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IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
PAGE 2
Tuesday,
Aug. 12, 2003
… “Democrats
Unlikely To Retake House…Redistricting Is
Biggest Obstacle” – Headline from yesterday’s
Washington Post. Report by Juliet Eilperin
says they are starting to lay groundwork for
’06 run – when GWB won’t be at the top of the
GOP ticket. An excerpt from Eilperin’s
report: “Numerous Democratic strategists
have become convinced in recent months that
their party is unlikely to pick up the dozen
seats it needs to retake the House, even in
the face of a sluggish economy and mounting
questions about Iraq that could be issues to
use against the Republican-dominated
administration. Analysts who have been
following the early battle for control of the
435-member House say a relative lack of public
anger to fuel anti-incumbent voting and a
strong GOP fundraising effort underway will be
difficult for Democrats to surmount. The
biggest factor, however, is one that has
thwarted Democratic hopes before and, if
anything, is growing worse: Congressional
redistricting has produced a remarkably small
number of competitive districts nationwide.
As a result, Democrats must win a huge
percentage of the toss-up races to regain the
House majority they lost a decade ago.
‘There's just not enough districts in play,’
said Stuart Rothenberg, who edits the
Rothenberg Political Report. Democrats ‘will
need a wave’ to win back the House, he said --
and thus far, no such wave seems to be
forming. As Republican pollster Glen Bolger
put it, Democrats ‘have to draw a royal
flush to take back the House. I've never had
one of those.’ Most of the redistricting
damage was done two years ago, when the states
used 2000 census data to redraw congressional
maps and lock hundreds of House members into
safe districts -- thus helping to protect the
Republican majority, which now stands at 229
to 205 (plus one liberal independent). The
Democrats' task will become even tougher if
Texas Republicans -- who control the
legislature and governorship -- succeed in
their effort to redraw U.S. House districts
yet again in a bid to give the GOP an
excellent chance of ousting several Democrats
15 months from now. Given these problems,
even the most gung-ho Democrats now speak of
only modest gains next year, hoping to lay the
groundwork for a House takeover in 2006, when
Republicans will not have President Bush at
the top of the ticket.”
…
Bush-Cheney operation gearing up to win in
BOTH California and New York. Headline
from yesterday’s Washington Times: “Bush
campaign sees California, New York as ripe for
taking” Excerpt from report by Joseph
Curl: “The
Bush-Cheney campaign plans to make a strong
play to take California and New York in 2004,
despite the states' recent history of
supporting Democratic presidential
candidates. Both states are ripe for the
taking, according to election strategists,
even though California has preferred Democrats
since President Bush's father won there in
1988 and New York has leaned liberal since
Ronald Reagan took the state in 1984. And with
a war chest expected to top $200 million,
President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney
are expected to hammer the Democratic ticket
on their home base, which could require
Democrats to expend more time, effort and
money just to hang on to states crucial to
their effort to retake the White House. ‘President
Bush's compassionate agenda resonates with the
people of both New York and California,’ said
Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the
Bush-Cheney '04 campaign. ‘We expect to be
competitive in both those states.’ The two
states are the top prizes in any national
election. California holds 55 electoral votes,
New York, 31. While the Republicans can
hold on to the White House without winning
either state — Mr. Bush captured neither when
he won in 2000 — Democrats must take
California and New York to remain competitive.
While the mission appears difficult at best, a
few factors will aid Mr. Bush's re-election
efforts. In California, he holds an approval
rating hovering in the mid to high 60s, and
Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, is facing a
recall effort from voters incensed over a $38
billion budget shortfall. New York has a
Republican governor, a Republican mayor of New
York City and a very popular former city mayor
— Rudolph Giuliani — and will be the site of
the Republican National Convention in late
August and early September, just two months
before the general election. However, New York
has two very popular Democratic senators —
Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham
Clinton. Mr. Schumer has stuffed his coffers
for his re-election campaign next year, but
the state's Republican Party has yet to find a
viable candidate to challenge him…The
Bush-Cheney campaign is likely to be flush
with cash and will have far more than its
eventual Democratic opponent, who will have to
spend millions just to capture the nomination.
Should the Republican ticket decide to dump
millions into either or both states, Democrats
will have to play catch-up or risk losing the
electoral votes crucial to winning the White
House.” This morning’s headlines:
Des Moines
Register, top front-page headline: Local – “Prayers
unanswered; family is Mexico-bound…Young
mother’s deportation order stands” Alma
Castro, a 27-year-old mother, has until 8/22
to leave the country after authorities said
she committed fraud when she crossed the
border in 1997.
Quad-City
Times, main online heads: “Iraq postwar
costs could hit $600 billion” & “Lottery
to decide ballot order in California”
Nation/ world
online reports, Omaha World-Herald: “U. S.
still at sea in Liberia” & “Utah
governor picked as new head of EPA”
Featured
stories, New York Times: “Bush Nominates
Utah Governor to Lead E. P. A.” & News
analysis – “New Activism by African
Nations: Joining Forces to Solve Disputes”
Sioux City
Journal, top online heads: “Liberia’s
Taylor leaves, but vows ‘I will be back’”
& “Bush presses for forest thinning”
Chicago
Tribune online, main reports: “2 Israelis
Killed in Two Suicide Bombings” & “2 U.
S. Fliers Die in S. Korea Plane Crash”
Iowa Briefs/Updates:
KDTH Radio (Dubuque)
reported that state investigators are looking
into the Saturday morning fire at St.
Joseph's the Worker Catholic Church in
Dubuque. The church sustained extensive smoke
damage from at least five fires. Investigators
found beer cans, vandalized furnishings and
anti-religious graffiti painted in several
places. Services at St. Joseph the Worker have
been canceled indefinitely
The Omaha
World-Herald reports that a Council
Bluffs woman – Gloria Ruckman, 69 – died
late Sunday in a house fire. Council Bluffs
Fire Chief Alan Byers said it appeared that
she died from smoke inhalation.
On the
Korean Front:
VOANews (Voice
of America) headline – “Diplomats Actively
Preparing for Talks on N. Korea Nuclear Issues.”
Coverage – an excerpt – by Celia Hatton: “An
energetic round of diplomatic activity
continues in preparation for six-party talks
on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Diplomats from China, Japan and Russia are on
the road for planning meetings. The pace of
diplomacy ahead of talks on North Korea's
nuclear program is picking up. Top-level
Chinese and Japanese officials were in each
other's capitals Sunday, and a ranking Russian
diplomat arrived in Beijing with word of
further preparatory talks later in the week.
The six-party talks will include North
Korea, the United States, China, South Korea,
Japan and Russia. They are expected to be held
in Beijing in late August.”
Stonewall
Democrats upset by GOP policy paper warning
against same-sex marriages.
Under the
subhead “Family affair,” John McCaslin
reported in his “Inside the Beltway” column in
yesterday’s Washington Times: “National
Stonewall Democrats are denouncing the Senate
Republican leadership for pushing to further
codify marriage discrimination in federal law. Sen.
Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, in a 12-page
policy paper published by the Republican
Policy Committee, warns that same-sex
‘marriage’ is a ‘threat’ that must be dealt
with by the U.S. Senate. Or at least that's
how the Stonewallers interpret it. The
paper titled ‘The Threat to Marriage from the
Courts’ offers a strategic road map on how to
curb marriage equality and says that nothing
‘will stop determined activists and their
judicial allies [but] a constitutional
amendment.’…’Senate leaders should be
adequately addressing inequality, and not
publishing how-to guides on how to
discriminate against millions of Americans,’
says Dave Noble, the NSD's executive director.
‘It seems that all Republicans can do lately
is find new ways to attack our families.’ He's
not referring to traditional
families. National Stonewall Democrats, if you
didn't gather, is the leading national
organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender Democrats, with more than 70 local
chapters across the nation.” Today’s editorials:
Des Moines Register:
“War never gets any easier…The
sacrifice includes the wounded, like National
Guard members from Iowa.” & “Let Alma
Castro stay…America’s immigration laws
need common sense.” Woman faces deportation on
8/22. (See morning headline above.) & “Charity
begins in W. D. M.” West Des Moines is
giving residents the option of adding $10 to
their water bills to support cultural
activities.
Eastern
Iowa team to Little League World Series.
…Excerpt of report from Indianapolis in
yesterday’s Quad-City Times by Sean Moeller: “Of
the 1,200 Little League teams in the Central
Region, covering 13 states, the chances the
North Scott all-star team had of hopping on
[Monday’s] noon flight to Williamsport, Pa.,
for the Little League World Series might have
seemed slim at best. Just the idea of a
team other than a representative from
Davenport making it through the district
tournament — it’s only happened four times
in the past 47 years — was improbable. But
for the dozen 12-year-old future Lancers, a
lot of tenacity mixed with a little grit
nabbed them a 5-1 Midwest Region victory over
North/South Dakota on Sunday evening at
Stokely Field. They face Southwest Regional
winner Texas East (Lamar National) at 1 p.m.
Saturday.”
DSM 7 a. m. 64, clear. Temperatures at 7 a.m.
ranged from 53 in Estherville,
Spencer and Mason City to 55
in Charles City to 66 in
Burlington, Muscatine and Keokuk
and 68 in the Quad Cities.
Today’s high 84, areas of fog. Tonight’s low
62, clear. Wednesday’s high 84, mostly sunny.
Wednesday night’s low 65, mostly clear. Iowa
Parents being introduced to new “virtual
school” this week.
Radio Iowa’s
Stella Shaffer reports that a new “virtual
school” is holding meetings this week to tell
parents about sending their kids to school on
the computer. Interim Director David
Hudson says on-line classes have been offered
at the college level for some time but the
Pocahontas school district is pioneering the
statewide use of the computer classroom.
They will use Iowa's open-enrollment law that
let students attend any school regardless of
where they live, and get part of their
instruction over the Internet. Not all of
the instruction is over the web -- only
20% in the early grades, half in higher
grades, and the rest comes from textbooks and
workbooks, ‘manipulatives’ and science
experiments. Each family in the program
will get the instructional curriculum
delivered to their home, and Hudson says
they'll also provide every student with a
computer and printer to use free. Hudson says
though the student may never leave home, this
is a ‘full-fledged public education,’ and he
says it's different from home-schooling, even
with school support. Meetings were scheduled
in Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines
and Council Bluffs to introduce the
“virtual school” plan to Iowa parents.
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