Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
It’s almost “Vertical Day” for Mike Huckabee’s campaign. “Vertical,” or “V” Day, will be a 24-hour online conversation hosted by Mike Huckabee at his website starting Monday morning.
I’m not a political scientist, but I don’t know why they didn’t think of this sooner. I would think that verticality–we’re talking positive, upward motion–is the best kind of movement a candidate can have.
But it’s not just about increased numbers for the former governor’s campaign. Mike Huckabee wants to talk vertically about the issues. He says, “people don’t care whether an issue comes from the left or the right. What they want to talk about are ideas that lift America up and make us better.” Huckabee calls it “Vertical Politics.”
Huckabee is coming off what has been called a major score at the National Rifle Association’s “Celebration of American Values” this past weekend.Last week, Huckabee’s blog trumpeted his “fluency” in the language of guns, linking to a glowing review of his NRA crowd-pleasing in the National Review Online.
The NRA gun celebration featured a mix of Democratic and Republican politicians. The two-day event, held in Washington, D.C., concluded Saturday, Sept 22.
These were some of the featured speakers:
Attorney General John Ashcroft
Sen. John Barrasso
Gov. Haley Barbour
Radio commentator Glenn Beck
Congressman John Dingell
Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.
Gov. James Gilmore
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Speaker Newt Gingrich
Gov. Mike Huckabee
Sen. John McCain
Sen. Mitch McConnell
Sen. Fred Thompson
Sen. John Thune
Three presidential candidates sent videotaped messages: Congressman Duncan Hunter, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Gov. Mitt Romney.
After his appearance at the event on Friday, Huckabee was judged by some to be the most at ease in front of the gun lobby group. He began his talk by noting that the Second Amendment defines the right to own a gun, not the right to hunt animals with guns. This remark set him apart from others at the event who based their one-dimensional presentations on hunting stories and shooting for sport.
Huckabee said he believes he is the first governor “to have a concealed carry permit.”
But the question right now is: can he hit the target numbers needed to keep his underfunded campaign alive?
And that brings us back to “V” Day.
In a live webcast Monday morning, Huckabee will detail some of the plans for his “vertical” political movement.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter