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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.
Iowa Independent’s John Deeth liveblogged Saturday’s Iowa Democratic Party State convention from HyVee Hall in Des Moines, providing updates throughout the day… and night… and into the wee hours of Sunday morning.10:13 AM and hello from the floor of the convention, Technically, from the floor of the Obama preference group. The convention convened and then immediately broke into preference groups; Obama being the largest stayed in the main hall.
The lone person staffing the Preference Change table seemed to be attracting no business, but said earnestly that there had been some movement, all toward Obama.
Powers that be said the event was “closed press” until 10 AM; the good professor Redlawsk noted that all IDP events are open to the public and no one really had a good answer. Since I’m seated as a delegate anyway, I’m in one of those gray areas we bloggers land in sometimes, but here’s the gist:
Team Obama’s leadership is pushing unity and wants to let Team Clinton and Team Edwards have the number of people they earned at the county conventions. However, it sounded like they want those people under the Obama banner. The subject of a convention roll call, which has popped up nationally in the last 48 or so hours, was raised, and not really answered. Though there were some skeptical questions, the unity message was generally well taken in the Obama camp.
Now it’s 10:20, 20 minutes after the preference group caucuses were set to end, and Team Hillary and Team Edwards are just returning. First delay of many, I suspect.
“They say we won’t be electing national delegates till 4:30,” says Senator Bob Dvorsky, running for a trip to Denver. “AM or PM?” I ask.
1101 delegates seated thus far, just over a quorum.
10:28 and Harkin gets announced to one of the six standard approved campaign rally songs. I don’t even want to name it, it’s been so overdone, but the singer was a Wilbury and the song has an air of steadfast defiance. Figure it out. The entire song plays… and Harkin does not actually appear. Uhh… woops.
Rules committee member Sandy Dockendorff makes a cryptic announcement: “If you have filed for national delegate, and you are NOT an Obama first choice person, you need to come see me.” One person cheers loudly at the recognition that something must be up with the preference groups.
10:35 and we actually get Harkin; someone blows the cue, stops, then plays the same intro song AGAIN.
Here’s Harkin:
After the intros and shoutouts to all the campaigns, he praises leadership on flood – significantly placing Culver first then the congressional delegation.
The candidates names got varying levels of applause, Obama the loudest and Edwards rivaling Clinton.
On to the partisan rah-rah. “This year is gonna be even better than it was two years ago. This year reminds me of 1974, when I was first elected to Congress.” That’s the Watergate landslide.
In the 5th CD: “the King has no clothes.” Reminds us of `74 when he and Berkley Bedell won the turf that now makes up the 5th.” Also a shout-out to Becky Greenwald and the Iowa-Mississippi no women jinx.
As for Obama, he uses “Yes We Can” and “Yes We Must” — as he voiced the second, I was expecting Hilary’s “Yes We Will” instead. Some McCain bashing goes over well. Saves his own race for last. “People might say I have an easier race, but I have a healthy respect for anyone who wins a primary” like Reed did. “I’ll hold nothing back to see that this Senate seat stays in Democrat hands.”
“I have always fought for bold and progressive change,” citing the laundry list of issues. “But in recent years we have gotten badly off track. I want to use my seniority in the Senate to help President Obama make that change.”
Obama is right in that “this year’s election is about rising above partisanship. People want to change the way that Washington does business.” Cites his own record in bringing parties together, with of course the ADA first on the list.
“I’m the most vetoed Senator in the United States Senate” draws big, laughing applause.
The word UNITED appears over and over behind the podium. It’s not an airline sponsorship. The smaller font below says FOR A STRONGER IOWA. And united is Harkin’s final pitch at 10:58. At the VERY end he throws in the “Yes we will.”
Looking around there’s not much evidence of Edwards and Clinton beyond the sticker and button and shirt level. The scattered flyers from national delegate candidates all look like Obama, there’s no banners or signs.
Patty Judge mostly talks flood and praises, then intros, the governor. No major scene as Culver takes the stage; there’s been speculation he’d get a cool reception from the labor-heavy crowd.
After praising party leaders and offering standard predictions of victory, Culver calls flood “one of top ten worst natural disasters” in US history and tells several stories thereof. Possible special legislative session in August. He’s leaving the convention to visit the 100 percent evacuated town of Oakville.
