I forgot that our lame duck fearless leader was going to address the nation tonight on why we should hand over $700 billion to his buddies on Wall Street.

I saw that Warren Buffett is investing $5 billion in Goldman Sachs and will receive equity in return. Why should taxpayers settle for less?

This is an open thread for anything related to the bailout or Bush’s speech. How did he look and sound?

This time it’s a Marist poll, conducted between September 18 and September 21, showing Barack Obama beating John McCain in Iowa by 51 percent to 41 percent. That makes five polls in the last month showing Obama above 50 percent and with a double-digit lead here.

How do you like not being a swing state anymore?

Remember, people need to vote for Democrats all the way down the ticket. If Obama wins Iowa by 10 points or more, we should be able to win seats in Congress and the state legislature.

John McCain announced that he is suspending his campaign events and wants to delay the first presidential debate, scheduled for Friday, because of the economic crisis. Talking Points Memo has the full text of McCain’s statement.

A few days ago, he was still saying the fundamentals of our economy are strong.

Apparently Barack Obama called McCain this morning

to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal. At 2:30 this afternoon, Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement.  The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.

Then McCain went public on postponing the first debate. I’m with Chris Bowers: this was a cheap stunt to “upstage Obama after Obama made the first ‘bi-partisan’ move.”

I also agree with Bowers that Obama was foolish to try to minimize the distinction between himself and McCain on this issue. His campaign should be pounding on McCain’s role in deregulating the banking industry, and the fact that McCain surrounds himself with corporate lobbyists.

Anyway, at least the Obama campaign is insisting that “The debate is on.” They should not fall for this maneuver.

Note that it doesn’t cost McCain much to suspend his stump speeches–he doesn’t exactly draw huge crowds, and it’s probably tiring to be on the road every day. I doubt he’ll cut back on his television advertising. CORRECTION: McCain’s spokesperson says he is taking his campaign’s television ads off the air. No word yet on whether the Republican National Committee or 527 groups that support McCain will do the same.

UPDATE: Ben Smith has Obama’s response:

“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible with dealing with this mess,” he said. “In my mind, actually, it’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people and try to describe where we want to take the country and where we wnt to take the economy as well as dealing with some of the issues of foreign policy that were initially the subject of the debate.”

[…]

“Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time,” he says. “It’s not necessary for us to think that we can do only one thing, and suspend everything else.”

SECOND UPDATE: Now CNN says the McCain campaign wants to move the first presidential debate to October 2, when the vice-presidential debate is currently scheduled. So they want to use this crisis as an excuse for delaying the VP debate. I share Hunter’s suspicion that the VP debate might never get rescheduled if the Obama campaign allows it to be delayed.

Meanwhile, Todd Beeton heard on Fox News that “John McCain currently does not plan to attend the debate Friday night but that if a plan is agreed to by Friday, he will.”

I hope Congressional Democrats do not give in to this blackmail. Let Obama show up next to an empty podium at the first debate. Who’d look “ready to lead” then?

You may recall that Al Gore carried Iowa by two votes per precinct, but did you know that early voting gave Gore his margin of victory here?

I explained why I vote early here, and Justus wrote a more comprehensive piece on the subject at BooMan Tribune.

Every vote Democrats bank early reduces the chance of losing votes through illness or family emergencies. Every vote Democrats bank early means one less phone number for volunteers to call, and one less door for canvassers to knock on election day.

The Obama campaign in Iowa is running 21 phone banks today to promote early voting. There will also be 17 “vote early for change” supporter gatherings tomorrow morning across the state. Details for all those events are after the jump.

Even if you don’t have time to volunteer today or tomorrow, keep your eye out for anyone you know who might be willing to vote before election day. On Tuesday I ran into an elderly neighbor whose husband has a lot of health problems. She’s got her hands full, so I asked her if she needed absentee ballot request forms. She said that would be wonderful–she hadn’t had time yet to look into how that worked. I went home and called the Obama precinct captain in my neighborhood, and she had a volunteer run the forms over a few hours later.

Remember to tell your friends and family that they should fill out the whole ballot and not just vote for Barack Obama. We need to win those down-ticket races.

Also remember that there are many ways to volunteer that do not involve calling strangers on the phone or knocking on strangers’ doors.

You can bring food to a campaign headquarters, offer to sort literature for the canvassers, put up an out-of-town volunteer in your spare room, or even do laundry or errands for a campaign staffer. Or, just call your local campaign office to ask what kind of help they need.

Two months after the Board of Regents ordered an external investigation of how the University of Iowa handled a sexual assault case last year, two senior university officials got the ax:

University of Iowa President Sally Mason today fired Phillip Jones, 67, vice president for student services, and Marcus Mills, 52, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel.

Mason’s actions came after the Stolar Partnership last week released a report to the Iowa Board of Regents that heavily criticized Mills’ and Jones’ actions after the alleged sexual assault at Hillcrest Residence Hall on Oct. 14, 2007. The review by the St. Louis law firm found “numerous and substantial flaws” in not only the U of I’s response to the assault, but also in its policies, procedures and practices.

According to the Des Moines Register, Mason fired Jones and Mills after they refused to resign, and neither will receive severance pay.

It’s likely to be a career-ending action for Jones, who had worked at the University of Iowa for 40 years. I don’t know him personally, but I have heard good things about him from faculty and former students in Iowa City. Jones refused to comment when contacted by the Register.

Mills spoke out, though:

Mills said Tuesday night he believed he was unfairly singled out in today’s dismissal and in the Stolar report.

“I believe I handled the matter to the best of my ability under the circumstances,” Mills said in a phone interview.

He said he disagreed with the Stolar report’s assessment of his actions. He said he did not have a conflict of interest in acting as U of I general counsel and liaison with the alleged victim’s family.

Mills said investigators did not allow him to give his version of six phone conversations he had with the alleged victim’s father. Mills also disagreed with the law firm’s assessment that he should have asked a judge to permit the U of I to release documents pertaining to the report, he said tonight.

“I’m disappointed that the president and the regents didn’t have an opportunity to get a fuller view,” Mills said.

What do you think? Did Jones and Mills deserve to lose their jobs, or were they scapegoated? Should anyone else be sacked over the way the university dealt with this case?

The Board of Regents delayed Mason’s first performance review until after investigators finished their report. I doubt they will fire her, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets no raise, or a smaller raise than the Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa presidents.

Perhaps a little from column A and a little from column B:

One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.

The Obama campaign has talked about how McCain surrounds himself with lobbyists while posturing to be against the “special interests,” but this takes it to a new level.

Freddie Mac paid Rick Davis’s firm $15,000 a month for more than 30 months (that’s $180,000 a year for nearly three years) for doing no work other than staying close to McCain.

McCain either doesn’t know what’s going on in his inner circle or brazenly lied to the press. How can we trust him to run the country?

Speaking of McCain, after the jump I’ve posted a new viral e-mail that’s going around with the subject line, “You owe $2,293.53 dollars to Wall Street Fat Cats… check, cash or charge?”

The e-mail discusses how McCain and his adviser, former Senator Phil Gramm, voted to deregulate the banking industry, which led to the current stock market meltdown. Click here to read two alternative versions of the e-mail, playing on the same concept. Pass it on!

Saw this on Daily Kos on Tuesday:

From Iowa City, Iowa, a friend of mine writes:

“I saw am interesting omen last night.  They’ve closed the local McCain campaign office.  I go by there once or twice a week and I noticed last night that it appeared to be empty.  I double checked this AM and, indeed, it appears abandoned.”

After the jump I’ve posted addresses for the “victory offices” currently listed on this page of the Iowa for McCain-Palin website. The contacts listed for each office appear to be employees of the Iowa Republican Party.

Clearly the Iowa Republican Party will keep some field offices open to GOTV for statehouse races, even if the McCain campaign has transferred staff out of Iowa.

Bleeding Heartland readers, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to check whether any McCain offices you’ve noticed in your area are still open. You can post a comment in this thread or e-mail me at desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com to let me know whether the offices have been shut down.

UPDATE: An alert reader writes:

I swung past 413 Northwestern Ave in Ames this morning.  It looked like mostly a Latham operation.  There are 15-20 Latham signs plastered across the front of the building but only one McCain-Palin sign, on the lower portion of the front door.  There is also a single Reed sign and maybe one sign for someone else, but I didn’t get a good look at that one.  I didn’t go inside but there were cars parked outside and it looked like it was still open.  

Thanks, and keep e-mailing me with reports like these.

Most of the electoral vote counters have swung in Barack Obama’s favor during the past week, but it still looks as if the presidential election will be close. In fact, there are at least two plausible scenarios for the candidates tying at 269 electoral votes each. That would happen if Obama won all the states John Kerry won in 2004, plus Iowa, New Mexico and Nevada, or if Obama won all the Kerry states except for New Hampshire, plus Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado.

The Constitution stipulates that the House of Representatives picks the president if no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, while the Senate picks the vice president. But it’s not a simple vote of the House members; they vote by state delegation.

I’ve been wondering how this would play out, and today I came across this excellent post at the Campaign Diaries blog that analyzes the chances for either Obama or McCain to win the necessary 26 state delegations.

Before I read that post I hadn’t realized that this scenario could happen even if the electoral college splits 270-268, if a “faithless elector” switches his or her vote away from the winner.

I encourage you to click through and read the whole post, but the Cliff’s Notes version is that Obama appears to have a better chance of winning 26 state delegations in the House than McCain does. It’s also possible that neither presidential candidate could win 26 state delegations:

What would happen then? Well, the 12th amendment states that if by the fourth of March the House has not agreed on a candidate, the vice-president would become president. And given that Senate Democrats would have long already elevated Joe Biden to the vice-presidency, that could mean a Biden Administration.

The funny thing is, I think I would prefer President Biden to either Obama or McCain. But let’s hope Obama wins with a clear mandate on November 4.

Following up on my post about Congressman Tom Latham’s first television ad, Becky Greenwald’s campaign has publicized the gory details about what the fourth district’s loyal Republican foot-soldier has done on health care in Congress.

Excerpt:

Tom Latham’s campaign released their first advertisement called “Trusted Leadership” on healthcare touting one piece of bipartisan legislation. However one bill can’t hide Latham’s years of voting with the George Bush and the Republican Party 94% of the time. These bills benefit the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies and hurt the American people.

“Latham’s ad is nothing more than a distraction from his real record of partisan votes with Bush and the Republicans against healthcare and hundreds of thousands of dollars from special interests,” said Erin Seidler, Greenwald Campaign spokesperson. “Becky Greenwald will fight for comprehensive healthcare for all Americans and fix the disastrous Medicare Part D program.”

The full text of the press release is after the jump. Good stuff.

I missed these when I compiled my calendar of events for this week, but I learned from the Center on Sustainable Communities that Edward Mazria, an “internationally recognized architect, author, educator and visionary,” is in central Iowa today and tomorrow.

Mazria will present “Now, it’s Personal….A three-pronged solution for achieving energy independence and solving climate change via the business sector, the largest energy consumer in the U.S.. ”

He is giving a free lecture in Ames tonight:

Ames Lecture

Wednesday, September 24th

7:00 pm

Iowa State University

College of Design

Kocimski Auditorium

He will speak on the same topic tomorrow at lunchtime:

Des Moines Luncheon

Thursday, September 25th

11:30a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Arthur Davis Conference Room

Greater Des Moines Partnership

700 Locust St., Suite 100, Des Moines

Cost to attend is $20 for COSC members, $30 for non-members. (Price includes lunch.)

Questions? Contact Meg Fitz at 515-286-4934 or mfitz@desmoinesmetro.com.

You can learn more about Edward Mazria and his 2030 challenge at http://www.mazria.com.

Sounds like an interesting program. If anyone goes to hear Mazria, please post a comment or a diary afterwards.

If you were a loyal Republican foot-soldier seeking re-election in a state that’s trending Democratic, where the Democratic presidential candidate has a commanding lead over your party’s nominee as well as a much bigger ground game in your own Congressional district, you might want to reinvent yourself.

Late last week, Tom Latham did just that in his first television commercial of this election cycle. You can view the ad at Latham’s campaign website. It focuses on a bill Latham introduced to address the nursing shortage in Iowa.

Judging from the content of this ad, Latham recognizes that 2008 will be a big Democratic year in Iowa.

Neither the commercial nor the campaign’s accompanying press release (which I’ve posted after the jump) mention that Latham is a Republican. Instead, they note that he authored “bipartisan legislation” in a specific area.

Polls typically give Democrats an edge on handling health care and education. Even someone watching this ad with the sound turned down can see that Latham is portraying himself as sensitive to these issues. Here are the words that flash on the screen during the commercial:

Nursing Shortage (footage of ambulance with siren, nurse alongside patient on stretcher)

Iowa Faces Severe Nursing Shortage (hospital scenes)

Bipartisan Legislation (Latham sitting and writing)

Help Nurses Repay Education Loans (nurse with patients)

Tom Latham (as he talks with one of the nurses quoted in the ad)

In addition, Latham’s ad features three testimonials from nurses. One of them is “nurse practitioner Linda Upmeyer,” wearing a white nurse’s coat with a stethoscope around her neck, who says, “Tom has done a wonderful job of hearing the need and translating that into legislation.” Conveniently, the ad fails to identify Upmeyer as the Republican state representative from Iowa House district 12.  

The press release announcing Latham’s television ad is even more blatant about running away from the Republican label. It describes Latham as “bipartisan” twice and notes that he “teamed up with Wisconsin Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to introduce this bill in the United States Congress.”

I never thought I’d see the day when the conservative Republican Latham would brag about working with Baldwin, who is openly gay and has one of the most progressive voting records in Congress. Latham’s voting record as a whole could hardly be more different from Baldwin’s.

Not only does Latham’s ad avoid mentioning his party affiliation, it seems designed to address the gender gap by having a female voice-over and three women nurses do almost all of the talking. The only male voice you hear is Latham’s at the very end, saying “I’m Tom Latham, and I approved this message.”

Democratic candidates tend to do better among women, and the disparity may be even greater this year in IA-04. Becky Greenwald is giving Iowans the chance to send a woman to Congress for the first time.

One clever feature of this ad is that it implies Latham has delivered for Iowa’s nurses, without mentioning whether the bill he authored has any chance of becoming law. The wording of the press release suggests that the bill has not advanced:

Latham teamed up with Iowa nursing and health care professionals through numerous roundtables around the state to listen to their unique perspective and input on what was needed. He then wrote legislation and teamed up with Wisconsin Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to introduce the bill in the United States Congress.

You would think that someone who spent 14 years in Congress (12 of them as part of a Republican majority) would be able to point to some concrete achievement on behalf of nurses or in the area of health care.

Instead, the Latham campaign talks about his “trusted leadership” on the nursing shortage, when he has nothing to show for this “leadership” other than writing one bill that went nowhere.

By the way, Latham signaled last week that he is not willing to defend the totality of his record in a public forum. He declined an invitation from KCCI-TV and the Des Moines Register to debate Greenwald during prime-time television. Latham also refused invitations to debate in August.

In a debate, Latham might have to explain why he talks about helping nurses repay their student loans in his commercial, when he voted for enormous cuts to federal student loan programs in 2005 and 2006.

As a challenger, Greenwald has lower name recognition than Latham, and understandably used her first television ad to introduce herself to voters. With Latham avoiding debates and using skillful image construction to conceal his ineffectiveness, I believe Greenwald will need to run some television ads that spell out why she is seeking to replace “Iowa’s low-yield Congressman.”

Because if they do, they should stay on the present course.

I didn’t write much about the Des Moines school board campaign, because I don’t live in the school district and didn’t have a firm grasp of what all the eight candidates stood for.

As I noted last week, three incumbents kept their seats in a relatively high-turnout election. The outcome was a setback for school board member Jonathan Narcisse, who was hoping to get a few allies elected.

That said, it appears to me that the majority on the board is now overplaying its hand in an effort to further marginalize Narcisse. Not only do I suspect this will backfire, I also think they are wrong about the prevailing level of satisfaction with Des Moines Public Schools.

At its meeting last Tuesday, the school board majority chose not to act on Dick Murphy’s ill-advised motion to censure Narcisse, probably because Narcisse had retained the prominent attorney Alfredo Parrish. Instead, the board

referred his alleged misconduct to Polk County and state officials for further investigation.

Board members voted 5-1 to forward alleged violations of state ethics laws and school board policies to the Polk County attorney’s office and Iowa attorney general’s office. Narcisse abstained from the vote.

The board rejected member Teree Caldwell-Johnson’s proposal to refer the alleged violations to an independent agency for investigation before referring them to authorities.

“Not once in closed or open session has this board been presented evidence to support the claims,” said Caldwell-Johnson, who cast the lone no vote.

Narcisse isn’t going to win any awards for congeniality, but I doubt that this action will diminish his standing among those who elected him to the school board.

From what I gather, the people who are comfortable with current governance of the Des Moines Public Schools interpret the recent election results as proof that the people are satisfied with the status quo.

However, Narcisse represents a significant number of Des Moines residents who are concerned about graduation rates and other problems in the district’s schools. If he wants another term on the board, I wouldn’t bet against him finishing in the top four next September (when four seats will be up for grabs).

The Des Moines Register’s reporting on the school board race focused on the fact that three challengers backed by Narcisse lost. But did they really lose because of their association with Narcisse and his criticisms?

A major controversy that developed during the school board campaign received little attention in the Register’s reporting. Some community activists, led by the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, repeatedly sounded the alarm about a threat to the school board from the religious right.

Gil Cranberg reported shortly before the election on the contents of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa’s newsletter:

The headline on the lead article in the publication warns, “Religious Right Plots to Control Iowa’s Largest School District.”

The Alliance’s board represents a large number of religious denominations. Its mission includes challenging “political extremism based on religion;” and its goal is to ensure “that the work and influence of government and religious entities remain separate.” The Interfaith Alliance newsletter identifies the Iowa Family Policy Center as opposed to these goals and says it is “helping to elect three candidates to the school board.” The three are unnamed. Connie Ryan Terrell, the Interfaith Alliance’s executive director, said that’s to avoid engaging in electoral activity and jeopardizing the organization’s tax-exempt status.

The Alliance is not bashful though about bashing the Iowa Family Policy Center. The newsletter said the Center is “not supportive of public education and works tirelessly to privatize education by diverting additional public funds to private schools.” Further, the newsletter said, the Family Policy Center “advocates for prayer in school, teaching intelligent design as science curriculum and posting the Ten Commandments in public schools.”

If you read Cranberg’s piece, you will learn that those three unnamed candidates (opposed by the Interfaith Alliance and supported by the Iowa Family Policy Center) are the same three candidates Narcisse was supporting.

It wasn’t just one newsletter. The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa sent out several mass e-mails alluding to a threat to the public schools in Des Moines. One that I received on August 28 included this passage:

The religious right is not concerned about academic integrity, graduation rates or academic equity across a school district.  Regardless of Supreme Court rulings or state law, the religious right inserts itself into school board races across the country to gain control of school boards and impose conservative Christian education and “family values” on the public school students. Their ultimate goal is privatization of the public schools, which you can be assured, will not be equitable.  It is important these concerns are raised in the election process rather than debating them later at school board meetings.

I know you care about your community overall and specifically the children of your community.  I ask you to get involved!

·        Ask all the candidates if they have received the support (verbal, voter-organizing, or financial) of the Iowa Family Policy Center or the Iowa Christian Alliance.

·        Ask all the candidates, do they support having a public education system or should the public education system be privatized?

·        Ask all the candidates, if elected, what role will their faith and/or values play in shaping public policy for the school district?  What is their view on maintaining a boundary between religion and government, including public schools?

·        Ask all the candidates, would they vote to support or oppose the teaching of creationism, intelligent design, or Christian doctrine in the SCIENCE curriculum taught by the district’s teachers?

·        Ask all the candidates, do they support or oppose the districts’ employment and student non-discrimination policies which includes sexual orientation and gender identity?  And how would they work to enhance the implementation and effectiveness of this policy?

An e-mail from the Interfaith Alliance on September 2 urged readers to attend school board candidate forums and ask similar questions.

I am convinced that this issue is partly why turnout was so high on September 9. I know of people who voted for the Des Moines school board incumbents because they were worried about giving the religious right a foothold.

It didn’t help that two of the three candidates aligned with Narcisse sent their own children to parochial schools. Obviously, they still have a right to run for the school board, because their property taxes support public schools. On the other hand, many people felt that people who kept their own kids out of public schools should not be involved in governance of those schools.

Here is an excerpt from an e-mail the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa sent out the day after the election:

It’s a good day for public education, religious freedom and democracy!

Regardless of where you live in Iowa , most of you knew about the particularly bitter election battle for 3 seats on the Des Moines School Board.

Most of you were aware of the work of the Iowa Family Policy Center ( Iowa ‘s largest religious right organization) to “reclaim” Iowa ‘s largest school district.  You understood the potential danger if that came to fruition, not only for the Des Moines school district but for the entire state.

And I am sure most of you know by now that IFPC was NOT successful in “reclaiming” the Des Moines schools!  Voters across Des Moines averted IFPC’s efforts with an amazing turnout (about twice as many as last year).

The children, families, staff, schools, district and democracy won!

On September 18 the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa sent out a fundraising e-mail, noting with pride that

It’s been a little over a week since the voters in Des Moines resoundingly pushed back the efforts of the religious right to “reclaim” the Des Moines school board.  Thank you for your support and for your help to inform other voters.

My point is that I would caution administrators and school board members not to conclude that the voting public are mostly satisfied with the Des Moines Public Schools. They may have supported incumbents for different reasons. If so, they may not be in a hurry to punish Narcisse next year.

Speaking of Des Moines residents who feel poorly served by the public schools, I support David Yepsen’s proposal to move away from at-large elections for seats on the Des Moines school board:

Winners who come out of individual districts have to listen to their constituents and work with winners from other districts to get things for their own. Out of that political process, everyone benefits.

At-large elections haven’t worked in the Des Moines schools. Instead, some neighborhoods feel left out. Huge majorities from one neighborhood can impose leaders on others. This is a particular problem in Des Moines, where for generations, the community has sometimes split into east-side, south-side and west-side factions.

It’s flared up again in our schools because the east-siders and south-siders think the west-siders, who often elect more of the board members, aren’t doing as much for the east-side and south-side schools as they do for their own. Never mind the facts that suggest otherwise – the feeling is there.

Electing board members from districts would help cure it. It would also encourage more people to seek office. As it is now, many qualified people from some neighborhoods don’t run for the board because they figure they have no chance in a citywide election. If candidates had to come out of districts, more new leaders would be tempted to run.

West-siders have dominated the Des Moines school board for a long time. Bringing some balance to the board would reduce tension in the community.

If we’re talking about policy mistakes with disastrous long-term outcomes, it’s hard to top the Iraq War for loss of life and the 2005 energy bill for threats to the planet.

In fact, we could be here all day if we set out to brainstorm all the horrible things to come out of George Bush’s presidency.

But it does seem like the proposed bailout of failing banks is a contender for worst Bush administration proposal ever.

Here are a bunch of links on the subject.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times is updating his blog frequently.

Senator Bernie Sanders: Billions for Bailouts: Who Pays?

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich: What Wall Street Should Be Required to Do, to Get A Blank Check From Taxpayers

Bonddad: This is one of the worst bills to ever be proposed.

Robert Borosage: Financial Crisis: Time for a Citizens’ Plan?

Devilstower: Three Times is Enemy Action

Ian Welsh: How To Bail Out Ordinary Mortgage Holders And Not Just Banks

8ackgr0und N015e wrote a funny piece on one angle of this story that hasn’t received as much attention.

Two of Josh Marshall’s readers ask really good questions.

This post by Matt Stoller includes an excellent statement from Senator Hillary Clinton.

As far as I know, no members of Congress from Iowa have issued public statements about the bailout, but I will post them as they become available.

Or does Sarah Palin sound like a high-school student using big words to fake her way through a college interview?

Remember, this is supposed to be her strong area. According to John McCain, Palin “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.”

When you think of the competent Republican women (like former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman or Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas) whom McCain passed over to pick Palin, it is quite amazing.

Barack Obama may be crushing John McCain in Iowa, but that is no excuse for you to slack off.

In July I wrote about five reasons to get involved in state legislative races. My reasoning was:

 1.  The 2010 census looms, to be followed by redrawing Congressional districts in most states.

  2. Many policy matters are determined at the state level.

  3. Getting progressive Democrats elected to state legislatures will build our bench for future House, Senate or gubernatorial races.

  4. You probably can find a competitive statehouse race near you, no matter where you live.

  5. Your individual actions are more likely to make a difference in a statehouse race.

In addition to donating directly to good state legislators and legislative candidates, I give to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which supports statehouse candidates across the country.

I was pleased to learn on Friday that the DLCC is accepting nominations for candidates to be included in its “40 essential races” program.

Dear [firstname]:

It is no easy task to pinpoint a handful of essential candidates among the thousands of competitive legislative races this year, but that is exactly is what we at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee intend to do over the next three weeks.

Using the information and resources we’ve gathered so far this cycle, we will identify 40 candidates in top races all across the country who need help in this election. For our part, we will provide these candidates with strategic support and promote their races among our partners and allies.

We also know that there are plenty of strong Democrats throughout the country with the potential to win important districts whose races are just emerging — so we are asking for your help to find them.

While we reveal the list of our targets, we will also accept nominations for an additional 10 candidates to go on our essential races list. Please submit a name:

http://www.dlcc.org/action/200…

And while you’re on our site, will you also take a minute to make a contribution of $25 or more?

Every dollar that you give will go directly into taking the fight to the Republicans who want to control our state houses. With your help, we will elect leaders who won’t let the GOP pass their radical policy agendas or redraw districts to create a permanent conservative majority. Can you support us today?

http://www.dlcc.org/action/con…

The DLCC is committed to electing Democratic majorities all across the country, but in order to win in competitive states, we need support from friends like you.

Thank you for all that you do,

Michael Sargeant

Executive Director

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee

I asked someone at the DLCC whether these “essential races” will mostly feature challengers or incumbents. I was told that most of the targeted races involve Democratic challengers trying to take Republican-held seats. However, some will be incumbents, and some will be challengers trying to hold Democratic seats.

I encourage progressives to get informed about the key races in your state, then go to the DLCC site and nominate the candidate of your choice for this program.

For example, strong Democratic challengers seeking Republican-held seats in Iowa include Jerry Sullivan in Iowa House district 59 and Swati Dandekar in Senate district 18 (both seats are open because of Republican retirements).

A good candidate trying to hold the open Iowa House district 29 is Nate Willems, a former regional director for Howard Dean and occasional contributor to MyDD.

Incumbents being targeted this year in Iowa include Eric Palmer in House district 75, Elesha Gayman in House district 84,  and Tom Rielly in Senate district 38.

Please let the good candidates in your state or region know about the DLCC program.

You can also set up your own ActBlue page to raise money for your favorite candidates, whether or not they are named an “essential race” by the DLCC. Century of the Common Iowan blogger noneed4thneed created this page to support Tim Hoy in House district 44, Sharon Steckman in House district 13, Gayman, Palmer, and Sullivan.

Vox Populi provides information about three good Indiana House candidates on this ActBlue page.

Remember, even if your state is not competitive in the presidential campaign and your representatives in Congress are safe incumbents, you can probably find a swing statehouse district not far from where you live.

We can’t afford to neglect those down-ticket races. Donate, volunteer, and spread the word.

A new Research 2000 Iowa poll for the Quad-City Times shows Barack Obama beating John McCain by 53 percent to 39 percent. Obama’s lead among independents is 55-37.

Two days ago, Survey USA released an Iowa poll that found Obama ahead 54-43 (which I discussed here). Before that, CNN/Time and Selzer and Associates for the Des Moines Register also found Obama to be above 50 percent in Iowa, with McCain at least 10 points behind.

Get active with one of our down-ticket Democratic campaigns. We have a great opportunity to elect more Democrats on Obama’s coat-tails.  

The big event of the week will be the first presidential debate this Friday. You can sign up to attend or host one of the debate watching parties being organized by Democracy for America by clicking here.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that early voting starts in Iowa on September 25. Last week I gave some reasons to vote early, and Justus wrote a more comprehensive piece on the subject at BooMan Tribune. Remember, it was early voting that put Al Gore over the top in Iowa in 2000.

Please post a comment or send me an e-mail (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com) if you know of an event I’ve left out.

Sunday, September 21:

Rob Hubler will be at the Monona County Democrats Annual Fall Rally at 4:30 p.m. in the Onawa Community Center.

One Iowa is holding a campaign training session for volunteers from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at the University of Northern Iowa, Mauker Union – Presidential Room in Cedar Falls. For more info, go to http://www.oneiowa.org.

Tuesday, September 23:

Humanities Iowa and Trees Forever are hosting Voices From The Prairie, an Iowa Writers’ Celebration September 23rd, 7 pm at the Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines, Iowa. Our theme this year is “Mixing Sun and Shade” as we explore how the prairie meets the forest. Our featured authors are John T. Price and Debra Marquart, both will discuss environmental issues and be available for questions. This event is free. fmi: Humanities Iowa, dana-mcgillin@uiowa.edu, or steve@southslope.net

One Iowa is holding a campaign training session for volunteers from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Mason City Library Learning Center, 225 Second St. SE in Mason City. For more info, go to http://www.oneiowa.org.

