What’s on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? This is an open thread: all topics welcome.
Did anyone get any noteworthy holiday greetings from politicians this year? It was bittersweet to open Tom Harkin’s final holiday card as a U.S. senator. My family also received a card with a lovely photo of Monica Vernon, her husband, and their three daughters. A Cedar Rapids City Council member, Vernon accepted this year’s Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor shortly after being runner-up in the first Congressional district primary. I assume her holiday greeting went out to everyone who donated to Jack Hatch’s campaign for governor, since I did not contribute to Vernon’s Congressional effort. I expect Vernon to run for Congress again in 2016, although she might be angling to run for governor in 2018 instead. First-term Representative Rod Blum should be vulnerable in IA-01 when he has to face a presidential-year electorate.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama turned a typical holiday photo-op into a teaching moment when he and First Lady Michelle Obama delivered gifts to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign.
The President started putting the sports and the science toys into the ‘girls’ bin. Placing a basketball into the bin, Obama says:
“I just wanna make sure some girls play some ball.”
A person from the crowd queries his decision to put legos in the girls, rather than the boys collection – because they might not like them. The President responds:
“Girls don’t like toys?”
As he continues to sort, he comes across a T-Ball set.
“T-Ball? Girls like T-Ball” and nodding, puts the set in the girls’ bin. The crowd is snapping photos, with some looking a little confused and he adds. “I’m just trying to break down these gender stereotypes.”
I love it. Girls shouldn’t be limited to the toys specially marketed to them and their parents (dolls, beauty products, and legos in pink and purple hues).
Obama caused a stir in the White House press corps when he called on eight women and no men at his final press conference this year. The move was not a coincidence:
“The fact is, there are many women from a variety of news organizations who day-in and day-out do the hard work of covering the president of the United States,” [White House press secretary Josh] Earnest said. “As the questioner list started to come together, we realized that we had a unique opportunity to highlight the fact at the president’s closely watched, end-of-the-year news conference.”
4 Comments
wondering?
Love that President Obama did that!
Maybe I missed it but is there any more news on the Iowa Dem Chair election?
natewithglasses Tue 30 Dec 10:48 AM
CityView
Doug Burns has a piece in CV pimping Tim Tracy (sp?) from Carroll County as the right choice for the party chair. He consults with the Carroll T-H, Burns’ paper. I would be surprised if someone outside Des Moines is chosen, but who knows? After 2014’s debacle, everything is on the table. I hope whoever gets the nod takes a good hard look at the whole operation. The state central committee meets in Jan to make the decision.
rockm Tue 30 Dec 11:06 PM
funny how Doug Burns
always concludes that the person from Carroll County is the best person for whatever job. He argued that Rod Roberts was the best candidate for governor in 2010 and later argued that he was the best person for the IA-SEN GOP nomination in 2014, even though Joni Ernst had obvious advantages over Roberts.
I think a strong case can be made that the next IDP chair should be from outside the Des Moines area. The State Central Committee members need to think about skills other than close connections to major donors.
I will put up a post on the candidates for that job next week.
desmoinesdem Wed 31 Dec 6:34 AM
Tracy
Corresponded with a State Central Committee member who has heard from or spoken personally to all the candidates, sez Tracy is the least impressive of the group. This member said he/she is not sure how he/she will vote … tough choice.
rockm Wed 31 Dec 2:18 PM