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.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd is the featured presidential candidate this week on YouTube’s “You Choose ’08 Spotlight,” which allows candidates and potential voters to communicate through videos. In his “Change the Debate,” Dodd critiques the media and calls on YouTubers not only to respond, but to act to end the Iraq War. His video is one of the most interactive, and if it generates serious participation, Dodd could end up winning the YouTube primary.
In the video, Dodd stands in a campaign office, looking relaxed, his shirt unbuttoned. He discusses the challenges facing the country, including the Iraq War and rising health care costs. But the media, he says, aren’t paying attention to what matters. A montage follows of news anchors like Wolf Blitzer and Bill O’Reilly talking about Hillary Clinton’s campaign song, Paris Hilton’s jail sentence, John Edwards' $400 haircut, Anna Nicole Smith’s will, and Barack Obama’s latest fan, the swooning Obama girl.
Cut back to Dodd: “They say they talk about haircuts instead of troop cuts, song choices instead of energy choices, Paris instead of Baghdad, because they say that’s what you want to talk about.” He’s hoping they’re wrong. And he’s giving YouTubers the chance to prove it. In the video, Dodd asks people to call their senators — and videotape the conversation — to tell them to vote for the Dodd Amendment on the Defense Authorization bill, which would begin redeployment of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 30 days of the bill’s enactment and would set a deadline for completing redeployment by March 31, 2008.
“Senator Dodd is using his YouTube Spotlight to get people involved in the most important issue of the campaign,” said Dodd’s internet director, Tim Tagaris, in an emailed statement. “Using YouTube to whip votes for legislation that would actually end the war in Iraq is a bold new step that no one else has tried.”
In an interview with the Iowa Independent, Steve Grove, YouTube’s news and politics editor, said, “The highest bar of success is video response … the most active and engaging thing a user can do.” Dodd’s video is asking a lot from people. Not only do YouTube users have to make a video responding to Dodd, but they’re supposed to get in contact with their senators and push a specific policy. A significant response would be a success not only for the Dodd campaign, but also for grassroots organizing in the 21st century.
One final note on the video: It’s an attack, if indirect, on the Democratic front-runners and the purported superficial level of their campaigns. Dodd reminds viewers that Clinton used her YouTube opportunity to choose a campaign song, that Edwards once paid $400 for a haircut, and that Obama is roundly considered a rock star, even as he accuses the media of discussing those same issues. Dodd is angling to be the candidate of substance, the one who is running a serious campaign; and while this spot is unlikely to launch him into the first tier, it does make the point persuasively.
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