Wednesday, September 24:

From the Sierra Club e-mail list:

Please attend a forum on

Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund

The first two forums are this week–see the entire list of meetings below.

Grinnell  9/24/08 @ 6:30 pmOld Glove Factory,  733 Broad St. (part of

Grinnell College)

Independence  9/25/08 @ 6:30 PMHeartland Acres (the big, barn-like building

on the west side of Independence off HWY 20)

The Sustainable Funding Coalition, a diverse group of Iowa organizations (including Sierra Club, TNC, INHF, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Iowa

Farmers Union, Izaak Walton League, Environment Iowa, Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Rivers Revival, etc.) that works for sustainable conservation funding, is sponsoring a series of candidate forums on the proposed Natural

Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. […]

About the Fund: The proposed Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund would provide a permanent funding source to support efforts to improve and preserve Iowa’s water quality, soils, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation opportunities.

To create the fund, proposed legislation mandates that 3/8ths of a cent from state sales tax revenue will be appropriated for the Trust Fund the next

time the Iowa legislature approves a sales tax increase. The Sustainable Funding Coalition hopes to pass Trust Fund legislation during Iowa’s 2009

legislative session.  NOTE: This bill does not raise taxes, nor does it give voters the ability to raise the sales tax-only the legislature can do that.

Trees Forever will host a symposium entitled “Leading the Way to Greener Communities – Where Culture, Economy and the Environment Grow Together” on Wednesday, Sept 24. The event will be held from 8 AM to 4 PM at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, located at 10th & Walnut in Des Moines. The symposium will explore the economic, cultural and environmental benefits of trees and green spaces in an urban setting, public policies on green infrastructure, and other timely topics. Special guest speakers for the day include Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment, and Alice Ewen Walker, Executive Director of the National Alliance for Community Trees. The cost of the Trees Forever 2008 Symposium event is $25 for Trees Forever members or $35 for non-members, and includes lunch and refreshments. Advance registration is requested. For more information, or to register, log on to www.TreesForever.org or call 1-800-369-1269.

The Center on Sustainable Communities is organizing another Demo Home Workshop:

Join COSC and USGBC Iowa Chapter at our Foundations & Basements On-Site workshop on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Des Moines affordable green demonstration home site – 1347 Forest Avenue in the King-Irving Neighborhood. A CHDC (Community Housing Development Corporation) project, this is the second in our series of hands-on workshops at the affordable green demonstration homes in the Des Moines metro area.

A big thanks to the funding supporters of these demonstration home workshops:

   * Greater Des Moines Community Foundation

   * Principal Financial Group Foundation

   * Iowa Department of Natural Resources

   * Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

   * MidAmerican Energy

For more details visit www.icosc.com

RSVP by Monday, Sept. 22nd to Emily at Emily@icosc.com or 515-277-6222.

Thursday, September 25:

There will be a 60th Birthday Celebration and annual pasta dinner for Secretary of State Michael Mauro. Please join Michael and his family to celebrate! Thursday, September 25, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., A. H. Blank Golf Course, SW 9th & County Line Rd. Suggested Donation: $20 (note from desmoinesdem: We all owe Mauro our thanks for his efforts to get rid of paperless voting machines in Iowa. Kick in a few bucks for his birthday if you can.)

One Iowa is holding a campaign training session for volunteers from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at a location to be determined in Ames. For more info, go to http://www.oneiowa.org.

Also on Thursday, Sep 25, beginning at 6:30 p.m., learn about current, proposed conservation legislation and priorities of legislators and candidates, during a regional Candidates Conservation Forum in Independence, Iowa. Information will be presented on current and proposed state legislation to protect and enhance natural resources and the environment. Legislative candidates from a four-county area will be invited to speak about their priorities for legislation and answer questions from the public. The Forum will be held at the Heartland Acres Event Center, 2600 Swan Lake Blvd, in Independence, and is sponsored by the Conservation Board; Buchanan, Black Hawk, Benton and Fayette County Chapters of Pheasants Forever; Buchanan County Extension; the Friends of Hartman Reserve Nature Center, Tallgrass Prairie Center, and other conservation groups in the four-county region. There is no cost to attend.

Friday, September 26:

The first presidential debate will be televised at 8:00 pm central time. Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor and Anchor of The NewsHour on PBS will moderate at Ole Miss college in Oxford, Mississippi.

Saturday, September 27:

From a friend in Johnson County:

Saturday, September 27 is National Public Lands Day and Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is again looking for volunteers to help restore their 81-acre tallgrass prairie.

National Public Lands Day, is the annual nation-wide volunteer restoration effort for America’s public lands. This year’s work will

include cutting down shrubs and collecting or planting prairie seeds. Volunteers who work at Herbert Hoover NHS will be rewarded with a pass

good for free entry any day during the next year at public land sites managed by the National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Volunteers interested in getting hands-on experience with our natural resources on September 27 should contact Adam Prato at (319) 643-7855 by

Friday, September 26. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable work clothes. Work gloves and tools will be provided. Water, sunscreen,

sunglasses, and hats are recommended. Meet at the Visitor Center at 8:30 a.m. for an orientation and to get signed up. Work in the prairie will be from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

From a friend in Pella:

Women may be interested in Bodies in Focus, a day-long workshop for small groups of women, centering on my fine art professional photographic exhibit of REAL naked women.  The goal of our time together is for us all to move one step closer to     living more intensely as a body.  The workshop is for participant health. The photographed women and I want to share a unique and life-altering experience with portraiture, within a safe community. Ultimately, our gathering together will itself be transformational. The workshop will include exhibit viewing and thoughtful group discussion of being bodies (sharing is always optional).  Please plan to stay all day. You will be a group of up to 12 women, and so continuity of PRESENCE will be vital. Please stay for lunchtime,   as well, resisting the call to run errands.

WHEN: – We’ll meet on Saturday September 27, 2008 at 10:00 to 3:00, with an hour-long lunch included.

WHERE: –  My house: 900 Independence Street; Pella, IA  50219  (Located on the corner of Independence and West First Street)

FOOD: –  The lunch will be vegetarian (non-vegan). Please eat lunch here. Tell me if you have special dietary needs.

FEE    –  $65: Includes workshop and lunch. Please pay prior to the workshop. Bartering is an option.

Please RSVP to Rhonda (641) 621-0171

Sunday, September 28:

From the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation:

You’re invited to an open house honoring Erwin “Erv” Klaas, the 2008 winner of the Hagie Heritage Award!

Please join us in celebrating this conservation hero.

Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008

2:30-4:00 p.m. Open house with refreshments

3:00 p.m. Short program and award presentation

Story County Nature Center, McFarland Park

56461 180th Street, Ames

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation presents the Hagie Heritage Award annually to a person with extraordinary service and commitment to Iowa’s environment. Learn about Erv’s outstanding conservation work at www.inhf.org/hagie2008-klaas.htm

For directions to the event, call the Story County Conservation Board at 515-232-2516.

For more information, call INHF at 515-288-1846 or e-mail us at info@inhf.org .

From the Polk County Conservation Board:

A-mazing Prairie Festival

September 28, Polk County

Gather the entire family and join us 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., at the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt Longhouse, to play and explore a 14-acre prairie maze. A walk through this maze will not only challenge your navigation and problem-solving skills, but will educate you about our natural heritage as well. Free canoe floats, a raptor release, music from the Barn Owl Band, dog training demonstrations, education programs, and hayrack tours will take place throughout the day. This special event is free to the public. For directions, go online to http://www.conservationboard.o…

One Iowa is holding a campaign training session for volunteers from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at the Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St. For more info, go to http://www.oneiowa.org.

Monday, September 29:

There will be a fundraiser in Des Moines for Rob Hubler, with a minimum suggested donation of $100. If you are interested, please contact Katrina at 712-352-2077 or katrina AT hublercongress.com

From the Iowa Environmental Council:

Projects WILD/WILD Aquatic/Learning Tree On-line Course, Starting September 29, Internet

This nine-week on-line class (9/29/08 – 11/30/08) introduces students to the national, award-winning Projects WILD, WILD Aquatic, and Learning Tree activity guides as well as Iowa supplements that provide additional background information and resources. All materials are correlated to National Education Standards. Participants are required to spend 3 hours per week on-line completing assignments. Participants should be comfortable navigating web pages. A majority of the course materials are provided on a CD. For more information, contact Shannon Hafner, Aquatic Education Program, Iowa DNR, 641/ 747-2051, Shannon.Hafner@dnr.iowa.gov

Survey USA becomes the third pollster (after CNN/Time and Selzer and Associates for the Des Moines Register) to find Barack Obama above 50 percent in Iowa, with a double-digit lead over John McCain. The poll found Obama ahead 54-43:

Among women, Obama leads by 20 points; among men, Obama and McCain tie.

Among voters younger than Barack Obama, Obama leads by 15. Among voters older than John McCain, Obama leads by 9. Among voters who are in-between the two candidates’ ages, Obama leads by 7.

Among white voters — 95% of Iowa’s likely voters — Obama leads by 8 points.

11% of Republicans cross over to vote for Obama; 8% of Democrats cross over to vote for McCain; Independents break for Obama by 9 points.

John McCain leads among Republicans, conservatives, those who attend church regularly, pro-life voters, those focused on terrorism, among the 16% of likely voters who say they may yet change their mind, and in Southwest Iowa. Obama is slightly ahead in Northwest Iowa and leads by double digits in the northeast and southeast portions of the state.

Yes, the Big Ten Battleground States poll showing Obama and McCain tied in Iowa is an outlier.

I’m thinking the McCain/Palin rally in Cedar Rapids on Thursday is the last we will see of the Republican ticket before November. We may get another visit from Joe Biden, but I doubt Obama is going to spend any more time in Iowa before the election either.

Side note: Rob Hubler and Becky Greenwald have to be encouraged by the news that Obama is slightly ahead in northwest Iowa and far ahead in northeast Iowa.

If you’re worried about the direction of energy policy under a President Barack Obama, as I am, you will not be comforted by the news I just learned from Bleeding Heartland user Renewable Rich. MidAmerican Energy, which is part of Warren Buffett’s empire, is buying Constellation Energy, which among other things operates nuclear power plants. One of the articles Renewable Rich linked to notes:

This deal also brings nuclear energy to Berkshire’s utility empire for the first time, an area where Buffett has professed great interest. Constellation operates a highly efficient fleet of plants and has plans to build several more. The merger effectively allies Berkshire with French nuclear giant Electricite de France-which owns 10 percent of Constellation-and its nuclear construction partner, French government-backed Areva. The pair has plans to build four advanced reactors in the US, and joining their interests to Buffett’s deep pockets could accelerate their development.

Obama has already said he is open to expanding nuclear power in the U.S., and I’m sure Warren Buffett will have his ear.

This is not good news for those of us who share the position of the Union of Concerned Scientists regarding nuclear power.

Before people start posting angry comments, let me assure you that I understand Obama’s energy policy as a whole would be much better than McCain’s. I still worry about Obama’s support for nuclear power and so-called “clean coal.” Those stands were the main reason that Friends of the Earth Action endorsed John Edwards last fall and not Obama.

It’s shaping up to be a perfect weekend in Iowa, and you never know when the weather will turn. Why not get outside today? If you want to do something useful with your time, this weekend would be perfect for knocking on doors on behalf of the Democrat of your choice.

There are also some wonderful orchards to visit. We like the Wills Family Orchard in Dallas County, where you can pick your own pumpkins and buy organic fresh apples.

Or, just enjoy a public park or trail. Mr. desmoinesdem took the kids around the Gray’s Lake trail in Des Moines yesterday. They all had a great time and saw plenty of wildlife, including a blue heron.

I’ve written before about the “nature-deficit disorder” among American children who rarely play outside.

On Thursday the House of Representatives passed a bill to provide for more hands-on outdoor environmental education in schools. The Sierra Club welcomed the action:

September 18, 2008

Contact: David Willett, 202-675-6698

House Votes to Get Kids Outside

Bill Would Create New Opportunities for Environmental Education

Washington, D.C.-Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted to expand and improve the opportunities for children and adolescents to learn about and experience the natural world. Hands-on outdoor environmental education offers an opportunity to improve academic performance in our schools and provides a solution for reversing the trends of childhood obesity and “nature deficit disorder” that are afflicting a generation.

“Today’s vote signifies a new national commitment to youth and the environment. Right now children are spending their days inside and their evenings and weekends plugged into electronic media,” says Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. “They are missing out on the daily childhood joy of playing outside that their parents’ took for granted just twenty years ago.”

Research shows that when children spend time outdoors, they are more physically active, engage in more creative forms of play and are better focused. Environmental education contributes to significant improvements in academic performance and motivation to learn. It also leads to student gains in problem-solving skills, conflict resolution abilities, and self-esteem. Opportunities for youth to get outdoors to exercise, play and experience their natural world are critical to help prevent obesity, alleviate symptoms of attention deficit disorders and address other related health problems.

The No Child Left Inside Act of 2008, HR 3036

The No Child Left Inside Act of 2008, sponsored by John P. Sarbanes (D-MD) along with sixty-four co-sponsors, would support local and statewide efforts to expand and improve environmental education for K-12 public schools. This legislation would provide needed support to States to develop scientifically sound curriculum, train teachers, and ensure students are environmentally literate upon high school graduation.

“Today’s youth will be asked to tackle severe environmental challenges as adults, yet American children are not being provided with the foundation needed to address these challenges,” says Pope. “Environmental education today will provide the foundation necessary for tomorrow’s workforce to effectively address real world environmental challenges.”

But if you’ve got kids, you don’t need to wait for Congress to act. Take advantage of beautiful days like today and get your family outside.

I missed this story yesterday, but Becky Greenwald has her first television ad up on the air now. It briefly mentions her roots in the district and experience as well as her priorities on economic policy.

Last Friday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added IA-04 to its “Emerging Races” list, and this Tuesday, EMILY’s List endorsed Greenwald. Going up on television more than six weeks before the election is another sign that Greenwald’s fundraising has been strong these past few months.

Incumbent Tom Latham has a big war chest, but as far as I know, he has not been running any television ads. I know he ran at least one statewide radio ad this summer.

Anybody in the fourth district heard more from Latham on tv or radio?

Note: I have included information about a couple of upcoming public events featuring Congressman Steve King. If you have a videocamera and some free time, please consider going to see if he has anything particularly offensive to say.

If you would be willing to show up outside the event wearing a chicken suit representing King’s refusal to debate Rob Hubler, please e-mail me at desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com. There may be a chicken suit you could borrow.

Fewer than 50 days remain before the election. If you haven’t done so already, contact the campaign offices of your local statehouse candidate or Congressional candidate, or one of the Obama field offices in Iowa (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/iaoffices) to find out what kind of help they need from volunteers.

Remember, if you are not comfortable calling strangers on the phone or knocking on strangers’ doors, there are many other ways volunteers can help.

Post a comment or send me an e-mail if I’ve left out any important events.

Friday, September 19:

From the Obama campaign in Iowa:

Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner to Campaign in Iowa on Behalf of Obama Campaign

Governor Minner will hold events in Knoxville and Ames to talk about the Obama-Biden plans to bring America the change we need

Des Moines, Iowa – On Friday, September 19th, 2008, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner will visit Iowa to talk to Iowans about the Obama-Biden plans to ensure fairness and economic security for Iowa’s working women.   Gov. Minner will hold a brown bag lunch in Knoxville and a meet and greet in Ames.

Since taking office in 2001, Gov. Minner has worked to get things done in Delaware by improving schools, preserving and protecting the environment, improving health care and fighting cancer, and creating and keeping jobs.

Beginning her political career in 1974, Gov. Minner served four terms in the state House of Representatives (1974-1982), and served three terms in the state Senate (1982-1993). She served as Delaware’s Lieutenant Governor from 1993 until 2001. Gov. Minner became the 72nd governor and the first female governor of the state of Delaware on January 3, 2001.

The details of the events are:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2008

12:00 PM CDT

Women’s Brown Bag Lunch with Governor Ruth Ann Minner

Coffee Connection

213 E Main St., #2

Knoxville, Iowa

6:00 PM CDT

Women’s Meet and Greet with Governor Ruth Ann Minner

Legend’s American Grill

119 Stanton Ave

7th floor in the Legacy Suite

Ames, Iowa

Saturday, September 20:

A little bird told me:

Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. will host a grand opening celebration at its ethanol plant in Superior, Iowa, on Saturday, September 20, 2008. The festivities will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and include food and refreshments courtesy of local livestock producers. Congressman Steve King will speak at a dedication ceremony, which begins at noon. Attendees will also have the opportunity to take guided tours of the plant.

Superior is between Spirit Lake and Estherville.  If you are in the area, you might want to pack up your video camera and show.

The Iowa Citizen Action Network is participating in a nationwide canvassing effort to knock on a million doors for peace. MoveOn.org is also involved with this effort. If you’ve got two hours to spare on Saturday, you can sign up to get a list of 40 new or infrequent voters in your neighborhood. You can do this individually wherever you live, or sign up to join groups that will be meeting in Des Moines, Ames and Waterloo. More details are after the jump.  Contact ICAN Organizer Sue Dinsdale at sdinsdale@iowacan.org or 515-277-5077 ext. 14 or go to milliondoorsforpeace.org

From the Obama campaign:

Des Moines, Iowa – On Saturday, September 20th, 2008, Congressman Leonard Boswell will hold an event in Newton as part of the Obama Iowa Campaign for Change’s “Iowa Economic Security Tour.”

The future of our nation’s economy is a focal point in this election, and Congressman Boswell will highlight the differences between the Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin economic plans. This week, Governor Culver and economist Dean Baker kicked off the tour with events in Davenport, Ottumwa and Des Moines.

On the very same day Lehman Brothers collapsed and our stock market was in a freefall this week, John McCain once again declared, “The fundamentals of our economy are strong.”  Really?

“This statement ignores the realities Americans are facing every day,” said Obama Iowa state director Jackie Norris.  “Our country has lost more than 600,000 jobs this year and is averaging nearly 10,000 foreclosures a day.  The fundamentals of our economy are anything but strong, and we need a president who understands that fact.  Barack Obama will cut taxes for middle class families by three times as much as McCain, create good paying jobs by investing in Iowa renewable energies and end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.”      

Over the coming weeks, the campaign will host events across Iowa where elected officials, community leaders and policy advisers will talk about Senator Obama’s plan to make our economy work for middle class families and Senator McCain’s plan to give Americans four more years of Bush economic policies that favor big corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

The details are:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH, 2008

4:00 PM CDT

Economic Security Tour event with Congressman Leonard Boswell

Obama Iowa Campaign for Change office

207 1st Ave. W

Newton, Iowa

 

From the Sierra Club:

Why our Modern Food System is Not Sustainable

September 20, Ames area

Join us on Saturday, September 20, as we celebrate together the efforts and achievements of fellow Iowa Sierrans and conservation activists at the Story County Conservation Center in McFarland Park north of Ames. Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will be the featured speaker. His presentation, “Why our Modern Food System is not Sustainable,” will offer Fred’s unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities we face in balancing an agricultural economy with the protection of our natural heritage. The banquet begins with a social time and silent auction at 11:00 a.m. followed at noon by lunch, Dr. Kirschenmann and an awards ceremony. There are also opportunities to hike the many trails in the park. The event will be catered by renowned Lucallan’s Restaurant, featuring local foods. The cost is $35 per person.

Please RSVP to Neila Seaman, 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280, Des Moines, Iowa, 50310 or Iowa.chapter@sierraclub.org or 515-277-8868.

The Latino Heritage Festival runs Saturday and Sunday in Blank Park on SW 9th by the Zoo in Des Moines. The Polk County Democrats need volunteers to help with the booth, especially anyone who speaks Spanish.  Ideally, we would like to have at least one Spanish speaking person on every shift. The hours are 11am to 7pm Saturday, September 20th and 11am to 7pm Sunday, September 21st.  Any time you are available to help during those hours would be appreciated.  To volunteer, please call Tamyra at 515-285-1800.

Johnson County Heritage Trust Autumn Celebration

The 2nd annual “Under a Cider Moon . . . a Celebration of Autumn with the Johnson County Heritage Trust” fundraising event will be held Saturday, September 20, at 6 p.m at Dick Schwab’s round barn located at 2501 Sugar Bottom Road near Solon, Iowa.  There will be a live and silent auction, live music and local food and beverages. Proceeds will assist JCHT identify, preserve and manage land with significant environmental value in Johnson County.  For additional information visit www.jcht.org or call 1-319-857-4741.  RSVP today by mailing your check or donation to Johnson County Heritage Trust, P. O. Box 2523, Iowa City, Iowa 522440-2523 or by calling credit card information to 1-319-857-4741.

This would be a good place for someone in a chicken suit to stand outside with a sign asking Steve King why he’s afraid to debate Rob Hubler:

Gov. Pawlenty is headed to Iowa this weekend to keynote the Polk County GOP Dinner. Here’s the release from the Iowa GOP:

Pawlenty to headline GOPfest ’08

(Des Moines) — The Polk County GOP has released details for GOPfest ’08, their annual informal fundraiser. This year’s event will be headlined by  Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

GOPfest ’08 will take place on Saturday, September 20th at 7 Flags Event Center, 2100 NW 100 St in Clive. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with dinner service beginning at 6 p.m. Entertainment will provided by the Sunny Humbucker Band.

Speakers for GOPfest ’08 will include Polk County Chairman Ted Sporer, U.S. House candidate Kim Schmett, U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Reed and 5th District Congressman Steve King. Governor Pawlenty is expected to make his keynote remarks at 7:30 p.m.

“We are very pleased to have Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty come to Polk County for GOPfest ’08,” Sporer said. “Governor Pawlenty is one of the nationally recognized figures in the new generation of Republican leadership and GOPfest is a great opportunity for the people of central Iowa to see and meet him.”

The event is open to the public and tickets can be reserved by email at  ExDir@polkgop.com or by calling 515-280-6438. Cost is $25 for adults, $15 for students and children five years or under admitted free.

The Big Ten Battleground Poll released today shows Barack Obama and John McCain virtually tied in Iowa, with Obama at 42.7 percent and McCain at 42 percent when leaners are not added, and Obama and McCain both at 44.8 percent with leaners.

I am not buying it.

It’s not just that Selzer and Associates, which has an excellent track record in Iowa, released a poll four days ago showing Obama ahead 52-40. It’s not just that CNN/Time released a poll two weeks ago showing Obama ahead 55-40.

It’s the fact that according to a commenter at MyDD who has dug into the methodology, the Big Ten Battleground polls did not weight the data according to turnout projections.

The reason Ann Selzer was right about the Iowa caucuses was that she weighted the results to reflect the record turnout she expected (about 60 percent of caucus-goers being first-time caucus-goers).

The Big Ten Battleground poll supposedly has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent, but not weighting the results to reflect likely turnout of various demographic groups could introduce far more bias than that.

To cite one egregious example, this Virginia poll showing McCain ahead by 9 points was not weighted for race. As a result, it assumes that black voters will comprise less than 10 percent of the electorate in November.

Despite the fact that blacks were approximately 20 percent of voters in Virginia in November 2004, when John Kerry did nothing to target the state.

Despite the fact that the current Democratic nominee is black and is targeting Virginia with 35 field offices.

It’s worthless to even release a Virginia presidential poll with such ridiculous assumptions regarding turnout.

I suspect that the Big Ten Iowa poll has some similar erroneous assumption, perhaps underestimating Democratic or youth turnout.

On the other hand, I hope the McCain/Palin campaign starts spending lots of time and money in Iowa, hoping that we are a swing state. That will be pouring resources down a sinkhole for them.

cross-posted at La Vida Locavore

I decided to start a series on cooking seasonal food. Eating fruits and vegetables when they are in season reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food from across the country or around the world.

More important, fresh food in season tastes better and retains more vitamins. Plus, if you buy directly from a farmer or farmer’s market, you are supporting your local economy.

It’s also more satisfying to eat the first asparagus or broccoli or potatoes or whatever of the season, because you’ve waited months for them.

I belong to a CSA (that stands for community-supported agriculture), and last week I got a large kohlrabi in my box. The easiest thing to do with kohlrabi is to peel it, dice it and add it to any stir-fry dish for crunch.

However, I have found a couple of recipes I prefer. One comes from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, which is so comprehensive that it has four kohlrabi recipes. If you don’t already own this book, you should go out and find a copy.

The other is my own soup recipe for kohlrabi with caraway, which I adapted from a recipe in the New Covent Garden Soup Company’s Book of Soups book.

Adventurous eaters, join me after the jump.

John McCain and Sarah Palin will hold a rally at the Eastern Iowa Airport outside Cedar Rapids this morning at 10:00 am.

Somehow I doubt they will address any of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius’s five questions for McCain.

Apparently the Q&A didn’t go too well at a McCain/Palin town hall meeting yesterday:

Asked for “specific skills” she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, “I am prepared.”

“I have that confidence. I have that readiness,” Palin said. “And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play ‘stump the candidate’ if you want to. But we are ready to serve.”

GOP presidential nominee John McCain stepped in, pointing out that as governor of a state that is oil and gas plentiful, Palin was familiar with energy. She knows it to be “one of our great national security challenges,” he said.

He also cited her nearly two years as commander of Alaska’s National Guard. “I believe she is absolutely, totally qualified to address every challenge as the next vice president of the United States,” McCain said.

McCain frequently says Palin knows more about energy than anyone else in America, even though she has falsely claimed many times that Alaska provides 20 percent of the energy produced in the U.S. In fact, Alaska doesn’t even provide 20 percent of U.S. oil.

This is an open thread for discussing the Cedar Rapids rally or any other McCain/Palin related news.

UPDATE: The Des Moines Register is carrying the live video here.

After the jump you can read a statement from Jan Laue, Executive Vice-President of the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

SECOND UPDATE: I only caught bits and pieces, but apparently McCain and Palin were hammering Joe Biden for supposedly saying that raising taxes is patriotic. Not surprisingly, they distort what he really said, which is that it would be patriotic for the wealthiest Americans to do their part by paying more taxes:

“We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people,” Biden said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Noting that wealthier Americans would indeed pay more, Biden said: “It’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”

On a trivial note, I was pretty sure I heard the Boy Scout leader or whoever he was flub the Pledge of Allegiance toward the beginning of the rally (I think he said “one nation, under God, individual”). If that happened at an Obama rally it would be the day’s top scandal on right-wing talk radio: Democrats don’t know the pledge!!

I’ve never understood why Republicans think this country is worth dying for, but it’s not worth raising taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent.

THIRD UPDATE: I highly recommend John Deeth’s liveblog of this event, which includes lots of photos.

I also enjoyed Radio Iowa’s write-up, especially this passage:

I look up, about five minutes into McCain’s address and see a steady stream of people walking out of the rally.  They just came to see Palin apparently.

I give a lot of credit to the West Des Moines Valley High School students who have started a support group for peers planning to abstain from sex. Probably most high school students are not ready for sexual intimacy, but few would be willing to admit it like the teenagers who participate in this group.

However, I hope that these Valley students, along with all teenagers who take virginity pledges, still receive medically-accurate and comprehensive sex education.

A study released by the National Institutes of Health in 2001 showed mixed results for virginity pledges:

Teens who pledged to remain a virgin until marriage began sexual activity much later than their peers who did not take such a pledge, according to an analysis of data from a study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and several other Federal agencies. On average, teens who took a public or written pledge to remain abstinent until marriage delayed having sex about one-third longer than comparable teens who had not pledged, the analysis showed. However, the effectiveness of pledging depended on the student’s age. Among older teens (18 and older), pledging had no effect. Among 16 and 17 year olds, pledgers delayed sex significantly compared to non-pledgers. Among the youngest teens, the effect of pledging depended strongly on the social environment of the teen’s school.

Although the analysis showed that pledgers delayed sexual intercourse, it also indicated that among those teens who eventually did begin to have intercourse, pledgers were less likely to use contraception than were non-pledgers. […]

The researchers found that the effectiveness of pledging among the youngest teens depended on the characteristics of their school. In socially “open” schools – those in which students had a large number of friends and romantic ties outside the school – the effectiveness of pledging increased with the number of students who pledged. In fact, each one percent increase in the proportion of students pledging resulted in a two percent increase in delaying sexual intercourse. Pledgers appeared to need the social support of fellow pledgers in order to remain abstinent.

The researchers observed a very different effect in socially “closed” schools. In these schools – where most friendships and romantic ties occur within the school – a higher percentage of pledgers actually decreased the pledge’s effectiveness. If comparatively few adolescents in these schools pledged, pledging was effective in delaying sexual intercourse. However, if 30 percent or more of the students pledged, pledgers were no more likely to delay sexual intercourse than were non-pledgers.

I have no idea whether Valley would be considered an “open” or “closed” school. It is so large that presumably most students have friends within the school. However, when I was at Valley in the 1980s, a significant number of students had friends at other high schools whom they knew through church groups or extracurricular activities.

