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.
There’s an interesting nugget in a NY Times story today about the GOP’s prospects in gubernatorial races around the country.
Reporter Adam Nagourney notes that Gov. Chet Culver is seen as “unpopular and vulnerable” by the pollsters and national political strategists he spoke to, but the Iowa governor hasn’t been put on the “political endangered-species list” yet because the GOP hasn’t recruited any challengers who are strong enough to beat him:
It is early, and to a certain extent the shape of these races will be dictated by who the Republicans can recruit as challengers, or who may emerge from some crowded and competitive primary fields. That is one reason that neither [Wisconsin Gov. Jim] Doyle nor Mr. Culver has been put on the political endangered-species list yet.
Iowa Republicans face stiff odds trying to defeat a sitting governor, and their success could depend in very large part on whether national Republican resources are diverted their way. That will require nominating a candidate with a strong biography and enough star power to catch people’s attention inside the Washington, D.C., beltway.
Right now, it’s not clear that such a candidate exists has emerged.
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