I’m interested in your theories about why John McCain and Sarah Palin visited Iowa yet again this weekend.

The latest Iowa poll, from Lee Enterprises and the Quad-City Times, shows Barack Obama leading by 54 percent to 39 percent. The most recent one before that was from Rasmussen (which usually is more favorable to McCain), and it showed Obama ahead 52-44 in Iowa. In fact, Obama now leads McCain by nearly 12 points in the Iowa polling average.

So, what was Palin doing in Sioux City and Des Moines yesterday, and what was McCain doing in  

Cedar Falls today?

The Des Moines Register recently noted that many Republican political strategists are baffled by McCain’s many Iowa visits (four trips in the past five weeks).

McCain appeared before an “embarrassingly small crowd” in New Mexico yesterday, the same day an Obama rally in Albuquerque drew about 45,000 people. Obama has had a solid lead in New Mexico for some time now.

What is going on with McCain’s travel schedule? Why is he going to states he doesn’t need to win instead of spending all of his time in must-win states like Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Virginia and North Carolina?  

Only two explanations make sense to me.

First, he may recognize that he is going to lose the presidential race. He could be holding events in places near competitive House and Senate races, to try to generate free media coverage for Republican candidates and limit the party’s losses down-ticket.

Or, his strategists may have figured out that his campaign rallies have not been helping him in the swing states. Perhaps these trips have even have backfired. If that is true, then McCain may as well spend time in states he knows he’s going to lose instead of in states that are still close, like Ohio and Florida.

What do you think?  

Last weekend my fellow Iowa blogger 2laneIA published a comprehensive diary on Congressman Steve King’s “greatest hits.” Click the link to read about King’s suggestion that we electrify the border fence with Mexico like we do “with livestock,” his prediction that terrorists will be “dancing in the streets” if Obama becomes president, and his pride in working to scale back funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (which he calls Socialist Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents). I mentioned a few more low points for King in this post.

Yesterday the man Ann Coulter calls “one of my favorites” helped warm up the crowd at Sarah Palin’s rally in Sioux City.

According to Iowa Independent, King suggested that electing Obama could be a step toward totalitarian rule:

“When you take a lurch to the left you end up in a totalitarian dictatorship,” King said.  “There is no freedom to the left. It’s always to our side of the aisle.”

Sioux City Journal political correspondent Bret Hayworth wrote on his liveblog,

10:12 a.m.: King gives the first of what will be two speaking opportunities, this one the longer, for nine minutes. He lays out several versions of the words “liberal” and “socialist” in describing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He mentions the ACORN group and earns a big “Booooo.” King said a Google search of “Acorn Fraud” gets you 2 million hits of possible stories.

King said it’s not a stretch to link Obama to the ACORN group, since he worked for them in voting matters. “Obama is ACORN… When I see Obama, I see ACORN branded on his forehead,” King said.

King has embarrassed Iowans with his bigotry and extremism for too long.

If he is re-elected, he won’t just be an irritant for Iowans. King severely disrupted the House Judiciary Committee’s efforts to question Douglas Feith in July, and I’m sure there will be more where that came from in the new Congress.

Iowa’s fifth is an R+8 district, but Rob Hubler has a real shot in this race, for reasons I discussed here.

Send a message to Steve King by donating to Hubler for Congress.

The Des Moines Register has endorsed Barack Obama today, joining the Charlotte Observer, the Baltimore Sun, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, and the Hartford Courant, whose editorial board has endorsed a Democratic candidate only twice in 244 years.

The DMR endorsement is oddly enough based on something McCain’s campaign has been touting for two years: being tested. Despite endorsing McCain last December as the Republican nominee, the DMR believes that Barack Obama has made it through many hoops in Iowa, such as winning the Iowa caucus.

From the DMR:

First test: winning the Iowa caucuses, perceived by many as an improbable feat for a black candidate in an overwhelmingly white state. But Obama believed in the power of his ideas and ideals, and the capacity of Americans to unite around them.

Eleven months later, after more than 80 days spent campaigning in the state, Iowans awarded him victory. They had heard his soaring oratory and sensed his uncommon intelligence, but they also witnessed much more: the consistency of his calls for unifying around common purpose, rather than pandering to age-old divisions, and the way he remained unflappable and his staff disciplined no matter what tumult the campaign trail delivered.

Those qualities have become even more pronounced this fall, during an increasingly negative general-election campaign against Republican Sen. John McCain and descent of the nation’s economy into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It has been Obama, not the more experienced McCain, who kept his center as events tilted crazily.

Obama has earned the Register’s endorsement for the presidency because of his steadfastness in the face of uncertainty, his clear-eyed vision for a more just America and his potential for rallying the country to do great things.

The DMR also liked Obama’s approaches to shoring up the middle class by expanding health care coverage and the creation of green collar jobs. Not mentioned in the editorial, but is well known that McCain is against subsidies for ethanol, and that view doesn’t sit well with midwesterners.

Like other newspapers, some whom endorsed Bush last time (the DMR did endorse Kerry in 2004), the DMR believes McCain has run an “erratic” campaign.

