Though you wouldn’t know it from reading various blogs that support Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee was barely distinguishable from Hillary Clinton on most issues.

TomP reminded me of this in his diary yesterday about Obama choosing “centrist economist Jason Furman as the top economic advisor for the campaign.”

Click the link to learn why labor unions and many progressive organizations, such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Public Citizen, are “seething” over Obama’s selection of Furman. Among other things, Furman has defended Wal-Mart’s business model and published a 2005 paper labeling Wal-Mart “A Progressive Success Story.”

The Steelworkers’ Union and AFL-CIO are not happy either about Furman’s support for global trade agreements and other writings as head of the Hamilton Project (a centrist economic group started by Bill Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin).

Some Obama supporters say choosing Hillary Clinton as his running mate would undercut his whole message of getting beyond the 1990s.

Until Obama demonstrates that he is committed to getting beyond Clintonomics, that argument won’t be very convincing.

Obama talked a good game in his speech last week to the Service Employees International Union, but actions speak louder than words. Wall Street and other corporate interests have too much power in the Democratic Party already. Putting Furman in charge of Obama’s economic policy team is a very worrying sign.

By the way, Colin Kahl is still the chairman of Obama’s advisory task force on Iraq:

Kahl is one of the authors of [the Center for a New American Security’s] new report, “Shaping the Iraq Inheritance,” which proposes a policy called “conditional engagement” for Iraq that would leave a large contingent of American forces in Iraq for several years, and which would make America’s presence in Iraq contingent on political progress in Iraq toward reconciliation among the country’s ethnic and sectarian groups and parties.

It’s been two months since reports emerged about Kahl’s support for leaving 60,000 to 80,000 U.S. troops in Iraq at least through the end of 2010. Why won’t Obama fire this guy?

I learned from Congressman Bruce Braley’s office that the House approved the 2008 Amtrak Reauthorization Bill on Wednesday. The bill includes funds proposed by Braley that will promote passenger rail links like the ones that may connect Chicago with Dubuque and the Quad Cities.

I appreciate Braley’s efforts to invest more in alternative transportation. Many Iowans will one day benefit from his work on the House Transportation Committee.

Now if Congressman Leonard Boswell would pick up the ball, maybe my family will be able to take a train from Des Moines to Chicago five or six years from now.

By the way, John McCain has long opposed Amtrak and would like to shut it down if elected president.

The full text of the press release from Braley’s office is after the jump.

This is my first entry and will keep it pretty short.  I am the Democratic candidate in Ankeny running for the seat previously held by Carmine Boal.  I have a long hard road of raising money and knocking doors, but I have been working hard introducing myself to as many people as I can.  I am finishing up school at the University of Iowa and have a long history of working on issues important to Iowans here in the state that I will go into at another time.  I'm happy to share some of my thoughts and views here and hope that anyone that has any questions will get in contact with me.  Thanks and have a great day. 

Just got this e-mail from One Iowa:

As many of you know due to the worsening flooding situation in Des Moines, Capital City Pride, in consultation with Des Moines authorities, has decided to postpone major weekend PrideFest 2008 events until September 13 and 14, including the Saturday Night Street Party, Pride Parade and Festival, and Pride Lecture Series. However, Thursday night’s showing of “For the Bible Tells Me So,” Friday’s Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus concert, and Sunday’s Pride Brunch will proceed as scheduled.

One Iowa would like to thank the many volunteers that have signed up to help at this weekend’s Pride events. We appreciate your time, spirit, and commitment! It is times like these that we need the support of friends and allies like you.

Gay, straight, married, single, young and old – we all have a stake in this journey toward equality. We ALL must do our part to ensure fairness and equality in Iowa. How can you celebrate Pride?

Host a House Party: Ask your friends, family, and colleagues to join you for a great cause! Host the type of party that’s right for you – whether it’s evening cocktails, a weekend brunch, a formal dinner, or an afternoon with good friends! Sign up here to get a house party toolkit!

Talk to Your Legislator: Your personal story is the most convincing tool we have to impact the hearts and minds of legislators. Gay or straight, married or straight, parent or student, Democrat or Republican – your story will make a difference! Let your legislator or candidates know that you support equality and fairness for all Iowans! Sign up here to receive more information!