Whether or not Valley’s social networks tend to remain within the school, it is critical for the abstinence pledgers to understand how to protect themselves whenever they do decide to have sexual relationships. An eight-year study released in 2005 also underscored this point:

Teenagers who take virginity pledges — public declarations to abstain from sex — are almost as likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease as those who never made the pledge, an eight-year study released yesterday found.

Although young people who sign a virginity pledge delay the initiation of sexual activity, marry at younger ages and have fewer sexual partners, they are also less likely to use condoms and more likely to experiment with oral and anal sex, said the researchers from Yale and Columbia universities.

“The sad story is that kids who are trying to preserve their technical virginity are, in some cases, engaging in much riskier behavior,” said lead author Peter S. Bearman, a professor at Columbia’s Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy. “From a public health point of view, an abstinence movement that encourages no vaginal sex may inadvertently encourage other forms of alternative sex that are at higher risk of STDs.”

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa’s website has tons of information and links for teenagers here.

The topics covered include developing sexuality, preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases, as well as this page on why “It’s OK to say, ‘No Way!’” to teen sex.

This notice from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources was circulated on the Sierra Club’s Iowa topics e-mail list:

MEMBERS SOUGHT FOR BRUSHY CREEK TRAIL ADVISORY BOARD

Hikers, bikers and horseback riders interested in protecting, preserving and enhancing the trail system at Brushy Creek Recreation Area are being encouraged to serve on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Brushy Creek Trail Advisory Board.

The 10-member Trail Advisory Board is responsible for advising the DNR on issues and recommendations regarding the development and maintenance of 45 miles of trails at Brushy Creek, a popular equestrian and multi-use recreation area located near Lehigh in Webster County.  The board meets

twice per year, in the spring and fall.

The DNR is looking for qualified applicants who actively participate in recreational trail activities, from hiking, bicycling and horseback riding to snowmobiling and cross country skiing.  There are currently seven board positions open, each serving a three-year term.

For more information about the board or becoming a member of the board, go to www.iowadnr.gov/bcreek/index.html .  The form for serving on the board can be found in the middle of the page.

Deadline for applications for the upcoming three-year term will be 4:30 p.m., Friday Oct. 3.

Since late August, Republicans have been trying to appropriate Barack Obama’s change and reform message, branding the John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket as a team of “mavericks” out to fix Washington’s bad ways.

During the past week, the Obama campaign has stepped up its efforts to highlight McCain’s ties to powerful lobbyists, in order to show that he would implement “more of the same” policies as president.

The first ad, which you can view here, begins with a clip from McCain on September 4, telling the GOP convention crowd, “It’s over! It’s over for the special interests!”

An announcer then says,

“Wait a second. John McCain’s chief adviser lobbies for oil companies, even from Russia and China. His campaign manager lobbies for corporations outsourcing American jobs. The campaign chairman he picked last year — a bank lobbyist. If seven of McCain’s top advisers are lobbyists, who do you think will run his White House? John McCain. We just can’t afford more of the same.”

The Obama campaign just launched a new ad this week focusing on lobbyists as they related to failed economic policies:

BARACK: I’m Barack Obama and I approved this message.

ANNCR: His campaign is run by lobbyists.

Now we find out McCain’s White House will be lobbyist-run too.

McCain just picked a Washington super lobbyist to plan his administration.

A “consummate insider” who lobbies for oil companies. The credit card industry.

Special interests rigging the system

Pushing Bush economics

Corporate special interests rigging the system against hard working Americans…pushing failed Bush economics. Does that sound like change

to you?

We just can’t afford more of the same.

Here in Iowa, State Senator Steve Warnstadt released a report today on McCain doing the bidding of oil industry lobbyists instead of supporting policies to promote renewable energy production in our state:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 17, 2008                                                                

Contact: Brooke Borkenhagen

507-317-4104

SEN. STEVE WARNSTADT RELEASES REPORT ON JOHN MCCAIN’S TIES TO WASHINGTON LOBBYISTS

McCain Puts Lobbyists Ahead of Iowa-Grown Renewable Energy

Sioux City,  IA – On the eve of Sen. John McCain’s visit to  Iowa , State Sen. Steve Warnstadt held a press conference in  Sioux City to release a new report on Sen. McCain’s ties to  Washington lobbyists.  Sen. Warnstadt discussed how McCain’s close ties to oil company lobbyists come at the expense of Iowa-grown renewable energy and hardworking  Iowa families who are struggling with record prices at the pump.

John McCain doesn’t understand that  Iowa is leading our way to energy independence.  Just yesterday, a new blade plant for wind turbines opened in  Newton , creating 500 good-paying jobs in our state. Iowa-produced renewable energy is critical to  Iowa ‘s economy, producing $1,000 of income per  Iowa household, and has created nearly 100,000 jobs throughout the state. John McCain has opposed tax credits to boost the wind energy industry in our state and he has even called  Iowa ethanol “highway robbery.”

This report entitled “No Reformer: McCain Puts Lobbyists First While Americans Struggle,” illustrates that after 26 years in Washington, John McCain means more of the same failed Bush policies that put Exxon Mobil ahead of Iowa-produced renewable energy. John McCain says that he’ll take on the special interests and lobbyists, but eight of his closest advisors and aides are former lobbyists.

“Iowans are struggling with record gas prices and Sen. McCain’s solution is to slash all investment in Iowa-grown ethanol and give $4 billion in tax giveaways to big oil companies,” said State Sen. Steve Warnstadt.  ”  Iowa has seen nearly 1,000 wind energy jobs created in the last year, but McCain has opposed the renewable energy tax credits that helped create them.  That’s not the change we want and deserve.  Iowans can’t afford more of the same.”

To view the full report, click on the following link: http://www.democrats.org/page/…

I find this line of attack easy to grasp, but somewhere I read a piece arguing that low-information voters don’t know what a lobbyist is or what a lobbyist does.

Do you think undecided voters will be swayed by this line of attack against McCain? Or do we need to talk more about the bills he has voted for rather than whom he employs on his campaign?

On September 16, the House of Representatives approved the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act. The vote split 236 to 189, mostly along partisan lines. Iowa Representatives Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack and Leonard Boswell all voted with the Democratic majority in favor of the bill. Tom Latham and Steve King voted with most Republicans against the bill.

You can read the bill summary here.

In essence, this legislation was designed to give Democrats cover on the offshore oil drilling issue. The Democratic majority caved by allowing for more drilling between 50 and 100 miles of the shore. This will do nothing to reduce our reliance on foreign oil or lower the cost of gas, but it will give Democratic incumbents a response as Republican candidates hammer them on how we need to “drill here, drill now.”

To give Democrats cover for caving on offshore drilling, the bill also contains lots of good things, like renewed tax credits for wind and solar power, more investment in public transportation, better energy-efficiency standards, a federal renewable electricity standard (which would require 15 percent of electricity generated in the U.S. to come from renewable sources by 2020). In addition, it would end tax subsidies for large oil and gas companies and ban the export of Alaskan oil.

The Oil Drum blog noted,

It is not too surprising that the oil and gas industry is not in favor of the legislation. The legislation provides for a whole host of benefits, and a big piece of the cost would be paid for by new taxes on oil and gas companies. The off-shore drilling provision could best be described as window dressing.

Unfortunately, these benefits will not happen, because Republicans don’t need to pass a compromise energy bill in order to clear the way for more offshore drilling.

They can just wait for the current ban on offshore drilling to expire on September 30. In past years, Democrats in Congress have fought to extend the ban on offshore drilling, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew she did not have the votes to accomplish that this year. So, the bill will die in the Senate:

The bill faces a very uncertain future. The Senate is set to take up three separate energy bills, which differ sharply from the House measure. The White House issued a veto threat Tuesday, saying the House bill “purports to open access to American energy sources while in reality taking actions to stifle development.”

Senate Republicans may choose to block action on any energy bill and allow the moratorium to expire on Sept. 30. If the drilling ban lapses, the Bush administration could begin the process of preparing oil and gas lease sales in new areas as close as 3 miles offshore.

Pelosi and others talked about their big victory in getting this bill through the House, but that so-called victory won’t amount to much besides allowing Democratic incumbents to tell constituents they voted for offshore drilling.

The hypocrisy of Republicans on this issue is even worse.

Remember when a bunch of House Republicans demanded a special Congressional session this summer to deal with energy policy? Remember when Republican delegates to the GOP national convention chanted, “Drill, baby, drill!”

The Republican majority proved that they are not in favor of a comprehensive energy policy that would reduce oil consumption, promote renewable energy, and take tax breaks away from companies posting record profits this year.

Not only that, some Republicans tried to pass a motion to adjourn to block passage of this bill.

I totally agree with this statement from Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope:

Today, Republicans in the House were given a chance to pull America out of its energy crisis, and they refused. Majority leadership reached across the aisle to offer a package that includes both clean energy provisions and expanded offshore drilling. But supporters of Big Oil dug their heels in, refusing to support a truly comprehensive energy package because it did not do enough to help the oil industry and instead attempted a stunt to force a drill-only approach.

If House Republicans were honestly interested in clean energy, consumer protection, or a crackdown on ethics at federal agencies, they would have supported this package wholeheartedly. Instead, they fought it, proving beyond a doubt that their single, narrow aim is to increase profits for the oil industry.

For months, they have held up clean energy legislation, instead calling for a drill-only policy which will do nothing to lower gas prices, protect consumers, or solve our energy crisis. They have continued to demand that we open more of our nation’s coasts and public lands to drilling, which will lock us into a future of dependence on oil. They have maneuvered to undermine any bill that doesn’t put the oil industry first and hardworking Americans last.

With their latest failed trick, many Republicans in the House confirmed without a doubt that they will not be satisfied until the oil industry has an even tighter grip on our economy.

The full text of Pope’s statement is after the jump.

Though I find this whole episode depressing, it should motivate us to elect Barack Obama and more and better Democrats to Congress. Doing so won’t necessarily bring us a perfect energy policy, but we will certainly see some improvement on the charade we have now.

Barack Obama has released a two-minute ad featuring himself addressing the camera. For some reason I can’t find the embed code now, but you can view the ad here. For most of the ad, a web address where people can read Obama’s full economic plan is visible toward the right of the screen (barackobama.com/plan).

This is the script:

   In the past few weeks, Wall Street’s been rocked as banks closed and markets tumbled. But for many of you – the people I’ve met in town halls, backyards and diners across America – our troubled economy isn’t news. 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Paychecks are flat and home values are falling. It’s hard to pay for gas and groceries and if you put it on a credit card they’ve probably raised your rates. You’re paying more than ever for health insurance that covers less and less.

   This isn’t just a string of bad luck. The truth is that while you’ve been living up to your responsibilities Washington has not. That’s why we need change. Real change. This is no ordinary time and it shouldn’t be an ordinary election. But much of this campaign has been consumed by petty attacks and distractions that have nothing to do with you or how we get America back on track.

   Here’s what I believe we need to do. Reform our tax system to give a $1,000 tax break to the middle class instead of showering more on oil companies and corporations that outsource our jobs. End the ‘anything goes’ culture on Wall Street with real regulation that protects your investments and pensions. Fast track a plan for energy ‘made-in-America’ that will free us from our dependence on mid-east oil in 10 years and put millions of Americans to work. Crack down on lobbyists – once and for all – so their back-room deal-making no longer drowns out the voices of the middle class and undermines our common interests as Americans.

   And yes, bring a responsible end to this war in Iraq so we stop spending billions each month rebuilding their country when we should be rebuilding ours. Doing these things won’t be easy. But we’re Americans. We’ve met tough challenges before. And we can again. I’m Barack Obama. I hope you’ll read my economic plan. I approved this message because bitter, partisan fights and outworn ideas of the left and the right won’t solve the problems we face today. But a new spirit of unity and shared responsibility will.

This seems like a powerful ad to me. I don’t know how many people have the attention span to watch for two minutes, but I feel it’s a nice contrast to the mean-spirited, gimmicky attack ads that are being run against Obama.

I’ll update with the video and a list of states where this ad is running once that is available.

UPDATE: Click here for the 2012 version of this post.

Note: Here is a more recent version of this diary.

Mr. desmoinesdem likes to vote on election day, but I usually vote several weeks before. That way I don’t have to worry if I’m sick, or my children are sick, on that Tuesday in November. Plus, if everyone in my family is well, voting early leaves my election day free for volunteering with the Iowa Democratic Party’s phone banks or canvassing teams.

Long lines aren’t typically a problem in my precinct, but early voting is also good for people who want to make sure they don’t have to wait long during the rush to vote before or after work on election day.

Voting early also enables the Obama campaign and Iowa Democratic Party to direct their GOTV efforts toward more unreliable voters than you. Once you have voted, you won’t receive any more phone calls reminding you to vote.

The Obama campaign in Iowa sent out this e-mail today, encouraging supporters to vote early:

Dear [desmoinesdem] —

Vote early for Barack Did you know you don’t have to wait until November 4th to vote for Barack?

Right now supporters like you are stepping up to show their support for Barack and Democrats up and down the ballot by voting early.

In Iowa, you can vote early by mail right now, or vote early in person starting on September 25th. It’s fast, easy, and it could make the difference in this election.

Make your voice heard right away. Download your ballot request now and vote early for Barack.

Voting early is a great way for you to help our campaign take one step closer to victory.

Across Iowa, supporters like you are working together to grow this Campaign for Change and spread Barack’s message. We know Iowan families can’t afford another four or eight years of Bush-McCain policies.

We only have seven weeks until November 4th, but starting September 25th, every day is Election Day in Iowa.

Why wait? Request your vote by mail ballot online, right now:

http://iowa.barackobama.com/IA…

We can’t do this without you.

Thanks,

Tripp

Tripp Wellde

Iowa Field Director

Campaign for Change

P.S. — The success of this movement for change depends on supporters like you contributing more than your votes. Take the Iowa Call Challenge, reach out to voters using our new Neighbor to Neighbor tool, and have an opportunity to meet Barack or Joe:

http://iowa.barackobama.com/n2n

Note: My understanding is that the early votes cast will be counted during the day on election day and will be the first returns released by the Secretary of State’s office after the polls close. So don’t worry about your vote not getting counted.

Speaking of early voting, I highly recommend this diary by OrangeClouds115 about an innovative GOTV project in Ohio:

Ohio has a “golden week” – Sept 30 to Oct 6 – in which you can REGISTER AND VOTE all in the same day. That means no 8 hour lines, no finding out you aren’t registered and being stuck, no phony provisional ballots, etc. This is our chance to really GOTV before the other side goes into full gear with their SOTV campaigns (suppress out the vote).

But… we need help. Whatever you can give…people, cars, money, all of the above. And if you can’t do any of those things, rec this diary and forward the message on. Details below.

If you have maxed out to Obama and are looking for ways to put more money to work electing him president, this might be the project for you. OrangeClouds115 notes:

My thought about donating is that I would rather give my money to this campaign instead of directly to Obama because I know it’s going EXACTLY where it is most needed and actually resulting concretely in votes and also because NOT ONE PENNY OF IT is going to DC insider consultants. It is all going to activists who are using it as wisely as possible, sleeping on couches, sharing rides, and working around the clock.

Who’s voting early, and who prefers the old ritual of voting on election day?

When I wrote this post over the weekend I had no idea that EMILY’s List was about to endorse Becky Greenwald in her race against Tom Latham.

Here is an excerpt from an EMILY’s List press release today, announcing the group’s backing for Greenwald as well as for Sharen Neuhardt in Ohio’s seventh Congressional district:

“Running in emerging take-back opportunities for the House, Becky Greenwald and Sharen Neuhardt represent the dynamic, capable, and visionary leaders we need in Congress today,” said Ellen R. Malcolm, president of EMILY’s List. “Hailing from the swing states of Iowa and Ohio , these exceptional candidates have the passion and experience to tackle the real problems facing their districts. Their backgrounds and leadership will be valued assets in the upcoming freshman class in Congress.  EMILY’s List members are proud to support these Democratic women and help elect them to the United States House in November.”

Becky Greenwald, Iowa ‘s 4th congressional district

In this history-making campaign, Becky Greenwald will be the first woman to represent Iowa in the United States House of Representatives. Born and raised in  Iowa , Greenwald has a strong understanding of the needs and concerns of everyday Iowans. Greenwald has been actively involved in the agricultural business in  Iowa for over two decades. In Congress, she is committed to fighting for the issues that are most important to voters in the fourth district – forging a sustainable energy plan, ensuring access to health care, and fighting for higher wages and income security.  In addition to her work at Iowa seed companies, she has held many leadership positions in the state Democratic Party and with agricultural organizations such as the American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC) and Iowa Forage and Grassland Council (IFGC). Becky Greenwald is committed to working for the families of the fourth district by standing with them on today’s critical issues and by bringing a new brand of politics to  Washington.

Gaining the support of EMILY’s List is a big boost for Greenwald, not only financially but also in terms of raising the profile of this race. Late last week the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put IA-04 on its list of “emerging races”.

Here is the Greenwald campaign’s statement on this endorsement:

Waukee, IA – Today, EMILY’s List announced they are endorsing Becky Greenwald for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District. In announcing their endorsement, EMILY’s List cited the historic nature of this race. Iowa is the only state in the country that has the opportunity to elect their first woman to federal office, and this is the first time EMILY’s List has endorsed a candidate in Iowa’s 4th District.

EMILY’s List supports pro-choice Democratic female candidates. Their endorsement comes with financial support and a national network of voters who support progressive women for office.

“We are thrilled that EMILY’s List has endorsed our race,” said Becky Greenwald. “EMILY’s List recognized the opportunity to make history this year.”

“But I’m not going to Washington to make history. I will go to Washington, roll up my sleeves, and work across the aisle to get things done for the people of the 4th District,” Greenwald continued. “For too long, Tom Latham has been a wingman for George Bush and blames Congress, the same place he has been for 14 years, for getting nothing done for Iowans. Enough is enough.”

Greenwald is on her “Enough is Enough Tour” exposing Tom Latham’s lack of action on education, national security, energy, healthcare and the economy. Last week, the campaign launched www.replacetomlatham.com and the Latham-Bush caption contest.

Tomorrow Becky will focus on the economy and small businesses during public events in Waukee, Perry and Iowa Falls:

Wednesday, September 17th

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Waukee, IA

Chit n’ Chat, 13 Carefree Lane

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Perry Noon Rotary, Perry Country Club

352 330th St

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Iowa Falls, IA

Coffee Attic, 604 Washington Ave

Please post a comment or a diary if you are able to attend any of these events.

Didn’t get this on my calendar of events, but I received this e-mail from the Obama-Biden campaign:

TODAY: Governor Sebelius to Visit Iowa; Has Five Questions Senator McCain Needs to Answer when he Returns to Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa – On Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius will visit Iowa on behalf of the Obama campaign.  Governor Sebelius will start her trip in Cedar Rapids where she will hold a town hall and present five questions that Senator McCain must answer when he returns to Iowa on Thursday.

Governor Sebelius will then travel to Iowa City for a brown bag lunch and to West Burlington for a town hall. The details of the events are:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2008

10:15 AM CDT

Governor Sebelius to hold a town hall and present five questions that Senator McCain must answer when he returns to Iowa

IBEW Hall

1211 Wiley Blvd.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Doors open at 9:45 AM CDT

12:15 PM CDT

Governor Sebelius to hold a brown bag lunch

Iowa City Public Library – Room A

123 S Linn St.

Iowa City, Iowa

Doors open at 11:45 AM CDT

3:40 PM CDT

Governor Sebelius to hold a town hall

Southeastern Community College – Room 123

1500 West Agency Road

West Burlington, Iowa

Doors open at 3:15 PM CDT

Post a comment or put up a diary if you get to one of these events. Sebelius campaigned in central Iowa last month.

UPDATE: Here is a statement from the Obama campaign on the questions Sebelius would like John McCain and Sarah Palin to answer:

Des Moines – Today, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and West Burlington, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius discussed with Iowans the five questions Senator McCain should answer to the people of Iowa during his trip to Iowa this Thursday.

“I know Senator McCain and Governor Palin would rather talk about anything other than the economy these days,” said Governor Sebelius.  “However, there are important questions that must be asked and answered, such as does Senator McCain honestly still believe the ‘fundamentals of our economy are strong?’”

5 QUESTIONS FOR MCCAIN AND/OR PALIN:

1.         Do you honestly believe that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong”?

BACKGROUND:

·        On Monday, John McCain said: “McCain: You know, that there’s been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street and it is — people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times.”

·        That very same day, Lehman Brothers filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and listed debts of $613 billion.

·        Americans have lost more than 600,000 jobs this year.

2.         Will you finally admit to the American people that Barack Obama offers more in tax relief to middle class families than you do?

BACKGROUND:

·        Barack Obama strongly believes in lowering taxes for middle class families, and will cut middle class taxes by 3 times as much as McCain.

·        The Obama economic plan will provide 95 percent of Iowa workers and their families with a $1,000 middle class tax cut.

·        According to an independent analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Barack Obama offers a family making between $37,000 to $66,000 per year at tax cut of $1,042.  John McCain offers a family making the same amount a tax cut of only $319.

3.         Will you admit that your economic proposal provides $300 billion more in tax cuts to big corporations, yet leaves out 67 percent of Iowa households?

BACKGROUND:

·        John McCain wants to give oil companies an additional $4 billion in tax cuts, including giving Exxon Mobil an additional $1.2 billion.

4.         Where did you get the idea to force employees to start paying taxes on their health care benefits?

BACKGROUND:

·        McCain’s health care plan would raise taxes on working families by thousands of dollars because, under his plan, you’d have to start paying income taxes on your employer-provided health care benefits.

·        According to FactCheck.org, McCain’s plan could “eliminate job-based insurance altogether.”

5.         Do you think George W. Bush has been a great president?

BACKGROUND:

·        They share the same failed economic plan: more for the rich while leaving middle class behind.

·        Both support continuing to spend $10 billion in Iraq while domestic needs go unmet.

·        Both support short-sighted energy plans backed by oil interests.

·        Both support privatizing Social Security.

Meanwhile, John Deeth reports at Iowa Independent that Republicans are trying to gin up a new scandal over this comment by Sebelius in Iowa City:

“Have any of you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” Sebelius asked in response to a question about why the election is so close. “That may be a factor. All the code language, all that doesn’t show up in the polls. And that may be a factor for some people.”

Only an idiot would claim that there aren’t a certain number of voters who would typically vote for a Democrat but are reluctant to support Obama because of his race. I ran into a woman in my precinct yesterday who told me her father-in-law is one of those people. She and her husband are encouraging him to stay home (rather than vote for McCain) if he is really unable to vote for Obama.

I believe Obama will be able to turn out enough new voters to compensate for the racially intolerant.

But let’s not pretend that certain Republicans are not using code words and phrases to emphasize Obama’s race. I think billmon was mostly on target in this post about the attacks on “community organizers” at the Republican convention being code for “ghetto activists.”

This post shows Fox “News” broadcasting Obama speaking in a box right next to footage from the OJ Simpson trial.

Republican pollster Frank Luntz recently reassured Republicans that they should not worry if McCain trails in the polls, because some racists will lie to pollsters and then vote against Obama.

As always, post a comment or send me an e-mail if I’ve left out anything important.

Note: the first presidential debate is coming up next Friday, September 26. Democracy for America is organizing debate watch parties across the country.

Monday, September 15:

It’s the last day to get the early-bird discount when registering for the Iowa Environmental Council’s annual conference on October 17. For more details on that event, click here or call 515-244-1194, ext 202.

Tuesday, September 16:

It’s the deadline to register for the Interfaith Allliance of Iowa’s Crossroads luncheon on Friday (see below). For more information or to make a reservation, call (515) 279-8715 or email tiaiowa@dwx.com.

Wednesday, September 17:

The Iowa Citizen Action Network is organizing a public forum to discuss what is needed for economic recovery at The Talk Shop Café, 1015 E. 4th Street in Waterloo at 6:30 pm. We are inviting our Congressional representatives and State and Local Officials to hear from US what we need during this week of Economic Recovery talks.

From the Sierra Club:

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining:  How Iowans Can Help Bring an End to Destructive Mining!

Learn about Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, and What Iowans Can Do to Stop This Practice and Move our Nation Towards a Clean Energy Future!

WHO:  Concerned citizens, the Sierra Club National Coal Campaign

WHAT:  Come join your friends and neighbors for an educational presentation about how our reliance on coal-fired electricity is destroying the mountains and communities of Appalachia, and what you can do to stop it!  Hear accounts from Appalachian coalfield residents, watch a portion of a soon to-be-released documentary highlighting the effects of coal on communities and the environment, and join us for refreshments as we discuss the ways that Iowans can put a stop to Mountaintop Removal Mining!

WHEN:  September 17th, 2008 from 7:30 to 9 pm

WHERE:  Grace United Methodist Church, 37th and Cottage Grove, Des Moines

RSVP:  If you plan on attending this event, please contact Lauren Trevisan at lauren.trevisan@sierraclub.org

If you would like any additional information about this event, and if you are planning on attending, please contact Lauren Trevisan at lauren.trevisan@sierraclub.org or 202-675-6278.  Thank you!  I look forward to meeting all of you on Wednesday!

From the Des Moines area chapter of the Holistic Moms Network:

Next Wednesday is our next Holisitic Moms Network meeting.

The meeting will start at 6pm and is located at the FOREST AVE. LIBRARY [in Des Moines] (franklin ave had another meeting the same day)

This months meeting is: Decreasing Your Carbon Footprint at Home- I am very excited to announce that we are going to have Jennifer Oredson a lobbyist from Greenpeace come and lead our discussion!  I met her a few weeks ago at a demonstration Greenpeace had at the Drake farmers market.

I hope to see you all there!  Please feel free to bring a snack to share.

Peace- Rebecca

515-210-7553

From the DNR:

IOWANS ASKED TO ATTEND INFORMATIONAL MEETING REGARDING LOWER DES MOINES RIVER

DES MOINES – Iowans interested in learning about the water quality improvement plan scheduled to be completed for the lower Des Moines River can attend a meeting to be held in three locations the week of Sept. 15.

A segment of the Des Moines River, known as the lower Des Moines River, is on the state’s impaired waters list because of excess E. coli bacteria in the water. This type of bacteria may indicate the presence of disease-causing human pathogens.  

The lower Des Moines segment runs from downtown Des Moines where the Raccoon River enters to the uppermost part of Red Rock Reservoir.  This segment collects water from many important Iowa rivers and streams including Raccoon River, Saylorville Lake, Beaver Creek, Four Mile Creek, North River, Middle River and South River.

The study, or DNR water quality improvement plan, will look at the problems and potential solutions for the river. The document can be used as a guide to improve recreation, wildlife and fishing on the river for local resource agencies, partners, stakeholders and residents interested in making a difference.

“We would like to work with people interested in learning more about water quality and how they can affect positive change in their watershed,” said Jeff Berckes with the DNR’s Watershed Improvement program. “These meetings are the first chance for the public to express their ideas on what can be done to improve the lower Des Moines River.”

Indianola:  Sept. 17, 7-9 p.m., Carver Hall Room 215 at Simpson College, West Clinton Ave.

Staff from the DNR’s Watershed Improvement Program will be on hand to answer questions.

Those not able to attend the public meeting can receive more information at www.iowadnr.gov/water/watershed/tmdl/publicnotice.html Or, they can contact Jeff Berckes, water quality improvement program coordinator,  by emailing jeff.berckes@dnr.iowa.gov, calling (515) 281-4791 or mailing him care of the DNR, Wallace State Office Building, 502 E. Ninth St., Des Moines, IA 50319

After gathering Iowans’ comments, the DNR will complete a draft plan.  When the document is completed, it will be presented to the public for comments and then submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. Local groups interested in improving water quality in the lower Des Moines River can then use the plan to assist their improvement efforts.

Parents, caregivers and children of all ages are welcome to attend Holistic Moms meetings.

Thursday, September 18:

The Polk County Democrats 9th Annual Women’s Event will take place from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

at the home of Dr. Andy McGuire, 100 37th St. in Des Moines (South of Grand Ave on 37th). With Guest of Honor Governor Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware. Please call to RSVP at 515-285-1800 or email polkdems@polkcountydemocrats.org

The Iowa Citizen Action Network is organizing another “listening post” event on health care:

Have you been struggling with your health insurance coverage?  Do you find yourself paying more for less coverage every year?  Have you been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions?  Have you been dropped from your coverage and aren’t sure how to fight back?  Do you have a family member or neighbor who is struggling?

Here’s your chance to let your elected representatives know what you’re going through, and what you think they should do about it. September 18, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Bob Mickle Community Center at 1620 Pleasant St in Des Moines.

Friday, September 19:

From the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa:

Crossroads is a program of The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and is an opportunity to learn, to participate in civil dialogue, and to discuss issues at the intersection of religion & politics.

Friday, September 19

Brad Clark, Campaign Director, One Iowa

Fairness for All Families: Why Marriage Equality Matters

Today in Iowa , thousands of committed gay and lesbian couples are doing the hard work of building strong families yet lack the basic legal protections they need to take care of each other and their families.  These Iowa families need and deserve the security, dignity, and legal safety net of protections and responsibilities that marriage provides.  Join us to hear more about marriage equality in Iowa !