Worst of all, in grasping for political edge in his choice of a running mate, he burdened his ticket and potentially the country with an individual utterly unqualified to ascend to the presidency. Before choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain emphasized the importance of experience and sound judgment in fighting terrorism and confronting a restive Russia and a rising China. He has also questioned Obama’s readiness to be commander in chief. Then he picked a running mate who clearly isn’t ready.

Sarah Palin’s unreadiness to be President is a common theme in why McCain isn’t being endorsed.

To conclude, the DMR believes, “An Obama presidency presents the best hope for a unified America that aspires to greatness again.”

I suspected that Congressman Tom Latham’s internal polling must be showing a close race when he put up a negative tv ad. Now the first public poll of Iowa’s fourth district is out.

Research 2000 for Daily Kos found this:

Tom Latham 47

Becky Greenwald 42

undecided 11

Click the link for the internals.

Key findings:

Latham’s favorable/unfavorable numbers are 42 percent and 38 percent.

Greenwald’s favorable/unfavorable numbers are 44 percent and 35 percent.

Interestingly, the same poll found John McCain leading Barack Obama in the fourth district by 46 to 42 percent. Given the many polls showing Obama above the 50 percent mark in Iowa, I would have thought Obama would be leading McCain in this D+0 district.

If Greenwald is doing as well in IA-04 as Obama, then I feel really good about our chances for an upset in this district. Obama’s superior ground game could easily be worth several percentage points on election day.

Paging EMILY’s list and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: please start spending some money on tv ads in this district! Greenwald has launched a good web ad recently, but she hasn’t been on tv for the past ten days or so.

Please donate to Greenwald if you can.

UPDATE: Supposedly the United Auto Workers are on the air with an anti-Latham radio ad. Has anyone heard it?

Good advice from George W. Bush in this sketch from Saturday Night Live’s election special a couple of nights ago.

This is an open thread for anything related to the upcoming election.

If you were out volunteering today for a candidate, share your story in the comments or post a diary.

I love how Rob Hubler ties together several things in this release:

-Steve King’s embarrassingly thin legislative record (the only bill he got through the House was about recognizing the importance of Christmas).

-King’s misleading tv ad about the Highway 20 widening project.

-King’s repeated votes against raising the minimum wage.

-King’s repeated votes to raise his own pay.

FOR RELEASE: Friday, October 24, 2008                          

Rob Hubler pledges to take no pay increases if elected to the House of Representatives

King has voted to raise pay six times and cost taxpayers more than $8.5 million since he was elected in 2002

       COUNCIL BLUFFS – Rob Hubler, Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 5th district, has pledged to not accept any increases in salary if he is elected to the House of Representatives, pointing out that incumbent Rep. Steve King has voted to increase his pay all six years that he has been in Congress.

       During a telephone news conference this morning, Hubler said that “taxpayers haven’t gotten their money’s worth in the past six years that King has been in Congress.”  Charging that King has not produced results for his western Iowa district during his three terms, Hubler pointed out that it has cost taxpayers more than $8.5 million to maintain his office, excluding travel expenses.  “That’s a lot of money to pay someone to remind us that we ought to celebrate Christmas,” said Hubler, referring to the only resolution or bill authored by King that has become law.

       “Obviously, we haven’t gotten much of a return on the our investment since King was elected in 2002,” said Hubler.  “The reason I’m running for Congress is that I think the fifth district deserves better than this.  While voting six times to increase his own pay by $15,000, the income of average Iowans has gone down over $2,000.  King has repeatedly voted against increases in the minimum wage while charging taxpayers over $8.5 million to run his office,” he said.

       “If Congress, over my objection, increases salaries for members of the House of Representatives while I’m in Congress, I will donate the amount of the increase to charities and non-profit organizations that are doing good work in our district,” Hubler promised.

       Commenting on King’s opposition to increases in the minimum wage for low income workers, Hubler said that he will “support efforts to see that the minimum wage keeps pace with inflation so that those at the bottom of the economic ladder don’t fall further behind.”

       Hubler chided King for misleading voters with his television ad in which the incumbent congressman takes credit for a recent appropriation the Iowa Department of Transportation to improve Highway 20. No federal funds are included in the appropriation.  “Since he hasn’t been able to accomplish anything in six years to improve the lives of his constituents, I guess King thought he’d better fabricate something before election day,” said Hubler.  “If I’m elected to Congress, I’ll work hard to produce results for the people who sent me there.

       Hubler, a Navy veteran and retired Presbyterian minister from Council Bluffs, recently was placed on the “Emerging Races” list by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, signifying that his campaign to unseat King is viewed as competitive by the national committee.  Hubler has been campaigning for Iowa’s Fifth District seat in the House of Representatives for nearly 20 months, travelling more than 220,000 miles throughout the 32-county district.

Please donate to or volunteer for Hubler’s campaign during the next ten days.

WHO-TV in Des Moines ran a feature on Hubler last night. I don’t have video, but here is the text.

Added some new events to the calendar. Note: if you would like me to cover events featuring any particular elected official, please encourage that Democrat’s staff to send me notices (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com).

Less than two weeks remain before the election. If you have time to volunteer this weekend, please contact a Democratic office to offer to help. Remember, there are many ways to help that do not involve phone calls to strangers or knocks on strangers’ doors.

If you live in the fourth or fifth Congressional districts, I encourage you to volunteer for Becky Greenwald or Rob Hubler. Or, contact the nearest field office for Barack Obama’s campaign.