Donate: Contribute your time, money, and talent! Any donation, no matter how big or small, helps us on this journey toward equality and justice for all Iowans. Click here to donate – or email organize@oneiowa.org to volunteer with One Iowa!

Celebrate Pride this month! For further information contact One Iowa at 515-288-4019.

One Iowa Team

This just came in:

Contact: Brooke Borkenhagen

June 12, 2008                                                                              515-974-1680 (office)                                                                                                        507-317-4104 (cell)

Iowa Democratic Party Postpones State Convention

Des Moines – Chairman Scott Brennan announced today that the Iowa Democratic Party has postponed its State Convention due to the massive flooding and severe weather across Iowa.

“In the interest of public safety and out of concern for Iowans impacted by the flooding and severe weather, we have decided to postpone the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention,” said Brennan.  “As Iowans, we encourage everyone to work hand in hand with their neighbors on flood relief efforts across our state.”    

The Iowa Democratic Party will announce a new date and venue for the convention in the coming days.

Sensible decision. They can plan the state convention for the same weekend as the rescheduled Hall of Fame dinner.

A little bird has told David Yepsen that social conservatives are not happy with Iowa Republican Party chairman Stew Iverson:

Religious conservatives, led by Iowa Christian Alliance president Steve Scheffler, are unhappy that more mainline party leaders, led by state GOP chairman Stewart Iverson, want to install some moderates and big donors, such as Marvin Pomerantz, as delegates to the national convention.

The social conservatives, who have never been very happy with McCain, want delegates to make sure that he selects a vice president who is acceptable to them and that the platform reflects their views on abortion, gay rights and immigration. […]

“If he doesn’t get a huge percentage of our people, John McCain can’t win,” Scheffler said. “It’s simple arithmetic.” In a letter to fellow religious conservatives, Scheffler wrote “there is a very serious threat to our issues and the pro-family agenda. The country club Republicans, which involves some of those in Republican Party leadership positions, are making a concentrated effort to dilute and rid the Republican Party of individuals like you who consider themselves social conservatives.”

His group held a meeting Tuesday night at a Windsor Heights church to plot strategy, and some party leaders showed up uninvited. Some spirited shouting matches ensued, according to several in attendance who said they were surprised at the profanity that got used inside a church building.

I don’t envy McCain the task of choosing a running mate. He needs to pick someone to shore up his support from conservatives, but which conservatives? In last week’s South Dakota primary, McCain only got 70 percent of the GOP vote, with 17 percent favoring Ron Paul and 7 percent favoring Mike Huckabee.

A running mate with a more libertarian bent might prevent Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr from taking a lot of votes from McCain in swing states like Nevada. But that wouldn’t help McCain with the religious conservatives who want one of their own on the ticket.

I think McCain can’t choose Huckabee, who is hated by business conservatives and joked at the recent National Rifle Association convention about someone pointing a gun at Barack Obama.

But if McCain chooses some other white southern evangelical as his VP candidate, he may alienate the Ron Paul wing of the party as well as some suburban swing voters.

Some have suggested he should choose a woman, like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, or a person of color, like Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.

Use this as an open thread to discuss which VP candidate would give McCain the best chance of winning, and which VP candidate you’d most like to see him choose.

P.S.- An interesting tidbit from Yepsen’s column is that one of the names being floated as a possible replacement for Iverson is the Iowa blogosphere’s own Real Sporer, aka Polk County Republican chairman Ted Sporer.

UPDATE: At least 14 Republican members of Congress have so far refused to endorse McCain:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008…

Katie Couric stated the obvious, which is that Hillary Clinton had to contend with a lot of sexist media coverage, some of it coming from NBC reporters and commentators.

For that Keith Olbermann calls Couric “the worst person in the world.”

I’ve written before about why Hillary lost the Democratic nomination, and I don’t think sexism was the main reason.

But you have to be blind and deaf not to acknowledge that a lot of sexist coverage and commentary was directed at her, and MSNBC personalities were among the worst offenders:

For a thoughtful analysis of how sexism affected Clinton’s campaign, read this essay by Trapper John.

We’ve been fortunate to have just a little bit of water in our basement in the past week. The devastation in northern and eastern Iowa has been incredible. Mason City is without potable water. A major bridge in Waterloo was destroyed, all bridges in downtown Cedar Rapids are closed, and Dubuque Street in Iowa City is under water near the Mayflower dorm.