The Crossroads luncheon is Friday, September 19 from 11:45 am – 1 pm at Plymouth Congregational Church, 42nd & Ingersoll Avenue, Des Moines.

Reservations are required to attend Crossroads and must be received by noon on Tuesday, September 16.  Cost is $8 and is payable at the door.

For more information or to make a reservation, call (515) 279-8715 or email tiaiowa@dwx.com.

Saturday, September 20:

The Iowa Citizen Action Network is participating in a nationwide canvassing effort to knock on a million doors for peace. MoveOn.org is also involved with this effort. If you’ve got two hours to spare on Saturday, you can sign up to get a list of 40 new or infrequent voters in your neighborhood. You can do this individually wherever you live, or sign up to join groups that will be meeting in Des Moines, Ames and Waterloo. More details are after the jump.  Contact ICAN Organizer Sue Dinsdale at sdinsdale@iowacan.org or 515-277-5077 ext. 14 or go to milliondoorsforpeace.org

From the Sierra Club:

Why our Modern Food System is Not Sustainable

September 20, Ames area

Join us on Saturday, September 20, as we celebrate together the efforts and achievements of fellow Iowa Sierrans and conservation activists at the Story County Conservation Center in McFarland Park north of Ames. Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will be the featured speaker. His presentation, “Why our Modern Food System is not Sustainable,” will offer Fred’s unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities we face in balancing an agricultural economy with the protection of our natural heritage. The banquet begins with a social time and silent auction at 11:00 a.m. followed at noon by lunch, Dr. Kirschenmann and an awards ceremony. There are also opportunities to hike the many trails in the park. The event will be catered by renowned Lucallan’s Restaurant, featuring local foods. The cost is $35 per person.

Please RSVP to Neila Seaman, 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280, Des Moines, Iowa, 50310 or Iowa.chapter@sierraclub.org or 515-277-8868.

The Latino Heritage Festival runs Saturday and Sunday in Blank Park on SW 9th by the Zoo in Des Moines. The Polk County Democrats need volunteers to help with the booth, especially anyone who speaks Spanish.  Ideally, we would like to have at least one Spanish speaking person on every shift. The hours are 11am to 7pm Saturday, September 20th and 11am to 7pm Sunday, September 21st.  Any time you are available to help during those hours would be appreciated.  To volunteer, please call Tamyra at 515-285-1800.

Johnson County Heritage Trust Autumn Celebration

The 2nd annual “Under a Cider Moon . . . a Celebration of Autumn with the Johnson County Heritage Trust” fundraising event will be held Saturday, September 20, at 6 p.m at Dick Schwab’s round barn located at 2501 Sugar Bottom Road near Solon, Iowa.  There will be a live and silent auction, live music and local food and beverages. Proceeds will assist JCHT identify, preserve and manage land with significant environmental value in Johnson County.  For additional information visit www.jcht.org or call 1-319-857-4741.  RSVP today by mailing your check or donation to Johnson County Heritage Trust, P. O. Box 2523, Iowa City, Iowa 522440-2523 or by calling credit card information to 1-319-857-4741.

Climate Bicycle Ride

Begins September 20, New York to DC

We need Iowans to join us for a bike ride, to promote renewable energy, and getting the word out to people passionate about this issue. It is a fun event – a five day bike tour from New York City to Washington D.C. in September. Along the route, expert speakers will address the riders on the challenges of and solutions to global warming, and the ride will end with a rally and a lobbying session in the nation’s capital. The website is http://www.climateride.org/abo… We currently don’t have any Iowa riders. Our message would be stronger if we had representation from your state. For questions, call David Kroodsma, 413.658.4086.  

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation recently announced that Erwin “Erv” Klaas is the 2008 winner of the Hagie Heritage Award, given to recognize outstanding conservation work in Iowa. I am fortunate to know him, and I am thrilled to see the INHF honoring his contributions to the environment statewide and particularly in the Ames area.

I’ve posted the text of the INHF’s press release after the jump.

Klaas will formally receive the award at an open house on Sunday, Sept. 28, beginning at 2:30 pm at the Story County Nature Center in McFarland Park, 56461 180th Street in Ames. The public is welcome to attend this event.

All five nominees for the Hagie award were remarkable, and you can click here to learn more about the other finalists.

Maybe someone out there who knows the inner workings of EMILY’s List can explain to me why this group has not put money behind Becky Greenwald, the Democrat challenging loyal Republican foot-soldier Tom Latham in Iowa’s fourth Congressional district.

I have been going over the list of Democratic women running for Congress whom EMILY’s List is supporting, with a particular focus on the six challengers most recently added to this group in early August. I do not mean to knock any of those candidates, and I recognize that every race has its own dynamic.

However, after comparing Greenwald’s race to those of other candidates, I remain puzzled that EMILY’s list is not more involved in IA-04.  

Follow me after the jump for more.

I’ll put up my weekly calendar of events sometime tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure to post these event announcements quickly:

Des Moines, Iowa – On Monday, September 15th, former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig and Sarah Sewall, Faculty Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, will visit Iowa on behalf of the Obama campaign.  Danzig and Sewall will hold national security forums in Grinnell, Marshalltown and Cedar Falls to discuss Senator Obama’s plans to move America in a new direction and make our country safer.

The details of the events are:

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2008

12:30 PM CDT

National Security Forum with Richard Danzig and Sarah Sewall

Grinnell College, Joe Rosenfield Center – Room 209B, 1115 8th Ave in Grinnell

3:15 PM CDT

National Security Forum with Richard Danzig and Sarah Sewall

Iowa Veterans Home – Malloy Hall Bird Lounge

1301 Summit Street in Marshalltown

5:30 PM CDT

National Security Forum with Richard Danzig and Sarah Sewall

University of Northern Iowa, Maucker Student Union – Elm Room, 113 Mauker Union in Cedar Falls

I forgot to put up a thread this afternoon for people who braved the chilly weather to show up at the Indianola balloon field.

If you were there, tell us what you thought of Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, or any other interesting thing you heard today.

Iowa Independent has a few stories and lots of photos from the event.

UPDATE: I’m not the biggest fan of Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge, but Council Bluffian wrote that she had the quote of the day at the steak fry, drawing a standing ovation:

“Sarah knows how to field dress a moose, but I know how to castrate a calf. The thing is, neither of those things have anything to do with this election.”

Lt. Governor Judge mentioned that despite the fact she has more practical animal husbandry credentials than Palin and more elected office experience, Senator Obama didn’t call her to be VP.

Senator Harkin came on stage and noted he was going to watch himself around Lt. Governor Judge from now on.

Hilarious.

Here’s a good brief summary of Jill Biden’s public events in Iowa on Friday and Saturday.

Christie Vilsack and about a dozen educators appeared alongside Biden in Mason City, where education was the main topic for discussion.

Then Biden visited Iowa Falls and the Iowa Veterans’ Home in Marshalltown, where she emphasized that ending the war and bringing the troops home would allow the U.S. to spend more on programs for veterans and the homeless.

She ended the day on Friday by speaking to a packed house in Waterloo.

Biden held a Saturday morning event in Independence and ended her tour in Dubuque, where Joe Biden had many strong supporters dating back to his previous presidential bid.

Since Iowa is not looking particularly competitive, we may have seen the last of Barack Obama before November. I still recommend getting out to rallies or town-hall meetings if a surrogate swings through your town. These are important for keeping supporters energized as well as for generating local news coverage of the campaign.

The Des Moines Register features its latest Iowa poll in the Sunday edition, showing Barack Obama leading John McCain 52 percent to 40 percent among likely voters. The poll surveyed 801 Iowans by telephone, including 616 who said they would definitely vote in November.

If you click the link you can read the exact wording of questions asked, but it’s not clear whether the likely voter screen involved anything other than whether a person said he or she would definitely vote.

It’s the second poll in a row to show Obama above 50 percent in Iowa, with a double-digit lead. A Time/CNN poll taken after McCain selected Sarah Palin but before Palin and McCain spoke at the Republican convention showed Obama beating McCain 55-40 in Iowa, leading in every region of the state and even among rural voters.

Other findings from the Des Moines Register’s new Iowa poll:

Just 18 percent of respondents think the country is headed in the right direction, while 74 percent say it is on the wrong track.

George Bush is at 25 percent approval, 71 percent disapproval. Repeat after me: most unpopular president in history!

Tom Harkin leads Christopher Reed in the U.S. Senate race by 53 percent to 34 percent.

Chuck Grassley’s approval rating is still high at 69 percent. Democrats’ only hope is to pick up so many Senate seats this year that Grassley decides to throw in the towel before the 2010 election. He hasn’t been getting along too well with Iowa Republicans lately, and it’s never fun serving in the minority in Congress.

I love that McCain and Sarah Palin will waste part of this Thursday campaigning at the Eastern Iowa Airport outside Cedar Rapids. Sorry, but Iowa is not really a swing state in this year’s presidential race.

I learned today that in addition to receiving help from the Patriot Corps, Rob Hubler just got another big boost in his campaign against jackass award-winning incumbent Steve King.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put Iowa’s fifth district on its list of “Races to Watch.”

Daily Kos user 2laneIA wrote a great diary about what that designation means, along with other reasons that Hubler is poised to retire Steve King.

I encourage you to click over and read that piece, which includes data from an fifth district poll showing that King is vulnerable. Here are a couple of my favorite passages in 2laneIA’s piece:

Steve King seems to be barely running.  He has no campaign organization, has made fewer than ten town hall appearances in August, (where he was haunted by an infestation of giant chickens for refusing to debate), and is relying on the same old tired wedge issues such as immigration and gay marriage to get the electorate worked up.

By contrast, Hubler has opened campaign offices across the district and has a good field campaign running.   He has been campaigning for months, appearing at county fairs and chamber of commerce meetings in 32 counties.

[…]If Rob makes some significant gains before the end of September, the DCCC will open their wallets in time for some effective media.  This race is a two-fer.  Defeating King isn’t just taking away one more GOP congressional vote and electing a great progressive Democrat.

The DCCC may become more actively involved in this “race to watch” if they like what they see over the next few weeks.

You can help convince them to get involved by donating to Hubler’s campaign today. Then ask a few of your friends to donate as well.

If you live in Iowa’s first, second or third Congressional districts, you are already represented by safe Democratic incumbents. Put some of your money behind a strong challenger trying to turn IA-05 blue.  

The Des Moines school board election was one of the most bitterly contested in Iowa this year. Eight candidates, including three incumbents, ran for three seats. One incumbent who was not up for re-election, Jonathan Narcisse, publicly supported a trio of challengers. The campaign was marred by anonymous fliers attacking Narcisse as Narcisse slammed some of his colleagues in print and on the radio.

The three incumbents were re-elected with relatively high turnout at 12.7 percent:

Ginny Strong, 8,017 votes

Dick Murphy, 7,863 votes

Jeanette Woods, 7,200 votes

Kittie Knauer, 6,979 votes

Steve Flood, 5,699 votes

Mike Pike, 5,504 votes

Kristine Crisman, 4,385 votes

Larry Barrett, 1,741 votes

The fourth-place candidate, Kittie Knauer, is a retired high school principal in the district and probably has a decent chance to win a seat if she tries again in the future. Speaking to the Des Moines Register, she did not rule that out.

Flood, Pike and Crisman were the three challengers backed by Narcisse:

Flood, who some observers thought had the best shot among the challengers to break through the status quo Tuesday, said the incumbents’ sweep is a loss to those school children who are less fortunate.

“I didn’t lose tonight,” he said. “The children of Des Moines that weren’t born into privilege lost tonight. The children of Des Moines that don’t have a voice lost tonight.”

Crisman, Flood and Pike said they did not think their affiliation with Narcisse hurt their chances at the polls.

“I didn’t run to get elected. I don’t have the ability to tell the lies you need to tell to get elected,” Flood said. “I ran to reveal the truth about what’s going on in our school district. That’s all Jonathan does every day.”

Crisman said she was disappointed by the results, which show “apparently people keep wanting to go with status quo,” which she said includes high schools that are “dropout factories.”

Narcisse has been an irritant to fellow school board members for two years, and by his own admission has “contributed to a toxic environment in ways.”

He gave it his best shot, and the incumbents won. Now Narcisse should work on repairing relationships during the coming year. (He is up for re-election in 2009.)

Board chairman Dick Murphy is not helping matters by putting a vote to censure Narcisse on the agenda for the school board’s first post-election meeting:

Specifically, the censure motion charges that:

– A publication tied to Narcisse, the Iowa Bystander, received advertising money from the school district, a conflict of interests.

– Narcisse did not review bills as required before he asked for an approval vote.

– He did not attend expulsion hearings, as board members must do.

– Narcisse alleged that the board violated open meetings laws with legally private sessions called to discuss Superintendent Nancy Sebring’s contract.

Sebring and Narcisse sparred earlier this year over comments he made about the district’s dropout rate.

Narcisse said Friday that he was not notified when it was his turn to review the bills and moved to approve payment. He said he did not solicit business for the Iowa Bystander, told members last fall that he had connections to the paper, and has since dissolved his financial interest in it.

Narcisse also said he was not notified of the expulsion hearings.

What constructive purpose does this censure motion serve? Murphy should withdraw it from the agenda. He is only exacerbating the tensions on the board and in the community.

I agree with former school board member Jon Neiderbach that censuring Narcisse is a waste of time and a distraction from work that needs the board’s attention.

After the jump I have posted an open letter from Neiderbach, which a friend forwarded to me.

The Iowa Board of Education adopted rules this week restricting the use of timeout rooms and certain kinds of physical restraint. According to the Des Moines Register,

The rules restrict some forms of restraint, such as holding a student facedown on the floor. Educators must get permission from school administrators to confine children in timeout rooms for longer than an hour.

School officials also must attempt to contact parents and document every time they use the discipline method.

Click here to read a more detailed summary of the rules proposed this summer.

The Register reported that the new rules are “similar to guidelines approved recently in Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania.”

The restrictions are a step in the right direction but may not go far enough to deter schools from using timeout rooms excessively. This report from last summer about the treatment of some special-needs children in Waukee Community School District elementaries was quite disturbing. It’s not just the length of time children were confined in the rooms, it’s also the frequency with which teachers resorted to this form of discipline.

This website on techniques for dealing with special-needs children notes that “repeating time-outs too frequently in too short a period of time greatly limits their effectiveness.”

Two families whose children were sent often (and for long stretches) to timeout rooms in Waukee schools have sued the school district. Those lawsuits have yet to be resolved in federal court.

If you’re an Iowa political junkie, chances are you already met Barack Obama and/or Joe Biden sometime during 2007.

But in case you didn’t, you’ll be interested in this contest announcement, fresh from my inbox:

Dear [desmoinesdem] —

Take the Iowa Call Challenge

We want you to be the first to know — the Obama campaign is sending Barack Obama or Joe Biden to Iowa in the next couple of weeks, and you have the opportunity to meet one of them.

The catch? Help us grow this movement for change by taking the Iowa Call Challenge and talking to undecided voters across the state. The top five people who complete the most calls between Saturday, September 13th, and Saturday, September 20th, will have the opportunity to meet Barack or Joe.

And with our Neighbor to Neighbor online phone call tool, you can do it all from home. You’ll get a list of potential supporters, suggested topics to talk about, and an easy way to report back on who you’ve contacted.

Take the Iowa Call Challenge now and get the opportunity to meet Barack or Joe.

With less than eight weeks left until Election Day, November 4th, now is the time to start talking to fellow Iowans about this movement for change.

No previous experience is required. All you need is a passion for this campaign and a hunger for change. Talking to fellow Iowans, person to person, is the best way to spread this message and build toward victory in November.

Take the Iowa Call Challenge and have the opportunity to meet a leader of this movement:

http://iowa.barackobama.com/Io…

Thanks,

Tripp

Tripp Wellde

Iowa Field Director

Campaign for Change

This is quite a clever way to induce Democrats to make time for those phone calls right away.

I would be interested to know if similar contests are being held in other swing states on the upcoming itinerary for Obama or Biden.

Although it’s the weekend, I am trying to find out what kind of voters are being targeted in these “Neighbor to Neighbor” calls (newly registered voters, unreliable voters, independents, Democrats?). I will update this post if I get an answer from the Obama campaign.

After the jump I posted all of the Obama campaign’s events in Iowa this weekend, including appearances by Jill Biden Saturday morning in Independence and Saturday afternoon in Dubuque.

UPDATE: It sounds as if similar contests are being held in other swing states on the upcoming itinerary for Barack Obama or Joe Biden. According to sisterfish, the volunteers in Colorado who do the most canvassing this weekend will be invited to see Obama or get a picture with him when he’s in that state early next week. Adam Terando said the campaign did something similar to motivate volunteers before Obama’s last visit to North Carolina in August.  

Possibly the only person in Iowa who cares less about the Iowa/Iowa State game than I do is Mr. desmoinesdem.

But for those of you who do care, feel free to share your predictions and/or trash talk.

This is also an open thread for anything else on your mind this weekend.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had big news today for Becky Greenwald:

For Immediate Release            

September 12, 2008                                                                                    

DCCC Places Greenwald for Congress on the Emerging Races List

Waukee, IA – Today, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced they put Becky Greenwald’s race for Congress on its final Emerging Races list. Emerging Races are candidates that have generated excitement in their districts in their campaigns for change. This is the first time since 2002 the DCCC has become involved in the 4th District.

“We are thrilled the DCCC has chosen our race for their Emerging Races list,” said Becky Greenwald. “The DCCC is seeing what we have been seeing for months: voters in the 4th District want an independent thinker who will work to make a real difference for Iowans.”

“For too long, Tom Latham has been a wingman for George Bush and blames Congress, the same place he has been for 14 years, for getting nothing done for Iowans,” Greenwald continued. “Enough is enough. I will go to Washington, roll up my sleeves, and work across the aisle to get things done for the people of the 4th District.”

Greenwald is on her “Enough is Enough Tour” exposing Tom Latham’s lack of action on education, national security, energy, healthcare and the economy. Last week, the campaign launched www.replacetomlatham.com and the Latham-Bush caption contest.

I suspect that this means Greenwald’s fundraising has been quite strong since June 30.

The Emerging Races list includes candidates the DCCC is considering for its Red to Blue list. The Red to Blue candidates receive significant funding and/or television advertising help from the DCCC.

Greenwald can beat Tom Latham.

The big gains in Democratic voter registration, combined with the Democratic advantage in the generic Congressional ballot, Barack Obama’s big lead over John McCain in Iowa and the Obama campaign’s enormous ground game all will be working in her favor.

She doesn’t need to match Latham’s spending dollar for dollar, but she does need to raise enough cash to go up on television and persuade groups like the DCCC and EMILY’s list to get involved.

The next reporting period ends September 30. Please go here and give what you can to Becky’s campaign.

If you live in or near the fourth Congressional district and would like to volunteer, please call the main campaign office at (515) 987-2800 and ask to speak to John.

Senator Russ Feingold’s Progressive Patriots Fund just announced the last group of U.S. House challengers who will receive help in the form of a “Patriot Corps” organizer assigned to work for the campaign.

Rob Hubler, who is taking on Steve King in Iowa’s fifth district, made the cut. (The full list of Democratic candidates receiving Patriot Corps help is here.)

Make no mistake: this district is winnable. It does lean Republican, but Democrats hold 10 House districts that are at least as Republican as IA-05, and another 14 districts that are almost as Republican in terms of the partisan voter index.

I have a longer post coming soon on Hubler’s path to victory, but for now I recommend that you read this excellent piece on the race by DemocracyLover in NYC.

You can contribute to the Progressive Patriots Fund here or directly to the Hubler campaign here.

Come meet Rob at one of these upcoming events:

Friday, Sept. 12

2 p.m Atlantic Town Hall Meeting, Atlantic Public Library, 507 Poplar Street, Atlantic, IA

6 p.m Carroll Office Opening,

225 W. 4th St Carroll, IA

Saturday, Sept. 13

5 p.m. Rural Roundtable Discussion with Rob Hubler and Congressman Brad Carson, Pizza Ranch , 119 Albany Ave NE, Orange City, IA

Sunday, Sept. 14

Harkin Steak Fry, Indianola

Monday, Sept. 15

Union County Democrats

Farmer’s Market Dinner, McKinley Park, Creston, IA, 4 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 20

Creston Balloon Parade

Sunday, Sept. 21

Monona County Democrats Annual Fall Rally

Onawa Community Center, 4:30 p.m.

Via Ben Smith at Politico, I learned that Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund has cut this great ad calling out John McCain for his own dishonest commercials:

This ad concisely answers McCain’s ludicrous charge related to the sex education program Barack Obama supports. But it does more in branding McCain as a politician who will say anything to get elected.

In other words, Planned Parenthood is not just answering an attack on Obama, it is also hitting McCain on the fake “straight talk” image he has cultivated for so many years.

No word yet on where these ads are airing, but I hope far and wide.

I’m not watching live, but apparently the Nation of Service forum, featuring John McCain and then Barack Obama, is on PBS and the cable networks now.

Daily Kos has a liveblog here.

Anyone feeling safer now that Sarah Palin told ABC’s Charlie Gibson that war with Russia may be necessary if Russia invades a country?

Josh Marshall captured this “awkward moment” when it’s obvious Palin has no idea what Gibson means by the “Bush doctrine.”

Count on the Republicans to cry “elitism” if Democrats suggest that the vice-presidential nominee should know something about foreign policy.

This Saturday, September 13, is the deadline for submitting public comments regarding the Northwest 26th Street extension through the Des Moines River Greenbelt, which is part of a larger plan to construct a four-lane northeast Polk County beltway.

I discussed why the beltway is a bad idea here and why the road through the greenbelt is a bad idea here.

Please take a few minutes to send your comments against the NW 26th St extension to the following e-mail address: jtunnell@snyder-associates.com

Like the larger beltway project, this road is not needed, would be a poor use of transportation funds, and would disrupt environmentally sensitive areas.

For many more details and talking points, visit this page on the 1000 Friends of Iowa website, or read the message that Jane Clark posted on the Sierra Club Iowa Topics e-mail loop today, which I have posted after the jump.

If you’ve been on the job market in the last decade or two, you may know how hard it is to find a job with good benefits.

A lesser-known fact of life in this country is that even if you think your employer provides great health care coverage, you could get shafted later. nyceve has written a book’s worth of diaries about “Murder by Spreadsheet,” when for-profit insurance companies find excuses to refuse to cover needed medical care.

Insurance companies are not always to blame, however. Corporations looking to cut costs sometimes yank promised health benefits from retirees who put in many years of work and in some cases gave up pay raises in exchange for better benefits packages.

The makers of John Deere machinery have provided the latest example of this travesty. In response, some 5,000 former employees of Deere & Co. filed a class action lawsuit this week

demanding that company officials reset the clock to 2007 and restore health benefits that court papers say were drastically cut back this year.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Des Moines, alleges Moline, Ill.-based Deere broke longtime promises to its employees when the company on Jan. 1 “eliminated, reduced and dramatically altered” benefits pledged under retiree health plans.

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Court papers say the company for more than 15 years promised lifetime health benefits to employees who vested in Deere & Co. pension plans, and Deere can’t now back out of that deal.

In July about 3,000 retired former Maytag employees learned that Whirlpool, which bought Maytag in 2005, is trying to reduce their health benefits as well.

The Des Moines Register reported today that officials from Iowa’s Senior Health Insurance Information Program have scheduled meetings in Newton on September 17 “to warn Maytag retirees about upcoming choices and deadlines in the wake of a decision by Whirlpool to reduce their health benefits.” Maytag retirees have filed a class-action suit in Michigan claiming that Whirlpool must honor Maytag’s contracts that promised “vested lifetime retiree health care benefits.” That lawsuit is pending, as is a separate case filed by Whirlpool, seeking to impose the benefit changes on Maytag retirees.

Speaking of our screwed-up health care system, today nyceve posted a wonderful diary contrasting a video of John McCain saying, “Like Most Americans, I go see my doctor fairly frequently” with footage of Joe Biden talking about health care on the stump. Click through, these videos are worth your time.

It’s no surprise that McCain is out of touch with the realities of health care in this country. After all, one of the authors of McCain’s health “reform” proposal thinks there are no uninsured Americans as long as sick people can go to the emergency room.  

It’s hard to keep up with the Republican sleaze this week.

Michigan Republicans are planning to use foreclosure lists to suppress the vote in African-American neighborhoods:

The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.

[…]

One expert questioned the legality of the tactic.

“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

As for the practice of challenging the right to vote of foreclosed property owners, Hebert called it, “mean-spirited.”

Republicans in Columbus, Ohio may be planning to use the same tactic.

Speaking of Ohio, Marc Ambinder reports that push-polling against Obama appears to have started there as well as in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Don’t imagine that it’s only state-level GOP operatives taking the low road. John McCain’s latest television commercials on education accuse Obama of wanting to teach kindergartners about sex before they learn to read. David Sirota correctly points out that the law in question (on age-appropriate comprehensive sex education) called for protecting small children against child molesters by teaching them about inappropriate touching. If anything I think kindergarten is a little late to start teaching children about “good” and “bad” touches. This knowledge makes kids safer from sex predators.

In other news of the week, Republican spinmeisters are trying to gin up a scandal over Obama’s use of the phrase “lipstick on a pig.” Their fake outrage is even more hypocritical than it appears at first glance.

Also, CBS forced the McCain campaign to take down a “misleading” web ad.

Feel free to post a comment about anything I’ve left out.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that Sarah “I put the plane on eBay” Palin charged Alaska taxpayers for her family’s personal travel.

In addition, Palin’s ethics adviser urged the governor to apologize for “overreaching” in her desire for revenge against the Alaska state trooper who used to be her brother-in-law.

Newsweek cites court documents showing that the judge in the divorce case

was disturbed by the alleged attacks by Palin and her family members on Wooten’s behavior and character. “Disparaging will not be tolerated-it is a form of child abuse,” the judge told a settlement hearing in October 2005, according to typed notes of the proceedings.

I can’t remember who said it first, but I absolutely agree that in light of “troopergate” we need to worry about how a potential Vice President or President Palin would use the FBI against her personal as well as her political enemies.

Meanwhile, a whistleblower who worked for Cindy McCain during the 1990s asserts that John McCain

used his Senate staff and resources to cover up Cindy’s drug use, and potentially to prevent the Drug Enforcement Agency from investigating his wife’s theft of illegal prescription drugs.

Snud has a lot more detail on those allegations here

Abuse of power to cover up personal wrongdoing? Sounds like George Bush to me.

SECOND UPDATE: Naughty, naughty. The Wall Street Journal scrubbed the end of an article pointing out that while McCain criticizes earmarks, Palin requested more earmarked dollars per capita than any other governor.

cross-posted at La Vida Locavore

Sometimes one small step against confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) leads to another.

Over at Iowa Independent, Jason Hancock reports that

A member of the state’s Environmental Protection Commission who has been labeled by critics as “pro-factory farms” has stepped down.

Ralph Klemme, a former Republican state representative from LeMars, resigned from the nine-person oversight panel, which is part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, late last week. He told the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers that the commission’s “increasing tilt against agriculture” was his main reason to step down.

The commission’s recent vote to reject permits for two hog confinements in Dallas County appears to have been a major factor in Klemme’s decision.

I was against Klemme’s appointment to this commission in 2007 because of his involvement with corporate agriculture groups.

My suspicions were warranted. In a statement welcoming Klemme’s resignation, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement recounted his record of looking out for agribusiness instead of the environment:

Klemme voted in May to approve a large hog factory in Greene County that was overwhelmingly opposed by local residents, county officials and local business leaders. He also voted against a common-sense rule that would have limited the amount of manure that factory farm owners could be spread on soybean crops.

Governor Chet Culver should replace Klemme with someone committed to protecting the environment. Otherwise why call it an Environmental Protection Commission?

I am hopeful because several of Culver’s appointments to this body have been quite good.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t underestimate the clout of corporate agriculture groups that will lobby the governor to replace Klemme with a person who is equally sympathetic to their interests. We saw this summer that agriculture trumped the environment on the task forces associated with the Rebuild Iowa Commission.

Whoever takes Klemme’s place on the Environmental Protection Commission, I view his resignation as a healthy sign. The majority of commission members are not willing to look the other way regarding the environmental impacts of CAFOs.

It’s always good to see lockstep Republicans held accountable for their bad votes in Congress.

Becky Greenwald’s “Enough is Enough” tour began today on the campuses of Simpson College, Iowa State University, and Des Moines Area Community College in Boone. She hit fourth district incumbent Tom Latham hard on his record on student loans. From a statement released by the Greenwald campaign:

“I am running for Congress because we need an independent thinker in Washington who will get to work to make a difference for Iowans,” said Becky Greenwald. “For too long, my opponent Tom Latham has been a low-yielding Congressman for Iowa. He supported the Republican Party and George Bush 94% of the time. Enough is enough.”

Unfortunately, their failed policies included severe cuts for student loans. Tom Latham has made it harder for middle class families to send their kids to college by voting for the largest cuts to federal student aid in history in 2005 and 2006. The measure cut close to $13 billion from student loan programs. He also voted against the largest increase to student loans since the G.I. Bill in 2007.