Thanks to the prominent Iowa Democrats who are campaigning with Greenwald and Hubler this weekend.

One Iowa is also coordinating a “Weekend for Equality” volunteer effort. For more information, click here.

If nothing else, vote early so that other volunteers do not waste their time contacting you.

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

Saturday, October 25:

Iowa Veterans for Obama will be collecting clothing for Disabled Veterans of America across the street from Hy-Vee Hall at 777 Third Street (corner of 3rd and Center) in Des Moines, beginning around 10:30 am.

Tom Harkin and Becky Greenwald will hold a pre-GOTV rally at 2:30 pm at Iowa Central Community College, Career Ed Building Rooms 108-110, One Triton Circle in Fort Dodge.

Rob Hubler’s campaign has the following public events scheduled:

1 p.m., Sioux City Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests: Governor Tom Vilsack and Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan

The Sanford Community Center

1700 Geneva St, Sioux City, IA

2:30 p.m., Le Mars Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests IDP Chairman Scott Brennan and HD 3 candidate TJ Templeton

Plymouth County Democrats office

27 Central Ave Northwest, Le Mars, IA

3:45 p.m., Orange City Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests IDP Chairman Scott Brennan, HD 3 candidate TJ Templeton,

HD 4 candidate James Van Bruggen

De Koffiehoek & Bistro

819 Lincoln Pl SE, Orange City, IA

5 p.m., Sheldon Rally for Real Representation. Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan

Family Table Restaurant

710 2nd Ave, Sheldon, IA

7 p.m., Fundraiser and dinner with Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan

(free will offering graciously accepted)

Minerva’s Restaurant

1405 Highway 71 N, Okoboji, IA

Former Republican Congressman Jim Leach will also headline two Republicans for Obama events:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25TH, 2008

10:00 AM

Supporter Coffee with Congressman Jim Leach

Obama Iowa Campaign for Change office

517 1st St. NW

Mason City, Iowa

12:00 PM Noon

“Republicans for Obama” Event with Congressman Jim Leach

Location TBA

Waterloo, Iowa

The Motor Mill Foundation will host a benefit concert by Big Blue Sky at the Elkader Opera House at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 25. There will be a guest appearance by singer/songwriter Dave Moore of Iowa City. Doors open for a silent auction at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15. All proceeds go to preservation of the Motor Mill Historic Site on the Turkey River near Elkader. For details, go to www.motormill.org, or call Larry Stone at 1-888-807-1828.

Sunday, October 26:

Rob Hubler will attend a House Party with Senator Mike and Connie Gronstal at noon. Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan. 220 Bennett Avenue,

Council Bluffs, IA

At 1:30 pm, Scott Brennan will thank volunteers in the Council Bluffs office of the Obama campaign, 117 North 16th Street in Council Bluffs.

At 3 p.m., Hubler will hold a rally in Sioux City (details TBA)

Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players will perform at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines (lower court) at 1 pm. Bring money even though the show is free, because you’ll want to buy some CDs.

Monday, October 27:

Congressman Bruce Braley will debate his Republican challenger, David Hartsuch, on KUNI radio from noon to 1 pm.

The Department of Natural Resources will be holding another public meeting to discuss proposed rule changes for public lands (see above) from 6-8 pm at the Dickinson County Community Building, 1602 15th St., in Spirit Lake. For more information, contact Inga Foster at 515-281-8967.

From the Sierra Club of Iowa’s e-mail loop:

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The Dry Run Creek Watershed Management Project will be the topic of a lecture hosted by the University of Northern Iowa Department of Earth Science at 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 27, in Latham Hall, Room 125.

Rebecca Kauten, UNI alumna and urban coordinator in the Watershed Assessment and Monitoring Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will speak on “Water Quality in the Built Environment: Examples from a Local Watershed Project.” Her presentation will focus on Dry Run Creek, an impaired watershed, and efforts to implement best management practices in the drainage basin.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jim Walters, professor and head, UNI Department of Earth Science, at (319) 273-2707.

Chris Bowers of Open Left has officially launched the Use It or Lose It campaign to get safe Democratic incumbents to pay their dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He developed a spreadsheet showing dues owed by 54 House Democrats, along with contact information for their campaigns.

Iowa’s own Dave Loebsack is on the list. Apparently, he owes $125,000. Contact information for his campaign:

319-351-3283 (phone)

info@loebsackforcongress.org  (e-mail)

Bowers gives good advice here:

We will ask for the members of Congress to pay all, or at least some, of their remaining dues in order to build a larger Democratic majority. We will be polite, and we will call their campaign offices, as it is inappropriate to ask for campaign money when calling a congressional office.

Leonard Boswell is not on Bowers’ spreadsheet, and I’m trying to find out whether that’s because he has paid his DCCC dues. Bowers removed names of members who’ve paid, but also took off those designated by the DCCC as “frontline Democrats.” Boswell was put in that category during the third district primary campaign, but he obviously is not facing a serious challenge during the general election. If he hasn’t given to the DCCC, he should be added to the Use It or Lose It effort.

If all 54 Democrats on the spreadsheet pay their dues, the DCCC would have an additional $6.5 million to spend in the final week. That would support a lot of ad buys in a lot of districts where we have good challengers.

