Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news">
Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports
and information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns
and issues
IOWA
DAILY REPORT Holding
the Democrats accountable today, tomorrow...forever.
Thursday,
July 10, 2003
Among the offerings in this morning’s update:
Former GOP
Sen. Jesse Helms weighs in on Edwards’
aspirations, says the wannabe doesn’t have
enough experience, lacks “everything that’s
going to be essential.” Helms also
discounts Edwards’ chances for
re-election to the Senate
In New
Hampshire, Kerry urges voters to join his
“street army” and says more troops,
especially from other nations, needed in
Iraq… Chicago Tribune editorial:
Dean’s the “most interesting Democrat to
watch in a crowd of candidates who seem
cautious to a fault,” but he “could be
old news before the Iowa caucuses”
Is
Lieberman really a sleeping Dem giant?
Washington Times’ cites Gallup analysis
indicating he has broader appeal among Dems.
Report also reveals only one-third of
Democrats consider themselves liberals.
Ironically, Lieberman leads among Dem
moderates and conservatives – and liberals
Graham
plans to open eight regional campaign
offices in IA & visit Quad-Cities later this
month. Also continues planning family
“vacation” in the state during August…LA
Times Brownstein checks out political
tombstones of recent insurgent wannabes, but
Dean manager says “we are becoming the
strongest insurgency in the history of the
party”
After
two-day Nantucket planning/strategy session,
Kerry campaign plots fall effort to cast
the Mass. Sen as the most credible
alternative to GWB, plans formal
announcement at Old Ironsides in Boston
Harbor
Kucinich
attracts interesting group. Could he become
the king of “eclectic” endorsements?
Pew survey:
GWB’s approval rating drops 14% over three
months, Dem field hasn’t produced a
candidate with widespread support, 32% of
the 37% who have even heard of Dean wouldn’t
vote for him
Edwards
says Bush is “about building barriers and
closing doors. I’m about exactly the
opposite”
Quad-City
Times Obradovich says state may need a
convincing meteorologist to lure former
Iowans – deterred by the weather – back to
the Hawkeye State
Iowaism:
Pappajohn Elm at the University of Iowa
joins list of vanishing trees on the Iowa
City campus All
these stories below and more. Morning
Updates: …No rain in
today’s forecast. That was a featured story
on several morning newscasts after several
days and nights – including last evening –
of storms in Iowa … Saturday’s
Powerball drawing will be worth $10 million
after two winners – in Missouri and
Pennsylvania – last night. Winning $100,000
tickets were sold in Iowa and Nebraska. Last
night’s winning numbers: 19, 21, 26, 31, 51.
Powerball: 40 … WHO Radio
reports this morning seven of 10
fastest-growing communities in IA are
suburbs of Des Moines … Big police
sting operation in central Iowa gets
headlines this morning – over $1 million in
property and drugs seized, 16 arrested so
far. LIEBERMAN'S
Top Cartoons:
But I really AM
Edward's
Los
Hispanicos
New Hampshire New Cartoon:
Lieberman - …Graham
warns that Iowans may be “overwhelmed” by his
campaign between now and January. Dem county
leader says he’s the “one remaining candidate”
potential caucusgoers want to see. Excerpt
of Ed Tibbetts’ report from yesterday’s
Quad-City Times: “Democratic presidential
candidate Bob Graham said Tuesday he is
opening eight regional campaign offices in
Iowa to reach out to people in advance of the
2004 caucuses. He also plans to be in the
Quad-Cities later this month in what would be
his first visit to the area since announcing
his candidacy this May. Graham, a senator
from Florida, has been conspicuously absent
from the Quad-Cities, some activists say.
Most of the other candidates considered to be
seriously vying for the party’s nomination
have already been here, some several times.
