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 Republican race, like the Democratic one, is going to be difficult to predict over the next few weeks. A lot could change. But in the past week, not much has happened to cause a shake-up. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s support, which was increasing rapidly last week, appears to have stabilized, as former Gov. Mitt Romney sought to blunt religious objections to his own candidacy with his major speech, and as the media began to scrutinize Huckabee. Although the opposition research on the former Arkansas Governor has not made much of a dent in mainstream Iowa press, it has likely had some impact on Huckabee’s ability to recruit additional supporters.
Here, we attempt to answer the question, “If the GOP caucuses were held tonight, how would they result?” These rankings are based on impressions we received from activists, politicos, staff, and caucus-goers around the state along with, at the most basic level, gut feelings and guesses. We hope our power rankings serve as a useful point of reference for our readers who follow the fluctuating poll numbers from day to day.This week’s Republican Power Rankings are below.
First Place
Mike Huckabee — Huckabee is no longer on the steep upward trajectory he was on last week, but he maintains his edge over Romney. His campaign does not have the organizational strength of Romney’s, but he has made effective use of traditional evangelical social networks to supplement his relatively small staff. And with what is probably the worst of the opposition research already out there, it does not appear to have done much damage here. (At least, not yet.)
Second Place
Mitt Romney — Romney has stopped the bleeding, but he will need to recruit more supporters to win the caucuses. His focus on Eastern Iowa in addition to delegate-rich Western Iowa might help give him the edge on January 3, but it is too early to tell.
Third Place
Ron Paul — Having a base of hardcore supporters is one key to caucus success. On this count, Ron Paul may be ahead of the rest of the field. And Paul has as visible an operation as any Republican candidate here.
Fourth Place
Fred Thompson — It seems that many Iowans wanted to support Thompson, but until this week, Thompson hadn’t given them a reason to. His renewed commitment to Iowa should help him build stronger relationships in the corners of the state where he might still find significant numbers of undecided caucus-goers, and his strong debate performance this week should help a bit. If Thompson rises much farther, it could shake up the top two candidates’ positions.
Fifth Place
Rudy Giuliani — Giuliani appears to be taking Iowa less and less seriously, and the electorate is realizing it. Although his main selling point is still electability, this no longer guarantees him a top spot out of Iowa.
Sixth Place
(tie) John McCain — McCain has spent some time in Iowa recently, demonstrating that he has not yet written us off completely. But he has been well known here for a long time, and he has failed to gain traction. There does not seem to be much room for him to grow.
(tie) Tom Tancredo — Tancredo’s support is very compartmentalized, and it is based on only one issue: immigration. As Huckabee and Romney battle each other at the top for immigration credentials, this focuses the debate on Tancredo’s issue, but it might also help to convince his supporters that other candidates have acceptable immigration positions, too. It is unclear whether this will help or hurt him in the end.
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