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.
The Hawkeye State will see several presidential hopefuls and high profilers today and tomorrow, as U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) — a proclaimed frontrunner in the Des Moines Register’s first Iowa poll — made her campaign kick-off in her native Waterloo today.
“I want to bring a voice — your voice — to the White House, just as I have brought your voice to the halls of Congress to secure the promise of the future for our generation and generations to come,” she said this morning. Bachmann, a strong tea party movement leader, recalled fond memories of spending her childhood in northeast Iowa, but said she was not “pining for the past.
“I want this moment to serve as a reminder about the best of who we are as a nation, what our values are, and what went in to making America great to capture its best for the promise of the future,” she continued. “I want my candidacy for the presidency to stand for the moment when ‘we the People’ reclaimed our independence from a government that has gotten too big, spends too much and has taken away too much of our liberty.”
The Congresswoman holds a very second to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: Romney takes first with 23 percent in the Register poll; Bachmann got 22 percent.
Bachmann abruptly announced her candidacy during the New Hampshire primary debate June 13, thereby grabbing one of the biggest national venues to enter the race, a move some political pundits in Iowa considered favorable.
Candidates U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn) also had scheduled stops in central eastern Iowa and northwestern Iowa, respectively.
2008 vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, who has not announced 2012 intentions, is scheduled to appear in Pella tomorrow for a premiere of “The Undefeated,” a documentary portrait for the former Alaska Governor and her political career and record.
Finally, President Barack Obama will visit the Alcoa metal manufacturing plant in Bettendorf Tuesday.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has not endorsed a candidate yet, but has strong ties to Romney: Romney endorsed Branstad in the 2010 Iowa gubernatorial race, and one of Branstad’s adult children worked on Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Branstad did not endorse Romney Monday, but said, “I think he’s nationally the favorite. The surprising thing was how strong Michele Bachmann was. I understand she also got a great reception in her hometown of Waterloo last night.”
Still, it’s too early to say who will woo Iowans at the polls.
“You know, polls are a snapshot in time,” Branstad said. “This is still very early in the process.”
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