If you live in the second district, please call Loebsack’s campaign and politely ask him to give to the DCCC. Then post a comment reporting what you’ve been told, or send me a confidential e-mail (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com).

When you step up to challenge a safe and popular incumbent, you have two options.

You can make a straightforward case for your party and against your opponent’s record. Doing so will earn you the goodwill of your political allies who are grateful to have someone on the ballot they can feel proud voting for (like David Osterberg, who ran against Chuck Grassley in 1998).

If you are young, running a hopeless race with dignity will increase your name recognition and bring useful campaign experience for a future bid for public office.

Alternatively, a candidate with no chance of winning can lash out at his popular opponent in an over-the-top way, while bitterly complaining about his own party not helping him enough. This path will energize partisans who hate the incumbent but will probably limit future political options.

Christopher Reed chose door number 2 in a joint forum with Senator Tom Harkin yesterday. Iowa Public Television will broadcast the debate tonight at 7 pm. Judging from initial reports, I don’t think we need to worry about Reed becoming a rising star for Iowa Republicans.

Radio Iowa had the liveblog first yesterday, and the phrase that leapt out at everyone was “Tokyo Rose.”

The headline of the Des Moines Register’s piece was “Reed Says Harkin Gives Aid to Enemy.” Excerpt:

“We’re taking advice from somebody who has an eight-year history of becoming the Tokyo Rose of al-Qaida and Middle East terrorism,” Reed said, referring to his Democrat opponent. […]

Reed, seeking his first public office, said Harkin’s support for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq on a scheduled timetable was the same as “providing aid and comfort to the enemy.”

“The white flag of surrender, accusing our Marines of torture, voting to defund our troops while they are in harm’s way, those are all records of having an anti-American policy,” said Reed, a Marion businessman.

Opponents of a timetable for withdrawing troops contend that announcing the time frame would allow Iraqi insurgents and Islamic terrorist groups in Iraq to go underground, only to return when the United States is gone.

Reed stopped short of accusing Harkin of treason, when asked by moderator David Yepsen, the Register’s political columnist, to clarify his remarks. “No. I’m accusing him of giving our enemies the playbook,” Reed said.

John Deeth nailed it by calling Reed’s comment “a sure entry” in Keith Olbermann’s nightly Worst Person In The World contest. Deeth also passed along this tidbit from the comments at the blog of Polk County Republican Party Chairman Ted Sporer (UPDATE and clarification: the commenter at Sporer’s place pulled it from this blog post by David Yepsen):

After the cameras were turned off, Harkin calmly told Reed: “you’re a nice young man and I thought you had a political future ahead of you but that just ended your political career right there” and walked away. Reed said nothing.

Harkin’s campaign has already sent an e-mail to supporters denouncing Reed’s “vile” attack. Throwing around words like “Tokyo Rose” against a Navy veteran is the kind of mistake that will haunt Reed if he wants journalists to take him seriously in the future. Yepsen observed, “I’ve covered politics in Iowa for 34 years and I’ve never heard a candidate make that kind of serious charge about an opponent.”

When I watch the debate, I’ll be listening closely for different comments alluded to at The Real Sporer blog. Apparently Reed criticized the Republican Party of Iowa for not supporting him enough. Deeth wrote a good piece recently on the controversy within Republican circles over the party’s support for Reed. Some claim Republican officials have even sabotaged his campaign. During John McCain’s Davenport rally this month, Reed was not invited to speak and not mentioned from the podium. According to Deeth, there weren’t even Reed signs visible at the rally. (I have seen exactly one Reed yard sign in the Des Moines area this year.)

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for Reed to have party officials ignoring his campaign and perhaps even undermining it. However, a televised debate is not the place to air that dirty laundry. Depending on what Reed said, that’s the kind of comment that could deter leading Republicans from supporting his future political efforts.

All in all, not a successful debate for the rookie. They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but I don’t think Reed helped himself yesterday.

Speaking of debates, I forgot to mention a few days ago that Congressman Dave Loebsack debated his Republican challenger, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, in Cedar Rapids. Here is Essential Estrogen’s liveblog. Deeth liveblogged here and published this write-up later. It was the second debate between Loebsack and Miller-Meeks, but the first included Green candidate Wendy Barth and independent Brian White and had a very restrictive format limiting answers to 45 seconds.

All incumbents should agree to debate challengers, like Harkin and Loebsack did this week. Unfortunately, Leonard Boswell and Steve King have declined all invitations to debate this year. (CORRECTION: Boswell ducked all invitations to debate his primary challenger Ed Fallon but will debate Republican Kim Schmett on Iowa Public Radio on October 29.) Chickens have shown up from time to time at King’s events urging him to debate Rob Hubler.

Tom Latham debated Becky Greenwald twice on the radio but has declined to reschedule a planned joint forum on Iowa Public Television. That forum was postponed while Congress was considering the bailout.

Bruce Braley will debate his Republican challenger, David Hartsuch, on KUNI radio from noon to 1 p.m. on October 27.

