krusty has a post about former 2nd District Republican Congressman Jim Leach, campaigning for Obama in Iowa. Apparently Leach is speaking under the banner of Republicans for Obama. As Krusty says, of Leach:
Outside of Davenport and Iowa City Leach doesnβt have much influence ... In fact many Republicans [...]I missed seeing the McCain-Obama debate live last week because I was on an airplane. This week I am firmly bunkered down in a hotel in an unnamed location in southern New Jersey. So tonight I will be liveblogging the VP debate β stay tuned!
7:56PM I had a great supper, [...]
Wes Enos of Des Moines is the newest member for the GOP State Central Committee. Wes was Iowa political director for Mike Huckabee and Campaign manager for Peter Teahan who was defeated in a primary race to challenge Dave Loebsack in the 2nd District.
Wes was elected to fill Steve Scheffler's [...]
My kids complain that I have a song for everything. I was home this weekend after being on the road for two weeks and missing the Cedar Rapids, McCain-Palin event. As I drove in my neighborhood, I saw two of the major streets, Stoney Point Road and [...]
I travel as a part of my job and it seems that if I am on the road and Cedar Rapids makes the news β it cannot be good. I was in Kansas City during the flood and I watched whenever I could to see how Cedar Rapids fared.
This week, [...]
In this post, I am going to break the First Rule of Blogging. What is the First Rule you ask?
Act like you know all the answers!I have to admit that I do not know the answer to the current financial crisis. In fact, I started a new training and consulting [...]
House Republican Whip Kraig Paulsen is now running unopposed for his HD 35 seat. John Deeth reports that Democrat challenger, dormer Linn County Democrat chairman, Mike Robinson is withdrawing from the race for personal reasons.
It is too late to remove or replace Robinson's name on the ballot. This is [...]
