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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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
One of ten Democrats chosen by a Karl Rove-affiliated national conservative group as a target for a $1.4 million ad buy is U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell of Iowa.
Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (Crossroads GPS) has launched issue ads into Boswell’s district focusing on government spending and debut. The ads are expected to run for a two-week period as part of the organization’s $20 million summer project to influence budget cuts by Congress.
The new House ads, according to the organization, “compliment a national ad,” which is currently running in rotation as both a sixty-second and thirty-second spot on cable and broadcast stations in Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada and Virginia.
The Boswell-specific ad is embedded below:
News of the ad buy came on the heels of an unrelated but nonetheless concerning event at the Boswell farm outside of Lamoni in which an intruder briefly held the Congressman’s daughter at gunpoint. Boswell’s office released the following statement concerning the incident:
At approximately 10:45 p.m. on Saturday there was an attempted home invasion at Congressman Leonard Boswell’s farm outside of Lamoni, Iowa. At the house at the time was Congressman Boswell, Dody Boswell, his daughter Cindy Brown, and grandson Mitchell Brown. The intruder entered the front door of the farm house and physically assaulted Cindy while demanding money at gunpoint. Hearing Cindy’s screams, Congressman Boswell entered the entryway and attempted to disarm the intruder of his weapon. While the scuffle between Congressman Boswell and the intruder was occurring, Mitchell was able to secure a shotgun from another room. Mitchell pointed the shotgun at the intruder who then retreated into the fields around the house.
Besides some scrapes and bruises, Congressman Boswell and his family are fine.
The Decatur County Sheriff’s Department is currently investigating the incident along with state and federal authorities.
Congressman Boswell would like to express his sincere thanks to all the members of the law enforcement community who have worked through the night on this matter.
Also targeted by Crossroads are U.S. Reps. Mike Ross of Arkansas, Jim Matheson of Utah, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Heath Shuler of North Carolina, Bill Owens and Tim Bishop of New York, Ben Chandler of Kentucky, Jerry Costello of Illinois and Lois Capps of California.
As an end result of redistricting that threw Republican U.S. Reps. Tom Latham and Steve King into the same congressional district, Latham has chosen to relocate into the District currently represented by Boswell for a 2012 face-off.
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