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.
Republican lieutenant governor nominee Kim Reynolds saying Tuesday that she would be open to legalized civil unions for gay couples has drawn the ire of the very people she was sent out to court — evangelical voters.
State Sen. Kim Reynolds, R-Osceola
During an interview Tuesday with Iowa Independent contributor Douglas Burns, Reynolds responded to a question about whether homosexuality is genetic by reiterating that she believes marriage is between one man and one woman, but that, “We could take a look at civil unions. There are other options maybe that I would be in favor of looking at.”
She added, “They can do civil unions. I think they can get to some of the same place that they want to look at.”
Reynolds’ first job of the campaign was to tour counties Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats won in the June Republican primary. The main block of voters who did not support GOP gubernatorial nominee Terry Branstad in the primary were evangelical and social conservatives, and his position on social issues was their No. 1 complaint. While Vander Plaats made overturning the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage his campaign’s top priority, Branstad focused on fiscal matters. And in numerous interviews, Branstad seemed to be uncomfortable discussing his opinion of legalized same-sex marriage.
With Vander Plaats refusing to endorse his rival and flirting with an independent run, Branstad dispatched Reynolds, telling Radio Iowa, “… to know her is to love her. She will win ‘em over. I’m confident of that.”
But Reynolds voicing her support for civil unions for gay couples might have undone those aspirations.
“It kind of defeats the whole purpose of the tour,” Wes Enos, a former Vander Plaats supporter who serves on the Republican Party of Iowa Central Committee, said during an interview on WHO-AM. “When you send a person out to talk to folks who really wanted to debate the sanctity of marriage in our state, surrendering a key point in that debate and suggesting civil unions does not help your cause whatsoever.”
Steve Deace, a Christian radio host who supported Vander Plaats and was a leading critic of Branstad, said on his show Wednesday that it was obvious Reynolds did not want to answer the question about whether homosexuality is genetic or a choice. He also characterized her position as “about the same as [Democratic] Gov. Chet Culver.”
“Without the questioner even bringing up civil unions she openly volunteered that up front,” Deace said. “She just surrendered that up front without actually being propositioned by the interviewer first.”
Enos said her answer showed a “lack of understanding for the people she’s trying to reach out to.”
Branstad’s campaign released a statement Wednesday night saying Reynolds’ position on civil unions, “mirrors that of Gov. Branstad’s. They do not favor state-sanctioned civil unions, but would not have the government step in to prevent private companies and entities from extending same-sex benefits if they so choose.”
Shane Vander Hart, a Christian blogger who supported Rod Roberts in the primary, was not impressed with the campaign’s response.
“That’s not what she said,” Vander Hart wrote. “If she doesn’t favor state-sanctioned civil unions why would she say she is open to them? There’s a disconnect there.”
He added that her statement, “pretty much articulated what Gov. Chet Culver believes in the matter, or at least says he believes regarding the definition of marriage.”
Branstad supporter and Republican blogger Craig Robinson criticized the campaign for not preparing Reynolds better.
“The Branstad campaign made a wise move in using Reynolds to reach out to Vander Plaats supporters, but they obviously didn’t prepare her to deal with the issues that those people care the most about,” he wrote Thursday. “If they had, she wouldn’t have looked and sounded so unprepared.”
The Branstad campaign’s efforts to reach out to social conservatives is more about optics than substance, Deace said, which is a strategy doomed to fail.
“So, if you give [conservatives] someone who looks like Sarah Palin, and you hold the meetings at a Pizza Ranch and you patronize these people, cause they only went for these guys because they were a Baptist minister or because they had some theological similarities, not because they seriously considered the issues,” he said.
Branstad and Reynolds are scheduled to make stops in Jasper, Marshall and Marion counties Thursday.
Follow Jason Hancock 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