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.
His hairdo might be the talk of the state, and his campaign is certainly well run, but veteran Iowa journalist and long-time Republican Chuck Offenburger says he is still not in favor of former Gov. Terry Branstad’s return to politics.
Offenburger, formerly with The Des Moines Register and now managing his own Web site, said back in September that the movement to draft Branstad into the Republican gubernatorial primary was a “black eye for the Republican Party of Iowa” because it sent the message that there was no one qualified to turn over leadership to.
Since that time, though, Branstad has entered the GOP primary and is considered by many to be the front runner.
That hasn’t changed Offenburger’s opinion.
I’m still opposed.
I want to say again that, yes, I was a strong supporter of Branstad in his first four terms, and I wrote favorably about him then in my Des Moines Register columns. But enough’s enough. I think his campaign now is stunting the Iowa Republican Party. It’s a terrible affront to the good Republican candidates who got into the gubernatorial race before he did. It is sending an awful message to younger Iowans, those in their 30s and 40s who should be moving into leadership positions now but are being denied by Baby Boomers who won’t leave the stage. You can read more of my objections by checking the earlier columns, which you can get by clicking here and here.
A November poll by The Des Moines Register showed Branstad with a big lead on incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. An internal poll leaked by Branstad’s campaign also showed him with a big lead among likely primary voters.
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