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.
A University of Iowa political science professor predicts possible 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich‘s marriage history could be problematic in early-nominating states Iowa and South Carolina.
[Cary] Covington, a University of Iowa political science professor, said a Gingrich presidential run might be hampered by resistance to his two divorces among the social conservatives who dominate Republican primaries in Iowa, South Carolina and other early nominating states.
“He’s never run for national office, so he hasn’t gone through the scrutiny that Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee have gone through,” when they ran in 2008, Covington said. “He has quite a few skeletons in his closet that opponents might be able to exploit.”
It’s unclear how strong the social conservative movement is here in Iowa. The party rejected the staunch social conservative Bob Vander Plaats in its gubernatorial primary last year. But resistance to same-sex marriage is wide-spread within the party — 83 percent of self-described conservatives here say gay marriage should be illegal. GOP lawmakers also plan to target “anchor marriages” and abortion policy this year.
Among Republicans nationally, Gingrich polls well. A Gallup poll from earlier this month showed he has a high favorability rating among the pack of possible GOP contenders, second only to social conservative favorite Mike Huckabee. Public Policy Polling data suggests Gingrich would lose to Barack Obama by 13 points if he were the nominee.
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