Something I just realized, from reading about the tightening results in NY-23 – prior to the two special elections, Pelosi had literally a one vote margin on the health care. From the article:

Before Owens was sworn in Friday, Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat who won a special election in California, was sworn in Thursday. The two gave Pelosi the votes she needed to reach a majority of 218 and pass the historic health care reform legislation in the House.

The bill passed 220-215 late Saturday with the support of only one Republican. The Republican, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, said he voted for the legislation only after seeing that Democrats had the 218 votes needed for passage.

This isn’t quite right; with both special election seats vacant, 217 would have provided a majority. If both seats had been claimed by opponents of health care, Pelosi could have held the vote before seating the new representatives. Without their two votes and without counting Cao, this would have left her with exactly 217 votes. Wow.

Are you interested in technology and politics?  Do you want to work in a swing state to help elect Democrats?  Do your friends come to you with their computer problems?  If this sounds familiar, the Iowa Democratic Party wants you.

We are looking for a highly-motivated individual to serve as IT assistant for our coordinated campaign.  While there will be the usual rigmarole of fixing computers and printers, it will  also be a chance to gain experience in micro-targeting, web and cell-based organizing, and more.  If you're interested in innovating at the intersection of politics and technology, you're probably the right person for the job.

We have one position starting mid-February, and another in early May. If you are interested in either, please contact Drew Miller at dmiller@iowademocrats.org.  You may also call the Iowa Democratic Party t (515) 244-7292.

We are also hiring right now for regional field directors (that's what I did last cycle), and Senate and House campaign managers.  At some point in the future we will be hiring for field organizers and summer canvassers, but you're more than welcome to send your resume now.  Email me any questions, or just leave them in the comments!

I’ve taken a job with the Iowa Democratic Party, so I can’t blog independently anymore.  I’m going to try to recruit a few more front-page writers to take over for me.  If you’re interested, shoot me an email or just leave a comment.

Here’s the audio, once again!

With Vilsack out of the race now, there is no question that Barack Obama is organizing the hardest of any of the candidates in Story County.  He’s already got one organizer here and they are planning on hiring another, while the most I’ve seen from other campaigns is a regionalish person from Edwards and nobody at all from any of the other campaigns.  I’m at an organizational meeting today to see what the scoop is here.

They hope to have twelve Iowa offices open by the end of March.  They have six regions right now, fifteen field organizers on the ground, and hope to hire a total of thirty-five by mid-March.  Deputy state director Marygrace Galston and Story county field organizer Joe Cupka are here.

Nothing all that exciting to report to be honest, but it doesn’t seem like any of the other campaigns are already this serious in their Iowa campaign efforts.

I skipped the blogger meeting in Des Moines that idiosyncratic was able to make it to, but I did get the opportunity to interview him on his drive time from Ames to Boone for two house parties.  Richardson’s campaign has been by far the most accommodating in terms of one-on-one contact with the candidate, and I think that’s something that will generate a lot of good will for him.  Kos likes him, he is continually moving up in the Daily Kos and MyDD straw polls, and he is raising at a fairly brisk clip on actblue. 

I’ll have more impressions in one or more posts tonight or tomorrow, but I wanted to post the first half of my interview with the Governor.  A (probably pretty bad) transcript is included in the extended text.  You should see an mp3 player for audio of the interview – let me know if you don’t.  This is my first interview ever, so go easy on me.  🙂

The IDP has released its draft version of the delegate selection process (pdf) for the caucuses and beyond.  It seems pretty similar to how things worked last time, although it is long and boring so there might be some bombshells in there that my glazed-over eyes didn’t catch.

In section VI, subsection L, it says:

All steps in the delegate selection process, including the filing of presidential candidates, must take place within the calendar year of the Democratic National Convention…

As far as I can tell though the actual timeline starts in October, so I think they must mean a twelve month period rather than a January 1st-December 31st timeline.  There is definitely nothing here that precludes the possibility of the caucuses being moved up to January 7th, and there isn’t much to stop an even earlier date.