Our CSA (community-supported agriculture) farmer couldn’t deliver her veggies to Des Moines this week, because the only road out of her farm near Kanawha is under water.

The Lefty Blogs Iowa page culls posts from quite a few blogs, and right now you’ll find a lot of coverage of the flooding there:

http://www.leftyblogs.com/iowa

The Iowa Democratic Party has postponed the Hall of Fame dinner scheduled for this Friday because of the flooding. I will let you know when they pick a new date for that event.

Use this as an open thread to tell us how you’ve been affected by the weather. Where you live, is it worse now or not as bad as in 1993?

So I was catching up with the blog of a “crunchy conservative” mom I know in Des Moines, and I read this post describing a recent exchange on Dr. Laura’s radio show. (She often listens to right-wing radio while she makes cloth diapers and baby carriers for her home-based business.)

Dad calls in. Son is 3. Likes to play with his train set. Dad is “not into that.” Dad is not sure if he should suck it up and spend time with his son playing trains.

What kind of loser is too selfish to spend a little time playing trains with his three-year-old? Not only that, he seeks permission from an outside authority on whether it’s ok to refuse to play trains with his kid.

What does Dr. Laura advise?

Dr Laura says, he’s the dad. he is the parent. he is the head of his household. the kid does what he says. the kid can do something dad likes.

Great idea! Teach that kid who’s the boss. Except that the lesson the kid will probably learn is that his dad doesn’t enjoy doing things with him and doesn’t care about what’s important to him.

As Mr. desmoinesdem observed, the same dad will probably call Dr. Laura 13 years from now wondering why his sullen teenager never wants to talk to him or hang out with him.

To her credit, crunchy conservative Des Moines mom was as horrified by Dr. Laura’s advice as I was.

But it’s pretty sad when a leading voice of conservative talk radio advocates a power play like that with a young child. Would it kill this father to spend a little time doing something his son loves?

Being a parent doesn’t mean you let your children call the shots, but if your kid is really into trains or Legos or Play-doh or puzzles or whatever, don’t deny him or her the pleasure of sharing that with you.

If anyone is seeking parenting advice, I’d stick with the Sears family or Marguerite Kelly.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I have been deeply concerned about Barack Obama’s ability to beat John McCain. I’ve been worried about his weakness in key battleground states such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. I still think the electoral college nightmare scenario outlined by David Yepsen is possible if McCain squeaks by in a few large battleground while Obama runs up a popular vote lead in Democratic strongholds.

But if the last few days are anything to go on, Obama is going to be the favorite this November.

Obama has picked up a decent bounce in tracking polls against McCain since Clinton ended her campaign, and it looks like he is increasing his lead among women. State polls indicate that he is ahead in electoral votes as well as in nationwide polls.

He has taken an important step toward uniting the party by promising to work with Elizabeth Edwards on health care reform. Not only will this excite the Democrats who supported John Edwards, it is a gesture toward Hillary Clinton’s supporters as well. The Clinton and Edwards health care plans were very similar, and this spring Elizabeth Edwards made clear that she preferred Clinton’s plan to Obama’s.

I still think Obama should pick a Clinton loyalist to be his running mate (if not Clinton herself). But if these reports are accurate, it sounds like his VP vetting team is casting a wide net, including some former military leaders.

What has John McCain been doing? Saying on the Today Show that the timing for bringing American troops home from Iraq is “not too important”:

Slinkerwink summarizes the reaction from various prominent Democrats here. The defense coming from the McCain camp is that he didn’t say bringing troops home from Iraq was “not too important,” he said the timeline for bringing them home was “not too important.”

Tell that to the loved ones of troops serving in Iraq right now, especially the families of those who’ve been stop-lossed and are serving their second or third tour.

I’ll be sure to mention to other moms of young kids that McCain doesn’t mind leaving our troops in Iraq indefinitely, as long as U.S. casualties come down. I doubt many mothers relish the thought of their kids growing up to staff permanent U.S. bases in Iraq.

Also for your reading pleasure, Daily Kos user timran brings you McCain’s top ten blow-ups. This is not the temperament you want in your president.

I hadn’t noticed this article in the Des Moines Register, but Marshalltown resident noneed4thneed passed along the good news at Century of the Common Iowan. A Marshall County ordinance will prohibit retailers from providing plastic bags or non-recyclable paper bags for customers’ purchases.