“I will go to Washington, roll up my sleeves, and work across the aisle to get things done for the people of the 4th District,” said Greenwald. “We can make a difference to bring relief for students who currently have loans and other people seeking a college education but are disenchanted by the cost.”

Becky will fight to make college more affordable by working to increase the maximum Pell grant, lowering interest rates on student loans, and fighting for more need-based financial aid, such as work-study, Perkins loans, and the LEAP program.  She will help students secure the loans that they need and will curb the practice of unscrupulous lenders exploiting students.

Tomorrow Becky will focus on national security during stops in Fort Dodge, Belmond and Mason City. Click here for event details.

I can’t believe I forgot to list this on the very full calendar of events happening this week.

The Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa Book Sale opens Thursday, September 11, at the State Fairgrounds (4-H building). The sale runs all weekend through Monday. Click the link for hours and other details. Admission costs $10 on Thursday only–Friday through Monday, everyone gets in for free.

This is the major fundraiser supporting PPGI’s education and community outreach programs, and it’s a fantastic place to find used books of all kinds, as well as CDs and DVDs. The prices are very reasonable, and Sunday, all merchandise is half-price. Monday, every item costs just 25 cents.

I volunteer with a group of women every year at the sale, and it’s a lot of fun. Also, volunteers can go to the 4-H building on Tuesday and take home any merchandise left over from the sale.

The Iowa Democratic Party announced yesterday that Al Gore will be the keynote speaker at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, to be held on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.

Tickets to the event are available at www.iowademocrats.org, or you can call 515-974-1691.

I saw Gore at the 1994 Jefferson Jackson Dinner. He managed to deliver a great speech despite hobbling around on crutches due to an Achilles tendon injury.

I hope Gore will bring Iowa Democrats the message of his major policy address in July: we can meet our electricity needs with clean, renewable sources of energy.

We need his voice on energy policy. While Iowa Democratic politicians have been quick to embrace ethanol and other biofuels, they have been slow to recognize that new coal-fired power plants would impose unacceptably high environmental, economic and health costs on our citizens.

Democratic candidate for Congress Becky Greenwald, who is challenging Tom Latham in Iowa’s fourth district, is holding public events around central and northern Iowa today and tomorrow as part of her “Enough is Enough” tour.

Today’s events will focus on education and student loans. Greenwald will speak at Simpson College, Iowa State University and the Des Moines Area Community College’s Boone campus. Event details:

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Indianola, IA

Simpson College

Camp Lounge

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Ames, IA

Iowa State University

Memorial Union Room 3538

2229 Lincoln Way

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Boone, IA

DMACC Boone Campus

Room 160

1125 Hancock Drive

On Thursday, September 11, Greenwald will talk about national security and veterans’ issues in the following locations:

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Fort Dodge, IA

Bloomers on Central

900 Central Ave # 10

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Belmond, IA

Leinbach Center

116 Luick’s Lane North

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Mason City, IA

Borealis Coffee

316 N Federal Ave

Please post a comment or a diary if you go see Greenwald make the case for replacing Latham, whom her campaign has termed “Iowa’s Low-Yielding Congressman”:

“I am running for Congress because we need an independent thinker in Washington who will get to work to make a difference for Iowans,” said Becky Greenwald. “For too long, Tom Latham has been a wingman for George Bush and blames Congress, the same place he has been for 14 years, for getting nothing done for Iowans. Enough is enough. I will go to Washington, roll up my sleeves, and work across the aisle to get things done for the people of the 4th District.”

Exposing Latham’s loyalty to George Bush and the failed Republican agenda is crucial to this campaign. Latham is not as outspoken as Congressman Steve King, but he has been an even more loyal foot soldier for Bush and the GOP leadership.  

The Iowa Attorney General’s office on Tuesday charged the Agriprocessors meat-packing facility with more than 9,000 child labor law violations involving 32 minors. The owner and four Agriprocessors employees were named in the charges. A spokesman for the company said the children had lied about their ages, so the company was not at fault.

The Des Moines Register quoted Attorney General Tom Miller as saying the action will not force the closure of the Postville plant. However, I wouldn’t be too sure of that if the Orthodox Union follows through on its warning to withdraw its kosher supervision from Agriprocessors unless new management is installed at the company and at the Postville plant.

I can’t overstate the importance of the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification to Agriprocessors’ business. The overwhelming majority of its customers would refuse to buy any meat lacking the “U” symbol from the Orthodox Union.

Incidentally, Congressman Bruce Braley issued a statement praising Miller’s office for prosecuting alleged child labor offenses.

Congressman Tom Latham (whose district includes Postville) released no statement, in keeping with his pattern of saying little about Agriprocessors since a federal immigration raid turned the spotlight on the company in May.

Six months ago, a group of bloggers who had been producing the “Edwards Evening News Roundup” at Daily Kos created a new community forum to focus on issues and strategies for building the progressive movement. They called it the EENR blog because the EENR “brand” name was already well-known to hundreds of bloggers who considered themselves “Edwards Democrats.”

Since its creation, the EENRblog has become a great source for substantive diaries about issues you may not read much about elsewhere. It’s not a place where people obsess over tracking polls or Barack Obama’s campaign strategy. Diaries about campaigns are more likely to be about electing some of the “more and better Democrats” running for federal or state office.

This past weekend, the editorial team announced that the blog’s name had been changed to the Progressive Blue blog (www.progressiveblue.com):

Hello fellow EENR members –

We wanted you to be the first to know that EENRblog will be undergoing some changes beginning this weekend.

First, we want you to know that in its essence, the blog will remain the same. The reasons we are all here, the agenda that we all support, the need to promote it as well as push to elect More and Better Democrats who will further that agenda in Congress, the community we’ve all built here – these things will remain the same.

However, we will be making a few changes – most of them fairly subtle, and we want to share with you why we decided to make these. You are the community, and we don’t exist without you.

EENRblog originated out of the desire to advance the agenda John Edwards promoted during his campaign.  And just as we all had to deal with disappointment and even some anger at the end of his campaign, we’ve gone through an emotional roller coaster again with John Edwards’ revelation in early August. We decided to let things settle down so we wouldn’t make any rash decisions regarding the blog.

John Edwards gave us the most progressive agenda in years and he was the reason we had all come to know each other. He was the reason things like Universal Health Care and Poverty were even being talked about during this campaign season. We are proud to have been able to work with him to further those issues.  However, we chose to look at the bigger picture:

• Most of us had gotten on board with the Edwards  campaign not because of the man, but because of the issues – the Two America’s speech, etc… We wanted to elect John president because he was  an outspoken champion for those issues. In the bigger picture, the point  of this blog has never been to promote Edwards, but to promote and further  the progressive and populist agenda he had put forth. It’s not about him;  it’s about advocating for the agenda.

• Another part  of the discussion was about political perception and Edwards. Many of us  agree that he is down but not necessarily out; it will take a long time  for him to recover and be politically viable again. If the political  perception of Edwards in general is not good, then it hurts our ability to  promote the agenda for which we fought so hard.

This perception may also hurt us with guest bloggers and prospective candidates – politics is largely based on perception and whether we like or not or agree with it or not – Edwards tainted his brand – and candidates and guest bloggers may not want to risk being associated with him right now.

• Finally, if there are any other shoes left to  drop, it could taint him even further. That could really hurt our ability  to be effective advocates for the agenda. JRE always talked about how it  wasn’t about him, it was about us, the people… It was about the issues… We’re taking him up on that. We’re just taking the Edwards  Agenda and making it the People’s Agenda.

And so, we have decided to make some changes that you will notice over the next couple of days. The blog will retain most of its current layout, but will have a different name and logo with perhaps slightly different coloring and perhaps a new banner along the top. We will be adding a variety of progressive events to the event calendar, and the link colors will change as will the quote in the quote tile.

With this new name and logo, we will also be instituting a new web address, www.progressiveblue.com. We will keep the EENRblog.com address active for a while longer so everyone can still get to the blog if they forget the new name in the beginning.

We wanted to let our most active EENR members know first – give you a heads up on what is coming up and why. The changes are mostly cosmetic in nature; we are the same blog, with the same emphases and the same goals, all the regular columns (and maybe a few new ones), the same wonky nature, and the same love of snark, and we hope you all will still feel right at home, here at Progressive Blue.  

Respectfully,  

The EENR Editorial Board

     now The Progressive Blue Editorial Board

Whether or not you ever supported Edwards for president, I encourage you to bookmark the Progressive Blue blog and join the community there. I guarantee you will learn something every time you read the front page or the recent diary list.

Progressive Blue is also a good place to cross-post any diaries you have written about strong Democratic candidates or issues progressives should be concerned about. For instance, in the past month I have cross-posted diaries about reforming the caucus system, my son’s school encouraging parents to buy Tyson chicken products, and the Environmental Protection Commission’s decision to reject two CAFO applications in Dallas County.

Use this thread to tell us about the blogs you enjoy and find valuable.

There is so much happening this week that I hereby forbid you from complaining that there’s nothing to do in Iowa.

If you can make it to the I-RENEW Energy and Sustainability Expo in Cedar Falls this weekend, I encourage you to go. I have attended the I-Renew expo several times in the past and never been disappointed. There are also great books and progressive advocacy materials (shirts, posters, bumper stickers) available in the exhibitor tent.

I won’t be at the Harkin Steak Fry featuring Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, so I hope someone out there will post a diary with a first-person account of the event.

Please post a comment or send me an e-mail if I’ve left out anything important.

Tuesday, September 9:

School board elections are being held across the state. Get out and vote, even if you don’t have kids in school. We don’t want the religious right taking control of these boards.

From the Iowa Citizen Action Network:

Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN) is proud to take a lead role in the “Health Care for America Now” campaign and we hope you will join us and all the coalition partners in Iowa to make our voices heard!

Health Care for America Now is all about raising this very important question in the minds of the public and in decision makers: Do we want a health care system where everyone has responsibility to ensure access for all Americans – individuals, employers, our communities, and our government?  Or do we want to continue with a system that says – “You’re all on your own to deal with insurance companies.”

We’ve been doing just that this summer, and we’re excited to bring this campaign to cities all around Iowa.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEALTH CARE COVERAGE LISTENING POSTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you been struggling with your health insurance coverage?  Do you find yourself paying more for less coverage every year?  Have you been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions?  Have you been dropped from your coverage and aren’t sure how to fight back?  Do you have a family member or neighbor who is struggling?

Here’s your chance to let your elected representatives know what you’re going through, and what you think they should do about it.

September 9,

6:30-7:30 PM

AMES PUBLIC LIBRARY, COMMUNITY ROOM

515 Douglas Avenue

Ames, IA 50010

One Iowa Campaign Training RSVP

Today – Tuesday, September 9 – 6:30 PM-8:30 PM

AFSCME Council 61, 4230 NW 2nd Avenue, Des Moines

We’re weeks away from what may prove to be the most critical election of our time. Success this November depends on individuals like you making a commitment to get involved. Join us to learn more about what’s at stake and how you fit into the big picture!

One Iowa Coffee House

Today – Tuesday, September 9 – 5:00-6:45pm

Ritual Cafe, 1301 Locust Street, Des Moines

Sandy Vopalka will talk about PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays) the importance of this organization and the work being done across the state. PFLAG is a national non-profit organization with over 200,000 members and supporters and over 500 affiliates in the United States. Sandy’s presentation will start at 5:30pm.

Wednesday, September 10:

Democracy for America is holding another session of its famous “Night School,” with a focus on recruiting volunteers. The session begins at 7:30 pm, and you can register by clicking here:

http://democracyforamerica.com…

The Iowa Citizen Action Network has scheduled an event to give Iowans a chance to talk about what real economic recovery looks like. September 10, 6:30 pm at the Local 6 UFCW, 15 N 12th Street in Fort Dodge. “We are inviting our Congressional representatives and State and Local Officials to hear from US what we need during this week of Economic Recovery talks.”

Iowa’s Office of Energy Independence invites you to attend the public forum on energy issues in Mount Vernon at Cornell College on Wednesday, September 10, at 6:30 p.m., following a Power Fund Board meeting. The forum will take place in the Hedges Conference Room, 600 First Street SW in Mount Vernon.

Thursday, September 11:

The Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa Book Sale opens at 4 pm at the 4-H building of the State Fairgrounds. The sale runs through Monday, September 15. More details here:

http://www.bleedingheartland.c…

The Organization for Competitive Markets will hold an event the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa to learn how to “Take Back” a fair and open seed marketplace. We’ll gather at the 4H building on the fairgrounds from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to hear speakers talk about the problem of concentration in the seed industry and what we can do about it. Enjoy engaging discussions with farmers and local politicians, as well as a complimentary dinner from Oak Tree Bar-B-Que. The event is co-chaired by State Representatives Marcie Frevert and Mark Kuhn, and speakers include Iowa State University’s Fred Kirschenmann and past president of the National Family Farm Coalition, George Naylor. Tell your friends! For more information, click here:

http://www.competitivemarkets….

One Iowa is organizing a PFLAG Des Moines Re-Launch at 7:00 PM, First Unitarian Church, 1800 Bell Avenue in Des Moines. The Des Moines Metro Area PFLAG will meet to discuss relaunching the chapter. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays provides opportunity for dialogue about sexual orientation and gender identity, and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity. Coffee and refreshments served before the meeting, beginning at 6:30 PM. All are welcome, but confidentiality is required.

Friday, September 12:

From the Iowa City-based Local Foods Connection (http://www.localfoodsconnection.org):

Fundraising event for ZJ Farm

http://zjfarms.com/

http://www.simoneplainandsimpl…

French Dinner at Simone’s Plain & Simple

ZJ Farms Education Programs Fundraiser

Friday, Sept 12, 6:30 p.m.

Susan Jutz of ZJ Farm helped create the idea of Local Foods Connection along with Simone Delaty and Laura Dowd. Local Foods Connection buys vegetables CSA shares from Susan and bread & egg CSA shares from Simone for our clients.

Come enjoy an authentic French dinner in lovely country setting and support the Education Programs at ZJ Farms.  The ZJ Farms Education Programs offer hands-on experience and events that teach young people of all ages that value of land stewardship, nontraditional leadership and nutrition.  Education explorations include milking and petting the farm animals, hunts for vegetable in gardens, work projects to participate in farming experience, lessons on growing food from planting to harvest, leadership and community building training.

Tickets on sale now!

$45 for Slow Food Members/ $50 for non-Slow Food.

Call 621-2484 to reserve a seat.

Saturday, September 13:

From the Polk County Democrats:

A CELEBRATION OF DIVERSITY

UNITED IN DIVERSITY

On September 13, 2008 at 12:00 PM TO 3:00 PM , there will a community celebration picnic at MLK Park, E. 17th and Garfield (1 block north of University), Des Moines , Iowa.

This will be a time for diverse groups of Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Persons with Disabilities, GaysLesbians, Latinos, Native Americans, Armed Forces Veterans and Young Democrats  to come together with the whole community, celebrating the diversity in our neighborhoods.  Over good food, communication and networking will be done.

The picnic is hosted by the Polk County Democratic Affirmative Action / Diversity Committee.

For more information, call 515-285-1800.

From I-RENEW:

17th Annual I-Renew Energy & Sustainability EXPO

September 13 & 14, 2008

9 to 5 Saturday

10:30 to 4:30 Sunday

At the UNI Center for Energy & Environmental Education, Cedar Falls, IA

Admission: $10 per day, I-Renew members pay no admission. Memberships available at the door.

Featuring renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building, renewable fuels and sustainable living workshops, exhibits and demonstrations

Cedar Falls, IA – The Iowa Power Fund Board approved a grant to support this year’s I-Renew Energy & Sustainability Expo. The grant will go towards promoting the event statewide as well as to produce DVDs of 12 of the 70 workshops offered at the event. “The Iowa Renewable Energy Association has proven its annual Expo is the place to be to learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency”, said Michelle Kenyon Brown, I-Renew Executive Director. “The support from the Iowa Power Fund and the Office of Energy Independence will enable us to bring in a larger audience, an audience that is growing everyday as energy costs are hitting everyone’s pocketbook.”

The 17th I-Renew Energy & Sustainability EXPO will be held Sept. 13-14, 2008, at the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy & Environmental Education (CEEE) in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  The EXPO feature 70 workshops, 80 exhibitors, and demonstrations providing information on renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building, renewable fuels, and sustainable living.

“The I-Renew Expo is the largest event of this type in Iowa,” says Kara Beauchamp, I-Renew Board President. “This years’ expo will be the biggest and the best we have ever had. Increasing energy prices have generated more interest in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The I-Renew Expo is the perfect place for people to get their questions answered while having a great time.”

The EXPO gives the general public, building contractors, installers and others the opportunity to talk directly with Iowa’s energy experts to learn new ways to build greener and live greener using renewable energy.

Demonstrations of solar power, wind power, a hydrogen fuel cell, electric cars, cars that run on alternative fuels, and much more will be at the site in and around the CEEE building. The EXPO runs 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13; and 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14. Admission is $10 per day; however, I-Renew members pay no admission. Memberships are available at the door.

For more information or to register, visit www.irenew.org and click on I-Renew EXPO.

The I-Renew Energy & Sustainability Expo is provided with support from our partners: Iowa Office of Energy Independence, Iowa Energy Center, Alliant Energy’s Second Nature Program, Cedar Falls Utilities, Waverly Light & Power, Frontier Natural Products Coop, Center for Energy & Environmental Education and many more.

Contact: Michelle Kenyon Brown, Director Iowa Renewable Energy Association

(319) 325-2701          michellekbrown@irenew.org

Citizens are organizing a rally against a huge proposed hog lot in Poweshiek County:

Does Poweshiek County want more Factory Hog Farms ? NO!!

Prestage Farms of North Carolina, the nations 5th largest factory hog corporation, has plans to put nearly 5,000 hogs in two buildings near Deep River.

If built, this facility will negatively impact our community by creating odor and air quality problems, harming our areas already poor water quality, creating health risks for neighbors, and reducing property values in our county.

Prestage Farms will take the profits out of our state and leave us with the manure.

Please take the time to join with other concerned citizens from our area at a rally on Saturday, September 13th at 9:45 AM on Highway 21, 5 miles South of Interstate 80, between 470th and 480th Streets.

We want as many people to come out as possible to let the owners of the property know that they need to put the health and well-being of their neighbors before greed, and that residents of this county are against selling our future to out-of-state corporations.

Please call 641-990-2470 for more information.

From 1000 Friends of Iowa:

Dear Friends,

In case you didn’t get a chance to attend the public input meetings on the proposed Northwest 26th Street project/MLK extension and Northeast Polk County Beltway studies, you still have a chance to make your voices heard.

If you did attend the meetings, but didn’t submit written comments, your views still need to be documented for public record. The public meetings and collection of written comments are building the case for approval or disapproval of this project. All are part of the Environmental Impact Statement, a federally required evaluation for projects that have extensive environmental impacts.

The deadline for comments on the proposed alternatives for both projects is on Saturday, September 13. After that date, comments will be compiled and sent to Polk County, the Federal Highway Administration, and other decision-makers. Your comments are like a vote which needs to be counted on the stack of documented opinions that is carried forward in the near future.

To be effective in opposition to projects like these, citizens need to be there each major step of the way. This is one of those steps, and your presence is critical to keeping this current of opposition strong.

Gas prices are soaring along with the costs of road building. Public funds for roads are limited, meaning that not every road project gets funded. If constructed, these two costly projects would take money from much-needed transportation improvements.

You can find more information on these projects, maps, and how to send comments at

http://www.1000friendsofiowa.o…

Sincerely,

Stephanie Weisenbach

1000 Friends of Iowa

From Whiterock Conservancy:

Central Iowa Trail Association invites public to celebrate decade of trail stewardship

Sept. 13 ‘Ales and Trails’ event honors dirt trails at Whiterock Conservancy

Des Moines — Central Iowa Trail Association is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a non-profit trail stewardship and advocacy organization by hosting ‘Ales and Trails’ — a public event at the Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids, Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 13.

‘Ales and Trails’ begins at 9 a.m. at Whiterock’s River House with activities including guided trail rides, a hike with Whiterock’s ecologist Elizabeth Hill, canoeing on the Middle Raccoon River and much more. The evening features a party in the storied Heeter Barn with music by Brother Trucker and a beer contest judged by event participants.

“This had been a very rough year for trail-loving Iowans,” said CITA president Ryan Hanser. “CITA has worked hard to repair damage to trails from this summer’s rains. It’s a perfect time to recognize and celebrate our decade of volunteer work that has brought so much enjoyment for cyclists, hikers, birdwatchers and others who appreciate natural trail experiences.”

Registration is required. There is a $20 fee to cover cost of meals and entertainment. Lodging is not included, but options ranging from B&B pampering to primitive campsites can be reserved through the Whiterock Resort. Visit http://www.centraliowatrails.org for details including a schedule of events and online registration.

As an affiliate of the International Mountain Bicycling Association, Central Iowa Trail Association (CITA) works with public and private land owners to design, build and maintain sustainable dirt trail for shared recreational use. The all-volunteer organization was incorporated as an Iowa non-profit organization in 1998 and does more than 500 hours of trailwork on public land in central Iowa each year.

“CITA was proud to bring the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s trailbuilding school to Whiterock in 2006,” said Hanser, who is also Iowa’s state representative for the International Mountain Bicycling Association. “Returning to celebrate their progress as an organization is important, too. Whiterock’s commitment to sustainable, natural recreation makes it a perfect venue to celebrate our shared values.”

Whiterock Conservancy is a new land trust created to manage a 5,000 acre conservation land donation from the Garst Family of Coon Rapids. Its nonprofit mission is to research and promote sustainable land management practices; provide low impact public recreation and environmental education; and protect and restore the area’s natural resources, including a 30-mile network of dirt trails. In October 2005, the Coon Rapids-Whiterock area was designated by Governor Vilsack as one of the first three “Iowa Great Places.” The Iowa Legislature recently appropriated $1 million to the Department of Cultural Affairs for supporting Coon Rapids Great Place projects.

Directions to Whiterock: Coon Rapids is located 75 miles NW of Des Moines and 100 miles east of Omaha on Highway 141. The Conservancy land is east of Coon Rapids and south of Highway 141. Visit http://www.whiterockconservanc…  for more information about Whiterock Conservancy.

Contacts:

Ryan Hanser, President

Central Iowa Trail Association

515.229.3737

Jeana Feazel, Resort Manager

Whiterock Conservancy

712-684-2697 x112

Sunday, September 14:

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer will headline the 31st Annual Harkin Steak Fry, to be held at the Indianola balloon field. For more details, click here:

http://www.tomharkin.com

Monday, September 15:

Conference Coordinator – Contract Job: Deadline for Application September 15

Iowa Network for Community Agriculture (INCA) is seeking a coordinator for its annual Local Foods Conference to be held in Mason City on February 6 – 7, 2009.  If you are interested, or know of someone who is, then please review the request for proposal on INCA’s website (http://www.growinca.org) and respond by early next week.

I received this message from the Rebuild and Grow organization, which is involved with flood relief and reconstruction in Cedar Rapids:

Dear Friends;

There will be a call out to local volunteers every weekend beginning on September 13th until the winter weather forces us to stop!  

Registration will take place between 7 am and 1 pm each Saturday at Salem Church, 225 1st Ave SW!   Come often and tell everyone you know!  Come alone or bring friends, co-workers, family, a church group or anyone that you know is looking to make a difference.  Please forward this e mail to all those that you want to engage in this effort.

This effort has been sanctioned by Cedar Rapids City Government and will be assisted by various city agencies and  wide array of local organizations.

Help us as we work to rebuild, restore and renew a sense of community and hope for our neighbors in their time of need.    We are all in this together.

The emergency status in our city did not end as the water receded; it will be a long term process to recover from a disaster of this magnitude.  We can show the world that our spirit of community volunteerism and involvement in Cedar Rapids did not end with the sandbagging before the flood.

As you register each Saturday, we will organize into teams and have tools ready to go for each job site.  You will be able join in with experienced, hard-working crews from AmeriCorps VISTA, Hands-On Disaster Recovery and others that have been working on neighborhood recovery since the flood occurred. There will be a safety orientation before you start at a flood recovery job site.

Regardless of your skills, we need your help!  Teams will gut homes, clean yards and secure doors and windows for winter.  We will also have needs for food/water distribution, signing up volunteers and other miscellaneous opportunities.  Water and snacks will be provided during the clean-up. At the end of the day there will be music and food to celebrate all that has been accomplished.

If you are (or know) a homeowner that needs FREE help with the clean-up of their flood-damaged property, please contact us as soon as possible.

To contact our volunteer team or request more information:

Phone-319-329-8122 or Email:  FloodVolunteer@gmail.com

You can also sign up in advance at the Volunteer Reception Center

Mon-Fri, 8 am to 6 pm;  Call 319-540-4815

The Flood of 2008 requires an emergency level of response.   The recovery response requires the same level of community involvement and commitment after the flood that we saw exhibited by the citizens of Cedar Rapids during the sandbagging before the flood.   The sandbagging demonstrated the kind of community we really are.   Now we need to get back in emergency mode to be ready for the imminent challenges of an Iowa Winter.

In a major disaster there are three approaches to action;

                 1. do it “to em”  -exploitive contractors and other profiteers show up on the scene

                 2. do it “for them” -traditional governmental or agency “victim mode”

                     this approach has very little public input and self-determination

                 3. do it “with them”  the self-help approach we are modeling with Rebuild and Grow.  Our goal is to offer the opportunity for flood “victims” to become “survivors”.    We shift to “survivor”, by accepting self-sufficient action.

Rebuild And Grow will partner closely with all other entities that are rising to the cause of flood recovery in our area, such as Linn Area Long Term Recovery Coalition, The East Central Volunteer Reception Center, Corridorrecovery.org, Hands On and numerous faith based disaster recovery groups, etc.  Rebuild And Grow simply serves as one catalyst to pull all of us together for effective “proactive” neighborhood recovery and rebuilding activity.  Our focus is self-help.

We need “all hands on deck” to organize a very effective community wide emergency response for recovery.  Rebuild And Grow is taking the initiative to call forth a partnering approach for self-help work. We’ll work with all other available groups to build a community wide organizational capacity.

Click here for background on the comprehensive flood recovery program that Rebuild and Grow submitted to the Cedar Rapids City Council last month.  

Governor Chet Culver is expected to decide within the next week whether to call a special legislative session to deal with flood relief and recovery issues. Both Democratic and Republican legislators from the Cedar Rapids area have advocated for a special session, and I agree with them.

School board elections are being held across Iowa today. Get out and vote, even if you don’t have kids in school. All property tax payers have an interest in effective management of school district funds, and all citizens should be concerned about the quality of public education.

Some school board races are hotly contested, as in Des Moines where eight candidates, including three incumbents, are seeking three seats.

Other races are boring. The two incumbents on the West Des Moines school board have no challengers on the ballot, but I went to vote for them anyway. I don’t want some stealth candidate from the religious right winning a seat with 50 write-in votes.

If you’re reading this at work, it should only take you a few minutes to vote on the way home today. (As of 10:00 am, just five people had voted in my precinct.) Or, if you’re reading this at home, zip out to vote before or after dinner.

If you’re not happy with the leadership of your local school district, consider throwing your hat in the ring for the next school board election.  

Sometimes it’s amazing how many lies and misleading statements Republicans can fit into one 30-second television commercial:

This statement from Barack Obama’s spokesman, Bill Burton, is right on:

“Despite being discredited over and over again by numerous news organizations, the McCain campaign continues to repeat the lie that Sarah Palin stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.  John McCain has voted with George Bush 90% of the time and he and Sarah Palin will continue Bush’s economic policies, his health care policy, his education policy, his energy policy, and his foreign policy.  McCain and Palin will say or do anything to make people believe that they will change something besides the person sitting in the Oval Office.  That’s the kind of politics people are tired of, and it’s anything but change,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

The Obama campaign has also released an extensive fact check debunking almost every claim this ad makes. You can read it here:

http://blogs.creativeloafing.c…

It shows that contrary to the impression the commercial gives viewers:

-Senator McCain supported almost the entire George Bush agenda

-McCain voted for plenty of earmarks

-Governor Palin was originally for the Bridge to Nowhere

-Palin has been very close to the oil industry

and much more.

Regrettably, Obama did not do enough this summer to brand McCain as Bush’s third term as well as a liar who will say anything to win. Better late than never, though.

UPDATE: Excellent rapid response from the Obama campaign:

Hits McCain on the Washington lobbyists running his campaign and on voting with Bush more than 90 percent of the time. Hits Palin on being for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. Great closer:

“Politicians lying about their records–you don’t call that ‘maverick.’ You call it more of the same.”

Obama simply cannot allow McCain to brand himself as the reform candidate who will bring change to Washington. He would bring more of the same failed Bush policies and corruption.

Here are the details:

Rally with Joe Biden

Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center

Iowa State Fairgrounds

East University Ave. and East 30th St.

Des Moines, IA 50317

Monday, September 8th

Doors Open: 2:15 p.m.

Program Time: 3:15 p.m.

RSVP

http://iowa.barackobama.com/bi…

The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first come, first served basis.

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners allowed.

I won’t be there this afternoon, but I would love to read a first-person account of the event. If you were there, please post a comment in this thread, or write a diary and I will promote it to the front page.

Here’s an example of a good write-up of a John McCain/Sarah Palin town-hall meeting in New Mexico.

This diary about a Biden event in Florida has lots of pictures and YouTubes.

If you don’t have a camera with you, just write what you can remember about Biden’s speech, how he answered questions, the mood in the crowd, or anything you found interesting about the event.

Over the weekend numerous media reported that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin did not plan to take questions from journalists before the election. Either those reports were inaccurate or John McCain’s campaign felt compelled to backpedal, because ABC’s Charlie Gibson will interview Palin later this week:

The McCain camp did not say why it chose Mr. Gibson, but it had selected him last week as the only major journalist to interview Mr. McCain himself during the Republican convention in St. Paul.

After his interview with Mr. McCain had aired, Mr. Gibson posted on his blog that he had “fretted” about how to approach the many personal issues that had come up about Ms. Palin and decided to ignore them.

“The major development in his campaign obviously is his surprise choice of Sarah Palin,” Mr. Gibson wrote. “It took some time in thinking about it, but I finally decided not to even bring up the issues with her family, for they are issues of family and should remain so. […]

“The relevant questions about Governor Palin, the questions that go to her suitability to serve as vice president, all relate to her experience, or lack thereof, and her policy positions as a mayor and governor in Alaska. Once I decided to restrict the Palin questions to those areas, the interview kind of formed itself,” Mr. Gibson wrote.

It’s not yet clear whether Palin will agree to a press conference, where she would have to face many reporters at the same time.

I have little sense of Gibson’s style as an interviewer, but I do think it’s right to focus on Palin’s inexperience and stands on the issues as opposed to her family matters.

David Yepsen has a good column in Sunday’s Des Moines Register urging Iowa’s political parties to improve the caucus system. He reasons that Iowa is less likely to retain its first-in-the-nation status if our state parties do not correct some of the flaws in the caucus process.

I would go further and state that Iowa does not deserve to remain first unless the parties make some changes in the caucus system. Actually, if I were in charge of reforming the nominating process, I would ban caucuses for the purposes of presidential selection. The parties in Iowa will never adopt primaries, though, because of New Hampshire’s law stating that it must hold the first primary.

After the jump I’ll go over the reforms Yepsen proposes, which would go a long way toward addressing the flaws in the Iowa caucus system. I will then add a few ideas of my own.

For background, here are links to the diaries I wrote last year on the Iowa caucus system:

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 1 (basic elements of the caucus system)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 2 (corrects an error in part 1 and discusses who is over-represented and who is under-represented when delegates are counted)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 3 (why it’s hard to turn out caucus-goers)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 4 (more about why caucus turnout is low)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 5 (on second choices and caucus math)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 6 (on how precinct captains help their candidates before caucus night)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 7 (why it’s hard to figure out how well the candidates are doing in Iowa)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 8 (on the many ways to win your precinct)

How the Iowa caucuses work, part 9 (analyzes common arguments made in favor of the caucus system, along with my response to those arguments)

It’s not yet clear whether the Iowa caucuses will remain first next time the Democratic Party picks a presidential nominee, but at least one prospective candidate will introduce himself to a big crowd of Iowa Democrats next Sunday.

Senator Tom Harkin’s campaign announced today that Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer will headline the 31st Annual Steak Fry on September 14 at the Indianola balloon field.

You’ll be hearing more about Schweitzer in the coming years–he’s the favorite future presidential candidate of many bloggers, including Markos of Daily Kos. Why not come out to see him in person?

Here’s a write-up of Schweitzer’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Here’s the text of the speech he delivered at the DNC.

Here’s a link to a video of Schweitzer’s speech that day.

I put Harkin’s e-mail with details about the steak fry after the jump.

If you go to the event and manage to talk with Senator Harkin, please encourage him to give more of his huge war chest to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

UPDATE: Sunday evening around 7 pm, I got a robocall from Schweitzer introducing himself as the speaker at the steak fry and relaying when and where the event will be held and how people can get tickets. Citizens for Harkin paid for the robocall.

Think Progress published a good summary of “What Conservatives Ignored” at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Click over for all the analysis and supporting links. Key excerpts:

THE ECONOMY: The American public views the struggling economy as the most important issue facing the country. But as AFP observed, “The economy may be the number one issue in the White House race, but the Republican National Convention has yet to dwell on the troubles of Americans trying to make ends meet.” On Wednesday, CNBC said its reporters were “darned to find much at all” about the economy in the convention speeches. In fact, housing was mentioned just once and the term “middle-class” was used only twice. […]

HEALTH CARE: At a town hall event last month, McCain declared, “There is a health care crisis in America. We would be, if it were not for the energy crisis, we’d be talking a lot more about health care issues.” But despite skyrocketing health care costs and millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, nearly every prominent speaker at the Republican National Convention ignored this crisis. […]

GLOBAL WARMING: […] Republicans also ignored the obvious link between global warming and the increasing intensity of storms: the terms “global warming” and “climate change” were each mentioned just once. A new study published in the journal Nature this week found that “the strongest of hurricanes and typhoons have become even stronger over the past two and a half decades.” […] Despite McCain’s claims that he believes global warming is real, the GOP platform — which McCain has promised to run on — is loaded with caveats about the uncertainty of science and the need to ‘resist no-growth radicalism’ in taking on climate change.” […]

Speaking of what the Republicans didn’t talk about, watch this fantastic clip from a Joe Biden event yesterday. Partial transcript for those who don’t click over:

But, I’ll tell you, it’s not so much of what I heard in the Republican convention. When you heard John speak last night.  It’s not so much what I heard, when I heard part of what the Governor had to say, the vice presidential candidate.  It’s what I didn’t hear.

(Applause)

THE SILENCE – THE SILENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WAS DEAFENING.  IT WAS DEAFENING.  ON JOBS, ON HEALTH CARE, ON ENVIRONMENT, ON ALL THE THINGS THAT MATTER TO THE PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS I GREW UP IN.  DEAFENING!

(Standing Ovation)

Ladies and gentlemen, THEIR AMERICA IS NOT THE AMERICA I LIVE IN. THEY SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN I SEE.

Ladies and gentlemen, literally, those of you, I can’t swear to this because I didn’t see every bit of every speech. But I asked my staff to check. Do any of you recall either candidate on the Republican ticket utter the phrase, middle class?

Crowd: No!

Biden: Did any of you hear them utter the phrase, health care and how we’re going to help?

Crowd: No!

Biden: Did you hear them talk about aid to get kids to college?

Crowd: No!

Biden: Did you hear them talk about aid to education?

Crowd: No!

Biden: Did you hear them putting more cops on the street to make us safer?

Crowd: No!

Biden: I didn’t hear a thing, a thing, about any of the things that matter to the lives of the people of my hometown of Scranton….

Rick Davis, John’s campaign manager, said two days into the convention, he said “this election is not about issues.”  That’s what he said.  And everything I saw at the convention demonstrated that.

It was about how well placed — and boy she is good — how a left jab can be stuck pretty nice.  It’s about how Barack Obama is such a bad guy.

It’s about how in fact, how in fact, they got great quips.  Man, they’re like the kids you know when you went to school and you were very proud of the new belt or the shoes you had, and there was always one kid in the class who said, “oh, are they your brother’s?”

Crowd: Yeah.

Remember that kid?  That’s what this is reminding me of.  “Oh, I love your dress, was that your mother’s?”

You know what I’m talking about.

What do you talk about, when you have nothing to say?!

What do you talk about when you CANNOT EXPLAIN THE LAST EIGHT YEARS OF FAILURE?!

(Standing Ovation)

What do you talk about?!  What do you talk about?!

You talk about the other guy.

Speaking of McCain’s acceptance speech (transcript here), I didn’t think it was well-written. If there are any aspiring speechwriters out there, you want to avoid drafting passages like this:

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

The crowd kept interrupting with boos after McCain’s description of what Obama would do. It came across as very negative.

These contrasts should have been flipped around so that the crowd kept interrupting McCain with applause after he compared his opponent’s plans with his own ideas. You want television viewers to see the audience repeatedly cheering the nominee.

A whole lot of television viewers saw McCain: Nielsen estimates that he drew a slightly bigger television audience than Obama did when speaking at Invesco field in Denver. Sarah Palin’s speech on Wednesday was watched by almost as many people.

NCDem Amy brings you the video of Rachel Maddow daring to call Republican lying what it is.

Speaking of lying, a new ad from McCain and the Republican National Committee says Obama is the candidate who would bring you “more of the same.”

If you were wondering why McCain started talking in front of a green screen on Thursday night, it’s because he was standing in front the grass at the bottom of a huge photo. It turned out to be Walter Reed Middle School in California (presumably they had intended to use Walter Reed Medical Center, where wounded soldiers are treated, as a backdrop).

Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident who knows Palin well, wrote this piece about her that has become a viral e-mail.

Here’s another piece about Palin by a longtime resident of Alaska.

I’m with this guy: when it comes to Palins, I’ll take Michael Palin of Monty Python. (No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

UPDATE: Reacting to McCain’s repeated promises to “fight” in his acceptance speech, Senator Barbara Boxer of California notes that she has seen McCain fight many times: against raising the minimum wage, against equal pay for equal work, against access to birth control …

With all due respect to Greg Brown and the Everly Brothers, I doubt that Iowa has ever produced a better songwriter than Justin Roberts.

The Des Moines native is coming back to town for a concert this weekend, and whether or not you can attend, I encourage all parents, grandparents and friends of parents to get to know his music.

This Associated Press feature named Roberts “a rising star in kids’ music”:

In less than a decade he’s gone from playing for a few people in a maternity shop to a few thousand in big-city pavilions and concert halls. And he’s done it in a way that’s increasingly popular: entertaining children without dressing like a purple dinosaur or singing songs that drive parents crazy.

“It’s not like a lot of kid music that’s almost unbearable for an adult to listen to,” said Lee Berger, sitting at a recent show in suburban Chicago with his wife and two small children. “It’s actually good music, and then they like it as well.”

How good? I sometimes listen to this music in the car even when my kids are not with me. It’s not dumbed down, and he writes songs in a variety of styles. On just one album, you can hear the 80s-style pop song “Meltdown” (“I’d stop the world and meltdown with you”), the Beatles-esque “Imaginary Rhino,” a country-ish tune about “Taking Off My Training Wheels” and echoes of Paul Simon in South Africa on “More Than Just a Minute.”

The AP writer notes that adults as well as kids can relate to Roberts’ lyrics, because they touch on universal joys, fears and family dynamics. Some songs put a twist on familiar tales; Humpty Dumpty isn’t a careless idiot, he’s a visionary who keeps climbing that wall to see the amazing view.

Instead of telling kids not to be scared of the monster under the bed because there is no such thing as a monster under a bed, Roberts empathizes with the monster. He might be hungry, missing his monster mom and dad, or scared of the child who seems like “a monster without fur.”

There are also some jokes just for the grown-ups, like phrases from classic Bob Dylan songs in the Dylan-like “Henrietta’s Hair.”

I am particularly fond of the lyrics on “Why Not Sea Monsters?”, an album of songs about the Hebrew Scriptures. Roberts has a funny way of conveying the essence of these stories, whether it’s Moses talking to the burning bush or the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers. (There is also a companion “Why Not Sea Monsters?” album with songs about the New Testament.)

I mentioned in my calendar of this week’s events that Roberts and his band (the Not Ready for Naptime Players) will play a free concert this Sunday, September 7, at 3:00 pm on the west lawn of the Botanical Center in Des Moines. Information about upcoming shows can be found here. You won’t be disappointed, whether Roberts brings along his full band or only the very talented Liam Davis (also his producer).

I wish I could find some footage from a concert on YouTube, because you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a bunch of kids go wild to “D-O-G,” “Day Camp” or “Cartwheels and Somersaults.”

Roberts keeps the audience engaged by encouraging kids to make a particular gesture repeatedly during each song. This is a classic trick of storytelling. Even a pre-verbal toddler who can’t sing along enjoys copying the motions.

For months before he was able to talk, my younger son would put his arm up in the air at the beginning of “I Chalk,” ready to make a big sidewalk chalk circle during the chorus. He tried so hard to point his fingers in the air during the “one by one by one by one” refrain of “Billy the Bully.”

Bring extra money if you do go to a Justin Roberts concert, because chances are you’ll want to buy a CD or two to take home. Depending on where you live, you may not find any of his music in stores, but his albums are available here. We like them all, but our favorites are probably “Meltdown,” “Pop Fly,” “Way Out” and “Not Naptime.”

Four videos can be found on the official Justin Roberts website. To brighten your weekend, I leave you with the title song of his latest album, “Pop Fly.” Not only do my boys love it, that track went all the way to number one on XMKIDS radio:

Details to follow from the Obama campaign. It will be Biden’s first Iowa visit since the caucuses. Expect a very big crowd.

Here’s a good diary about a Biden town-hall meeting in Sarasota this week, with video. He still answers questions for an hour or more at his campaign stops.

Speaking of which, John McCain’s campaign has announced that vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin will not take questions from journalists before the election. No press conferences, no Sunday-morning talk shows. Will this force journalists to drop their questioning of Palin’s record in Alaska and familiarity with basic matters of domestic and foreign policy?

Palin won’t be in seclusion–she’ll be doing about 30 fundraisers in the next 60 days.

UPDATE: Enjoy this post by Al Rodgers about a Biden event on Friday. Click the link to watch a short video clip or read the transcript.

SECOND UPDATE: Here are the details about the Biden event:

Rally with Joe Biden

Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center

Iowa State Fairgrounds

East University Ave. and East 30th St.

Des Moines, IA 50317

Monday, September 8th

Doors Open: 2:15 p.m.

Program Time: 3:15 p.m.

RSVP

http://iowa.barackobama.com/bi…

The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required but an RSVP is encouraged. Space is available on a first come, first served basis.

For security reasons, do not bring bags. Please limit personal items. No signs or banners allowed.

I got this e-mail from the Polk County Democrats yesterday:

Be a part of history and help this election day as we “Get Out The Vote” on election day!

We are currently filling shifts for pollwatchers in all 183 Polk County precincts.  If you have not already been contacted and will be available to help on election day – reply to this email or call us!

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4th

Shifts are 7am to 9:30am, 9:30am to 12:30pm, 12:30pm to 3pm, and 3pm to 6pm.

Thank you!

Tamyra Harrison

Executive Director

Polk County Democrats

515-285-1800

polkdems@gmail.com

Pollwatching is easy to do and reduces the number of phone calls and door-knocks to people who have already voted. If you work in your own precinct, it’s a good way to make contact with neighbors too. You may be surprised by who’s a Democrat!

If you can take time off on election day, contact your county Democrats, the local Obama campaign office, or your candidate for state House and Senate to volunteer.

Watch this fantastic answer by Barack Obama when asked on Thursday why being a community organizer is relevant experience for the presidency:

Greg Sargent posted the video of the entire brief press conference here. I agree with Sargent on Obama’s response to Sarah Palin’s criticism of him:

Great line at the end: “I’ve been called worse on the basketball court. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Dismissive, contemptuous, and perpetually bemused by the new lows of buffoonery and pettiness that the GOP sinks to on a now-daily basis. Keep that tone going.

Obama is really good at staying cool and not rising to the bait. In contrast, John McCain is a hothead, and I expect that comparison to work in our favor as the campaign progresses.

I was less impressed by Obama spokesman Bill Burton’s response to McCain’s speech tonight. It sounds less natural, more like canned talking points.

As McCain was wrapping up his speech, Hillary Clinton released this statement:

“The two party conventions showcased vastly different directions for our country. Senator Obama and Senator Biden offered the new ideas and positive change America needs and deserves after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin did not.

“After listening to all of the speeches this week, I heard nothing that suggests the Republicans are ready to fix the economy for middle class families, provide quality affordable health care for all Americans, guarantee equal pay for equal work for women, restore our nation’s leadership in a complex world or tackle the myriad of challenges our country faces.

“So, to slightly amend my comments from Denver: NO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN-PALIN.”

Great stuff, and I hear she will take this message to Florida on Monday.

By the way, Joe Biden has been campaigning in Florida this week, and here’s a good write-up of a town-hall meeting in Sarasota, with video.

I’ve been saying for months that Obama has no chance of beating McCain in Florida, but I am revising that opinion. Obama’s choice of Biden will serve him well among Jews and voters over 60, while Palin will alienate Jews and probably won’t help McCain with seniors.

Put Biden and Clinton to work in Florida, and Obama has an outside shot at this state with a solid GOTV effort. At the very least, McCain will have to work to hold this state.

After the jump I’ve posted a fundraising e-mail from Obama in response to the way “the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.”

John Edwards cancels all speaking engagements before the November election:

“Nothing is more important than electing Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” Edwards, the former Democratic senator from North Carolina, said in a statement released by the agency. “I don’t want my appearance at these events to be a distraction from the important issues of the election, or from the important purpose of these meetings.”

Last month he canceled plans to deliver the keynote at Iowa first lady Mari Culver’s Conference on Solutions to Poverty on September 16. That event was originally scheduled for June but had to be postponed because of floodwaters threatening downtown Des Moines.

Keeping a low profile is the right thing for Edwards to do now. The unfortunate side effect is that we don’t have any nationally-known Democrat talking about poverty or what to do about it.

In one of his last public appearances before admitting his extramarital affair, Edwards delivered the opening remarks at the AARP Foundation’s Poverty & Aging in America Symposium. Click the link to read edgery’s post about that speech and the policies that the “Half in Ten” poverty eradication program is advocating.

UPDATE: On the other hand, the Buffalo News says Edwards still plans to debate Karl Rove at the University of Buffalo on September 26. Perhaps Edwards’ representative has not yet informed the university about the change in plans, or perhaps he is making an exception for this event. I would think it prudent to cancel this appearance too, although when it was first announced I thought it would be fantastic to watch Edwards take on Rove.

SECOND UPDATE: Wesley Clark will debate Rove in place of Edwards. Should be worth watching, although it is scheduled for the same night as the first Obama-McCain debate.

The schedule for the evening is here. They will show the Sarah Palin biographical video during prime time, after Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and before former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, the video about John McCain, and Cindy McCain’s introduction of her husband.

It won’t have the same impact as if they had shown it before Palin introduced herself to 37 million viewers. We owe Rudy Giuliani and the chanting crowd a big thank you for running late last night.

Palin’s speech seems to have fired up the Democratic base as well as the Republicans. Barack Obama is rumored have raised nearly $10 million in the past 24 hours.

Chatter away. I’ll be watching the repeat of the proceedings later tonight and will post updates then.

UPDATE: Talking Points Memo has the full text of McCain’s speech.

Also at TPM, Josh Marshall’s liveblog of McCain’s speech is hilarious.

Shamelessly, the producers of tonight’s events thought it was a good idea to show a “9/11 tribute video” with graphic footage. You can watch the video here if you have the stomach for it.

Also, McCain started speaking at exactly 9:11 pm central time.

Blogger plf515, who survived the World Trade Center attack, posted his outraged commentary here.

I’m not a big fan of Keith Olbermann, but this time he got it exactly right:

“If at this late date any television networt had of its own accord showed that much video tape and that much graphic video tape of 911, and I speak as somebody who lost a few friends there, it, we, would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters perhaps by the Republican party itself for exploiting the memories of the dead and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again. If you reacted to that video tape the way I did, I apologize. It is a subject of great pain for many of us still and was probably not appropriate to be shown.”

SECOND UPDATE: I saw most of McCain’s speech on the repeat. He never said “George Bush”–just one reference to “the president,” “Laura Bush,” and “the 41st president.” Will people buy the way he is running away from the Republican Party’s record of failure? I have no idea.

A few things toward the end struck me as odd. Here is the last part of his speech:

I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you’re disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what’s right for our country.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Thank you, and God Bless you.

When McCain started talking about being grateful to his country for “saving” him, I was taken aback, because I thought that might offend Christians who think only Jesus saves. But McCain got around to thanking God a minute later, so I don’t think that was a gaffe.

To my ear there was a bit of a sneer in his voice as he delivered the line about not running for president “because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need.” I also sensed a rebuke to Obama in McCain’s line about how “nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.”

McCain spent a large part of this speech defining himself as a servant to his country. Although he nodded to Obama’s achievement at one point, it seems clear that he will continue to depict Obama as a celebrity whose campaign is all about himself.

But look what he said at the very end:

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Sounds like McCain is worried about Republicans resigning themselves to Obama’s inevitable history-making victory. It was strange to hear him acknowledge that pessimism about his chances at what should have been the climax of his speech.

THIRD UPDATE: This part of the speech was drafted poorly:

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.

The crowd kept interrupting with boos after McCain’s description of what Obama would do. It came across as very negative.

These contrasts should have been flipped around so that the crowd kept interrupting McCain with applause after he contrasted his opponent’s plans with his own ideas. You want television viewers to see the audience repeatedly cheering the nominee.

Iowa Republicans have reason to be very afraid. Time/CNN released an Iowa poll yesterday:

(828 RV, 3.5%)

Obama 55, McCain 40

Obama 51, McCain 38, Nader 4, Barr 3, McKinney 2

The top line is probably closer to the real state of play. Election-year polling usually overstates support for third-party candidates. There is no way Ralph Nader will win 4 percent in Iowa this year when he barely got 2 percent in 2000 and couldn’t even manage 1 percent in 2004. I highly doubt Bob Barr or Cynthia McKinney will win even 1 percent of the vote combined.

Getting back to the really scary news for Republicans,

“Obama is winning in all regions of the state, even in the western counties, where George W. Bush beat John Kerry by 17 points,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. “Obama is winning rural voters in Iowa, not something you see in many other states.”

This poll was in the field from August 31 to September 2–that is, after John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, but before the Republican National Convention.

Even if McCain gets a bump out of this week, he will still be well behind Obama in Iowa. I predict that this poll will cause McCain to throw in the towel here so that he can focus on his must-win states, such as Virginia, Ohio, Nevada and Colorado. (Any one of those states would put Obama over the top if he holds the states John Kerry won and picks up Iowa and New Mexico, where he leads comfortably.)

In 2004 George Bush had a huge volunteer base in Iowa, and he and Dick Cheney visited this state several times in the final two months of the campaign. Even so, an incumbent president during wartime barely beat Kerry here.

What chance is there for John McCain, who has never built a strong organization in Iowa? Kerry’s GOTV operation was not on the same level as Obama’s is now. The Obama campaign has organized canvassing in dozens of Iowa towns almost every weekend since mid-July.

Down-ticket Democratic candidates have a huge opening, with big gains in voter registration all over the state and a superior ground game.

Time to open your wallets for Becky Greenwald and Rob Hubler, and volunteer for their campaigns if you live in the area. Also, drop by the fun ReplaceTomLatham.com site launched by the Greenwald campaign this week.

I’ll write more in the next few days on why Iowa’s fourth and fifth Congressional districts are winnable.

I really have no idea how Alaska Governor Sarah Palin went over last night with voters who are not already strongly committed Republicans. I will reserve judgment until we see the next round of polls from must-hold states for John McCain, such as Ohio, Virginia and Colorado.

Huffington Post reported on the reaction from focus groups of married and unmarried supporters of Hillary Clinton. I recommend reading the whole article, but here’s an excerpt:

First, women in both groups were impressed with Palin’s speaking ability and poise. But they were hardly convinced that she was qualified to be vice president, or that she truly represented the “change” they were looking for, especially in light of what was deemed an overly harsh “sarcasm” pervading her address. […]

In the “married” group, when one attendee kicked off the discussion by saying “she’s a good speaker, and a crowd pleaser,” the rest of the room articulated their agreement. “I didn’t expect to be as impressed as I was,” said another respondent. But then another woman added: “Once she started mudslinging, I thought, it’s the same old crap as other politicians. McCain used her to get the women’s vote. And she’s using McCain.”

“Thank you,” another woman responded. “That really upset me; there was no need for that. It was snippy.”

The unmarried group also voiced similar objections to the harsh, partisan edge of Palin’s remarks. “I’m not impressed with her at all as a person,” one said, citing her “finger pointing” and general sarcasm after the group had generally agreed that she was a talented public speaker.

Natasha Chart, who grew up in a conservative, religious family, posted a fascinating commentary on last night’s proceedings at MyDD, complete with King James Bible quotations. She notes that

Jesus didn’t ask the faithful to give good speeches. He didn’t ask of them that they should be from small towns, or some certain geographic region. He asked that they do something real, something material, to lighten the loads of their fellow travelers in this life.

Marc Ambinder thinks Palin may have just made Barack Obama “yesterday’s news”:

Sarah Palin is, quite simply, the celebrity of September. Interest in her will be enormous. Just as Democrats painted on Barack Obama’s blank canvass in January and February of 2007, Republicans and independents will get the chance to fill in their view of Gov. Palin. She’s the new thing. The object of curiosity. The press and the larger media will obsess over her and her family and her life.

TruthMatters thinks the Republicans lost a huge opportunity when they cut the biographical video on Palin out of last night’s program:

First they lead into her with Romney and Rudy, basically putting the country on notice, We Are Republicans And We Mean Business.

They GOP is basically telling us now, that the culture wars are back and they mean it.

Then they go into the prime time hour, the thing millions of American’s are going to see, is nothing but Rudy and Palin non-stop attacking democrats and anyone who is NOT a Republican.

And Rudy really screwed it up, because he ran long and they didn’t play her video. Her Video was suppose to make America fall in love with her, anyone remember, Michelle’s, Hillary’s, Joes, and Obama’s from last week? They NEEDED that video tonight to introduce her, espeically if this was how she was going to come out. She gave no substance, nothing but attacks, she showed us she was a hard right Republican, and she means business.

Now her base loved it. she is getting rave reviews from the right. This from redstate.com says it all “Sarah Palin. An Amazing, Historic, Epic Win.” but here is the problem. In their sheer hubris is all I can say, they seem to think that they are still the majority in this country. What they are ignoring is they are turning off every non-republican in this country. Since the convention and Sarah’s introduction, Obama has taken the lead in independents and increased his Democratic numbers.

The GOP has seem to have forgotten that Sarah was suppose to reach out to independents and the frustrated Hillary supporters, because there aren’t enough GOP voters anymore their party numbers are down. but instead they are now stuck with the 2004 strategy of excite the base and get out to vote.

For a “real vetting roundup” on Palin, read this post by georgia10.

Kos notes that the Republican convention is drawing fewer television viewers than the GOP convention four years ago and a far smaller audience than the Democratic convention drew last week. CORRECTION: the latest ratings show Palin drew almost as large an audience last night as Obama did last Thursday.

I still think selecting Palin was a huge mistake for McCain, whose main talking point against Obama was that he lacked sufficient experience to lead.

Also, give me a break from the talking point about Palin having “more executive experience than Obama and Biden combined,” as if Obama and Biden’s in-depth knowledge and experience crafting federal policy is worth less than being a small-town mayor and serving half a term as governor.

Watch this great clip from last night’s Daily Show, which juxtaposes Karl Rove on Palin’s tremendous experience with what Rove said about Virginia Governor Tim Kaine a few weeks ago. Kaine has served as governor for longer than Palin, managing a state much larger than Alaska. Before that Kaine was lieutenant governor of Virginia, and before that he was mayor of Richmond, a much larger city than Wasilla, Alaska. Jon Stewart noted that “Karl Rove is bitterly divided on the experience issue.”

After the jump I have posted the text of a mass e-mail from Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe. He specifically takes Palin and Rudy Giuliani to task for mocking Obama’s experience as a community organizer. That was certainly one of the low points of Palin’s speech, in my opinion. At least George H.W. Bush pretended to value community activists (“1000 points of light”) twenty years ago.

UPDATE: For the full text of Palin’s speech, click here.

Small-town native Mike Lux had this reaction:

while I appreciated Sarah Palin’s tribute to small-town values at one point in her speech, the values she exhibited in the rest of the speech were not the ones I recognized from the small towns I know. […]

The Sarah Palin I saw last night had a mean streak a mile wide. If me or my brothers and sisters would have been as sarcastic and demeaning to someone as Sarah Palin was last night, my mom would have sent us to our room. I know that Palin was just trying to be funny when she compared herself to a pit bull, but she was just about as nasty as one, and in the dog-loving families I know from small-town America, people generally prefer dogs that will play well with kids and neighbors. And the community organizers that Palin made so much fun of [are] the folks who organized the potluck suppers at church and the Lions Club charities, the ones who really made those small towns go.

Lux should understand that when Palin made fun of community organizers, she wasn’t talking about people who run church potlucks in small towns. I tend to agree with billmon:

Used the way the GOP speakers used the words tonight (i.e. with a sneer), community = ghetto and organizer = activist.

It essentially was a coded way of pointing out Obama’s work in, with and for the black community (see? even I’m doing it) on the South Side of Chicago. Also the fact that his work involved helping low-income people stand up for their legal rights, as opposed to a GOP-sanctioned “real” job like business owner or career military officer (or moose hunter.) They were trying to put Obama back on the same level as Jesse Jackson — i.e., the black protest candidate — and mocking him for it.

The Sierra Club has created an online petition for Iowans, urging energy providers to invest in clean sources for electricity generation, not coal:

Coal is keeping us from moving to a new clean energy economy. To keep our utility prices low, our local energy providers need to move beyond coal and start meeting our electricity needs via clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass.

Sign on to the online petition today to voice your support for an end to coal and the start of green jobs and better health. We will be delivering the petition directly to energy providers across the state.  

Petition to Energy Providers:

I urge my local power provider to reallocate any proposed investment in coal into clean, safe, renewable energy sources and efficiency measures that will provide real consumer relief and a clean environment for generations to come.

We need to break our addiction to fossil fuels and shift to clean energy and efficiency programs that can meet energy demand and stimulate our local economy.

An investment in coal is a large step backwards. I do not support investing in a dirty fuel source that will drive up costs and increase my utility bill.

We need sensible energy solutions now, and real investment in energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy to take our state smartly into the future.

Energy experts agree with Al Gore: we don’t need to build any new coal-fired power plants to meet demand for electricity. Not in Marshalltown or Waterloo or anywhere else in Iowa.

Utilities could be doing much more to implement energy-efficiency measures.

Not only is every new coal-fired power plant a 50-year investment in the wrong direction, consumers will end up paying more for electricity from new power plants.

Also, coal-fired plants are a leading source of deadly fine particulate pollution and mercury pollution.

You can read more reasons to support clean energy production over new investment in coal and other fossil fuels on the websites of the Iowa Environmental Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Please sign the petition and forward the link to your like-minded friends.

Please post a comment or send me an e-mail if I’ve forgotten anything important.

Thursday, September 4:

Congressman Leonard Boswell and the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus are welcoming Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri. He will be at the Baby Boomers Restaurant, 313 E Locust in Des Moines, from 9:00 – 10:00 am.

Candidate for Congress Becky Greenwald will be meeting with Veterans in Ames, Webster City and Marshalltown:

9 A.M. – Meeting with Veterans in Ames

Cafe Diem

229 Main St # 101

Ames, IA 50010

12 P.M. – Meeting with Veterans in Webster City

Hy-Vee

823 Second St

Webster City, IA 50595

4 PM – Event with Rep. Leonard Boswell

IVH Malloy Leisure Resource Center (LRC)

Iowa Veterans Home

1301 Summit St

Marshalltown, IA

Congressman Bruce Braley will tour the University Science Center with University of Dubuque President Jeffrey Bullock. Last year, Braley secured $984,000 for the University of Dubuque Science Center. At 10:45 am, Braley and Bullock will hold a press conference in the Mary Chlapaty Hall Atrium, University Science Center, Corner of University Avenue & North Algona Street in

Dubuque.

There’s another forum for Des Moines school board candidates. This one is at 7:00 pm at First Christian Church, 25th & University in Des Moines. (sponsored by AMOS)

Lovers of birds and natural habitat may want to attend the Audubon Society fundraiser:

Iowa Audubon is pleased to announce that Brad Jacobs, distinguished ornithologist with the Missouri Dept. of Conservation, will be the guest speaker at this year’s Audubon Pelican Gala fundraiser, Thursday evening, Sept. 4.  The topic of Brad’s presentation will be, “Connecting the Midwest with Latin America’s Birds”.  For further information and reservation form, go to http://www.iowaaudubon.org/mai… . Please join Iowa Audubon for an evening of pelican viewing from the deck of Jester Park Lodge on Saylorville Lake, conversations with fellow birders, expanded hors d’oeuvers, homemade desserts, silent auction and this special program by Brad Jacobs.  Proceeds from the event will further Iowa Audubon’s bird conservation efforts in Iowa and beyond.

Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is holding a public forum  on Thursday, September 4 at Viking Lake State Park in Stanton. “I’m looking forward to sharing some of the important initiatives underway within the department, but more importantly, I really want to hear from Iowa’s citizens. One thing I am particularly proud of is the rapport that the DNR

has with the public. This is a relationship we value highly within the DNR,” said Leopold. The public forum begins at 6 p.m. with Director Leopold outlining the department’s top 10 priorities, work being done to develop environmental indicators for the state, providing an update on sustainable funding for natural resources and discussion of local issues. Another hour-and-a-half will be devoted to answering questions from the public.

Friday, September 5:

Howard Dean’s cross country “Register for Change” bus tour hits Iowa with events in Des Moines and Iowa City:

http://www.democrats.org/page/…

Des Moines Register for Change Registration Drive

Drake University

Olmstead Center

2507 University Avenue

Des Moines, Iowa

Friday, September 5, 2008

12:15PM

http://www.democrats.org/page/…

Iowa City Register for Change Registration Drive

Kautz Plaza, located at Trowbridge Hall (between Market St and Jefferson St)

Iowa City, IA

Friday, September 5, 2008

Event Time:  4:00 PM

Candidate for Congress Rob Hubler will hold the following events:

Friday, Sept. 5

3 p.m. Denison Town Hall Meeting at Norelius Community Library in the Fire Side Room, 1403 1st Ave South in Denison.

6 p.m. Storm Lake Office Opening, 805 Flindt Dr.,

Suite 2 in Storm Lake.

Becky Greenwald will appear at a candidate forum in Ames hosted by Working Families Win. Congressman Tom Latham declined the invitation (he really does need to be followed by a person in a chicken suit):

Working Families Win will be hosting a 4th congressional district candidate forum on Friday September 5th, at 6pm in the Sun Room of the Iowa State Memorial Union. Both candidates have been invited to answer questions on the serious pocketbook issues working families here in Iowa struggle with everyday. Democrat Becky Greenwald promptly accepted the invitation to the forum; however incumbent Republican Tom Latham waited nearly three weeks to respond before finally declining the invitation.

Working Families Win organizer Chris Schwartz had this to say “With over a decade in Washington D.C, Tom Latham has a lot to answer for; it is unfortunate that he will not be making time to address the growing concerns of working families here in Iowa. Representative Latham likes to say he is one of the most accessible members of congress, but he holds town hall meetings during the middle of the day during the work week, that’s not accessibility, that’s out of touch.”

The forum will feature both questions from Working Families Win members as well as ample time for questions from the audience. The general public is encouraged to attend and bring the questions they most want answered in this historic election year.

Working Families Win Candidate Forum

Friday September 5th, 6pm

Sun Room , Iowa State Memorial Union

Contact:

Chris Schwartz

Working Families Win

2526 Lincoln Way , Ames Iowa

319-429-0133

chris@wfwin.org

It’s the first day of the Fall Festival and Bulb Mart, which runs September 5-7 and 12-14 at the Botanical Center of Des Moines. The Friends of the Botanical Center is sponsoring the Fall Festival and Bulb Mart to celebrate the harvest with fun and informative weekends for the whole family. The Bulb Mart will include over 26,000 individual bulbs for sale-many deer resistant. Speakers include Amy Goldman, a self-proclaimed “vegetable rights activist” and David Howard, recently retired as the head gardener at Highgrove House, the private residence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in Gloucestershire, England. Justin Roberts and The Not Ready for Naptime Players will perform a free concert September 7.  For more information, go to www.botanicalcenter.com.

For those interested in brewing your own biodiesel:

Open Shop/ Biodiesel Brew Day

September 5, Guernsey

We will have an informal open shop on Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon, for people interested in seeing the progress of our system. This is not a formal class, but you will get a chance to see the process. Call or email Rich for details and directions to Catnip Farm (near Guernsey). Seating is limited. Rich Dana – 319.530.6051  rich@gotoplanb.net Sponsored by the Imagine Grinnell Energy Program

(http://gotoplanb.net/gapri)

Submitted by Rich Dana

Saturday, September 6:

Rob Hubler will be at the Clay County Fair at 9 am.

Hubler will also attend the Pottawattamie County Democrats’ Annual Reception and Dinner, beginning at 5:30, at Ashley Hall, 2700 College Road in Council Bluffs.

Governor Chet Culver will appear at a fundraising reception for Iowa House candidate Matt Pfaltzgraf from 11:30 to 1:30 at the home of Bill Kimberley, 1411 47th Court in Ankeny. Co-hosts include Red Brannan, Cindy Eisenhauer, Mike Lydon, and Representative Geri Huser. Suggested donation $50, or $100 for sponsors and $250 for hosts. Please make checks payable to Matt Pfaltzgraf for State Representative, 713 N.E. Brook Haven, Ankeny, IA 50021, or contribute online at http://www.mattpfaltzgraf.com. RSVP to Mehgan at mlee@iowademocrats.org or 515-974-1702.

Great opportunities to explore central Iowa’s natural areas:

Hartley Heritage Fen Tour

September 6, Jasper County

Beginning at 9:00 a.m., join us for tours of this fen in Jasper County, North of Mitchellville about 6.5 miles. Expect to see this 6.5-acre fen, a rare type of wetland, in full bloom. It’s home to unusual species, such as turtlehead, flat-topped aster and Riddell’s goldenrod, along with birds, butterflies and more. View restoration progress of the additional 26.5 acres of prairie and wetlands. Rain or shine. Dress for the weather and wet conditions at the site. For more information, including maps and directions, see http://www.inhf.org/heritage-f… .

Submitted by Lynn Laws

* * * * * * * * * *

Iowa River Wildlife Area Tour

September 6, Marshalltown area

Join us at 10:00 a.m., north of Marshalltown about 1.5 miles to tour this special place. It contains 485 acres of prairie, wetlands and mature forest, with 1.5 miles protected shoreline on the Iowa River. A wagon tour of the area will be offered, weather and ground conditions permitting. Parking is limited. To carpool, meet at 9:40 a.m. on the south side of the Marshall County Courthouse. In case of heavy rain, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation dedication will be at the Nature Center at Grimes Farm, 2349 23rd St., Marshalltown. For more information, including maps and directions, see http://www.inhf.org/iowariverw…

Submitted by Lynn Laws

* * * * * * * * * *

Rosie Medici, Michele & Chris Mahlstadt and Connie Craig are hosting a hog roast fundraiser for John Scarpino, Candidate for Polk County Supervisor in District 2. The event will take place from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the VFW Lodge, 1309 NW 66th Ave in Des Moines. Cost $8.00 per person

Sunday, September 7:

Parents and grandparents of children under 10, mark your calendars: Des Moines native and nationally-renowned children’s musician will play a free concert at 3:00 pm at the Botanical Center. Although there is no charge for admission, you may want to bring money so you can buy his great albums afterwards!

Another good event for bird-lovers:

Pelican Festival

September 7, Polk County

“Play local” is the theme for the 2008 Pelican Festival, held from 1-6 p.m., at Jester Park Lodge. See and learn about the American white pelican and where and how you can recreate locally. In addition to wildlife viewing, activities for all ages will educate participants about pelicans, waterfowl, osprey, and their amazing migrations. Public education programs will take place all day on the half hour. Youth activities and refreshments will be on-site. There will be water available and a small concession stand. Please dress for the conditions – wear sunscreen, hats, etc. For a map to the park, go to http://www.conservationboard.o…

Submitted by Jane Clark and Kami Rankin

I won’t be watching in prime time, but I plan to watch the repeat of Sarah Palin’s speech on C-SPAN later. I expect her to bring the house down in St. Paul. Those delegates are her kind of Republican.

Chatter away about what you’ve seen and heard today. I will update later.

UPDATE: I hope John McCain runs his new Obama/Palin comparison ad in every swing state:

MSNBC’s First Read has already fact-checked this ad:

It’s important to note that there are a few misleading assertions in the ad. For one, the “Journal” that’s cited is the conservative and partisan Wall Street Journal editorial page. Two, to call Obama the Senate’s most liberal senator is dubious. (The charge comes from the National Journal ranking Obama as having the most liberal Senate voting record of 2007, but he was nowhere near the top in 2005 and 2006; it’s also worth noting that Obama missed many Senate votes in 2007, so that ranking is a bit skewed.) And three, the charge that Obama “gave big oil billions in subsidies and giveaways” is misleading. (According to nonpartisan fact-checkers, the 2005 energy bill the McCain camp is referring to actual resulted in a net tax INCREASE on oil companies.)

Speaking of fact checks, First Read notes that Mike Huckabee was wrong to assert in his RNC speech that Sarah Palin received more votes running for mayor of Wasilla than Joe Biden received running for president. First Read says nearly 80,000 Americans voted for Biden for president.

I suspect that estimate is low. Probably somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of Iowa Democrats stood up for Biden at their precinct caucuses, although he only ended up with 1 percent of the delegates because of the 15 percent viability threshold. Also, Biden was not on the ballot in Michigan, but presumably some of those “uncommitted” voters preferred him.

The Democratic National Committee launched a fun website called JustMoreoftheSame.com. Check it out.

SECOND UPDATE: Democratic bloggers seem divided on whether Palin gave a great speech (to the audience she was trying to reach) or whether she was boring.

Josh Marshall had this to say about Rudy:

You’ll notice that Rudy Giuliani apparently ran too long and they had to drop the Palin mini-movie that was supposed to introduce her speech. Normally people get fired for goofs like that. They didn’t want Rudy’s blood and iron speech the day after Gustav so they bumped it until tonight. Big mistake. He positively dripped with a kind of curdled anger, the origin of which is difficult to grasp. But he actually seemed to get angrier and angrier as the speech progressed — off chopping his hands around, baring his teeth. I know the people in the hall loved it. But I think a lot of people will see it as whacked. Rancid. Curdled. Palin’s speech ended up being much more partisan than I expected. But that was added to by the fact that she had to start her speech while the auditorium was still awash in the teeth-gnashing froth ginned up by Rudy’s speech.

THIRD UPDATE: I caught most of the repeat of Rudy’s speech. I cannot imagine that helped McCain with anyone but the most hard-core Republicans. Talk about mean-spirited. All those loud “boos” from the audience made the crowd seem mean as well. And it was surreal to see Hizzoner from New York make fun of Obama for being too cosmopolitan. I agree with RF–if millions of Americans caught that speech while tuning in to see Palin, Obama will benefit.

Also, it was bizarre to have the camera cutting to Cindy McCain holding baby Trig during Rudy’s speech. Most young infants don’t like being passed around and held by total strangers.

FOURTH UPDATE: Mr. desmoinesdem and I watched the repeat of Palin. She did a lot better than Rudy, obviously. I’m sure she generated a lot of enthusiasm among the GOP base. We have no idea how that speech sounded to a typical undecided voter. Some of her culture war language and criticism of Obama sounded a little petty to me, but I’m obviously not the target audience. She lied again about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere, but will she get called on that? The visuals at the end of her holding baby Trig with the rest of her family on stage were great.

I think Obama and Biden should ignore her and focus their fire on McCain.

Ben Smith reported yesterday at Politico that Barack Obama’s campaign is running radio ads about John McCain’s stand on abortion. His readers reported hearing the ads in at least seven states, including Iowa.

I heard this ad in the car yesterday on two Des Moines-area radio stations: the oldies station KIOA, and once on LITE 104.1. LITE heavily skews toward female listeners. I don’t know about the gender breakdown of KIOA listeners, but that station generally appeals to an older audience, many of whom would remember when abortion was illegal.

Because I was driving, I was unable to take notes on the ad. Audio does not seem to be available at the Obama campaign website.

This morning I was heard a longer version of the same ad on both the LITE station and the oldies station. I was able to take notes, but this is not a verbatim transcript.

UPDATE: Edited out my rough transcript and replaced with the script Smith published at Politico:

   OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama, candidate for president, and I approved this message.

   VAL BARON: As a nurse practitioner with Planned Parenthood, I know abortion is one of the most difficult decisions a woman will ever make. I’m Val Baron. Let me tell you: If Roe v Wade is overturned, the lives and health of women will be put at risk.  That’s why this election is so important.  John McCain’s out of touch with women today. McCain wants to take away our right to choose. That’s what women need to understand. That’s how high the stakes are.

   ANNCR: As president, John McCain will make abortion illegal.  McCain says quote, “I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.” And listen to McCain’s answer on Meet the Press:

       RUSSERT: “A constitutional amendment to ban all abortions. You’re for that?”

       McCAIN: “Yes, sir.”

   VAL BARON: We can’t let John McCain take away our right to choose. We can’t let him take us back.

   ANNCR: Paid for by Obama for America.

The short version of the radio ad does not have the Planned Parenthood nurse practitioner speaking at the beginning. Otherwise, it is identical, beginning where the female voice-over picks up.

A few points worth noting about this ad:

It does not mention Sarah Palin or the fact that McCain picked an anti-choice running mate. The entire focus is on McCain’s record on abortion.

Including the undated audio clip with Russert and McCain is effective, in my opinion. That is more memorable than anything a voice-over could say about McCain’s position on abortion.

I prefer the long version of the ad, because I think it’s powerful to have a nurse say abortion is a difficult decision for women. The anti-choice forces try to make it sound as if pro-choice people celebrate or even encourage “abortion on demand.” However, most Americans understand that whatever their own views about the issue, abortion is not something women take lightly. Complicated personal circumstances lead to the decision.

These ads mark a major shift in strategy for the Obama campaign. Up to now, the campaign has been emphasizing economic issues rather than abortion at its women’s outreach events. Click the link to read about the Obama women’s event I attended a few weeks ago, during which Roe v Wade was only mentioned in passing.

Although Democratic candidates have not often made abortion the focus of paid advertising, I think this is a smart ad. Way too many women wrongly believe McCain is pro-choice. Even my stepmother, who is well-informed politically, thought that.

Now that McCain has played his hand and picked a running mate who appeals to evangelicals seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, it’s the right time to educate pro-choice women about McCain’s true record on the issue.

The potential downside is that these ads will increase McCain’s support among anti-choice voters. Although McCain scores zero on Progressive Punch’s rankings on abortion as well as a perfectly anti-choice zero on Planned Parenthood’s scorecard, many evangelical conservatives believe McCain does not have a pro-life voting record.

Incredibly, some figures on the Christian right believe McCain has a pro-abortion voting record (see here for more details on that perspective).

This ad makes crystal clear that McCain would make abortion illegal if elected president.

On the other hand, McCain has presumably already energized anti-choice voters by selecting Palin for vice-president. Also, I have yet to see any poll showing that a majority of Americans would like to see abortion criminalized.

Please put up a comment if you have heard these ads, with details about when and what kind of radio station aired them.

Anyone watching tonight?

Share your thoughts here.

Note that John Edwards, who had an extramarital affair, was banished from the Democratic convention. But Rudy Giuliani, who not only cheated on his wife but used city resources for the benefit of his mistress, and informed his wife he was divorcing her by holding a press conference, is delivering the keynote for the GOP convention.

Repeat after me: It’s ok if you’re a Republican.

Alliant Energy, which has an Iowa branch called Interstate Power and Light, wants to build a coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown. The utility claims the new plant will be needed to meet energy demand.

However, expert testimony submitted to the Iowa Utilities Board suggests that Alliant/Interstate Power and Light could be doing much more to promote energy efficiency, which is more cost-effective than building new power plants.

Last Friday,

the Iowa Environmental Council, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Law and Policy Center submitted testimony to the Iowa Utilities Board, by expert witness, Geoff Crandall of MSB Energy Associates, detailing ways to improve the Alliant Energy Efficiency plan.

The details are in the full text of the press release from the Iowa Environmental Council, which I have posted after the jump.

The big problem, according to Nathaniel Baer, energy program director for the Iowa Environmental Council, is this: “Alliant significantly underutilizes energy efficiency measures, as the plan proposes to achieve less than half of the cost-effective potential they, themselves identified as available.”

At this blog I’ve focused on environmental and health reasons not to build more coal-fired power plants, but Baer points out that consumers will also pay more for electricity from new sources of generation. Energy-saving measures are more economical.

The expert testimony submitted by the Iowa Environmental Council, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Law and Policy Center complements expert testimony filed with the Iowa Utilities Board the same day by Plains Justice on behalf of several grassroots groups. That testimony concluded that “IPL has exaggerated costs and underestimated potential for its efficiency programs.”

I am grateful to all of the non-profit groups that are making this case to the Iowa Utilities Board.

At the same time, I wish the Iowa Utilities Board had rejected the application to build the Marshalltown plant. If that had happened, these worthy non-profits could be spending their staff time and resources on other environmental and health problems facing Iowans.

Jason Hancock has a story up about the latest round of cuts in the Des Moines Register newsroom. The people who have lost their jobs after working hard for years have my sympathy.

I was downsized during the 1990s. It was lousy to feel that far-off management did not respect the value of my work, or indeed the work of anyone around me, since my whole department was cut.

If you don’t read the Register much, you might not care about the story. Gannett had already damaged newsgathering and investigative reporting so much over the past 20-odd years, what difference could this make?

However, the political elite of this state still read the Register, as do reporters for other media. The newspaper still has the power to set the agenda for political debate and political coverage, only it will be doing so with a more skeletal staff.

I’m not optimistic about what coverage of next year’s legislative session will look like. I don’t know whether someone else will cover the Iowa delegation in Congress the way Jane Norman did, or whether we’ll just hear less about what our representatives are doing.

Even before this round of layoffs, the Register was slow to pick up on wrongdoing at the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium. Will the Register have the flexibility to assign anyone to investigative work, or will the next CIETC scandal, or the the failure to fix the Birdland levee in Des Moines, never be properly researched?

The Cityview weekly in Des Moines publishes some good investigative reporting, but that is no substitute for a strong daily newspaper in Iowa’s capital city.

Hancock says the mood in the Register’s newsroom is gloomy. Even without being directly affected by these layoffs, I’m feeling downbeat too.

MissLaura put up this front-page post at Daily Kos today about why unions matter. She linked to Change to Win, which has all kinds of useful statistics on its website. Click the link to find charts illustrating that “Union Workers Earn More,” “Union Members Have Better Benefits,” “Union Members Pay Less for Health Coverage,” and so on.

If Barack Obama becomes president, I hope he will follow through on promises to make it easier for workers to organize in this country. Replacing some of the corporate hacks George Bush has put on the National Labor Relations Board would be a step in the right direction. The Bush administration has used the NLRB to carry out a “systematic assault on workers’ rights.”

In the good news column, Shai Sachs reported in this post at MyDD that union membership appears to be slowly inching up, reversing a long decline.

But remember, just being in a union doesn’t guarantee that a worker will receive promised benefits. As I wrote a few weeks ago, Maytag retirees are probably going to lose health benefits guaranteed in their last contract. On the other hand, if they hadn’t been in a union, it’s a good bet they never would have had those benefits to begin with.

Post your thoughts about today’s events. The front page of Barack Obama’s website has a link you can click to find ways to help Hurricane Gustav victims.

John McCain has seized the opportunity to distance himself from George Bush and Dick Cheney. They had been scheduled to address the GOP convention on Monday night, but those speeches have been canceled. Instead, Laura Bush and Cindy McCain will speak briefly on how Americans can help hurricane victims.

Meanwhile, McCain is touring the Gulf cost and talking about turning the Republican convention into a service event. Fits nicely with his slogan about “putting country first,” except when you realize that his visit is likely to distract the local officials trying to manage evacuation and disaster relief efforts.

He obviously doesn’t want people to remember that the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, Bush was celebrating McCain’s birthday in Arizona.

This diary by Muzikal203 compares how McCain and Obama have reacted to Gustav and both senators’ records on matters related to Hurricane Katrina.

UPDATE: I’ve been reading some disturbing posts about police tactics in St. Paul:

A concise roundup by mcjoan is here.

Glenn Greenwald has a lot more detail, including footage of Amy Goodman, host of the Democracy Now! radio program, being arrested while covering the protests at the RNC. Greenwald observed on Monday:

Beginning last night, St. Paul was the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be, even more so than Manhattan in the week of 9/11 — with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas cannisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations. Humvees and law enforcement officers with rifles were posted on various buildings and balconies. Numerous protesters and observers were tear gassed and injured.

Lindsay Beyerstein wrote this piece at Firedoglake.

Open Left has published several pieces on this, including this post with photos by Matt Stoller.

It is depressing to see such an overreaction to political dissent.

because if it were I would have to cover Republican candidate Dave Hartsuch a lot more often. He’s the social conservative who beat longtime moderate incumbent Maggie Tinsman in the 2006 Republican primary for Iowa Senate district 41. His main campaign strategy against Congressman Bruce Braley seems to be to repeat right-wing talking points with no basis in fact.

However, I noticed in Sunday’s Des Moines Register that Hartsuch is staking out new ground by criticizing Braley’s support for bicycling:

Braley has joined the Congressional Bike Caucus, a group aimed at promoting safer roads, more bikeways, convenient bike parking and increased recognition of cycling. He is a freshman lawmaker representing Iowa’s 1st District, where bicycling has grown in popularity as a green method of transportation.

State Sen. David Hartsuch, a Bettendorf Republican who is opposing Braley’s bid for re-election in November, said he is not against bicycling. But Hartsuch has a different view on federal involvement in bicycling.

“I don’t think it’s a proper federal function to put money into bicycling,” Hartsuch said. “I think the federal government exists for national defense and the promoting of the general welfare. I think states are quite capable of building their own bicycle ways, and I don’t think the federal government should be having a national bicycle network. It’s not the same as a national highway or the interstate highway system. Bicycling is a rather local thing.”

Braley recently told reporters in Des Moines that one of his priorities is expanding the availability and quality of Iowa’s more than 1,000 miles of multipurpose recreational trails.

He also wants to restore the 52-mile Cedar Valley Nature Trail in northeast Iowa, which sustained millions of dollars in flood damage.

Hartsuch must be joking. Does he have any idea how many local road projects would never get built without federal funding? The proposed northeast Polk County beltway is a perfect example of a road that would benefit only a small number of central Iowa residents and property owners, but would require hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

Fortunately, Braley is under no threat whatsoever. Iowa’s first district has a partisan index of D+4, based on how it voted in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. But Democrats have substantially increased their voter registration edge in IA-01 since then. Also, Barack Obama’s coattails are likely to help Braley in his eastern Iowa.

Furthermore, Braley had $419,222 cash on hand as of June 30, while Hartsuch had raised $16,661 for his Congressional bid and had $12,664 cash on hand.

So, I don’t plan to write much about the Braley-Hartsuch race this fall. But don’t let that discourage Bleeding Heartland readers from posting a diary here if there is any interesting news from the first district campaign.

Getting back to transportation policy, I learned from this Register article that Congressman Dave Loebsack of Iowa’s second district and Congressman Leonard Boswell of Iowa’s third district are also in the Congressional Bike Caucus. Good for them.

Since Boswell sits on the House Transportation Committee (like Braley), I hope we can count on him to support new priorities in the highway bill due to be considered by Congress in 2009. I would also like to see Boswell and Braley join Loebsack in backing efforts to make transportation policy part of any forthcoming legislation on global warming.

Many conservative pundits were not impressed by John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, since her glaring lack of experience undercuts McCain’s main message against Barack Obama.

On the plus side for McCain, just about everyone agreed that putting an anti-abortion mother-of-five on the ticket would delight the evangelical Christians who were so crucial to George Bush’s re-election.

Although the “pro-family” interest groups applauded McCain’s choice, I had a hunch that Palin wouldn’t be unanimously embraced by the evangelical rank and file.

I lurk and occasionally comment at a few “mommy blogs” written by religious conservatives. Checking in on some popular sites in the evangelical Christian blogosphere over the weekend, I did find some commentaries that praised Palin for her views and for continuing a pregnancy while carrying a child with Down syndrome.

However, if you join me after the jump, you’ll see that plenty of evangelicals are far from “fired up and ready to go” for this Republican ticket.  

Send me an e-mail or post a comment if you’d like me to add any events to this calendar.

Sunday, August 31:

Representative Bruce Braley will attend the Clinton Labor Congress Labor Day Picnic at 1:00pm in Eagle Point Park, Clinton.

Donate to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by midnight and have your contribution matched dollar-for-dollar by an unnamed group of senators. http://www.dscc.org

Monday, September 1:

Bruce Braley will walk in the Dubuque Labor Day Parade, beginning at 9:30 am in downtown Dubuque.

Democratic candidate for Congress Rob Hubler will be at the Sioux City Labor Picnic. For details, contact the Hubler campaign office in Sioux City at 712-258-9069.

Democratic candidate for Congress Becky Greenwald will be at the North Iowa Nine Labor Council Picnic from 12pm to 1pm. For details, call the Greenwald campaign at 515-537-4465.

Former Governor Tom Vilsack will attend the gathering following the Keokuk Labor Day Parade on behalf of the Obama campaign.  Governor Vilsack will meet with Iowans at 11:30 am at the Labor Temple, 301 Blondeau St in Keokuk, to discuss Senator Obama’s record of standing up for America’s workers and his plans to help working families.  

Polk County Democrats are still looking for volunteers and parade walkers for the Solidarity Fest:

The parade begins line-up at the State Capitol at 8am and the parade begins at 11am.  The route takes us from the Capitol to the 4-H Building at the State Fairgrounds.   Volunteers should arrive by 10:30am to find us in the line-up.  It is not numbered, but first come, first in line so allow yourself a little time.  To join us, please call Tamyra at 515-285-1800.

