According to The Des Moines Register:

Chinese communists swept to power in the last century without mentioning plans to nationalize businesses or institute forced abortions, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christian Fong told supporters of the Iowa Minuteman Civil Defense Corps on Saturday.

“They came in promising hope and change,” Fong said. “Sound familiar?”

This line of attack against the president is nothing new for some elements of the Republican base, but so far Fong has managed to strike a more moderate tone in his campaign, especially when discussing immigration.

In an interview with the Carroll Daily Times Herald earlier this month, Fong warned his party to be careful to “not sound so angry” when discussing immigration. And later in his speech to the Minutemen, Fong, the child of an immigrant from China and a woman from Nebraska, said the party’s message must be tempered with an acceptance of those who come into the country legally.

When he first entered the campaign in July, some of his positions were seen as potentially controversial to to Iowa’s conservative Republican base. He was even attacked by some in the social conservative movement for not openly condemning homosexuality as evil.

Insinuating that Obama will “nationalize businesses or institute forced abortions” appears to be Fong’s attempt to reach out to his party’s base and quiet down any criticism that still lingers about his political beliefs.

You, Mr. Burns, say members of the Manhood Inquisition, have some, well, fairly embarrassing items on that 2,000-song iPod playlist you’ve been collecting over the last four years.

Sure, you can write off the conspicuous presence of the band Asia as just “a 1980s thing.” And, OK, we’ll even give you Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana” because it is one of those songs that seems to creep on to everyone’s iPod, no matter how cool or uncool the owner.

But Chaka Kahn’s “Through The Fire,” Doug? Really.

There is just no way in the world I put that song in my iPod.

No way. No how. No mas.

The culprit for this monstrous cheesiness is not thee.

But I have an explanation.

I am now fully convinced that there is an iPod fairy that sneaks into your hard drive late in the night and inserts ridiculous, even humiliating, songs like a dirty cop planting drugs in someone’s couch. What? No! That’s not my marijuana or my Enrique Iglesias. It’s a setup, man.How else but for this elusive and yet unseen iPod fairy does one explain the presence of some music so bubble-gummy, so Pet Shop Boys, that you wonder each time one of the ditties pops off the shuffle mode if a resurrected Frank Sinatra is suddenly going to appear and punch you in the face — or delete all of his songs from your iPod at the very least?

In one of the more magisterial magazine essays in American history, Esquire opened a 1966 piece on the Chairman of the Board with the following line: “Frank Sinatra, holding a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other, stood in a dark corner of the bar between two attractive but fading blondes who sat waiting for him to say something.”

Now that’s the kind of cat daddy I want represented on my playlist. But he has company, thanks to the iPod fairy.

I mean, come on. What self-respecting, 38-year-old man has 24 songs from the Euro-trash group a-ha on his iPod? (Remember the song from the 1980s, “Take On Me”?) I plead guilty to felony lack of taste, but I will make a case that the band’s recent CD, “Analogue,” is actually quite good. What’s more, I will endeavor to defend the listing of the group “Tears For Fears” on my Apple music device because I have the old stuff, from the album, “The Hurting” — back before the “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” days.

Of course the prosecution in this trial of my music bona fides would no doubt present as Exhibit A the fact that Cyndi Lauper’s “Change of Heart” is jammed right in there on the iPod, like a big, red-sucked thumb, with all the music I cobbled together searching out hip bands in places like Seattle and Vancouver with which to impress my friends and would-be love interests.

Scroll down the iPod playlist and the evidence mounts against you, Mr. Burns.
Someone (say, my Carroll High School Class of 1987 friend Brian Broich, who pointed to the “Pretty In Pink” movie soundtrack on a shelf during a party at my house this past fall) would surely get a fronch-porching-hollering hoot out of the cataloging of Olivia Newton John’s “Magic” and Hall And Oates’ “Adult Education” on that sleek, white, music maker of mine.

Please, please, stop with this. It keeps getting worse. One Justin Timberlake (yes, that dude) makes an appearance on this columnist’s iPod, albeit a brief one with the recent hit, “What Goes Around.” (Hey, Timberlake is pretty good in the film “Alpha Dog,” which is definitely a guy movie.)