‘He’s the remaining candidate that people have
really wanted to get a close-up look at,’ said
Susan Pamperin, the Scott County Democratic
Party chairman. Graham, who also is a
former governor of Florida, has said that he
is the best man to win in November, in part
because of his experience, but also because he
is from a large state with a treasure trove of
electoral votes. Florida decided the 2000
presidential election. Graham has been to Iowa
four times since announcing his candidacy and,
in a conference call with Iowa reporters
Tuesday, said that he and his family will
invade the state next month when he, his wife,
their four children, their spouses and the 10
grandchildren will tour the state in
recreational vehicles. He said the Quad-Cities
would be one of the stops in the seven-day
caravan. ‘Be careful, you may be
overwhelmed,’ he said.”
… Kerry,
claiming to be ahead of schedule on
fundraising and organization, shuns early
media blitz – but plans flurry of fall
activities and formal announcement.
Headline from the Boston Globe: “Kerry
campaign opts to pick up pace in fall…Plans
key speech at Old Ironsides” The Globe’s Glen
Johnson, from Nantucket, reports: “Senator
John F. Kerry is planning a burst of campaign
activity this fall, including a formal
announcement speech possibly set against a
backdrop of the USS Constitution, in a
concerted effort to elevate his presidential
candidacy among the Democratic contenders and
cast himself as the party's most credible
alternative to President Bush.
At the conclusion of two days of meetings with
21 top political aides, the Massachusetts
Democrat pronounced himself satisfied with
the state of his campaign and eager to get to
the voting that begins in January. ‘If
someone would have told me two years ago we
would be in the strong position we're in today
for my first national campaign, I would not
have believed it,’ Kerry said in an
interview on the seaside lawn of a summer
vacation home on Nantucket. ‘We're ahead of
schedule in terms of raising money -- we have
more cash on hand than any of the other
candidates -- and we have very strong
ground operations in the early states like
Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, South Carolina…Obviously
there are sort of some message challenges, but
they are normal.’ Kerry refused to
provide details about the outcome of his staff
meetings, but he confirmed that he will
make a public declaration of his presidential
candidacy probably in September or October,
possibly set against the image of the
Constitution in Boston Harbor. The
backdrop of ''Old Ironsides,'' the Navy's
oldest commissioned warship, would not only
pay tribute to the region's history, but the
candidate's unique Navy combat experience…In
Kerry's case, the speech will not only be
aimed at elevating his national profile, but
also distinguishing him from the rest of field.
The campaign is also planning to unveil a
number of high-profile endorsements this fall,
aimed at convincing voters of Kerry's
credibility as a candidate. Those supporters
include Henry Cisneros, a Hispanic who was
housing secretary in the Clinton
administration. He prematurely revealed his
support for Kerry in a recent interview
with a Texas newspaper. Kerry said he and
his aides made no decision about when to begin
advertising in the early-voting states, but he
acknowledged that the topic was discussed at
the meeting. ‘I'm confident that whatever
campaign spends money will go up in numbers''
in public-opinion polls, Kerry said.
Howard Dean, a former governor of
Vermont, saw such results in recent weeks
after he became the first candidate to air TV
commercials. Nonetheless, Kerry said, ‘It's
too early, in my judgment.’”
… DON’T
MISS THIS ONE. Jesse Helms says of Edwards
“nobody’s saying that he has great ability to
analyze this or that…” Under the headline
“Helms not on board,” John Wagner
reported in yesterday’s News & Observer of
Raleigh: “No surprise here, but former U.S.
Sen. Jesse Helms isn't placing too much stock
in U.S. Sen. John Edwards' bid for the
Democratic presidential nomination.
Helms,
a five-term Republican senator from North
Carolina, told The National Journal that ‘it's
difficult for me to ascertain exactly what [Edwards]
hopes to accomplish with all the travel and
the votes he's missing.’ In the July 5
edition, Helms says he doesn't believe
Edwards has enough experience to be president.
Asked what's missing, Helms said: ‘Frankly,
everything that's going to be essential. ...
