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.
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum questioned the media’s coverage of him during a stop in Des Moines on Saturday, and insisted he’s going to win the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses by engaging people on a grassroots level.
Santorum said he often hears people say they like him, he’s a good guy and a solid conservative — but he can’t win. But the former U.S. Senator pointed out he managed to defeat a Democratic incumbent in Pennsylvania, generally considered a swing state.
“You hear the national media say ‘he can’t win,’” Santorum said. “No, he’s the only one that has won. He’s the only one that’s done it.”
Santorum said he has a track record of leading and making things happen, and asked why the media isn’t paying more attention.
“Do you think the media actually wants somebody out there leading who’s actually done exactly what’s necessary to defeat Barack Obama, to win those key swing states, to run against tough democratic incumbents, to put a kind of grassroots and comprehensive organization together to win?”
Santorum then said “we’re going to win here in Iowa,” and noted by the end of this week he will have reached out to people in all 99 counties in the state.
“I’ve done so at town hall meetings. I’ve done so in those kinds of meetings where people have the opportunity to come and kick the tires, get a chance to really see,” he said. “It’s not remotes or viral messaging or interviews by some patsy reporter. No, we get up there in front of the toughest questioners there are, and that’s the people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.”
Despite spending the most time in the state of any candidate, Santorum got just 5 percent support in the latest Iowa Poll. That puts him in sixth place, in front of only former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who has effectively ignored the state.
Santorum made the comments at the National Federation of Republican Assemblies Straw Poll on Saturday in Des Moines. He finished with just 1 percent of the vote from Iowan attendees.
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