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.
Some Iowa Democrats appear to be once again pursuing the winning strategy of 2008: Strengthen ties with President Barack Obama and draw contrasts with George W. Bush. But whether that strategy will payoff amid falling poll numbers for the president and a decidedly anti-incumbent political environment is not yet clear.
The White House has given Iowa plenty of attention of late. Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden visited Cedar Rapids for a Culver campaign event. And Obama has visited a handful of Iowa towns in the past couple months, including a stop in Iowa City and a tour of the Southeast corner of the state.
A crowd of about 400 greet Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Chet Culver at a campaign rally in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday (photo by Adam B Sullivan/The Iowa Independent).
Biden delivered about half an hour’s worth of kind words for Culver, lauding the governor as a trend-setter in job creation and alternative energy.
“With [Culver] running this state, Iowa is better off than almost any other state in the nation at this point by any measure,” Biden said Tuesday to around 400 supporters in Cedar Rapids. “Folks, that’s why I’m here today. That’s why the president was here not long ago. Ladies and gentlemen, the president and I know Chet Culver.”
At least two other races in the state could also prove important to Obama: The re-election campaigns for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell.
Democratic senate contender Roxanne Conlin appears to be within striking distance of the usually-untouchable Grassley. Polling data released earlier this month showed a shrinking gap between Conlin and the Republican who helped stand in the way of many of the Obama administration’s health care goals.
The race to unseat Boswell in Iowa’s 3rd District drew seven Republican challengers, with Cook Political Report rating the race as leaning towards Boswell. The seat of another Democratic congressman, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, is “likely” safe and the rest of Iowa’s House races are uncompetitive, according to Cook.
‘Hallowed Ground’
Iowa already has strong ties to the Obama administration. The Iowa Caucuses launched Obama’s presidential campaign, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack — Culver’s predecessor — has a seat in Obama’s cabinet, and the president has made three trips here since his inauguration. David Axelrod, Obama’s chief campaign adviser, expressed their fondness for Iowa during a campaign stop shortly before the general election, calling the Hawkeye State “hallowed ground.”
Whether support from the White House will prove to be an asset in November’s midterm elections depends on a variety of factors, observers say.
Obama’s approval rating nationally and in Iowa has hovered at or below 50 percent for months, and legions of pundits and politicos have insisted 2010 will be tough for incumbents.
“It really depends on where you’re at. Certainly there are areas where Obama is still very popular,” said Tim Hagle, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa. “If [Obama's approval rating is] at 46, that’s because in some areas it’s down to about 10 or 20 percent and others it’s still at 80 or 90.”
Hagle drew similarities between this year’s elections and 2006: Bush’s popularity sunk very low and some campaigning Republicans steered clear of appearing with the president. Today, Hagle suspects some Democrats may be doing the same in places where Obama’s policies have not been as popular.
Even the Democratic Party seems to be split on whether incumbents will perform poorly in November. Culver’s wife Mari Culver said “Iowa Democrats are excited and ready to go,” but other prominent state Democrats have been reluctant to throw support behind the first-term administration.
“Gov. Culver is going to lose, that is becoming more and more clear,” former lawmaker Ed Fallon told The Iowa Independent earlier this year as he tried to recruit another Democrat to challenge Culver for the nomination. And Barb Kalbach, a largely-unknown farmer from Dexter, has said she will try to challenge Lt Gov. Patty Judge at the party’s state convention.
Still, others maintain the president’s and vice president’s endorsements are powerful ones.
“Nationally, are those [approval rating] numbers valid? I don’t know. I think that if you’re in Flint, Mich., and unemployment is 40 percent, maybe,” Iowa Democratic Party Vice Chair Sue Dvorsky said. “That’s not what’s going on here. We are really stabilized, we’re moving forward.”
Dvorsky said support from Obama in the “state where Obama started his presidency” will help Conlin and all three congressional Democrats who are up for re-election.
Branstad and Bush
Three Republicans are vying for the opportunity to take on Culver in November, but he only called out one of them specifically at Tuesday’s rally: Terry Branstad, who served as Iowa’s governor from 1983 to 1999.
“[Republicans] want to take us back to the failed policies of the Bush and Branstad eras,” Culver said.
Branstad’s campaign dismissed the comparison and fired back its own barb.
“Gov. Branstad is looking toward the future with ambitious goals,” Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht told The Iowa Independent. “Culver is trying to deflect attention from his dismal record, which includes reckless and irresponsible management of state government.”
Both Culver and Biden tried to depict Republicans as being out of touch with recession-struck constituents.
“Chet knew he couldn’t just sit around like Republicans do. Seriously, what are they for? Not a joke, not a joke,” Biden said, drawing applause from the crowd.
“Greed on Wall Street has taken its toll in Iowa,” Culver said. “Some, like my Republican opponents, just say no. They advocate for corporate tax cuts as the solution to every problem.”
A KCCI-TV poll from earlier this month predicted Branstad would beat Culver if Republicans nominate Branstad in the June primary.
Also taking a cue from the 2008 election, Branstad — who has largely ignored fellow Republican challengers Bob Vander Plaats and state Rep. Rod Roberts in favor of calling out Culver — has begun to bill himself as the “change” candidate in the gubernatorial race. The Republican’s campaign recently released a new ad titled “The Change We Need Now,” alleging bad management and misconduct by the Culver administration.
Tuesday’s rally in Cedar Rapids was part of Culver’s 2010 reelection tour. Those campaign stops have started to solidify Culver and Judge’s campaign message. They’ve made it clear they won’t apologize for part of the administration’s record since 2007 and will instead promise to build on what they say they’ve accomplished thus far.
In general, the campaign points to recession resilience as evidence of its accomplishments. Specifically, both Culver and Judge cite I-JOBS, flood recovery, and alternative energy improvements as examples of benefiting Iowans.
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