For all the glad-handing that occurs ...
nobody's saying that he has great ability to
analyze this or that or serve in this capacity.’
Helms added that he is ‘definitely certain
this young man will not run for re-election to
the Senate from North Carolina, because I
think he realizes even now he will probably
not be re-elected.’”
… “Dean
Tries to Beat the Odds Against Outsiders…Latest
insurgent bid for the presidency shakes up
Democrats. Rules favor insiders.” – Headline
from Los Angeles Times. Times political ace
Ronald Brownstein writes about Dean’s
future prospects: “From Democrats Gary
Hart, Paul Tsongas, Jerry Brown and Bill
Bradley to Republican John McCain, candidates
who have run as outsiders — criticizing their
party's direction — have stunned the political
world by generating more excitement and
amassing more support than appeared possible
when they entered the race, as Dean has
done in recent weeks. But since Jimmy
Carter rode the post-Watergate demand for
reform to the White House in 1976, every
subsequent insurgent candidate has failed to
win his party's nomination. Each lost to a
candidate who had greater support among the
party establishment. Dean's ability to
raise money quickly off the Internet provides
him a critical asset unavailable to earlier
outsiders, and he also may benefit because
none of his rivals has emerged as the favorite
of the Democratic elite. But even with
such advantages, experts say, Dean
still faces many of the same challenges that
have derailed previous insurgents. Those
center on a primary calendar and nomination
rules that benefit candidates with the most
endorsements and money. Compounding the
problem for outsiders is the fact that they've
often been the subject of severe mood swings
in the media — rising with the help of
positive coverage only to face withering press
skepticism and scrutiny once they show
strength…No previous insurgent has
demonstrated as much support as early as Dean,
who led the Democratic field in fund-raising
over the past three months and is running
strongly in the latest Iowa and New Hampshire
polls. Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign
manager, said his candidate's early emergence
has defied the pattern of nomination contests.
Usually, he said, the establishment candidate
like Walter F. Mondale or George W. Bush
dominates attention in the early stages of the
race, and the insurgent struggles for notice
and money until Iowa and New Hampshire.
Dean has seized the national spotlight by
establishing himself as the most formidable
outsider in the race. Meanwhile, a divided
party establishment is unlikely to unite
behind one contender until after the first
contests winnow the field. ‘This is still a
very steep hill,’ Trippi said. ‘But the
process has totally been turned upside down.
With all the focus being on Howard Dean, we
are becoming the strongest insurgency in the
history of the party.’ Still, Dean
faces problems common to all insurgents,
beginning with the acceleration of the primary
calendar. When Carter won in 1976, half of
the delegates to the convention weren't
selected until 11 weeks after the first
contest in New Hampshire, according to
research by Northeastern University political
scientist William G. Mayer.” … “Kerry
says more troops from other nations needed in
Iraq” – top New Hampshire Primary headline
from yesterday’s Union Leader. Excerpt of
report from Concord by AP’s Joe Magruder:
“More international troops are needed in Iraq
to ‘win the peace,’ a task American soldiers
there now are not well trained for, Sen. John
Kerry said. Asked at a campaign stop what
he would do about Iraq if he were president
today, the Democratic presidential hopeful
said he would promptly go to NATO and the
United Nations to get troops from other
nations involved in the pacification and
rebuilding effort. Unlike President Bush,
‘I wouldn't have the prideful problem of doing
that,’ Kerry said, a reference to the
administration's strained relations with
allies such as France and Germany during the
buildup to the war. ‘You need to get other
troops in there on the ground in order to
minimize the sense of American occupation and
minimize the danger to American soldiers,’
Kerry said. Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld said in an interview Tuesday with
CNBC that there are now ‘some 43 countries
that are talking to us about various size
deployments’ in Iraq. Kerry spoke to a
supportive crowd of about 150 at a reception
at a home. On a sweltering evening, he stood
on the front porch as the crowd on the lawn
spilled out into the street. He said estimates
vary, but there are about 146,000 U.S. troops
trying to bring order to postwar Iraq. ‘They
need more troops to do this,’ he said,
referring to international forces. ‘One
hundred forty-six thousand ... is not
adequate.’" He defended his vote before
the war to give the president authority to use
force in Iraq if necessary. ‘I believe that I
voted absolutely correctly,’ he said. But he
said Bush failed to plan well enough for the
task facing U.S. soldiers after they toppled
the Iraqi regime. ‘I don't see that plan in
place,’ he said. The Massachusetts senator
brushed off a suggestion that Bush is riding
high despite problems at home and abroad.
