Just had a phone chat with State Rep. Wes Whitead, D-Sioux City, who said he won’t run for re-election in 2010 for House District 1. Whitead said six terms is enough — he’ll be 77 when this term' [...]
edited by: Art Smith,
Iowa Editor
Just had a phone chat with State Rep. Wes Whitead, D-Sioux City, who said he won’t run for re-election in 2010 for House District 1. Whitead said six terms is enough — he’ll be 77 when this term' [...]
We have word late this morning that the Dec. 6 booksigning event for 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been moved up an hour to a noon start. That means the opening to receive a wristband to get lined up for a copy of [...]
An NFL Thanksgiving feature that didn’t involve messages home from overseas troops and the long played-out theme of handing out a turkey leg to the game MVP showed how the league is encouraging American kids to get 60 minutes of exercise daily. As part of that, Cowboy DeMarcus Ware got [...]
Many Siouxlanders recall the time when Greg Lund was the popular KCAU-TV evening anchor. Lund’s two-decade Channel 9 stint ended when he left in 1997 to work for Gateway computers, where he eventually became senior manager of corporate communications.
Lund’s son Andrew Lund is pushing Republican Party ideals, [...]
It’s not surprising that some in the Republican Party want to make sure candidates who run under the party banner align well with party principles. In a time when the New York Congressional candidate for a special election was seen as too moderate and the longtime GOP seat was lost, [...]
Crunching some numbers as we await the arrival of Sarah Palin and her “Going Rogue: An American Life” book tour on Dec. 6 at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Sioux City. POLITICO reports former Alaska Gov. Palin has been signing books for [...]
The Des Moines Register this evening has released additional details from a poll done on high-profile political figures. The one that Tom Beaumont has just dropped on his blog shows 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is in strong favor among Iowa Republicans. [...]
The perceived wariness of a few U.S. Senate moderate Democrats on moving forward the health reform bill cobbled together by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid dissipated yesterday. All 58 Democrats and the two independents who typically vote with the majority party Dems held together and passed the bill (with an [...]
An important vote on health care reform comes off tomorrow, when the U.S. Senate will undertake a procedural vote on the recently introduced Patient Protection and Affordability Act. It is not a vote to pass the bill out of the Senate, but to move full consideration of [...]
A report Tuesday showed the obesity rate for Americans hanging (like a gut) again in the low-30s percent, while pointing to the rate climbing to 43 percent by 2018. Obesity is measured at 30 pounds above a healthy weight, and if it rises [...]
The even-year November elections have been very interesting in South Dakota lately, and will be again in 2010. Word today is that the new state smoking ban will be referred to voters in November 2010 after bar and [...]
Just got word that western Iowans will finally be able to see Terry Branstad in a public event. Branstad still remains in the coy “exploratory” candidate committee phase even while having hired campaign staff, so we know he’s running for the 2010 governor position sought by five other Republicans as [...]
Word that the federal government may buy the empty Thomson Correctional Center in western Illinois to house suspected terrorists now housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has stirred concern among Americans. Some are also chapped at the fact that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also plans civilian court trials for the [...]
Yesterday, in writing the fourth blog post in nine days concerning Sarah Palin, her autobiography and her upcoming book tour stop in Sioux City, I thought of issuing an opening disclaimer that I’m not purposely trying to [...]
The Sarah Palin autobiography “Going Rogue: An American Life” is officially out today, 54 weeks after she and John McCain came out on the short end of the stick in the 2008 presidential race. The release is of note here, of course, since Palin will bring [...]
We’re in a heightened period of interest regarding 2008 Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose book “Going Rogue: An American Life” will be released Tuesday. Palin also has taped an appearance on Oprah Winfrey that will air Monday, and on Wednesday from Michigan she launches a [...]
Got a tip (thanks, Cliff Tufty) of a Sioux City native running for major political office, as 1965 Central High graduate John Munger is running for governor in Arizona. Munger has firm roots in Republican Party politics, as his father, [...]
Blasted John Deeth, beating me to the punch with a post of plentious sagacity. Iowa City-based Deeth not only has his original JohnDeethBlog site, but lately he’s moved onto periodic posts for The Des Moines Register. Two nights ago in handling what I’m hoping (please!) is my [...]
U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., is a guy some Republicans want to see a run for president. After his bruising 2004 win that knocked Democratic heavyweight Tom Daschle out of a seat, Thune can be forgiven if he takes his 2010 re-election bid with less concern and [...]
I’ve just wrapped a second-day piece on the announcement that 2008 Republican Party vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will bring her “Going Rogue” booksigning tour to Sioux City. It will be her only Iowa appearance, so many Siouxlanders are pumped to see Palin. I spoke [...]
Steve King looks at the health-care proposal.
You may have seen the big feature in The Journal today concerning health care reform and Steve King. It was something of a shocker that has people talking — Republican King is so opposed to [...]
The Sarah Palin autobiography recapping her journey from basketball player to Alaska governor to 2008 vice presidential candidate drops next week. Palin kicks off her “Going Rogue: An American Life” book tour in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Nov. 18, and she has one Iowa stop slated — [...]
The three-day gap in posts here is due to a long weekend in Cedar Falls. Had a good time — and had a political connection when watching University of Northern Iowa Panther volleyball. In walked U. S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who goes to a lot of volleyball, in part to [...]
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Federal health care reform talks have achieved critical mass, as the end of this week will be a key time to see whether reform moves forward. The U.S. House could vote on a measure Saturday, and today some local chapters of the [...]
The results of the Sioux City Council race yesterday demonstrated how incumbents have had a rough go of it in the 2000s, as the sole councilman seeking re-election placed fourth, not in the money for the three seats that were set. Jim [...]
A year ago tonight, the votes were counted and Barack Obama won the presidency and Democrats strengthened their holds in the two federal chambers. Republicans nationally and in Iowa licked their wounds, then looked ahead.
State Rep. Chris Rants, R-Sioux City, showing me a host of vote totals from various statehouse [...]
Just had a chance to look at a piece from yesterday in Columbia Journalism Review. You know that 24/7 coverage from the national press on the New York Congressional District 23 race? The political press has to cover something, I guess, but the [...]
Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill traditionally has two benchmarks to gauge voter turnout — he has the polling places call in totals at 11 a.m. and then 4 p.m. Gill just got the latter time results, and said voter turnout is tracking at less than 10 percent. He said typically [...]
Just about the time polls close in Iowa tonight, a prime political event in the neighborhood will be wrapping as well. A forum for GOP gubernatorial candidates will be held about five miles southeast of Ida Grove, where the Ida and Crawford County Republican Parties will be cooperating to host [...]
I’ll never forget the first time I heard a person pitch Steve King for president in 2012. Mere weeks after the 2008 election in which Barack Obama was selected as president, we at The Journal took a look at what names Northwest Iowans might see in [...]
When we get missives from the press office of the Terry Branstad for Governor campaign (yes, still technically in ‘exploratory’ status), they’ll be the product of an area native. Ida Grove’s Tim Albrecht this morning has been announced as Branstad’s communications team director, and he’s on the job this very [...]
The race for three Sioux City Council seats will be decided two nights from now. The five candidates include the sole incumbent, Jim Rixner, former councilman and mayor Tom Padgett, 2002 and 2004 statehouse (Republican) candidate Keith Radig, developer John Fitch and political newcomer Ian Rappolt, who works at Boys [...]
Will he run for the 2010 governor spot? Certainly.
Here’s the key quote made late yesterday by former Gov. Terry Branstad, after journeying from Iowa City (after the Hawkeyes defeated Indiana) to Wilton to speak at a fundraiser for Republican State Rep. Jeff Kaufmann: “This is a Saturday we’ll always remember [...]
