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.
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Leaders of the movement pushing for continued ouster of Iowa judges due to a 2009 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage are hoping to capitalize on 2010 victories by visiting each of the state’s 99 counties during a 2011 bus tour.
Bob Vander Plaats, a three-time GOP gubernatorial candidate who now leads the latest reincarnation of the Iowa Family Policy Center’s political action arm — The Family Leader – said that “as a basketball coach, he was always interested in momentum” and “knew it was important” to “capture on that momentum and seize on that momentum, if you hoped to win the basketball game.”
Vander Plaats also assures in a video announcing the upcoming tour that the momentum he hopes to capture “isn’t a game.”
“We are talking about the future of Iowa and the future of our country,” he said.
Matt Reisetter, who currently serves as director of development for the The Family Leader, also produced a promo video for the upcoming bus tour, but it isn’t the first time he’s spoken out against the Iowa Supreme Court justices who decided unanimously that a state law excluding homosexuals from state-sanctioned marriage was a violation of the existing equal protection clause of the constitution. In September 2010, Reister appeared in a video for Iowa for Freedom, a group organized by Vander Plaats and funded by out-of-state interests in the lead up to the 2010 judicial retention elections.
Reisetter, who has only been identified by his first name on the organization’s website and e-mail announcements, was also an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Iowa House. He sparked controversy with an LGBT student organization at the University of Northern Iowa for a 2010 speech titled: “Homosexuality: Is it okay to be gay?”
Currently, the exact route and timing of the tour hasn’t been determined, but information posted on The Family Leader site indicates that it will run from Jan. 11 to late March. “Like-minded” Iowans are being encouraged to come out and meet the bus “as we discuss our next steps.” Complimentary food will be provided, according to the website.
In a recent e-mail to supporters, Vander Plaats advocated for the resignation and/or impeachment of the four justices that did not appear on the November retention ballot, and used the issue as a fundraising pitch. The latest missive from the group, which did not include an ask for money, encouraged supporters to pray and provided a link to a January 2011 calendar with specific topics for prayer on each day.
Justice Not Politics, a group formed prior to the retention vote in an unsuccessful effort to keep three justices on the bench, issued a statement in response to Vander Plaats calling the move “just another example of continued outrageous rhetoric and political grandstanding.”
The bus tour, according to Reisetter, is designed to “energize those of you who are like-minded, and build a movement that advances conservative principles for generations to come and that span the entire state of Iowa and beyond.”
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