I forgot to put Sarah Palin’s Iowa visit on my calendar of events coming up this weekend. Fortunately, I received this e-mail from the Polk County Democrats to remind me:

My Fellow Americans,

As the Iowa Chair of Veterans for Obama, I was thinking of ways to best welcome Sarah Palin when she visits Des Moines this Saturday. Knowing that jobless rates are up and temperatures are going down, I heard about Sarah Palin needing extra help with clothing recently and thought there might be others who really need the help. So, I thought we might do a clothing drive across the street from her event and donate to the Disabled American Veterans. (By the way, they rate Obama’s voting record at 90% and McCain’s at 20%.)

Here is what is going on Saturday in brief:

First of all, Polk County volunteers are going to knock on over 10,000 doors in a canvas this Saturday, so contact your local organizer to get involved in that.

Secondly, there will be a greeting party across the street from Hy-Vee Hall at 777 Third Street (corner of 3rd and Center). We’ll be visible, vocal and starting about 10:30.

We’ll be taking donations for the clothing drive in the parking lot at 777 Third Street, so stop by with your donations (tax deductible) and maybe knock on some doors or make some phone calls too. I’ll be standing next to my truck with the American Flag, Airborne and Obama stickers to take your donation.

Contact me with any questions or if you’d like to help. Tell your friends.

Best,

Marc

I’ve got clothes I can give to this drive on Saturday. Disabled Veterans of America is a group worth supporting. Note from the above e-mail that Obama rates higher on their scorecard than McCain.

Speaking of scorecards, the non-partisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America released their own scorecards for members of Congress recently.

John McCain earned a D, because he did not co-sponsor the post-9/11 GI bill and voted for only three of the nine bills supported by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. McCain missed more than half of the Senate votes this year.

Barack Obama earned a B for co-sponsoring the GI Bill and voting with veterans five out of nine times. Obama has also missed quite a few votes, though not as many as McCain.

(Side note: If you’re curious about the Iowa scores, Tom Harkin, Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack received perfect A+ scores from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Leonard Boswell and Tom Latham got As, Steve King got a B and Chuck Grassley got a C.)

Getting back to the Polk County Democrats’ clothing drive this Saturday, what a great idea for a visibility event. Not only will the crowd attract attention, the clothing drive will spur more media commentary about Sarah Palin’s $150,000 designer wardrobe.

I haven’t piled on to this story, because what is there to say? Every aspect of her image has been so stage-managed and phony. I already found it amusing that she panders to “Joe Six-pack” while owning multiple pairs of designer eyeglasses (the ones she’s made famous cost at least $900, not including the lenses).

Weeks ago, I read a comment on some blog by a wardrobe consultant who said Palin’s suits were not only expensive high-couture items, but also very “current,” and so couldn’t have been clothing she owned before McCain put her on the ticket. This commenter estimated that Palin’s wardrobe for the general election campaign would have cost $200,000 (which turned out to be a pretty good guess).

The other thing I’m enjoying about the Palin story is the outraged comments from major donors to the Republican National Committee. They are angry that their money was used in such an extravagant (and incompetent) way. With any luck they will hesitate to give at the same level next election cycle.

Speaking of sleaze, why was I not surprised to learn that the Republican operative who went shopping for Palin is also the McCain campaign’s main robocaller?

You cannot make this stuff up.

UPDATE: Saw on Ben Smith’s blog at Politico that the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed an FEC complaint relating to the Republican National Committee’s clothing purchases for Palin.

Earlier this month I suggested that it may be time to focus on the down-ticket races and not the presidential contest, especially in states like Iowa where Barack Obama has a big lead on John McCain. Sam Wang of the Princeton Election Consortium has made the same argument in a more scholarly way. Volunteer and financial resources are better spent on close races where a little extra could make a difference.

When I’ve discussed this issue with some Obama supporters, they object that it’s important for Obama to win with a big mandate, so he can accomplish more during his presidency. I have never found that argument very persuasive, because even if he has a huge margin of victory, I expect Obama to compromise and move halfway toward the Republican position on many issues. I just don’t believe he has the personality of a Lyndon Johnson, who used his mandate to push big reforms through Congress, bills that changed this country forever. I see Obama as a conciliator who won’t want to rock the boat in Washington.

However, I find myself agreeing more with a different argument for continuing to focus on the presidential race.

Almost every time I turn on the radio I hear some ad from McCain/Palin or the Republican National Committee about “Congressional liberals” or Obama wanting to take your money and spend it on big government programs. Most of these commercials are based on claims that have been debunked by a dozen fact-checkers (like the idea that Obama would raise taxes on families making only $42,000 a year).

Republicans are also paying for sleazy robocalls saying Obama doesn’t want to protect children from criminals and doesn’t want to jail rapists and murderers. This follows an extensive robocall campaign hyping Obama’s very tenuous link to William Ayers (formerly of the Weathermen).

A new direct-mail piece paid for by the Republican National Committee claims Obama thinks terrorists “just need a good talking to.”

Republicans are taking every cliche they’ve used against Democratic presidential candidates for 30 years and amping them up to new levels of deceit.

It’s not enough to narrowly defeat this slime.

A crushing victory for Obama in a high-turnout election would send a strong message that Americans reject these scare tactics. It would also demoralize the Republican elite and donor base who count on this kind of messaging to win elections. They don’t have many other tricks in their book, because their policy agenda is out of step with the values of most Americans.

So go ahead and work toward a bigger landslide than Obama needs, in Iowa and across the country.

But don’t forget to GOTV for our down-ticket candidates too.

I saw this YouTube at Open Left today and wanted to pass it along:

I had no idea anyone was talking about this problem before the 1980s.

Less than two weeks remain before the election. If you have time to volunteer this weekend, please contact a Democratic office to offer to help. Remember, there are many ways to help that do not involve phone calls to strangers or knocks on strangers’ doors.

If you live in the fourth or fifth Congressional districts, I encourage you to volunteer for Becky Greenwald or Rob Hubler. Or, contact the nearest field office for Barack Obama’s campaign.

One Iowa is also coordinating a “Weekend for Equality” volunteer effort. For more information, click here.

If nothing else, vote early so that other volunteers do not waste their time contacting you.

The other exciting event this weekend is another free concert in Des Moines by Justin Roberts and his Not Ready for Naptime Players. They’ll be playing in the lower court of Merle Hay Mall at 1 pm on Sunday. As I’ve written before, Justin’s music is fantastic, and his live shows are a lot of fun for kids and adults.

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

Thursday, October 23:

Becky Greenwald will visit State Center and Eldora with State Senate candidate Steve Sodders and State House candidate Tim Hoy. They will be in State Center at 2 pm in the home of Rita Figgins, 502 4th St. SE. They will be at the Ahoy Foundation, 1266 Edgington Ave in Eldora, at 4 pm.

Rob Hubler is holding a “Servant versus the King” event at 7 pm on the Morningside Campus – UPS Hall, Sioux City.

Tom Harkin Senator Tom Harkin will attend a phone bank at the AFSCME Hall, District 61, 4320 NW 2nd Ave, Des Moines, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. RSVP at

http://my.barackobama.com/page…

Questions, Call Joseph O’Hern at 515-447-5888.

From the Department of Natural Resources:

A series of informational meetings to highlight proposed rule changes regarding public lands will be held in October in Des Moines, Dubuque and Spirit Lake. […] The primary intent of changing the rules is to clarify the application procedure, formalize the permit denial process and provide better management of public lands and waters. The proposed rules will also provide for potential penalties associated with the violation of permit conditions or failure to get a permit prior to construction on public lands. The proposed rules also provide for greater enforcement ability by the DNR in cases where private entities have encroached on public land.

Public lands are owned by the citizens of Iowa and include many lakes, 14 rivers, wildlife management areas, state forests and state parks.

The proposed rules do not pertain to docks which are covered under a separate chapter of Iowa law and have recently been revised. […]

“The meetings will be an opportunity for the public to learn about what changes are being proposed, but it is also an opportunity for us to hear from the public. Policy always benefits when the public is able to participate in the discussion and provide valuable input,” said Ford-Shivvers.

   * Thursday, Oct. 23rd; 6-8 pm at EB Lyons Interpretive Center, Mines of Spain State Park, 8991 Bellevue Heights, Dubuque.

For more information, contact Inga Foster at 515-281-8967.

Friday, October 24:

At 8 am, Rob Hubler will appear on the Conversations radio program with Dordt University’s President.

Becky Greenwald will attend a house party at 1027 Angela Drive Indianola at 6 pm.

Iowa Public Television will broadcast a debate between Senator Tom Harkin and Christopher Reed at 7 pm.

From Michael Richards (the full conference schedule is after the jump):

SUSTAINABLE ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT presents;

SEED Conference II:    A Wake-Up Call

Cedar Rapids, Iowa       October 24/25        2008

In 2008 we have been hit with two of the most challenging crises in the history of Iowa;

1.      The most extreme flooding in the entire history of our state.

2.      The most serious global financial crisis in history.

S.E.E.D Conference II will explore root causes of these two major crises.

S.E.E.D  provides  an effective, non-partisan, local citizen capacity to activate reality based, sustainable solutions.  

For thousands of years, the native ecology of Iowa was resilient, incredibly diverse with  immense capacity to absorb water and sustain life.  These natural systems have been dramatically disrupted through our uninformed policy and economic actions of the past 100 years.   SEED serves as a community catalyst to apply intelligent biomimicry for land, water and resource management to restore ecological resilience.

Iowa has the base economic resources of fertile land, bountiful water and hard working, honest people. Out of necessity, we are entering a time of real economy; We will conserve, scale down, simplify, save, and spend prudently for the things that we actually need.  We will now create a sustainable economy.    As “The Sustainable State”, Iowa can lead the way to restore sane national economic systems and intelligent political discourse.

The false economy is collapsing, but the real economy remains.  Did we forget how to make things that people need?  Can we no longer grow local food?  Did Iowa factories burn down?  Are our tools lost?  Did we run out of good people to work in farms, factories and offices? No!  The real economy remains as our sustainable foundation.  The  present financial crisis is simply the evaporation of the false and illusory world of derivatives, collateralized debt, index funds, credit default swaps, structured investment vehicles, and the hard-sell marketing of sub-prime mortgages and super-sized homes.  That house of cards has collapsed.  We will now build a sane and sustainable economy.