For the sake of mercy, I stopped counting the number of Neil Diamond songs on my iPod at 15. Everyone, it seems, has a story behind the inclusion of Mr. Diamond in his digital-music library. Was it a good party or a good laugh or just a cry in Mr. Manilow’s rain?

My bright shining Neil Diamond moment came in the winter of 1991 in Peru, Ill., that town off Interstate 80 so many of you drive through but never stop in on the way to Chicago. My friend Paul and I were marooned in the snow there for a full day and night. Being college students, we naturally found our way to a bar attached to the Days Inn motel, where, to our delight, a Neil Diamond impersonator was the headliner for our evening’s entertainment.

After our failed attempts to woo the waitresses with lines that seemed to work at fraternity-sorority mixer parties back at Northwestern University, we settled in and yelled out our “favorite” Diamond hits for this guy. Soon the Diamond double was at our table, drinking White Russians and knocking back a brand of cigarettes that may or may not have been Parliaments.

At 2 a.m., it ain’t no surprise that Diamond’s “Love On The Rocks” sounds like about the most insightful song ever written.

But fire up that tune at 7 a.m. for your drive to work, and you’ll be thinking: That iPod fairy. Somebody ought to get him.

Where is Frank Sinatra when you need him?

An analysis of 2004 caucus attendance shows that, on average statewide, it took just under 41 caucus goers to elect a state delegate equivalent.  The easiest county to elect a delegate was Fremont County, where 22.3 caucus goers translated into a state delegate.

The hardest places to elect delegates, in contrast, were college counties, with Johnson County far ahead of the rest.  In Johnson County, it took 79.2 people to elect a delegate, nearly twice the state average and almost four times the level of Fremont County.Poweshiek County, home of Grinnell, and Story County, site of Iowa State, ranked second and fourth hardest.  Squeezed in at third was Jefferson County, where the meditator community centered around Maharishi International University  led Dennis Kucinich to a near-win, his strongest showing in the nation.  Luther College’s Winneshiek County was also in the top ten.

Those statistics are likely to shift in 2008 with the caucuses occurring over collegiate breaks.  But even the calendar shift doesn’t change the underlying fact: some counties are full of go-to-meeting activists while others have more rank and file voters.

The caucuses take place in a mythical, projected version of a general election voting population, because caucus apportionment is based on votes for the top of the ticket.  In 2004 the counts were based on votes for Al Gore in 2000 and Tom Vilsack in 2002; likewise this year’s counts are based on John Kerry and Chet Culver.  In all four of those contests, Johnson County had the top Democratic percentages in the state.  While those Johnson County voters are the most likely to vote Democratic, they’re also the most likely to spend two or three hours at a meeting.

Another factor that skews caucus representation toward rural counties is the state’s shifting population.  Joining the college counties in the top ten list of hardest counties to elect delegates are high-growth areas in central Iowa — Dallas, Madison, Polk and Warren counties, four of the six fastest growing counties in the state from July 2000 to July 2003 (the Census estimates closest to caucus dates).  Dallas County grew 13.2% in those three years.  But a voter who moved to Dallas County three years before the caucuses won’t count in the county’s presidential vote totals used to calculate delegates, because they voted somewhere else.  A voter who moved in after the gubernatorial election wouldn’t count at all toward the delegate count.

The other high growth counties hurt in caucus apportionment are Johnson County again, plus Benton County.  But Benton’s exurban commuters to  Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were less likely to caucus, as the county ranked 63rd in attendees per delegate.

In contrast, Fremont County, the easiest place to win a delegate, lost 2.3% of its population over the same period.  Yet voters who were no longer in the county still helped its delegate count.  Sac County, the fasted shrinking county in 2000-2003 (-5.1%), ranked number 83 on the caucus goers per delegate list.

This helps explain dynamics like three Democrats showing up within 20 hours in Carroll.  It also means candidates can’t run up the score with big wins in big counties.  But paradoxically, it also mutes the impact of the holiday break in college towns — whether 30 students or 300 show up in Iowa City Precinct 5 (all dorms and frat houses), the same six delegates are at stake.  It also helps a candidate with isolated hotspots of support (like Kucinich in 2004) and hurts candidates with low but evenly spread backing.