So, the reception after the labor bill veto is not nasty, but more just indifferent, as compared to Harkin, who always holds the attention of a partisan crowd.
“It is now 11:30 and we are still on time,” brags convention chair Rob Tully, former party chair and congressional candidate.
Tom Vilsack is up, as the serious unity efforts begin. I landed in the check in line at the same time as Vilsack; he says he’s now fired up and ready to go (in Obama speak). A bystander asks, “You have to check in like a regular person?”
“I am a regular person,” he replied, his own short campaign for president long forgotten.
Back at the speech, he repeats the “fired up and ready to go” line. Primary process celebrated our diversity and proved “all people regardless of race or gender can be the next president of the United States.” He’s in full oratory voice early in the speech, shouting “It — Is — Democrats — who” (insert issue here) and “To Those Who Would” (insert attack on Democrats here), “Don’t — Go — There!” “Peace! Peace! PEACE!” gets them on their feet.
Former Senator Jean Carnahan is next; apparently pinch hitting for Claire McCaskill, who was scheduled to keynote on the original convention date. They play Tom Petty again, this time “American Girl” which Hillary used briefly. They skip the line that I think of in the context of Clinton’s campaign:
God it’s so painful when something that’s so close
is still so far out of reach
But Carnahan, like McCaskill, was with Obama.
The speeches have stalled the politicking somewhat. Some hubbub toward the back but most folks are doing the polite in their seats thing. Carnahan’s rhetorical device is to tell semi-lengthy, low-key, folksy, Roosevelt-Truman era stories to illustrate Democratic programs.
Of the congressional delegation, only Leonard Boswell has been sighted thus far; the governor made note of Braley being on a flood-related district trip. Despite the earlier “on time” brag, one should note that it’s now noon and no actual, concrete convention business has been conducted.
“You started something in Iowa: you started Barack Obama on his road to the White House,” says Carnahan, drawing her first long applause. “And when you start something in Iowa, you finish the job.” In front of me, Charlotte Eby and Mike Glover start typing faster, so I guess we all are pulling the same Carnahan quote.
Now the formal business begins, at 12:04: a state constitutional amendment about bylaws and notices. As minor arcana as it gets; but then, I was the only person in the state to file a credentials challenge so I’m not one to talk. The kind of thing very few people care about, but they care about it passionately. Most of the rest of the press corps begins to pack up, signaling the beginning of the Long March. I’m promised to stick around to the bitter end or close to it, dear readers.
An abortive attempt to find a cup of coffee lands me at the One Iowa table, positioned as a demilitarized zone between the pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli tables. “We’re a gay and lesbian group, so we’re used to being the controversial ones,” says the One Iowa volunteer, “but not now.”
After precious little business is done, at 12:37 an hour recess for lunch. “We’re still on schedule,” Tully says again.
Democratic Convention Liveblog Part 2: Chips and Chat with Tom Vilsack
1:52 and lunch is over. Tom Miller is at the podium as people drift back.
The long hours of a convention are a great equalizer, as we all dine on the same concession stand burgers and fries. I spotted Tom Vilsack, nibbling on some chips at the back of the hall by himself, and decide to interrupt his lunch. As we talk, a few other delegates gather around and join in.
Party unity will happen, says the man who started the race as a candidate himself, then signed on with Hillary Clinton. “A) we’ve got a great candidate,” Vilsack now says of Obama. “B), we can’t afford 4 more years of Bush on steroids.”
“This is truly a historic election for America. I grew up in the era of Brown vs. Board, segregated schools, segregated communities — and here we are,” said Vilsack of a nomination process that left an African-American and a woman as the last two candidates.
“As president, you can’t micromanage. You have to deal with the stuff at the top. A president provides the direction and vision — and Obama was able to provide the vision.”
Still, Vilsack says, there’s work to do. “The universe of people who that nominated Obama is not enough to elect him. The family has to grow. And when a family grows, there’s growing pains.”
Vilsack has no regrets about siding with Clinton until the nomination was settled, and mentioned loyalty. “The only national people who helped me in `98 (in my first run for governor) were Paul Wellstone and Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Vilsack also seems to have no regrets about his own short campaign. “I just didn’t have the resources. But it turned out best for the party,” he said.