Kerry said it's early in the campaign and
there are plenty of signs of discontent with
Bush. He said the key to winning next year
is mobilizing. ‘I'm asking you to join me
in a street army, in a crusade,’ he said.” … Pew
Research Center survey shows drop in GWB’s
approval ratings, but that Dem wannabes aren’t
setting political world on fire. AP’s Will
Lester reported that Bush’s approval ratings
were at 60% -- a “significant drop” from the
74% he enjoyed the day Saddam’s 40-foot statue
came down on 4/9. The Dem hopefuls are
having their problems, too. An excerpt
from Lester’s coverage: “The Democratic
field of nine candidates still hasn't produced
a White House hopeful who could count on
widespread name recognition and enthusiastic
support, according to the poll. Howard
Dean has captured the headlines in recent
days, with $7.5 million raised in a
three-month period and a first-place finish on
an Internet primary, but only 37 percent of
registered voters surveyed had heard of the
former Vermont governor. Of those, only
a third, or 32 percent, said there was a
chance they would vote for him. Joe
Lieberman, the Democrat's vice presidential
nominee in 2000, had the best name recognition
of the candidates, with more than 80 percent
having heard of the Connecticut senator. Of
those, 45 percent said there was a chance they
would vote for him. Former House Minority
Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., also had
high name recognition with 75 percent, and 45
percent said they might vote for the lawmaker.
‘The Democratic field gets modest
evaluations, even among people who know who
they are,’ said Andrew Kohut, director of
the Pew Research Center.” ….
Kucinich plays fascinating endorsement game –
or is he just compiling a “who’s who” list of
American radicals? Headline from this
morning’s Union Leader: “Kucinich gathers
eclectic collection of political endorsements”
AP’s Malia Rulon reports from DC: “While
many of his presidential rivals are pursuing
endorsements from mainstream groups such as
labor unions, Democrat Dennis Kucinich has
cornered the market on eclectic endorsements.
The latest came from Doris "Granny D" Haddock,
a 93-year-old New Hampshire woman who walked
coast-to-coast two years ago to support a
rewrite of campaign finance laws, and Arun
Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and
leader of the M.K. Gandhi Institute of
Nonviolence. Other endorsements for
Kucinich's White House bid: actor Ed Asner,
country music singer Willie Nelson, lifestyle
guru Marianne Williamson and author Studs
Terkel. ‘Maybe that is the real America,’
said Henry Graff, a presidential historian and
professor at Columbia University. ‘It might
help get a large body of young people that
often don't go to the polls ... a constituency
that would be more influenced by Nelson than
by other politicians.’ Kucinich, a
four-term congressman from Cleveland, is
considered a long-shot candidate among nine
Democrats vying for the party's presidential
nomination. He trails the pack in money raised
as well as name recognition. But the
lawmaker argues that this growing list of
high-profile support, which also includes
actors Peter Coyote, James Cromwell, Hector
Elizondo and Elliott Gould, could turn that
around.” …Chicago
Tribune editorial says if liberals look
closely they may find that Dean’s not so
predictable – or liberal – but will he still
be hot on a cold Iowa night next January?
Excerpt from Tuesday editorial – headline, “Dean
shakes up the Democrats” – on Tribune’s
online: “What is Dean's appeal? He still
registers just in the single digits in polls
of likely Democratic voters. His overall
popularity trails rivals such as Lieberman,
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep.
Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) Dean made so
many verbal gaffes--he wrongly charged that
pro-war Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) had
been ambivalent about invading Iraq--that he
issued a pre-emptive apology to anyone else he
might offend. Yet unlike the more polished
candidates, Dean has electrified
many of the Democratic faithful with his harsh
criticisms of Bush. One of his party's most
vocal critics of the Iraq war, Dean
criticized his ideological brethren in
Washington for surrendering to Bush on tax
cuts, education spending and health care.
His early appeal recalls that of conservative
pioneer Barry Goldwater, who ran against
President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 under the
rallying cry, ‘A Choice, Not an Echo.’ If
liberals look closely, they may find Dean's
not so predictable--he governed as a fiscal
conservative who held the line on taxes,
supported welfare reform and earned an "A"
rating from the National Rifle Association.
But he still lands firmly on the left in his
party. If he has staying power, he will set up
an interesting question for the Democratic
Party. Will it continue to follow the ‘New
Democrat’ path set by Bill Clinton, Al Gore,
Lieberman and others, or will it return
to a more traditional liberalism? Like
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in 2000,
Dean has been able to mobilize liberal voters
who otherwise might have shunned the electoral
process. His swift success in corralling
an astounding 59,000 donors, mostly through
creative use of the Internet and good-old word
of mouth, should be a lesson to organizers of
every political stripe. As Dean said at
his official campaign kick-off last week, ‘We
in politics are not giving people a reason to
vote or a reason to participate.’ He's right
about that, at least. Political crusades
have a habit of flaming out, and Dean could be
old news before the Iowa caucuses. But for
now, he's the most interesting Democrat to
watch in a crowd of candidates who seem
cautious to a fault.” … Edwards
Follow-up – a different view of his latest New
Hampshire campaign visit. Headline from
Tuesday’s Concord Monitor online edition: “Edwards
puts value on his past…Candidate
emphasizes lessons of childhood” Report by the
Monitor’s Daniel Barrick: “Katie Wolff
sat and listened for more than an hour and a
half last night as U.S. Sen. John Edwards
fielded questions ranging from medical
marijuana to the merits of U.S. intervention
in Liberia. When she asked Edwards, a
Democratic presidential candidate, what
differentiates him from the eight Democrats
running against him, the senator referred to
the values he learned as the son of a mill
worker in North Carolina. For Wolff, that
story was nice, but not specific enough to
earn her vote. ‘I need the meat; I need
the talking points; I need the bang, bang,
bang,’ Wolff, a teacher from Londonderry, said
in an interview after the forum. In a town
hall-style meeting last night at Conant
Elementary School, Edwards gave a lesson in
biography, offering his life story as the
inspiration behind his campaign for the
presidency. But for Wolff, Edwards's
repeated references to his
up-by-the-bootstraps childhood wore thin by
the end of the evening. ‘Is that going to
make him electable?’ she asked. ‘Is that a
platform in itself? Will that help him beat
Bush?’ To Edwards, the answer to those
questions is an emphatic 'yes.' On nearly
every issue last night, he returned to his
roots as the child of blue-collar parents,
contrasting his hardscrabble upbringing with
that of the president. ‘I use my family as an
example; it's the way I see things,’ Edwards
said in response to one question. From tax
cuts to education, Edwards claimed,
President Bush favors the wealthy over the
working class. Instead, Edwards offered his
own life experience as more in touch with
middle class Americans and the American dream.
‘We are a nation of people who believe there
is nothing we can't do,’ Edwards said.
He added: ‘I honor and respect hard work. I
honor and respect responsibility. I believe in
opportunity. . . . (Bush) is about building
barriers and closing doors. I'm about exactly
the opposite.’”