Several countries have banned plastic bags, not only because they clutter up landfills and pose a threat to wildlife, but also because producing plastic bags uses a lot of crude oil. Ireland took the approach of heavily taxing plastic bags, which quickly reduced their use by 94 percent.

But why is this happening in Marshall County, Iowa? San Francisco was the first community in the U.S. to ban plastic bags (at large grocery stores), and that ordinance went into effect just seven months ago.

Noneed gives the credit to Marshall County Supervisor Patrick Brooks. Since he was elected in 2006, Marshall County has also passed an ordinance to promote the use of small wind turbines.

If you are involved with the sustainable agriculture movement, you may know that Woodbury County, Iowa (where Sioux City is located) became the first county in the nation to provide tax incentives for organic farming practices in 2005. That ordinance was the brainchild of Rob Marqusee, the rural economic development director for Woodbury County.

Not only that, Marqusee got the Woodbury County supervisors to adopt the “Local Food Purchase Policy” in 2006 that was also the first of its kind of the country. The policy was

a resolution to mandate the purchase of locally grown organic food, through its food service contractor, when departments of Woodbury County serves food in its usual course of business. The resolution has the potential of shifting $281,000 in annual food purchases to a local farmer-operated cooperative, thus increasing local demand that will spur increased production and processing.

[…]

The Local Food Purchase policy defines “local” as that food which is grown and processed within 100 miles of Sioux City, Iowa, and the limitation may be extended if there is not a supplier within that radius. […]

The policy supports the Organics Conversion Policy that was adopted by the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on June 28, 2005; the Local Food Purchase Policy provides a market for those farmers that convert to organic production of certain items needed for the Woodbury County facilities. Transitional crops are included in the mandatory sections of this policy. […]

As the first county in the nation to mandate local purchase of organic food products, the policy enumerates price provisions that protect the county from significant increased costs that may result from this policy. “This is not a subsidy of local farmers. It is expected that, with the savings from reduced transportation costs, and bulk sales of local food, the price will remain competitive with historic costs for these food items. If the price of the food materially increases, or if those increases defeat the net benefit to the county of buying locally produced food, Woodbury County can opt out of the agreement,” said Rob Marqusee.

Because the availability of supply of locally grown organic food will not meet demand, the policy gives a strong preference for local non-organic food production to meet unmet demand. “We want to support all of our farmers through this policy; while organic products are given preference through a single-point-of-contact broker cooperative, individual non-organic farmers can participate through listing their products with the county,” said Rob Marqusee.

Progressives in Iowa often expect liberal college towns to be the first to adopt the policies we want, as when Iowa City adopted the first Complete Streets ordinance in our state.

I met Marqusee two years ago and asked him how on earth he got the organic farming tax credit and local food purchase ordinances through the Woodbury County supervisors. He told me he met individually with each supervisor, explained the realities of the farm economy and the economic benefits of promoting the use of more organic and local foods in the area. These forward-thinking ordninances then passed the supervisors unanimously.

Kudos to people like Patrick Brooks and Rob Marqusee, who are truly thinking globally and acting locally. It goes to show how much one committed person can accomplish.

Please post a comment if you know of another event scheduled for this week that has been moved, or postponed, because of flooding.

I got this press release from the DNR:

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Environmental Services Division

For Immediate Release                                                                

June 10, 2008

DNR’S ANNUAL RIVER CLEANUP EVENT POSTPONED DUE TO FLOODING

MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Soenen, DNR, Brian.Soenen AT dnr.iowa.gov or (515) 205-8587.

DES MOINES – Rising floodwaters have led the DNR to postpone its annual river cleanup event, Project AWARE, originally scheduled for June 14 to 21.

The cleanup event was scheduled to pull trash out of the Winnebago, Shell Rock and Cedar rivers from Mason City to Cedar Falls. All five counties AWARE planned to pass through – Black Hawk, Bremer, Butler, Cerro Gordo and Floyd – have been declared disaster areas by Governor Culver.

“For the safety of our participants, who canoe and wade these rivers to pull out trash, we’ve made the decision to postpone AWARE until later this summer,” said Brian Soenen, Project AWARE coordinator. “Our thoughts and best wishes go out to those people and communities affected by the flooding and we hope that the waters recede soon so the long cleanup process can begin.”

Since the first Project AWARE in 2003, the event has never been postponed or cancelled.

“We have always made plans for alternative options should conditions along the AWARE route be too dangerous,” said Jackie Gautsch, a natural resource biologist with the DNR’s IOWATER program. “But none of us were prepared for the onslaught of weather that has descended on Iowa this past month.”

A new date has not been set yet, but Project AWARE staff hopes to make that decision in the next week or two. The cleanup event will likely be held after Aug. 1 to allow the rivers to settle back into normal flows.

“We encourage everyone who had already registered for AWARE, as well as anyone else interested, to participate in the rescheduled event – after these floods, cleanup efforts may be even more crucial as receding floodwaters reveal debris and trash left behind in their wake,” said Soenen.

Project AWARE, or A Watershed Awareness River Expedition, is the DNR’s annual weeklong river cleanup event. Hundreds of Iowans volunteer a day to an entire week paddling Iowa rivers, pulling trash as they go. Participants also learn about water quality, wildlife conservation, recycling and other natural resource topics.

Writer: Jessie Brown

Also, Representative Tyler Olson has changed the location of his campaign kickoff event today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information: Tyler Olson 319-329-7730

June 10, 2008

Cedar Rapids–State Rep. Tyler Olson’s campaign kickoff event scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 has moved locations because of flooding in downtown Cedar Rapids.  The updated information for the event:

State Rep. Tyler Olson Re-Election Kickoff

Wednesday, June 11

4:45PM to 6:30PM

Paul Engle Center for Neighborhood Arts

1600 Fourth Avenue SE

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Speaking of which, if you are a candidate for the state legislature, don’t hesitate to e-mail me about upcoming campaign events so that I can include them on my weekly calendars.

Cross-posted at MyDD, Daily Kos, and the EENRblog. Slightly revised from the version posted at MyDD, thanks to feedback from several thoughtful readers. Note: If Hillary Clinton were the nominee, I would have written a similar diary addressing her volunteers.

This diary is for people planning to volunteer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign this summer and fall. My goal is to help you be more effective in communicating with voters like me, who don’t care for Obama.

I know that the Obama campaign has scripts and training sessions for its volunteers, and those worked well in the primaries.

Now you have to reach out to Democrats who weren’t buying what Obama was selling in the primaries. It seems to me that many Obama supporters respond in a counter-productive way when they encounter people who are not sold on the candidate.

In this diary, I will offer two basic principles to guide your conversations with non-supporters.

Then I will cover types of comments you may hear from resistant Democrats when you are doing GOTV for Obama. Those are all based on things I have heard people say (not comments I have read on blogs).

I will give examples of what I consider ineffective and constructive responses to those comments.

Follow me after the jump if you care to hear more.  

The Des Moines Register covered William Meyers’ decision to run for Congress as an independent in the fourth district.

Then the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus gave him the boot.

This is just one example of how not getting behind our nominee has in my opinion irreparably harmed Meyers’ political career.

Sven of the Nevada progressive community blog Silver State posted this diary here yesterday asking people to tell him about promising future Democratic leaders in Iowa. One of the people I mentioned was State Senator Rob Hogg, who is a strong voice for the environment in our legislature.

Today I received a press release from the Iowa Environmental Council in which Hogg advocated “clean car” policies:

American innovation should be employed to help us maintain our mobile lifestyles, while reducing global warming pollutants, say clean air advocates, who are examining policies that will help reduce carbon dioxide and other pollution from cars.

“Clean car policies are a win-win for Iowans, reducing global warming pollution and saving consumers money at the pump,” said Iowa Senator Rob Hogg, (D-Cedar Rapids).

Hogg and other members of the Climate Change Advisory Council (ICCAC) will meet in Council Bluffs next week to discuss “several policies to make cars more efficient and help reduce both the expense of buying gas and greenhouse gas emissions.”

The full release from the IEC is after the jump.

It’s nice to see Hogg speaking out on this subject, and I would be thrilled if our Democratic leaders in the legislature stepped up to the plate on clean car regulations next year.

That said, I can’t honestly say I’m very hopeful on that front. Mike Carberry published a strong indictment of our state’s inaction regarding several pressing environmental issues, and I find it hard to disagree with anything he wrote.

