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.
Mike Huckabee wrapped up Vertical Day on the internet Tuesday, an event that gained the attention of hundreds of conservative bloggers and drove prospective voters to his website. The event also came at a critical fundraising juncture for all the presidential campaign.
Huckabee tried to drive traffic to his site, www.mikehuckabee.com, by promising “rewards” to supporters who referred their friends there.
Rewards included everything banner ads, access to exclusive content from the Huckabee campaign, autographed books and a trip to a presidential debate in Florida.
Huckabee, whose fundraising has trailed behind GOP frontrunners, is banking that his second-place finish at the Iowa Straw Poll in August will help build his coffers. Huckabee operatives in Iowa aren’t providing specific fundraising numbers but say they’ve collected more money in the last three months than in any other quarter.
In a streaming-video Web broadcast Monday, Huckabee didn’t provide any specific numbers but said more money is coming in and that donors are more willing to invest in his candidacy because of his second place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll.
“As long as we have enough money to pay the next day’s bills, we’re still on our feet,” Huckabee said. “The good news for us is there have been a number of people, since the straw poll in Iowa particularly, who have agreed to step forward.”Huckabee called the event “Vertical Day,” a play on his vow to rid his campaign of what he calls “horizontal politics.” He uses the term to define partisan bickering between politicians in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Vertical politics, he said, lift up the country instead of denigrating it.
The Vertical Day website included blog posts from supporters around the country, including Iowan Bob Vander Plaats, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002 and 2006. The website also included videos and live streaming 30-minute sessions with reports and bloggers.
According to Hitmix.com, a website that analyzes website traffic, Huckabee has the third most visited website among Republicans, trailing Fred Thompson and Ron Paul.
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