IOWA/NATIONAL
POLITICS:
This
morning’s headlines:
Des Moines
Register, top front-page headline: “’The
facts will show the world the truth…Bush
stands by war with Iraq as critics question
false reports”
Quad-City
Times, main online heads: “Suburbs in West
fastest-growing cities in the U. S.” & “Hong
Kong leader vows to stay on; thousands protest”
Online heads,
Omaha World-Herald: Nation/World -- “U. S.
to stay in Iraq for a while” & Midlands –
“Winning Powerball tickets sold in
Missouri, Pennsylvania”
Sioux City
Journal, top online stories: “Heavy rain
brings flooding, bridge damage to area” &
“U. S. needs image makeover in eyes of
world, terror experts say”
Featured
online headlines, New York Times: “Rumsfeld
Doubles Estimate for Cost of Troops in Iraq”
& “Feelings Mixed, Millions Enroll to Block
Calls”
Daily Iowan
(University of Iowa), nation/world stories: “U.
S. snares 2 top Iraqis” & “Arkansas man
wakes up – 19 years later”
Chicago Tribune, top online headlines: “Bush
Visits Botswana, Hard-Hit by AIDS” & “Alleged
Iraqi agent arrested in Chicago”
… “Davenport
resurrects DARE program” The Quad-City
Times’ Tony Robinson reported that after
months of strenuous fund-raising local DARE
[Drug Abuse Resistance Education] supporters
have something to smile about — at least for
one more year. Mike Henson, the president of
the DARE board of directors, confirmed
Tuesday that the group has raised the
$37,500 needed to fund the program through
the 2003-2004 school year. Davenport
Police Chief Mike Bladel asked the City
Council to ax the program in March because
the three DARE officers were needed on the
street.
Iowa Briefs/Updates: …
KCCI-TV
(Des Moines) reported that the
Jasper County supervisors have met to try to
close down an adult bookstore along
Interstate 80. But the county attorney
told the supervisors that zoning laws
wouldn't allow the county to close down the
new business. The Lion's Den Adult
Superstore opened its doors last week and
residents said its been the talk of the town
ever since. "We grow corn and soybeans,
we don't grow adult bookstores here,"
resident Phil Muta said. … “Pakistan
Closes Embassy in Afghanistan Amid Protests,
Unrest” – VOANews (Voice of America)
headline. VOA report by Ayaz Gul from
Islamabad: “Pakistan has closed its
embassy in Afghanistan after a group of
Afghans attacked and ransacked the premises.
Afghanistan government officials have
condemned the attack and President Hamid
Karzai has called Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf to apologize. Witnesses said
about 2,000 Afghans, including some government
officials, took to the streets of Kabul to
protest alleged border incursions by Pakistani
troops. They said several dozen protesters
broke away from the rally and entered the
Pakistani embassy. Afghan officials say the
group smashed windows and other furniture, but
no staff members were hurt. Local security
forces quickly evicted the protesters and
sealed off the diplomatic mission. Speaking to
VOA by telephone from Kabul after he ordered
the embassy closed, Pakistani Ambassador
Rustam Shah Mohmmand blamed Afghan authorities
for ‘stage-managing’ the attack.” … Voice of
America (VOANews) focuses on issue that gets
major attention in Iowa – bioterrorism.
Headline from VOA News: “US Not Prepared to
Deal With Bioterrorism Threat, says Report”
Deborah Tate’s report: “A new report is
warning that the U.S. government is not
prepared to deal with the threat of
bioterrorism because of a shortage of science
and medical experts. The report by the
nonpartisan, nonprofit ‘Partnership for Public
Service’, says the U.S. government does not
have adequate numbers of experts with the
skills needed to anticipate, prepare for and
respond to a bioterrorism attack. ‘Biological
weapons are the poor man's atomic bomb, and
clearly we need to be as prepared as possible
to prevent and respond to a potential attack,’
said Max Stier, president and chief executive
officer of the organization. The study
assessed five key federal agencies over the
past year. They include the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
the Food and Drug Administration, the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service and the
Food Safety and Inspection Service. Among
its findings, the report concluded that about
half the biodefense related federal employees
will be eligible to retire in the next five
years. Demand for such experts is
increasing, the report stated, while the
supply is decreasing. The report called on the
federal government to recruit skilled
personnel in the fields of biology and
medicine, create a biodefense institute to
train those already in the field, and offer
higher salaries to attract qualified
candidates.” … A Report
from the Eastern Front of Iowa’s Economic
Development Battle. Quad-City Times
headline: “Iowa opens doors to East Coast.”
Kathie Obradovich, in a column, reports on the
recent Department of Economic Development (IDED)
recruitment effort for former Iowans at DC’s
Union Station. Excerpt from Obradovich’s
column: “The IDED staff managed to look like
they were having a good time while bravely
masking their disappointment that the
Legislature refused to change the agency’s
name to one with a more inspiring acronym,
IDEA. Mike Blouin, director of IDED, was
particularly upbeat. He said Iowa had
picked up some good prospects during an
international biotechnology conference in
Washington earlier that week, the first such
outing since the governor signed into law the
$503 million Iowa Values Fund to spur business
development in the state. Vilsack has
mentioned before that one part of the pitch
that really gets the attention of big-city
types is a videotape that shows what passes
for rush-hour traffic on the freeway through
Des Moines. I noticed that
the tape had not been updated since the
Interstate 235 construction has made the drive
considerably more interesting. The video,
which uses the trademarked slogan SmartCareer
Move, also shows lots of high-tech industrial
scenes and lots of cute and culturally diverse
families out enjoying the clean and scenic
Iowa environment. If I didn’t already live
here, I’d be ready to pack up and move.
After talking to a few of the party guests,
however, it seems to me that there was
something missing in the presentation. Several
of the people I spoke with said they have fond
memories of their time in Iowa and have
considered moving back — but probably wouldn’t.
These folks didn’t need to hear from the
governor or Blouin that there are jobs and
opportunity in Iowa. They probably knew
already that the state has quality schools and
a low crime rate (although this crowd might
have benefited from a comparison of sniper
shootings and terrorist attacks in Iowa vs.
Washington.) Instead, they might have been
more persuaded if the state had brought along
a meteorologist, armed with maps and
historical data, to explain that the weather
[in Iowa] isn’t as bad as they think.” Today’s
editorials: … Today’s
editorials, Des Moines Register: Local – “It’s
a go!…Commission’s historic achievement
could lead to new Polk-D. M. government…It is
hard to overstate the importance of this
action” & IA gambling referendums – “Tale
of two counties…Dickinson said no to
casino boat; Palo Alto, yes. Both decisions
make sense.”
… Iowa Falls native and Kansas
basketball star Nick Collision has been named
the Big 12 Conference male athlete of the
year. Collison, who averaged 18.5 points for
the Jayhawks last season, was the 12th
player taken in the NBA Draft last month by
the Seattle SuperSonics…Former Iowa (and NFL)
running back Ronnie Harmon has been hired to
coach running backs at Western Illinois
University – where the head coach is Don
Patterson, a former Hawkeye assistant.
… DSM 7 a. m.
66, partly sunny. Temperatures at 7 a.m.
ranged from 59 in Sheldon, 60 in
Estherville and 61 in Mason City,
Decorah and Audubon to 70 at seven
reporting locations, including Clarinda,
Monticello and Muscatine. Today’s
high 82, partly sunny. Tonight’s low 60,
mostly clear. Friday’s high 82, mostly sunny.
Friday night’s low 65, mostly clear.
… The Daily
Iowan’s Sarah Reicks reported that “trees
around campus continue to disappear as
mysterious illnesses and environmental damage
force UI officials to order workers to fire up
the chain saws.” Administrators have
decided that the large American elm tree,
the centerpiece of the Pappajohn Business
Building courtyard, will soon be removed.
