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The Democratic Steering Committee in the US Senate will be voting on a secret ballot tomorrow on what to do with Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman strongly backed John McCain for President, spoke at the…



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In their endorsement of Sen. Tom Harkin, the Des Moines Register outlined the potential of Harkin’s 5th term..
In his fifth term, Senator Harkin should aim high and set aside partisan sniping for…



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Over the past week, the Des Moines Register has released their endorsements for the upcoming election.

I was eager to see who they’d endorse in the 4th District and their “endorsement” of Leonard…



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Barack Obama is supposed to announce his VP candidate this evening or tomorrow morning by text message to supporters. There will be an event in Springfield, Illinois tomorrow afternoon with Obama and the Vice President candidate.

I am predicting that the choice will be Joe Biden. Biden is known to talk a lot and, except for a comment midweek that he’s not the guy, he has been pretty quiet the past couple weeks. Biden is coming off a trip to Georgia where he talked to leaders in the region about the conflict with Russia. Biden best quality in my opinion is that he isn’t afraid to throw elbows and go on the attack.

Bayh and Kaine’s names have been put out there before Obama made campaign stops in their respective states and the buzz wasn’t always positive. I think that was basically a test run and the campaign has decided against those two. Another reason that going against Kaine is that Obama just spent two days campaigning in Virginia, a key battleground state, so it wouldn’t make sense to announce your naming the Governor of Virginia VP at an event in another state.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Hillary Clinton gets the nod. This diary at Open Left makes the case that Obama will name Hillary Clinton that makes a lot of sense.

If, in June, Clinton told you she should be your VP and you were seriously considering it, what would you do? You would probably tell her that the only way it could happen is if you wholeheartedly endorse me, make it clear you have gotten over the joint ticket idea, have those under your influence (such as the “Vote Both” folks) drop all of their efforts on HRC’s behalf. You’d say, I can’t look weak by picking you, like I was forced by circumstance. It must look like a choice I made that I didn’t have to make but I did because I’m such a big person and I care about the country and I care about victory.

There are three candidates that I would most like to see be named vice president. I would love for Obama to name Kathleen Sebelius, who was campaigning in Iowa yesterday, is still a choice, but there hasn’t been much buzz about her lately. And Tom Harkin is pushing for Chris Dodd, which I think would be a great choice. Finally, I have been a little surprised that Bill Richardson hasn’t been mentioned as much. I think he would bring a lot to the table.

Then it could be a complete dark horse candidate like Tom Daschle, John Kerry, Mark Warner, or Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (one of the battleground states Obama is visiting after the announcement is Montana).

Now it’s just time to sit back with my cell phone in hand and wait for the announcement.

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Last week, I attended a fundraiser for Steve Sodders with Sen. Tom Harkin. It was a well attended event for being on Monday morning at 8 am.

Sen. Harkin stressed how important it is to elect good people to the statehouse and highlighted all of Steve’s great work in the community. Sodders is a deputy sheriff in Marshall County, is on the Red Cross board, serves on the Youth and Shelter Services board, and coaches middle school wrestling.

Then Harkin went on to discuss rising energy costs. Harkin cited increased production of cellulosic ethanol in the 2008 Farm Bill and discussed the potential of renewable energy. One example heused was making ethanol out of algae. He also mentioned how we can’t drill our way out of this problem.

I have been to a couple of events for Steve Sodders. This was one of the first ones he gave real campaign speech at and I think everyone left impressed. I got the whole speech on video, but the sound didn’t come out. Since I was taping the speech, I missed a lot of the details, but here is the gist of the speech.

Sodders told a story of him growing up. There was an elderly lady that lived down the block and he and his brothers would mow her yard and help with yard work. When they’d finish, the lady would get her checkbook out and ask them how much they were worth that day. Steve then made the connection to present day Iowa, saying that he believes Iowans are worth a quality education, health care, and a state where young people want to stay in after graduation. To keep young people in the state, it requires good paying jobs. Sodders said we have a great opportunity to create good paying jobs through the research and development of renewable energy in the State.

Sodders is running for the State Senate in District 22 that covers Marshall and Hardin Counties. The seat was formerly held by Republican Larry McKibben who has retired. Sodders is facing Republican Jarret Heil. Democrats consider this seat to be one of their top chances to pick up a seat in the Iowa Senate this year.

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A new Rasmussen poll from shows Tom Harkin with a comfortable lead over Republican Christopher Reed. 60% of Iowans have a favorable opinion of Sen. Harkin.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Iowa voters finds Harkin ahead 52% to 36%. When “leaners” are included, the incumbent leads 55% to 37%.

Last month, Harkin led his challenger 53% to 37%. The Democrat is currently chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, a key position for a farming state like Iowa.

Harkin fares better among women voters than men in Iowa. He leads 55% to 30% among female voters but has just a 48% to 43% lead among men. Voters not affiliated with either major political party choose Harkin 49% to 27%.

The incumbent is viewed favorably by 60% of Iowa voters and unfavorably by 35%. Reed, a businessman and Navy veteran who has never previously held public office, is less known to Iowa voters. He won a three-way primary to get the GOP nomination. Reed’s numbers are 41% favorable and 29% unfavorable, while 31% have no opinion.

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In the Republican Senate Primary, former State Representative George Eichhorn was narrowly defeated by Christopher Reed to be the Republican standard bearer against Tom Harkin. Eichhorn should be quite used to losing at this point as he has lost his State House seat, as well as bids to be the Republican nominee for the State […]

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In an interview with The Hill, Tom Harkin made his suggestion for who the Democratic nominee for the Vice Presidency should be. Harkin suggested a well-known liberal from the Northeast. Not Chuck Schumer or Chris Dodd but, instead, Jon Stewart. Harkin thought the Daily Show host was the best fit for the number two spot […]

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Tom Harkin said Iowa would lose $75 million for roads and bridge maintenance under the gas tax holiday proposed by John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, has objected to the idea because the proposal would eliminate at least $75 million per quarter - based on 2006 estimates - that the Iowa Department of Transportation gets to use on roads and bridges in the state. In effect, enacting a gas tax moratorium for the summer would amount to a loss of at least $75 million in revenues to rebuild the highways, roads and bridges in Iowa.

It isn’t like our roads and bridges are fixing themselves. The state would be forced to find the money from another source, which would most likely be property taxes or increasing fees on vehicles.

The Gas Tax Holiday is scam that would likely increase state and local taxes, while giving your minimal relief at the pump.

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Barack Obama gained the support from one of Iowa’s superdelegates. Richard Machacek announced today that he has decided to support Barack Obama. Machacek, from Buchanan County, is a member of the State Central Committee and Democratic National Committee.

“I think it needs to be over, and in good conscience, I can’t fly in the face of my precinct, county and district,” Machacek told The Des Moines Register in a telephone interview. “The raw numbers coming out of the district conventions really sat me down hard.”

Obama leads the Iowa superdelegate count with 5, while Clinton has 3, and 3 remain undeclared.

Obama Supporters
Richard Machacek
U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack
Gov. Chet Culver
Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
deputy state party Chairwoman Sarah Swisher

Clinton Supporters
U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell,
Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal
DNC member Sandy Opstvedt

Undeclared Superdelegates
U.S Senator Tom Harkin
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley
state party Chairman Scott Brennan

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