“When I started to run, they told me I needed $20 million. Well, add a zero to that,” he said of Obama’s internet-driven fundraising. Vilsack sees that as an opportunity for one of Iowa’s congressional candidates.
“If Becky Greenwald can capture the Internet, then her fundraising capacity gets expanded dramatically and she gets attention from D.C.,” said Vilsack. “Before you know it, Tom Latham gets knocked off. That’s sort of what happened with Dave Loebsack.”
Delegate Nicole McVey introduces herself and says she attended school with one of Vilsack’s sons. “Is that an iPod?” Vilsack asks, pointing to McVey’s small Nano. “My iPod has 150 or 160 songs on it,” said Vilsack. “I do a lot of travel by plane, and music helps make the flight seem quicker.”
Back at the convention, Jack Kibbie is implausibly introduced to the tune of “Jumping Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones. The
House-Senate-Governor trifecta “has happened three times in 100 years, and I was there for two of them," says the state’s senior legislator.
“We’re still on time,” insists Rob Tully at 2:02 p.m. as Leonard Boswell is introduced to Congressman John Hall’s “Still The One.”
Dave Redlawsk says the Edwards group has identified the people it wants to send, and the campaigns are in agreement to honor the delegate split as elected at the county conventions. He’s not sure yet whether that will be logistically be done within a unified Obama group or within three separate preference groups.
In the most heated platform fight, a resolution to “Honor the party’s 34 year commitment to labor by supporting ‘broad scope’ negotiations in the strongest possible terms” passed. Informally, this has been called the “Screw Culver” amendment. Another resolution passed that demand equal access to party materials to all party candidates is also passed. Some primary challengers got shut out; this is the response.
At 2:23 the convention is moving toward votes for Democratic National Committee. One man and one woman get elected. Contested races are happening. On the female side, Miriam Tyson has a well-organized challenge to incumbent Sandy Opstvedt, (it’s pronounced “up-street”) but there’s about 10 candidates.
More faces from the lunch hour:
Sam Becker of Iowa City is running for Obama national delegate. “I don’t have much chance," he said over lunch, “but I’d love to go.” Becker is a retired communication professor of such stature that the Comm Studies Building was named Becker Hall when he retired. “I’ve always been active, but I never even attended a county convention before, let alone a district or state.”
Michael Blackwell is running for Black Hawk County supervisor. The fall race has four candidates for three seats: three Democrats and a Republican incumbent. Blackwell, a minister who is in countless community activities, says he hopes Obama has long coattails.
Back at the female DNC race, time limits on speeches are being strictly enforced. This office is chosen by the convention as a whole; will Opstvedt’s Clinton support hurt her with this Obama-leaning convention?
2:58 and male DNC candidates are speaking. Incumbent Richard Mahachek has several challengers. The three campaigns have named their party leader/elected official (PLEO) delegates. Team Obama is sending Attorney General Tom Miller, Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie. Team Hillary is sending the Vilsacks — Tom and Christy. The Edwardians have chosen State Rep. Ro Foege. Gender balance rules mean that the Obama group has to name four women and one man for their at-large seats.
During a lull, Bruce Braley speaks via video (the actual Braley is in the district doing flood work). A technical glitch renders the congressman bright green, but that gets fixed. We’re all waiting for the DNC votes to get counted; Tully has scolded us to color in the lines of the bubbles.
Becky Greenwald speaks at 3:40. “Send George Bush’s wing man home for good,” she says of Tom Latham, the best line in a list-of-issues speech. (Bashing No Child Left Behind always seems to get the loudest applause in these types of speeches.) She likens her long-shot to Loebsack, just as Vilsack did. “When Dave Loebsack is sworn in for his second term, I’ll be standing right beside him.”
Rob Hubler gets big applause at the initial mention of running against Steve King, and speaks of “cringing with embarrassment.” “I have people tell me that I’m the guy that’s right for Iowa and Steve King is just plain wrong for Iowa.” He attacks King more than Greenwald attacked Latham — but then there’s so much material to work with. “Western Iowa needs a servant, not a King.”
I’m sharing my power strip with Amanda Hagge, proprietor of the Galaxy Deli in Clinton. Speaking of Clinton, she’s wearing a Hillary shirt — but, as she notes, an Obama button. How enthusiastic is she about the button? “I’m a little disillusioned, but I’m a Democrat,” she says. “He’s our least experienced candidate in history, but.. well, OK. ‘d feel better with her as vice president.” Hagge says she’ll be less enthusiastic about her fall campaign activities, but nevertheless names a long list of doorknocking and house parties and phonebanking.
4:45 and there are dozens of candidates for presidential elector. Technically they are candidates for candidate for elector, since no one is an elector until their party carries the state. No one ever gets it right, no one cares except me. I almost make this point to the convention, but I have this outlet instead. Bottom line is, there’s one male spot and one female slot, so each nomination means more voting.
They’re stretching for time while they compile the list of candidates for elector (candidate), so they call on Kevin McCarthy for a speech (a snippet of CCR’s “Fortunate Son” as an intro). “Remember the Iowa House,” pleads McCarthy, saying that’s the GOP’s real target this fall.
A technical note: The laptop is a dual-boot system, and I’m having better luck connecting to the internet when I’m booted in Linux than when I’m in Windows.
Another ballot for Male DNC. Mahachek and four others. In his superdelegate capacity,
Mahachek started with Edwards, then switched to Obama.
The PLEOs are officially elected (see names above), and chair Scott Brennan nominates the “unpledged add-on delegate.” It’s Mari Culver. Rob Tully’s periodic “we’re still running on time” announcements have ceased.
5:10 and platform debate on minority planks. It only takes 10 percent of the platform committee to make an issue “controversial” and trigger automatic six minutes of debate and vote. It’s items that a few, few people care passionately about, occasionally getting complicated by double negative grammar (“vote yes to remove this from the platform.”) This esoterica will probably be shoved aside quickly once it’s time for another DNC or other such ballot.
In an interesting moment, the plan about taxing marijuana is “controversial,” while the two words “legalize marijuana” were not. For a moment I wonder if I am at the Libertarian convention, until the vote is, true to Democratic form, to tax.
What might have been: today’s convention is choosing literally the LAST Democratic National Convention delegates. We’re past the deadline, but got an exception because of the flood. If the nomination had been in question, the street would have been lined with satellite trucks and the hall would have been packed.
As predicted, platform debate is shoved aside at 5:50 to vote on presidential elector (candidate). 30 candidates for two slots, as the Long March continues. The attrition rate of delegates is starting to be noticeable. The platform debate feels like the album track between the hit singles of votes.
6:39 and the third ballot on DNC. Three women remain and four men. They’ve combined the ballot and announced “you have to vote for both a man and a woman for your ballot to count.” Party rules prohibit vote-gaming strategies such as bullet voting (voting for only one candidate in a multi-candidate race). But male DNC and female DNC are different elections, and what if you want to vote in one election and not the other? Fortunately no one raises this point on the floor.
7:06 p.m. and the attrition rate is accelerating. The elector (candidate) candidates narrow from 30 to 17. Going to be a long night. Someone moves to suspend the rules and choose electors by lot, causing some mirth.
Mike Carberry of Iowa Global Warming offers a speaker review, delayed by seven hours. Jean Carnahan gave a completely different speech last night as keynoter of the Hall of Fame dinner; all the other dignitaries gave essentially the same remarks.
Democratic Convention Liveblog Part 3: Tired Up, Ready To Go (home)
Straight up 8:00 — 11 hours into the convention.
The remaining crowd falls into four categories:
The last platform voting is happening. The most contentious platform discussion was the Israel-Palestine conflict. More heat than light on this subject. Three lines are deleted:
We support:
1071 25. Keeping the US Embassy in Tel-Aviv until reaching resolution.
1072
1073 We oppose:
1074 26. Israeli settlement activity on territory captured in the Six-Day War.
1075 27. The Separation Wall.
The affirmative action chair vote is on either ballot four or ballot five, but since we’ve narrowed from three candidates to two, this’ll be decisive. Folks are starting to grumble, openly, on the mike, about the attrition rate as it affects national delegate candidates.
A result at last: Elector (candidates), Audrey Lindaman and Joe Judge. The ballot counting is the bottleneck, as it always seems to be. Tully has tried several tactics to entertain the troops, including reading silly Bush quotes and conducting a “who has the most children” contest (the winner had more than ten).
8:45 and Sandy Opstvedt has been re-elected to the DNC. Health care, civil rights, and environment get voted as the platform priorities; a year and a half ago when the campaign started it might have been the war, the war and the war. The last ballot on DNC male is happening.
12 hours in, preference groups at long last happen. “Edwards, if there’s anybody left, you can meet in the hallway and I’ll be happy to talk to you” says Tully, a former Edwards guy.
The toughest ticket to Denver is for men. Obama chooses four women and one man, plus a male alternate. Clinton chooses three women and a female alternate. (This is because the party leader/elected official delegates are disproportionately male.) It’s not announce but I was told Edwards, contrary to original reports, is also now all female. All other affirmative action guidelines are voluntary, but male and female delegates are separate votes.
Food, by the way, is long since closed.
Rob Hubler’s still here working the room; he tells me the key to winning on his tough turf is letting people know who he is, and letting people know who Steve King really is. “This year could be better than 1974,” he says. He’s part of a father-son candidate team; his son is taking on party-switcher Doug Struyck in Council Bluffs.
22 men — it keeps going up — are running for the one male Obama spot. Leading contenders look like Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba and Coralville State Senator Bob Dvorsky. Speeches are variations on How Much I’ve Done For Obama And The Party (for older candidates) or How Wonderful Obama Is (four younger candidates). Sam Becker makes his best case as the youth candidate: “I’m 85, so I’ll make everyone else seem young.”
30 female candidates; I panicked when the alphabetically ordered names filled the first video screen and were only in the B’s, but they skewed disproportionately to the beginning of the alphabet. We can hear what we think are fireworks outside; either that or a sudden thunderstorm, or a band elsewhere in the building. The female candidates’ speeches are similar but a few more people drop in their affirmative action categories (female veteran, Hispanic woman, Asian Pacific Islander woman, woman with disabilities, 50+ woman, etc.) looking for an edge.
I’m offered a Snickers bar, which reminds me of the ad: “Not going anywhere for a while?”
Team Obama has finished ballot one at 10:30, and is killing time with Open Mike Night. Dick Myers fires up the troops. “There is only ONE party in this United States of America that believes in civil and economic justice, and that is the DEMOCRATIC Party!” Myers concludes.
Investigative journalism has determined that the booming noise is a kid-oriented Christian rock band next door. Members of Team Hillary were straggling out of the convention, having completed two ballots in the time Obama completed one. They had 13 people running for four spots — again, all women. Team Obama takes a pro forma, yet recorded, vote to say the three Edwards people — Catherine Crist, Tammy Watson Caroso, and alternate Catherine Wilden — are OK.
10:54 and that pro forma Edwards vote passed. Male candidates have been winnowed from 22 to 11. We go through jokes and songs. “They asked John McCain if he wore boxers or briefs and he said depends.” I liked it the first time I heard it, when it was a Bob Dole joke.
Women narrow faster — from 30 down to 9. “Last call,” says the rules committee, and though they mean ballots I wonder how close we are to bar time.
11:27 and the third ballot on Obama men cuts it to five. Dvorsky and Gluba still in there. Bad news: male alternate is a separate election, and the ballot will be the 21 men who unsuccessfully run for delegate. Guys are strongly encouraged to drop out.
11:42 — the second ballot actually elects three women: Jan Bauer, Faith Bromwich and Mary Campos. Third ballot on the one last woman. Six candidates remain, so probably at least one more vote. Another attempt to get men to quit the alternate race.
Down in the Clinton room, they’re standing down between ballots, the field narrowed down to nine. The Edwardians are probably home asleep by now.
Last vote of the day. No, we’re not done; we’re just rolling over into Sunday. The men only narrow from five to four on the fourth ballot. Only one woman drops this ballot. Sooo…. we got to ballot five for men and ballot four for women.
While they count, the entertainment bar is lowered; we’ve sunk to knock-knock jokes and watching YouTube clips on the big screen. Makes one long for the glory days of a bright green Bruce Braley eight or so hours ago. Democracy in action, dear readers, democracy in action.
The delegate attrition rate has dropped and we’re in stalemate. Everyone remaining is a passionate supporter of a remaining national delegate candidate. One candidate drops off per ballot. Bob Dvorsky drops off.
Another half hour, another ballot, another one person of each gender drops off. At this point fatigue is outweighing news, so it may just be time to call it a night.
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