"It's dying," said Larry Wilson, a UI campus
planner. "It's a sad thing; there are no other
elms in walking distance [of campus]." He said
the tree may be the victim of Dutch elm
disease. The business building was built
around the 80-year-old tree, and Wilson
cited a Minnesota arbor expert as saying the
tree could just now be showing the effects of
construction damage. If the tree is not
diseased, Wilson said, he hopes to donate the
wood to the university for some artistic
purpose, adding that if diseased, the tree has
to be disposed of properly so more trees
aren't affected.
click here
Paid
for by the Iowa Presidential Watch PAC
P.O.
Box 171, Webster City, IA 50595
privacy
/ agreement
/
/ homepage
/
search engine
INVISIBILITY
better than
everyone else!
Sole
Drag Race
Invisible Man?
… There are
days – sometimes several days – when Lieberman
is the most invisible of the alleged top-tier
candidates, but Washington Times report says
he has broader appeal among Dem voters. Maybe
it would be premature to count him out.
Headline from yesterday’s Times: “Lieberman
more than just name, Gallup says” Veteran
political reporter Donald Lambro wrote: “Sen.
Joe Lieberman is running ahead of his
rivals for the Democratic presidential
nomination in national polls, largely due to
name recognition. But a new Gallup analysis
says his lead may also be due to broader
appeal among Democrats. For months, the
Connecticut senator has led virtually all
national party-preference polls, while
trailing his nearest opponents in most of the
key caucus and primary state surveys in Iowa,
New Hampshire, South Carolina and elsewhere.
The reason so many Democrats name him in
nationwide polls has a lot to do with his fame
as the party's 2000 vice-presidential nominee,
election analysts said. However, a closer
analysis of the past three months of national
polling ‘also shows that Lieberman's
positioning may be due to a broader appeal to
Democrats than many of the other contestants
have,’ the Gallup Organization said. It
found that Mr. Lieberman has broader
Democratic appeal by region, gender, political
ideology and age, especially among younger
voters, and among educational levels.
Surprisingly, he comes in second (17 percent)
to the Rev. Al Sharpton (24 percent)
among black voters. Former Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun is third with 12 percent.
Nationally, Mr. Lieberman leads in the
Gallup Poll with 21 percent, followed by Rep.
Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, 17 percent;
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, 13 percent;
Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, 7 percent; Howard
Dean, 7 percent; Mr. Sharpton, 6 percent; Sen.
John Edwards of North Carolina, 6 percent;
Mrs. Moseley Braun, 5 percent; and Rep. Dennis
J. Kucinich of Ohio, 1 percent. But in a
detailed analysis of who had the broadest
national appeal among various demographic
groups or regions of the electorate, Mr.
Lieberman emerged the winner more often
than not, Gallup said… ’A key goal for every
candidate is to broaden his or her support
beyond his or her home region,’ Gallup said.
‘So far, Lieberman appears to have done
that better than the other candidates,
probably because of his visibility as the
party's 2000 vice presidential nominee.’ Mr.
Lieberman leads in the South, West and in
the East, while Mr. Gephardt leads in the
Midwest with Mr. Lieberman close behind…Gallup
found that among Democrats, 33 percent said
they are liberal, 43 percent are moderates
and 23 percent called themselves conservative.
The senator, a strong supporter of the Iraq
war and the most conservative candidate in the
pack, leads his rivals in all three
ideological groups…In other categories,
Mr. Lieberman outpolled his rivals
among men and women with 21 percent; exceeded
or tied his rivals among all Democratic age
groups; and led among voters with a high
school degree and some college education. Mr.
Kerry was slightly stronger among college
graduates and postgraduates. But Gallup
analysts acknowledged that leading in the
national polls may not count for much. The
race for the nomination is won in individual,
state-by-state contests that can knock a
nationally recognized candidate out of
contention.”
to read past Iowa Daily Reports
THE CLINTON COMEDIES: