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.
Congressman Dave Loebsack, in a telephone interview this morning, said that until recently he wasn’t sure if he would be endorsing any of the presidential candidates.
“Like many Iowans, if not most Iowans who are involved in this process, I take [this decision] very seriously,” he said. “Of course, I’ve been very involved in doing my job as Congressman for the Second District. I wasn’t sure that I was going to endorse, let alone endorse Barack Obama. After thinking about this for a fair amount of time and very seriously, I just decided that I was going to come out for him and do it before the caucuses.”
Rather than basing his endorsement on a single issue or group of issues, Loebsack, who supported former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2004, said he considered the candidates as a total package.
“I’m not so concerned about issues as I am as what I see as Barack Obama’s ability to lead this country forward,” he said. “Whatever issue may be on the table, I think Barack Obama is the most qualified to bridge the partisan divide that’s been out there in America and intensified by Pres. [George W.] Bush.
“I’m not going to agree with any candidate on every issue. In many ways, that’s not the point for me. The point is to have a leader that wants to move us in the direction that you and I and, I think, the vast majority of the American people want to see us. He is concerned about the very same things I am, whether it is health care, good jobs or good wages, restoring America’s reputation around the world and, therefore, our effectiveness. The intricacies of how we get there are less important to me than the fact that I think he will be the best person to lead us in that direction.”
Loeback, who campaigned in 2006 on an anti-war and domestic revitalization platform, has met some critics within Iowa’s peace community in terms of the inability of Congress to end the conflict in Iraq. When asked if that factored into his endorsement of Obama, who has campaigned as one of the few candidates who was against the war from the beginning, Loebsack said he believes all of the Democratic candidates will take the necessary steps to end the war.
“All the folks who are running for this office on the Democratic side want us to end the war Iraq and they want us to end our involvement in Iraq sooner rather than later,” he said. “In that sense, I think whomever the Democratic nominee is, that person is going to be far better than the Republican nominee.”
Loebsack is currently serving his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the House Education and Labor Committee and the Armed Services Committee.
Follow Lynda Waddington on Twitter
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