The Fest at the 4-H Building begins at 12pm .  Extreme Games form 12p – 2p. Campbell ‘s Concessions will offer hot dogs and chips for $2.00 and Hamburgers and chips for $2.50.  Free kids games and water.

The Polk County Democrats’ booth will be manned from 12p til the event is over between 2p and 3p.

If you are available to help out at the booth, please contact Tamyra at 515-285-1800

Tuesday, September 2:

Parents and parents-to-be may want to check out the cloth diaper and baby carrier “garage sale” organized by the Des Moines “cloth diaper crowd” that meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 10 am at the Vineyard Church, 36th and University in Des Moines. This is a great place to find very affordable cloth diapers and baby carriers in good condition. If you don’t want to buy used, you can still come to the group to learn about the different types of cloth diapers and covers available.

Dave Loebsack is holding a fundraiser for Gretche Lawyer from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Lowe Park Arts and Environment Center at 4500 10th Street in Marion.  Lawyer is running for the Iowa House for the seat formerly held by Swati Dandekar.

A fundraiser for Representative candidate Susan Radke, County Supervisor Wayne Clinton and Sheriff Fitzgerald will be held at the Swinging Bridges Studio in Story City from 5:30-7:00.

From the Center on Sustainable Communities:

Greensburg/Parkersburg Community Forum on Lessons Learned

September 2, Des Moines

Two communities who have begun their rebuilding efforts in two different ways will be in Des Moines, Tuesday, September 2nd from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Des Moines Downtown Public Library. Sharing their stories of challenges and success will be architect Stephen Hardy, one of the leaders of the rebuilding efforts in Greensburg, followed by comments from Greensburg Mayor Bob Dixson, and Parkersburg Mayor Bob Haylock, Economic Development Director Virgil Goodrich and City Planner Don Temeyer. We invite you to attend this free public event to hear their stories and share questions regarding their continuing challenges and successes. For more information visit www.icosc.com.  RSVP to emily@icosc.com.

*

Thanks to corncam, who alerted me about a forum for Iowa City School Board candidates on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd, from 7-9PM at the district’s central office at 509 S. Dubuque St.  Four candidates are running for three seats: incumbents Patti Fields and Toni Cilek, and challengers Michael Shaw and Richard Tiegs.  

Wednesday, September 3:

The Des Moines school board election is on Tuesday, September 9. A public forum for hearing more about the candidates will be held on September 3 at 7:00 pm in the auditorium at Central Campus (old Tech High School site in Des Moines). Sponsored by Interfaith

Alliance, League of Women Voters and city PTA. All eight candidates will be present to answer questions submitted by audience members. Audience members should not wear candidate’s promotional attire such as t-shirts, hats, etc. (buttons are allowed).  No signs, banners, charts, displays, or demonstrations of any kind will be allowed. Parking is available across the street, a block west of Central, and in the rear of the building (including the ramp behind the Wallace-Homestead Building ).  Entry into the building is only through the front main doors. For more information, call (515) 279-8715.

From the Iowa Environmental Council’s newsletter:

Science Café to explore the extremes of Iowa flooding and rainfall

September 3, Ames

Join the discussion from 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 3, in the Skybox at Legends American Grill at 200 Stanton Ave. in Ames. It won’t be a science class. It won’t be a lecture. But there are sure to be some lessons learned about the Iowa floods of 2008. The Iowa State University chapter of Sigma Xi — an international, multidisciplinary scientific research society — will co-sponsor a “Science Café” featuring Iowa State faculty members sharing their perspectives and answering questions on the theme, “Extreme Water and Weather in Iowa.” The café presentations will facilitate discussion about this summer’s flooding in Iowa. There will also be explanations of the science of flood prediction plus talk of how climate change and land use may affect flooding now and in the future. It is free and open to the public. For more information, go to http://www.public.iastate.edu/…

Submitted by William Simpkins

Thursday, September 4:

Congressman Leonard Boswell and the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus are welcoming Congressman Ike Skelton of Missouri. He will be at the Baby Boomers Restaurant, 313 E Locust in Des Moines, from 9:00 – 10:00 am.

There’s another forum for Des Moines school board candidates. This one is at 7:00 pm at First Christian Church, 25th & University in Des Moines. (sponsored by AMOS)

Lovers of birds and natural habitat may want to attend the Audubon Society fundraiser:

Iowa Audubon is pleased to announce that Brad Jacobs, distinguished ornithologist with the Missouri Dept. of Conservation, will be the guest speaker at this year’s Audubon Pelican Gala fundraiser, Thursday evening, Sept. 4.  The topic of Brad’s presentation will be, “Connecting the Midwest with Latin America’s Birds”.  For further information and reservation form, go to http://www.iowaaudubon.org/mai… . Please join Iowa Audubon for an evening of pelican viewing from the deck of Jester Park Lodge on Saylorville Lake, conversations with fellow birders, expanded hors d’oeuvers, homemade desserts, silent auction and this special program by Brad Jacobs.  Proceeds from the event will further Iowa Audubon’s bird conservation efforts in Iowa and beyond.

Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is holding a public forum  on Thursday, September 4 at Viking Lake State Park in Stanton. “I’m looking forward to sharing some of the important initiatives underway within the department, but more importantly, I really want to hear from Iowa’s citizens. One thing I am particularly proud of is the rapport that the DNR

has with the public. This is a relationship we value highly within the DNR,” said Leopold. The public forum begins at 6 p.m. with Director Leopold outlining the department’s top 10 priorities, work being done to develop environmental indicators for the state, providing an update on sustainable funding for natural resources and discussion of local issues. Another hour-and-a-half will be devoted to answering questions from the public.

Friday, September 5:

It’s the first day of the Fall Festival and Bulb Mart, which runs September 5-7 and 12-14 at the Botanical Center of Des Moines. The Friends of the Botanical Center is sponsoring the Fall Festival and Bulb Mart to celebrate the harvest with fun and informative weekends for the whole family. The Bulb Mart will include over 26,000 individual bulbs for sale-many deer resistant. Speakers include Amy Goldman, a self-proclaimed “vegetable rights activist” and David Howard, recently retired as the head gardener at Highgrove House, the private residence of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in Gloucestershire, England. Justin Roberts and The Not Ready for Naptime Players will perform a free concert September 7.  For more information, go to www.botanicalcenter.com.

For those interested in brewing your own biodiesel:

Open Shop/ Biodiesel Brew Day

September 5, Guernsey

We will have an informal open shop on Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon, for people interested in seeing the progress of our system. This is not a formal class, but you will get a chance to see the process. Call or email Rich for details and directions to Catnip Farm (near Guernsey). Seating is limited. Rich Dana – 319.530.6051  rich@gotoplanb.net Sponsored by the Imagine Grinnell Energy Program

(http://gotoplanb.net/gapri)

Submitted by Rich Dana

Saturday, September 6:

Great opportunities to explore central Iowa’s natural areas:

Hartley Heritage Fen Tour

September 6, Jasper County

Beginning at 9:00 a.m., join us for tours of this fen in Jasper County, North of Mitchellville about 6.5 miles. Expect to see this 6.5-acre fen, a rare type of wetland, in full bloom. It’s home to unusual species, such as turtlehead, flat-topped aster and Riddell’s goldenrod, along with birds, butterflies and more. View restoration progress of the additional 26.5 acres of prairie and wetlands. Rain or shine. Dress for the weather and wet conditions at the site. For more information, including maps and directions, see http://www.inhf.org/heritage-f… .

Submitted by Lynn Laws

* * * * * * * * * *

Iowa River Wildlife Area Tour

September 6, Marshalltown area

Join us at 10:00 a.m., north of Marshalltown about 1.5 miles to tour this special place. It contains 485 acres of prairie, wetlands and mature forest, with 1.5 miles protected shoreline on the Iowa River. A wagon tour of the area will be offered, weather and ground conditions permitting. Parking is limited. To carpool, meet at 9:40 a.m. on the south side of the Marshall County Courthouse. In case of heavy rain, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation dedication will be at the Nature Center at Grimes Farm, 2349 23rd St., Marshalltown. For more information, including maps and directions, see http://www.inhf.org/iowariverw…

Submitted by Lynn Laws

* * * * * * * * * *

Rosie Medici, Michele & Chris Mahlstadt and Connie Craig are hosting a hog roast fundraiser for John Scarpino, Candidate for Polk County Supervisor in District 2. The event will take place from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the VFW Lodge, 1309 NW 66th Ave in Des Moines. Cost $8.00 per person

Sunday, September 7:

Parents and grandparents of children under 10, mark your calendars: Des Moines native and nationally-renowned children’s musician will play a free concert at 3:00 pm at the Botanical Center. Although there is no charge for admission, you may want to bring money so you can buy his great albums afterwards!

Another good event for bird-lovers:

Pelican Festival

September 7, Polk County

“Play local” is the theme for the 2008 Pelican Festival, held from 1-6 p.m., at Jester Park Lodge. See and learn about the American white pelican and where and how you can recreate locally. In addition to wildlife viewing, activities for all ages will educate participants about pelicans, waterfowl, osprey, and their amazing migrations. Public education programs will take place all day on the half hour. Youth activities and refreshments will be on-site. There will be water available and a small concession stand. Please dress for the conditions – wear sunscreen, hats, etc. For a map to the park, go to http://www.conservationboard.o…

Submitted by Jane Clark and Kami Rankin

If you receive fundraising e-mails from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, you’ve probably noticed this lately:

Click here to make a contribution of $50, $75 or more to the DSCC to help Democrats win a filibuster-proof Democratic majority on November 4.  Give by midnight August 31 and a group of Democratic senators will match every single dollar you give, effectively doubling your contribution.

Anyone know which senators are in this group or whether Tom Harkin is participating?

After Labor Day we should be ready to get another Use It Or Lose It campaign going.

Sven from My Silver State did a lot of research for this diary on how much each Democratic senator has given to the DSCC so far this cycle.

This came in from Plains Justice yesterday:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 29, 2008      

Contacts:        

Carrie La Seur, Plains Justice (Cedar Rapids), 319-560-4729, claseur AT plainsjustice.org

Chris James, Synapse Energy Economics (Cambridge, MA), 617-861-7484, cjames AT synapse-energy.com

COMMUNITY, FARM AND PUBLIC HEALTH GROUPS FILE EXPERT TESTIMONY THAT BETTER EFFICIENCY PERFORMANCE IS A GENUINE ALTERNATIVE TO COAL

DES MOINES – Today Plains Justice, a Cedar Rapids-based environmental justice law center, filed expert testimony in Interstate Power and Light’s energy efficiency planning docket before the Iowa Utilities Board, on behalf of a coalition of Iowa grassroots groups.  The testimony by Synapse Energy Economics concludes that IPL has exaggerated costs and underestimated potential for its efficiency programs.

Expert witness Christopher James, a former air regulator who helped develop EPA’s National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, testifies that “IPL overestimates the costs of energy efficiency, and underestimates the amount of energy efficiency that can be achieved by 2013.”  IPL has told the IUB that energy savings of 1.5% annually, the level requested by IUB, would be difficult to achieve.  James concludes that this scenario is “very achievable” and should be pursued.

IPL’s energy efficiency planning is the subject of heightened interest because IPL claims that it cannot avoid the need for its proposed 649 MW Marshalltown plant through improved efficiency programming.  According to today’s intervenor testimony, IPL’s flawed approach to efficiency has led to the conclusion that a new coal plant is needed.  James testifies that IPL could achieve even more than 1.5% annual energy savings by including opportunities IPL has ignored, including combined heat and power at industrial sites like ethanol refineries.

The testimony states that “IPL has ignored some of the benefits of energy efficiency to Iowa’s consumers and businesses. These benefits include: deferring the need to construct new or upgrade existing generation, deferring the need to construct new or upgrade existing transmission lines and distribution system, reducing ratepayer bills, reducing emissions of criteria air pollutants (such as those which contribute to acid rain, smog and haze) and greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing public health costs (from reduced number of asthma cases, visits to emergency rooms, lost productivity at work, etc.).” James recommends that IUB require a revised and more ambitious plan from IPL.

Plains Justice argues that IUB must ensure that IPL has optimized efficiency programming before allowing a new coal plant to be built at a cost of up to $2 billion.  “Approving a coal plant before we’ve completed an aggressive efficiency planning process is putting the cart before the horse, at ratepayer expense,” says Plains Justice President and Founder Carrie La Seur.

Intervenors represented by Plains Justice in this docket are Community Energy Solutions, Iowa Farmers Union and Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility.  The intervenors are advocates for clean, community-based energy solutions that minimize the health and environmental impacts of energy production and support local and rural economies.  This intervention is one of a series brought by Plains Justice to promote better energy policy for Iowa on behalf of grassroots Iowa organizations.

The only low point of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday was this:

As president, as president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.

There is no such thing as “clean coal.” Every new coal-fired power plant is a 50-year investment in the wrong direction. It is unfortunate that our Democratic leaders lack the political courage to embrace an energy policy committed to meeting our needs without expanding our use of coal and nuclear power.

Al Gore laid out how this can be done in a major speech last month. Click the link to find an annotated version of the full transcript.

We can do much more with conservation and energy efficiency measures than the major utility companies acknowledge.

Thanks to Plains Justice and the other non-profit groups that are continuing to push the Iowa Utilities Board in the right direction.

If only the IUB had done the right thing back in April, these worthy non-profits could be spending their staff time and resources on other environmental and health problems facing Iowans.

I apologize for forgetting to post a calendar of events this week.

The Obama campaign in Iowa has organized canvassing in 49 communities on Saturday, August 30. I put the full list of cities and towns after the jump. For details or to sign up for one of these events, go to this page on the Iowa for Obama website. In most areas, there will be two shifts for door-knockers.

In many communities, canvassers will be spreading the word about down-ticket candidates as well as Barack Obama.

Quoting from a post I wrote earlier this week,

If you are planning to volunteer for Obama in a small town, take some time to become familiar with the Plan to Support Rural Communities. AlanF has good advice for canvassers in this diary, and Pete Mohanty lays out the reasons that canvassing is an effective campaign tool in this research paper.

If you volunteer this weekend, consider posting a diary to let us know how it went. I’m particularly interested to hear people’s reactions to Joe Biden  as VP or any of the convention speeches.

Nielsen has estimated that more than 38 million Americans watched Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday night, and that does not include the 3.5 million people that (according to PBS) watched the event on public television.

I was shocked to learn that

more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final “American Idol” or the Academy Awards this year.

Every night of the Democratic convention, viewership was way up compared to 2004. Hillary Clinton’s speech on Tuesday drew at least 26 million viewers.

Talk about a tough act to follow. John McCain is scheduled to accept the Republican nomination next Thursday evening, when two other networks will be showing NFL games on the first night of the professional football season.

If today is John McCain’s birthday, why did he give us a present?

I strongly disagree with the idea that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is a game-changer for the Republicans.

Hillary Clinton gave a strong endorsement of Barack Obama on Tuesday and will be out campaigning for him this fall. I’m supposed to believe that women who preferred Hillary in the Democratic primaries will flock to McCain, with his horrible record on women’s issues, because a conservative woman is his running mate?

I get the rationale for picking Palin, as laid out here by Chris Bowers and in a different way by Iowa blogger Douglas Burns.

But McCain is staking his campaign on persuading Americans that Obama is “not ready to lead.” I cannot see how it helps McCain to choose a running mate who is younger and less experienced than Obama. Palin has served less than two years as governor and before that was mayor of a town with fewer than 10,000 residents.

At 72 years old, McCain would be the oldest president ever elected. He is also a cancer survivor. Can the Republicans make the case that Palin is ready to lead this country should the need arise?

Supposedly the GOP base will be thrilled to see the anti-choice Palin on the ticket. I read some “mommy blogs” written by religious conservatives and will be checking them in the next few days to see how they react to this pick. (These bloggers tended to favor either Mike Huckabee or Ron Paul.)

I assume they will be relieved that McCain did not choose the detested Mitt Romney. However, I am not convinced these rank and file members of the religious right will celebrate Palin’s selection. They believe women should be homemakers who homeschool their children, and they think feminism and the trend toward working outside the home is undermining “Biblical womanhood.”

No matter how enthusiastically the Republican pundits welcome Palin, I suspect that many social conservatives will feel she should be at home, taking care of her special-needs infant and schooling her older children.

The business wing of the Republican base tended to support Romney in the primaries. Mitt himself is reportedly furious at the way McCain strung him along. Look for the knives to come out if anything goes wrong with Palin–for instance, if she gets tainted by the trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

I’m skeptical that Palin will neutralize Joe Biden (supposedly because he can’t afford to be seen as a bully). Biden has two jobs: to alleviate concerns about Obama’s lack of experience, and to be an attack dog. The first task will be easier with Palin as his counterpart. As for the second, Biden can ignore Palin most of the time and focus his fire on McCain during the only vice-presidential debate.

Choosing Palin looks like a Hail Mary pass from a candidate who knows he will lose unless he shakes things up in a big way. I’m feeling much more optimistic about Obama’s chances than I did five days ago.

Supposedly MSNBC has confirmed that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty will not be John McCain’s running mate.

Several bloggers have noted that at least one plane was chartered from Alaska to Ohio, which would suggested he is going with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

That seems like a desperate choice to me. McCain is over 70 and a cancer survivor whose main argument against Obama is that he is not “ready to lead.” So then he chooses someone who not only hasn’t finished a single term as governor, but has already become mired in an abuse-of-power scandal? (She used powers of her office to try to get a state trooper fired because of he and Palin’s sister were going through a bitter divorce.)

Great move!

The arguments for Palin are

1) she’s a woman

2) she reinforces McCain’s arguments on tax cuts and oil drilling, and

3) perhaps Joe Biden would have to go easy on her or else look like a bully.

But 1) I am skeptical that picking a woman will significantly cut into the gender gap working in Obama’s favor so far. I guess we’ll know more when we have more polls taken after Hillary Clinton’s convention speech, which more than 20 million Americans watched.

2) Alaska cut taxes because the state receives a huge amount of money from the federal government compared to what they put in the federal coffers. You can’t run national fiscal policy the same way.

3) Biden can ignore Palin most of the time. His job is to be an attack dog on McCain.

If McCain wanted a woman, he should have gone with Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. She has experience in federal government. Even those some advocates on the religious right don’t think she is strong enough on the abortion issue, she does have an anti-choice voting record.

If it is Palin, props to Douglas Burns, who called that a long time ago.

After John Edwards left the race, I always said I’d vote for our nominee but would never donate to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

All spring and summer, I vowed never to put an Obama sticker on my car and joked that Bleeding Heartland was last bastion of Obamaskepticism in the Iowa blogosphere.

I sent in my $15 tonight to get an Obama-Biden car magnet.

Daily Kos and MyDD user “Angry Mouse,” a dedicated Clinton supporter throughout the primaries, published this moving diary about her journey from being “just a Democrat who will vote for the party’s nominee” to a strong Obama supporter.

Consider this an open thread for discussing anything you’ve done that you thought you’d never do.

Chatter away about tonight’s big events.

I love the Republican whining about Shawn Johnson reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democratic convention. She’s not giving a political speech, she’s saying the pledge! Anyway, the more they complain, the more people will tune in to watch 75,000 Democrats go crazy over the Pledge of Allegiance.

Good for Shawn for taking this step, even though it could very well cost her some endorsements.

UPDATE: Democracy for America is phone-banking tonight (I got a call shortly after 7 pm). Smart move–a whole lot of Democrats are going to be at home in front of their television sets.

Bill Richardson: John McCain may pay hundreds of dollars for his shoes, but we’re the ones who will pay for his flip-flops.

SECOND UPDATE: Switched to C-SPAN an hour ago because I couldn’t take the inane punditry. Whose idea was it to have a parade of retired generals and ordinary people speak after Al Gore? Gore should have been the last speaker before Obama.

THIRD UPDATE: I was distracted by my kids and didn’t realize that Wesley Clark was one of the retired generals who stood on stage, but he was not allowed to say a word. That is atrocious. He is a good speaker, and the Obama campaign is running scared. That’s why the right-wing noise machine went after Clark last month–they wanted to make Obama afraid to use him.

FOURTH UPDATE: I only caught the last 15 minutes or so of Obama’s speech. I like this excerpt I read from earlier:

And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: “Eight is enough.”

Great visuals at the end with a packed stadium going wild. I have no idea what that country song was they played after Obama spoke, though.

Some commenters at Open Left pointed out that the Republicans picked a terrible week to have their convention. Monday is Labor Day, and a lot of Americans will have other things to do besides watch the RNC. Next Thursday is the opening night for the NFL, so McCain will deliver his acceptance speech opposite two nationally televised football games. I look forward to comparing the ratings for the GOP convention to our convention.

FIFTH UPDATE: The full text of Obama’s speech (as prepared) is after the jump.

Rumor has it that John McCain will officially announce his running mate tomorrow in Ohio. The Republicans will likely leak the news this evening so that Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium’s Invesco Field won’t dominate all the media commentary.

Who’s it gonna be?

I still think “Biden crimps McCain’s VP choice.”

My best guess is that McCain will pick Mitt Romney. The downside is that the ticket can be ridiculed as “Rich and Richer,” but the upside is that Romney is seasoned enough to go head-to-head with Biden in a debate. I can’t say the same for other possible choices such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal or Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Also, I think I saw one poll suggesting Romney would help McCain in Florida, where recent polls show Obama and McCain within the margin of error.

Some people in the McCain campaign are supposedly pushing for Joe Lieberman to be the running mate. Although he still caucuses with Senate Democrats, he has been campaigning for McCain and using Republican talking points against Obama.

I can’t imagine McCain would dare to pick Lieberman. The beltway media would love the bipartisan-looking ticket, but the Republican base would go ballistic if McCain picked someone pro-choice. Although I don’t like Lieberman, his voting record is solidly Democratic.

The religious right doesn’t even want former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on the ticket, because he is pro-choice. At least Ridge is a lifelong Republican.

Open Left user leshrac55 pointed me toward this Huffington Post article about how Karl Rove has asked Lieberman to withdraw his name as a possible running mate, but Lieberman declined to do so.

(UPDATE: More rumors that McCain  really wants to pick Lieberman.)

I’ve seen no sign that McCain has ever considered Mike Huckabee for VP, but after watching Huckabee on The Colbert Report last night, I’m more convinced than ever that we haven’t heard the last from him. He’ll be running for president in 2012 or 2016 for sure. I disagree with many of his views, but I give Huckabee a lot of credit for praising Michelle Obama’s speech and pointing out the absurdity of conservative pundit spin about Hillary Clinton’s speech.

Also, I don’t recall hearing any Republican besides Huckabee express pride that this country has nominated a black man for president. On Colbert’s show, he said that while he won’t vote for Obama and wouldn’t like to see him become president, he remembers growing up with racism in the deep South, and he’s glad Obama’s race didn’t prevent him from winning the nomination.

I have heard some speculation that McCain will pick a woman, most likely Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison now that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is mired in scandal.

What do you think?

AT&T threw an invitation-only party on Monday night for the “Blue Dogs” in the House of Representatives. Matt Stoller found a blurb in the newspaper about this party:

Just because the Blue Dogs are fiscally conservative doesn’t mean they can’t have a good time, especially when AT&T is picking up the bill.

Why would AT&T want to throw an expensive party for the Blue Dogs? Maybe it’s because most of those Blue Dogs (including my own Congressman Leonard Boswell) voted with the House Republicans to pass a version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act containing retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that spied on Americans.

A group of well-known bloggers showed up outside the exclusive Denver restaurant to see who turned up. Glenn Greenwald of Salon, who wrote a book’s worth of material this year on FISA, tried to interview the people going into this party. Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake was there:

It was remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it, really.  Glenn would announce that he was from Salon.com, ask them if they would be interviewed about the party, and nobody wanted to say who they were or even acknowledge that they knew what the party was about.

Almost every single person we talked with had the good sense to be ashamed of being there, but that didn’t stop them from going in.

I haven’t been able to confirm whether Boswell attended this party. Think Progress quotes the San Francisco Examiner, which reported that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was there:

Hoyer spokeswoman Stacey Bernards said Hoyer was not aware of any connection between the party and his work on the legislation.

“I’m sure Mr. Hoyer didn’t even know who the sponsor was,” she said.

Right. He had no idea who sponsored the party, even though numerous reports named AT&T as the sponsor. I’m sure Hoyer goes to parties all the time without asking who invited him.

From the San Francisco Examiner report:

AT&T is just one example of how political conventions have become a virtual bazaar where corporations and other special interests can peddle their wares, showcase their products and make a case for their favorite (or least favorite) piece of pending legislation.

The Texas-based company has the most high-profile corporate presence in Denver. It is a major sponsor at the convention, it is holding daily lunches for state delegations at the Pinnacle Club, with its startling views of the Rocky Mountain range, and co-hosting hip parties for the likes of the Screen Actors’ Guild and the New Democratic Coalition.

I seem to remember someone talking about the system being rigged because corporations have too much power in Washington, and how it wouldn’t be enough to replace corporate Republicans with corporate Democrats.

Oh yeah, it was that guy whose personal screw-up cost him a speaking slot at the convention. With him out of the picture, AT&T and the Blue Dogs can rest easy, because no prime-time speaker is going to be spreading that message in Denver.

Nor, I fear, are we likely to hear it from Democratic leaders in 2009.

This yellow-dog Democrat is not looking forward to checking the box next to Blue Dog Boswell’s name in November.

My best advice to those who are still angry about the FISA capitulation is don’t buy an iPhone. Getting one locks you into AT&T phone service.  

University of Iowa Arthur Miller’s body was identified on Wednesday, a week after he was reported missing and three days after his corpse was found in an Iowa City Park. Miller was under investigation for allegedly offering female students higher grades in exchange for sexual favors.

Miller placed a phone call to the Cedar Rapids Gazette shortly before he disappeared. In that call,

Miller said he believed the allegations and the investigation were part of a vendetta against him by Linda Maxson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Miller said he and Maxson had a running feud over the closure of an institute Miller founded. The Iowa Social Science Institute closed in 2002 upon recommendation by a committee with UI and external members, UI spokesman Steve Parrott said.

Miller said in the call that after the allegations were made, “not a single university administrator, not even the chairman of my department, came to me and asked me if I were OK,” if he had problems or was sick.

Miller also said that during his meetings with UI officials about the investigation, he thought these were sexual harassment charges that would be handled with an internal hearing or negotiation. He said he was surprised to be arrested.

“It’s been very depressing to me now that this has all gone public,” Miller said, adding that even if the charges are proved unfounded, he felt his reputation was ruined.

I feel very sorry for Miller’s wife and two young children (one four-year-old and one four-month-old). No matter what the outcome of the investigation, those children would have been better off knowing their father as they grew up.

The autopsy determined that Miller died of a self-inflicted wound from a rifle. The Des Moines Register reported that Miller had tried to buy a pistol or revolver in June, but Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek denied the permit application:

When a routine background check yielded a letter from the university informing him of multiple investigations tied to the political science professor, Pulkrabek got involved personally and called the university’s legal counsel.

“He gave me some additional (non-public) information that was enough for me to deny the permit,” Pulkrabek wrote in an e-mail circulated this week to other sheriffs. […]

Iowa law gives sheriffs the authority to decide who receives gun permits and to impose restrictions on those who want to carry concealed weapons.

But at least 35 states – including Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska – now mandate that concealed weapons permits be approved, provided applicants meet a set of criteria laid out in state law.

Groups such as the Iowa State Rifle and Pistol Association and IowaCarry.Org supported legislation last year that would have made Iowa’s permit process more uniform and taken the discretion away from sheriffs. The legislation died under heated opposition from many in law enforcement, including the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association and the Iowa attorney general’s office.

Miller was able to buy a rifle after being denied a handgun permit because his name was not on a federal list that gun dealers are required to check before selling rifles.

As it turned out, Miller was planning to kill himself, but the sheriff had reasonable grounds to worry that he might be a danger to others. I hope legislators will not agree to relax Iowa’s law regarding permits for concealed weapons.

Hillary Clinton released her delegates earlier today and told them that they could vote their conscience, but she had voted for Barack Obama.

Later she urged the convention to nominate Obama by acclamation, which it did enthusiastically.

This is an open thread for discussing any of Wednesday’s speeches or other events at the convention. Bill Clinton and Joe Biden will be the prime-time highlights. (By the way, one of my neighbors has put her Biden for president yard sign back in front of her house. She is “fired up and ready to go,” as they say.)

After the jump I’ve posted the text of Governor Chet Culver’s remarks (as prepared) to the DNC yesterday. He focused on energy policy, which is certainly among my top 10 reasons for Americans to vote for Obama.

UDPATE: When Bill Kristol idiotically claimed last night that Hillary Clinton gave a weak endorsement of Obama, he noted that she hadn’t said Obama would be a good commander in chief.

Guess what? Today’s theme is national security, and Bill Clinton has already said,

“In Barack Obama, America will have the national security leadership we need. My fellow Democrats, I say to you Barack Obama is ready to lead America…”

Got that, Mr. Kristol?