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.
The Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican group, will begin running a television ad this week that questions the conservative credentials of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The 30-second ad is made up of statements that Romney made during his attempt to unseat Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1994. During a debate, Romney allegedly advocated for abortion rights, saying the procedure “should be safe and legal in this country.”
Log Cabin President Patrick Sammon said the ad is an attempt to remind Republicans of Romney’s inconsistent views about social issues over the years.
“As much as Governor Romney wants to re-invent himself, his record speaks for itself.” Sammon said. “The Mitt Romney of today is different from the Mitt Romney who was elected Massachusetts Governor and ran for the U.S. Senate. Romney may have forgotten what he used to believe, but Republicans won’t forget.”The Romney campaign dismissed the announcement as a move by a group of Republicans who support a bid for the Republican nomination by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Kevin Madden, a Romney campaign spokesman, said the Log Cabin group is upset with Romney’s stance on a ban of same-sex marriage.
“Gov. Romney supports a federal marriage amendment and so it makes sense that a national gay rights group would attack him,” Madden said. “The advertisement misrepresents Governor Romney’s courage to admit that he had been wrong on this issue and the fact that he is proud of his strong record of defending the sanctity of life.”
Meanwhile, scores of Republicans received an e-mail purportedly from the Romney campaign claiming that the Log Cabin Republicans are endorsing his candidacy. Official e-mail communications from the Romney camp come with a mittromney.com address, but this e-mail was sent from a g-mail, or Google, address. Tim Albrecht, Romney’s Iowa spokesman, said the message was fake.
“It probably came from a rival campaign,” Albrecht said.
The e-mail in question said: Republicans have endorsed Mitt Romney for President! The Log Cabin Republicans are the nation’s largest organization of Republicans who support fairness,
freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans.
“We are proud to welcome the gay and lesbian group to our growing list of endorsements!”
The e-mail comes as many Republican candidates are trying to position themselves as the most socially conservative candidate. The same-sex-marriage issue is particularly important to social conservatives in the state. In August a Polk County judge ruled that a state law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional. The issue is headed to the Iowa Supreme Court and will likely be discussed again when the Iowa Legislature reconvenes in January.
The Log Cabin Republicans were founded in 1977 and have chapters in all 50 states. The group won’t release membership figures but says it has thousands of members.
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