We don’t have to wait for state legislators to act in order to reduce the carbon-dioxide emissions from our cars. Daily Kos user Devilstower offered this handy list of tips:

   * Drive less.

   * Take public transit.

   * Walk.

   * If it’s too far to walk, use a bike.

   * If it’s too far to bike, and there no public transportation, car pool.

   * If you can’t car pool, use a smaller, more efficient vehicle.

   * If you have a long commute, move closer to work.

   * If you can’t move closer, take a closer job.

   * If you can’t get a different job, see if you can telecommute.

But individual actions can’t do all the work on this front–better government policies on vehicle emissions and transportation generally are also needed, as Daily Kos user cryptochrome pointed out in this response to Devilstower.

In any event, it’s good to see members of the ICCAC willing to consider clean car policies. Stay tuned–the council will submit its recommendations to Governor Chet Culver and the state legislature by December.

MoveOn.org is offering a free Obama ’08 bumper sticker to anyone who orders one here:

https://pol.moveon.org/obamast…

For now, I am keeping my Edwards bumper sticker on the car, along with my Buy Fresh, Local and Organic sticker. My husband’s car still has the Denise O’Brien for Secretary of Agriculture sticker!

A month or two ago I saw a pickup truck that had an Edwards sticker paired with one I’d never seen before: “Thou Shalt Not Scab.”

If Jerry Sullivan’s campaign produces bumper stickers, I’ll pick up one of those this year too.

What stickers do you have on your vehicle? Are you one of those people who keeps driving around promoting candidates long after they’ve lost an election, or do you get those stickers off your car ASAP?

What are the best and worst bumper stickers you’ve seen lately?

A few years ago I stopped at a light behind a car with a sticker that said something like, “Raised Republican–I can help myself, thank you!” The funny thing was, the same car had a handicapped emblem hanging from the rear-view mirror. I felt like stopping the driver to say he should thank Tom Harkin for the fact that he can find a convenient place to park.

Thanks to corncam and John Deeth for pointing out omissions in my earlier diary on this topic.

Last year I bristled whenever Hillary Clinton supporters brought up the fact that Iowa and Mississippi are the only two states never to have elected a woman governor or sent a woman to Congress. I understood that they were trying to lower expectations for Hillary in Iowa, and possibly also trying to goad Iowa Democrats into supporting her to “prove” that we aren’t sexist.

But I didn’t like the implication that Iowa Democrats are to blame for our state’s unfortunate record on electing women. We have nominated two outstanding women for governor: Roxanne Conlin in 1982 and Bonnie Campbell in 1994.

State Senator Jean Lloyd-Jones was the Democratic nominee against U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley in 1992.

In addition, we have tried to send women to the U.S House of Representatives many times.

In fact, thanks to Becky Greenwald’s victory in the fourth district primary last Tuesday, Iowa Democrats can proudly say that there isn’t a single district in which we have never tried to send a woman to Congress.

In IA-01, we chose Ann Hutchinson, the former mayor of Bettendorf, to run against Jim Nussle in 2002.

In IA-02, Cedar Rapids doctor Julie Thomas ran against Jim Leach in 2002.

Lynn Cutler ran against Cooper Evans in IA-03 in 1980 and 1982.

Elaine Baxter, then Iowa’s Secretary of State, faced Jim Ross Lightfoot in IA-03 in 1992 and 1994.

Two women have tried to win IA-05 for the Democrats: Sheila McGuire, who ran against Tom Latham in 1994, and Joyce Schulte, who ran against Steve King in 2004 and 2006.

I’ve discussed some of the reasons these women all lost before. Iowa has had a lot of long-serving incumbents, who are always difficult to beat. We have had relatively few open races for Congress, because we keep losing Congressional districts following the census.

Three Democratic women have run for open seats in Congress here. Cutler came close in 1980, but the Reagan landslide was working against her. Baxter came close in 1992, but the redrawn third district had more of a Republican lean. McGuire not only had to compete in the heavily Republican fifth district, but also ran for the open seat in a non-presidential year (when Democratic turnout is always lower).

Meanwhile, Iowa hasn’t experienced some of the circumstances that give an extra boost to a woman candidate. Of the 245 women who have served in Congress, 46 have been widows who directly succeeded their husbands. Happily, we haven’t had any incumbents die in office for many decades.

Nor have our women candidates benefited from other family connections that have helped women get to Congress in some states. Former Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum was the daughter of that state’s legendary politician Alf Landon. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin benefited from the fact that many South Dakotans had voted for a Herseth before.

Tuesday was a good day for women candidates here, as John Deeth pointed out in this post. Not only did Greenwald win convincingly in IA-04, Iowa Republicans nominated Mariannette Miller-Meeks for Congress in the second district. She is the first Republican woman nominated for Congress in Iowa in more than 30 years. Deeth informed me that Republicans nominated Sonja Egenes to run against incumbent Neal Smith in the fourth district in 1962. Berkley Bedell beat Joanne Soper in Iowa’s sixth district in 1976 (we lost the sixth district after the 1990 census).

Will 2008 be the year Iowa finally leaves Mississippi behind? As challengers facing incumbents, Miller-Meeks and Greenwald go into the general election as underdogs. The partisan lean of the second district (D+7) will be an additional hurdle for Miller-Meeks, especially in a presidential election year. If Barack Obama has coattails anywhere, it will be in the People’s Republic of Johnson County (the Iowa City area).

Greenwald’s district is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans (D+0), but she is facing a seven-term incumbent who sits on the House Appropriations Committee.

What do you think? Will Iowa voters make history this year?

If I were Barack Obama, I don’t know whom I would choose for a running mate.

In a typical year, it would be enough to select a VP candidate who balances the ticket, or helps deliver a key state.

This year, with Obama just barely winning the most hard-fought nominating contest in living memory, it is vital for him to choose someone who can unite the party.

Some Clinton supporters think the only way for him to do that is to “throw the Hillary haters under the bus and ask Hillary to be his running mate.”

I am not convinced that Hillary is the best choice for Obama, but she’s far from the worst choice.

It would be much worse for Obama to choose someone who would particularly alienate the very voting blocs that favored Hillary in the primaries.

Two great posts by Natasha Chart make this point better than I can:

Veepness stakes: Please no Webb, DINOs

Veepness stakes: Securing the Clinton bloc

Do click over. These are worth your time.

UPDATE: Longtime Edwards supporter Neil Sinhababu gives you “Ten Good Reasons for an Obama/Edwards ticket.” I’m not sure that would be Obama’s best move, but he could do a lot worse. Edwards has said publicly he’s not interested in running for VP again, though.

SECOND UPDATE: David Yepsen looks at the pros and cons of having Hillary on the ticket and concludes, “Don’t Go There, Obama.”

As always, put up a comment if I’ve left anything out. Send me tips about upcoming events at desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com.

Blog for Iowa has this post from One Iowa with details about a bunch of Pride events scheduled for this month. I’ve included the ones set for this week below.

Tuesday, June 10:

A History of Pride Forum on the LGBT community in Des Moines will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at East Village Books in Des Moines. Click here for more information:

http://capitalcitypride.org/

Wednesday, June 11:

The Iowa Initiative to Prevent Unintended Pregnancies invites you to attend “Unintended Pregnancy and Contraceptive Use: The Numbers and the People,” with Dr. Lawrence Finer of the Guttmacher Institute. The event will take place from 10 am to noon at the State Historical Society of Iowa, 600 East Locust Street, Des Moines. Dr. Lawrence Finer, Director of Domestic Research with the Guttmacher Institute, will be discussing definitions and trends in unintended pregnancies and contraceptive use in the United States generally and Iowa specifically. An open house at the Iowa Initiative offices will follow.

enrgPATH.com and New-Iowa.biz are hosting a forum on “Sky Factory Culture, Compensation and Ownership: Is this Capitalism or What?” at 6 pm at the Pappajohn Center, 1200 Grand Avenue in Des Moines. Mr. Witherspoon will talk about transparent modes of business that can help turn around a failing business and solidify growth. These include “Open Book Management,” in which financial information is regularly shared and reviews with all employees, as well as transparent, performance-based bonus and ownership programs. For more information, call Angela at 515-205-5494.

One Iowa and Capital City Pride are hosting a Happy Hour from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Suites on Locust, 800 Locust, Des Moines. Come to celebrate Pride Week (and Kamehameha Day)! Don’t know what Kamehameha Day is? Come find out with Free Food and Cheap Drinks – and other LGBT and progressive professionals. Light appetizers, cash bar, and a chance to mingle with other LGBTA Professionals.

Click here to RSVP for the Happy Hour:

http://eqfed.org/oneiowa/event…

Thursday, June 12:

Iowa Climate Change Council to Hear Recommendations on Cap & Trade, Carbon Tax, and Wind Power, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Ameristar, 2202 River Road in Council Bluffs.

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Call in #: 800.704.9804

Public conference code: 484 447#

Cap and trade, carbon tax, and wind power are among the issues to be considered by the Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council (ICCAC), at the June 12 meeting in Council Bluffs. Time will be allotted for public comments.

The Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council (ICCAC) must submit a proposal to the Governor and Iowa General Assembly, by December, that provides policy recommendations, cost-effective strategies, and multiple scenarios designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Iowa. The group is made up of Governor-appointed stakeholders.

In connection with Pride Week, there will be a free screening of the documentary film “For the Bible Tells Me So” on June 12 at 7:30 PM, State Historical Building, Des Moines. Click here for more information:

http://capitalcitypride.org/

Friday, June 13:

Trivia: In Russia it’s Monday the 13th that is considered unlucky.

The Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus – June 13 – 7:30 PM – Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University, Des Moines. Click here for more information:

http://www.dmgmc.org/

Join the Iowa Democratic Party for our Victory 2008 Kick-off Event: “United for a Stronger Iowa” With Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, Senator Tom Harkin and Ruth Harkin, Governor Chet Culver and First Lady Mari Culver, Lt. Governor Patty Judge and former Iowa State Senator John Judge, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan and Liz Brennan. Hall of Fame inductees and honorees include: Holmes Foster, Willie Glanton, Marilyn Monroe, Don Ruby, Jim Davis, Harold Swanson, Lora Swanson, Jill June, and Jordan Oster.

Please join us to recognize their outstanding achievements and contributions to the Iowa Democratic Party.  With your help, we will turn Iowa blue this November. The Hall of Fame Dinner will be held in the Polk County Convention Complex, 501 Grand Avenue in Des Moines.

Reception 5:30pm-6:30pm

Dinner begins at 7:00pm

Click here to purchase tickets or call (515) 974-1691. You can also email tickets@iowademocrats.org with any questions related to the 2008 Hall of Fame Dinner.

Saturday, June 14:

The One Iowa/Capital City Pride Lecture on Mental Health will be at 1:00 PM in the Central Library, Des Moines. Speaker: Myke Selha, LISW with LGBT Community Center. RSVP here:

http://eqfed.org/oneiowa/event…

The Des Moines Pride Street Party is happening from 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM in the East Village (around East 5th Street).

Sunday, June 15:

Capital City Pride starts at 1:00 PM – Simon Estes Amphitheatre, Des Moines.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa invites you to march with PPGI in the Pride Parade!

The Pride Parade begins at 1 p.m. and all participants are asked to meet at the State Capitol by noon. If you would like to walk in the parade, please contact PPGI Outreach Coordinator Jenn Morton at 515.280.7001, ext. 3 or jmorton@ppgi.org.

After the parade, visit the Planned Parenthood and Family Practice Center booths during PrideFest at the Simon Estes Amphitheater.

Anyone out there watch the speech?

Hillary’s internet director Peter Daou posted the text here:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Use this as an open thread to share your thoughts on her concession, prospects for unifying the party, or any other relevant topic.

If you’re one of the people who swore she’d never support Barack Obama, and even falsely claimed (as I saw in countless blog posts elsewhere) that she had “endorsed” McCain over Obama, now would be a good time to apologize to the Clinton supporters you know.

UPDATE: If you’re still nursing a grudge that Clinton didn’t drop out sooner, read this comment Open Left user FuzzyDunlop made a few days ago:

Its also worth keeping in mind (4.00 / 12)

that no candidate with a position nearly as strong as hers (and many with positions much weaker) has not taken the fight to the convention.  I don’t expect Clinton to do that, nor do I think she should.  But people need a reality check.  If she ends up dropping out and not bringing the fight to Denver, that will be a move that is historically unprecedented.  If anything, she should be lauded for not prolonging the fight, as all her forebearers in similar positions have, rather than being skewered at every opportunity for not dropping out sooner or for using her leverage to win some concessions.