Six years ago as the Iraq war started, I launched Sustainable Ecological Economic Development (S.E.E.D.) to address root, causal factors of war; the deluded pursuit of the false and destructive economy of Empire rather than productive and sustainable Creative Enterprise.  Economies based on Empire exploit other nations, the natural environment and even our own citizens through usury, labor exploitation, and unfair wealth-transfer through corporate welfare and coercive bailouts. Excessive national debt is irresponsibly relegated to future generations.  Average U.S. Citizens have been reduced to powerless serfs, indentured by fear, complex webs of wealth-transfer taxation and oppressive debt to fuel the totally unsustainable military/industrial-Wall St. Machine. Our founding fathers would not recognize the State of our Nation.  The bright light of the American Dream is now shrouded with dark clouds of fear, greed and deception.  We need a wake-up call and restore our nation to ecological and economic health.      The S.E.E.D. Conference is a call to community action.

                                “Without vision, a people perish”-(Book of Proverbs)

Six years ago, I issued a common sense clarion call to my fellow Iowans to shift out of Empire into Sustainable/Ecological Enterprise.  That was a really good idea six years ago.  Today, this paradigm shift is an urgent and absolute necessity.  We invite you to build a Sustainable State.          

                                                                                           -Michael Richards, SEED Founder

Saturday, October 25:

If you have time, volunteer for a Democratic campaign or a progressive interest group this weekend. Web links are at the top of this post.

Rob Hubler’s campaign has the following public events scheduled:

1 p.m., Sioux City Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests: Governor Tom Vilsack and Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan

The Sanford Community Center

1700 Geneva St, Sioux City, IA

2:30 p.m., Le Mars Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests IDP Chairman Scott Brennan and HD 3 candidate TJ Templeton

Plymouth County Democrats office

27 Central Ave Northwest, Le Mars, IA

3:45 p.m., Orange City Rally for Real Representation.

Special Guests IDP Chairman Scott Brennan, HD 3 candidate TJ Templeton,

HD 4 candidate James Van Bruggen

De Koffiehoek & Bistro

819 Lincoln Pl SE, Orange City, IA

5 p.m., Sheldon Rally for Real Representation. Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan

Family Table Restaurant

710 2nd Ave, Sheldon, IA

7 p.m., Fundraiser and dinner with Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan

(free will offering graciously accepted)

Minerva’s Restaurant

1405 Highway 71 N, Okoboji, IA

The Motor Mill Foundation will host a benefit concert by Big Blue Sky at the Elkader Opera House at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 25. There will be a guest appearance by singer/songwriter Dave Moore of Iowa City. Doors open for a silent auction at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15. All proceeds go to preservation of the Motor Mill Historic Site on the Turkey River near Elkader. For details, go to www.motormill.org, or call Larry Stone at 1-888-807-1828.

Sunday, October 26:

Rob Hubler will attend a House Party with Senator Mike and Connie Gronstal at noon. Special Guest IDP Chairman Scott Brennan. 220 Bennett Avenue,

Council Bluffs, IA

At 3 p.m., Hubler will hold a rally in Sioux City (details TBA)

Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players will perform at Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines (lower court) at 1 pm. Bring money even though the show is free, because you’ll want to buy some CDs.

Monday, October 27:

The Department of Natural Resources will be holding another public meeting to discuss proposed rule changes for public lands (see above) from 6-8 pm at the Dickinson County Community Building, 1602 15th St., in Spirit Lake. For more information, contact Inga Foster at 515-281-8967.

From the Sierra Club of Iowa’s e-mail loop:

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — The Dry Run Creek Watershed Management Project will be the topic of a lecture hosted by the University of Northern Iowa Department of Earth Science at 4 p.m., Monday, Oct. 27, in Latham Hall, Room 125.

Rebecca Kauten, UNI alumna and urban coordinator in the Watershed Assessment and Monitoring Section of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will speak on “Water Quality in the Built Environment: Examples from a Local Watershed Project.” Her presentation will focus on Dry Run Creek, an impaired watershed, and efforts to implement best management practices in the drainage basin.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jim Walters, professor and head, UNI Department of Earth Science, at (319) 273-2707.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have been pushing safe Democratic incumbents to “use it or lose it” by giving 10 percent of their cash on hand to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A source close to Tom Harkin’s campaign tells me that the senator gave $250,000 from his campaign committee to the DSCC this week, after giving $250,000 to the DSCC at the end of September.

Although I have no official confirmation, Harkin could certainly afford to do that in light of these figures from the latest FEC reports:

Tom Harkin (D) *

Raised: $8,775,771

Spent: $5,150,979

Cash on Hand: $3,956,998

Last Report: September 30, 2008

Christopher Reed (R)

Raised: $46,720

Spent: $24,628

Cash on Hand: $22,092

Last Report: September 30, 2008

Democrats are poised to win between five and nine Senate seats currently held by Republicans. They will be more successful if the DSCC can put resources behind the emerging challengers such as Jim Martin in Georgia, Bruce Lunsford in Kentucky and Ronnie Musgrove in Mississippi.

If you see Senator Harkin campaigning around the state, thank him for doing the right thing.

Fourth district Democratic candidate Becky Greenwald launched this new web ad yesterday:

This is a solid ad, and I’d like to see it on television screens as well as computer screens. You can donate to the Greenwald campaign through her website.

Incumbent Tom Latham started running this negative ad about the bailout last week:

As I noticed while listening to the two radio debates between Latham and Greenwald, Latham is clinging to his bailout votes like a life raft, and yet:

Here’s Latham’s voting record on corporate subsidies.

Here’s Latham’s voting record that relates to government checks on corporate power.

Here’s Latham’s voting record on corporate tax breaks in general (including sub-categories on tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and for the wealthiest individuals).

Latham must be very grateful to be able to talk about the bailout instead of his long record of standing with corporations rather than middle-class taxpayers.

If you live in the fourth district or have friends and relatives there, please spread the word about Latham’s voting record as a whole.

But more important, please get involved with the Greenwald campaign as a volunteer in the final stretch.

I haven't posted on here in quite a long time, but some of you know me.  I work for Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.  We wanted to let you all know that some of our candidates are getting up on network TV in the final two weeks of the campaign and wanted to let you know where you can see the ads. 

You can also learn about all of our great House candidates on the House Democratic Caucus blog.

There are two places you can view the TV spots:
First, www.youtube.com/iowahousedemocrats

Secondly, you can find us on Facebook

The Republican machine has gone “all in” on the Iowa House.  Senator Wieck (Senate Minority Leader) has all but given up on picking up seats in the Senate and with Harkin not having a credible opponent it's all about the house.

So, if you are interested in helping out a local House Democratic candidate – please contact your local Democratic central committee or the Iowa Democratic Party.  They can direct you to where you need to go.  Plus, you can contribute the House Truman Fund via ActBlue.

UPDATE from desmoinesdem, with a question: According to Marc Ambinder, the Democratic National Committee is considering spending money in some key state legislative races. Anyone know if the DNC is getting involved in any Iowa House races?

I front a band in Iowa City, which isn't of itself worth your time, because half the knuckleheads in Iowa City are in bands — but we were working on a new record to be released later this year, and I decided this song needed to come out before the election. It's called “One Twenty Oh-Nine” and it is a celebration of that day, just a few months from now, when ends this great yawning Bushian darkness that has killed so many, subverted so much of our civil society and threatens the very homes under millions of people's feet. I sent it over to my occasional editor, blogger and former record label honcho Howie Klein, who rakes the muck in his blog DownWithTyranny, and he made it quickly into a youtube video. We want to send this out to Rob Hubler and Becky Greenwald in their vital, heroic fights to grow the Blue Tide, to take back our government from agents of venal, mean, wealth-fetishizing fear-mongers that have brought this nation to the brink of disaster. (You can contribute to Rob and Becky by clicking the above links; in fact, you know what, cut and paste your contribution receipt into an email to me at tetdog@mchsi.com, cite this blog, and I'll send you a free mp3 of the song.)

cross-posted around the blogosphere

Americans appear ready to sweep a lot of Democrats into office on November 4. Not only does Barack Obama maintain a solid lead in the popular vote and electoral vote estimates, several Senate races that appeared safe Republican holds a few months ago are now considered tossups.

Polling is harder to come by in House races, but here too there is scattered evidence of a coming Democratic tsunami. Having already lost three special Congressional elections in red districts this year, House Republicans are now scrambling to defend many entrenched incumbents.

In this diary, I hope to convince you of three things:

1. Some Republicans who never saw it coming are going to be out of a job in two weeks.

On a related note,

2. Even the smartest experts cannot always predict which seats offer the best pickup opportunities.

For that reason,

3. Activists should put resources behind many under-funded challengers now, instead of going all in for a handful of Democratic candidates.

Much more is after the jump.

Just got this email from the Obama campaign about Obama's scheduled campaign stop in Des Moines on Thursday…

Senator Barack Obama’s visit to Iowa on Thursday has been cancelled. Please see the below statement from Senior Adviser Robert Gibbs.

“Senator Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life. Along with his mother and his grandfather, she raised him in Hawaii from the time he was born until the moment he left for college. As he said at the Democratic Convention, she poured everything she had into him.

“Recently, his Grandmother has become ill, and in the last few weeks, her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Senator Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her. He will be returning the the campaign trail on Saturday.”

You  never know when a safe Republican incumbent will self-destruct:

Sen. James Seymour, a Republican from Woodbine, was charged at 2 p.m. on March 13, 2002, after he called a female prostitute decoy who was working with Des Moines police.

He arranged to meet her on the east side for oral sex and intercourse and handed over $90, according to a police report.

Earlier the same day, Seymour had filed papers to run for the Senate. He was elected eight months later.

No one knew about the incident except the authorities, his wife and his pastor until now, Seymour said Friday.

[…]

Seymour, 69, said in an interview Friday that the prostitution incident was a case of poor judgment. He said he does not intend to resign.

[…]

Voters in Senate District 28 have no recourse other than penciling in a write-in candidate’s name on their ballots, according to state election officials. Deadlines to add or withdraw a candidate’s name from the ballot have passed.

Later in the article, several Republicans make excuses for Seymour, saying he’s been a good senator even if he made mistakes before being elected.

It’s sickening to see the double-standard moralizing Republicans apply to public figures. Can you imagine if any elected Democrat had committed this crime?

Anyway, the Iowa Democratic Party should view this as a wake-up call. No more Republican incumbents should be left unchallenged. It wouldn’t hurt to check court documents to see if any Republican candidates’ names turn up either. It’s ridiculous that he was able to keep this secret for so long.