Ultimately, the apportionment rules mean candidates have to carefully allocate their resources and fight on all fronts at once, and part of that allocation is making the effort where the most bang for the buck is available — the small towns.

align="right">552

Rank	County	Attendance (2004)	State Delegate Equivalent (2004)	Attendees per delegate (2004)
1	Johnson	11169	141	79.21
2	Poweshiek	1396	20	69.80
3	Jefferson	890	13	68.46
4	Story	5674	86	65.98
5	Decatur	437	8	54.63
6	Warren	2453	47	52.19
7	Polk	21821	430	50.75
8	Winneshiek	992	20	49.60
9	Dallas	2111	43	49.09
10	Madison	681	15	45.40
11	Cedar	766	18	42.56
12	Jasper	1868	44	42.45
13	Marshall	1696	40	42.40
14	Davis	330	8	41.25
15	Mahaska	648	16	40.50
16	Woodbury	3255	81	40.19
17	Muscatine	1404	35	40.11
18	Boone	1240	31	40.00
18	Marion	1120	28	40.00
20	Buchanan	908	23	39.48
21	Iowa	592	15	39.47
22	Greene	473	12	39.42
23	Wapello	1615	41	39.39
24	Clay	590	15	39.33
25	Adair	351	9	39.00
26	Bremer	889	23	38.65
27	Palo Alto	424	11	38.55
28	Linn	8716	228	38.23
29	Wayne	228	6	38.00
30	Monroe	303	8	37.88
31	Hardin	715	19	37.63
32	Webster	1531	41	37.34
33	Hamilton	634	17	37.29
34	Louisa	371	10	37.10
35	Washington	701	19	36.89
36	Des Moines	1879	51	36.84
37	Buena Vista	589	16	36.81
38	Appanoose	478	13	36.77
39	Sioux	398	11	36.18
40	Union	464	13	35.69
41	Dubuque	3739	105	35.61
42	Adams	177	5	35.40
43	Kossuth	698	20	34.90
44	Scott	5566	161	34.57
45	Harrison	414	12	34.50
45	Monona	345	10	34.50
47	Keokuk	344	10	34.40
48	Pottawattamie	2331	68	34.28
49	Jackson	718	21	34.19
50	Mills	333	10	33.30
51	Tama	632	19	33.26
52	Clayton	663	20	33.15
53	Ringgold	197	6	32.83
54	Black Hawk	4450	136	32.72
55	Guthrie	392	12	32.67
56	Plymouth	17	32.47
57	Van Buren	194	6	32.33
58	Fayette	708	22	32.18
59	Shelby	289	9	32.11
60	Ida	224	7	32.00
61	Henry	605	19	31.84
62	Cass	381	12	31.75
63	Benton	857	27	31.74
64	Chickasaw	504	16	31.50
65	Page	306	10	30.60
66	Carroll	635	21	30.24
67	Audubon	241	8	30.13
68	Howard	330	11	30.00
69	Franklin	328	11	29.82
70	Grundy	298	10	29.80
71	Wright	386	13	29.69
72	Crawford	355	12	29.58
73	Floyd	525	18	29.17
74	Cerro Gordo	1586	55	28.84
75	Lucas	256	9	28.44
76	O’Brien	281	10	28.10
77	Jones	617	22	28.05
78	Clarke	308	11	28.00
79	Allamakee	360	13	27.69
80	Butler	354	13	27.23
81	Delaware	489	18	27.17
82	Winnebago	323	12	26.92
83	Sac	268	10	26.80
84	Lee	1193	45	26.51
85	Dickinson	477	18	26.50
85	Humboldt	265	10	26.50
85	Pocahontas	212	8	26.50
88	Lyon	158	6	26.33
89	Calhoun	287	11	26.09
90	Osceola	103	4	25.75
91	Montgomery	203	8	25.38
92	Taylor	149	6	24.83
93	Worth	248	10	24.80
94	Mitchell	278	12	23.17
95	Hancock	254	11	23.09
96	Emmet	230	10	23.00
97	Cherokee	295	13	22.69
98	Clinton	1326	59	22.47
99	Fremont	156	7	22.29
	Statewide	122193	3000	40.73

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1727/rural-counties-fewer-caucus-goers-per-delegate/feed 12 http://iowaindependent.com/1217/obama-and-thompson-heavyweight-doubleheader-staged-in-coralville http://iowaindependent.com/1217/obama-and-thompson-heavyweight-doubleheader-staged-in-coralville#comments Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:14:30 +0000 T.M. Lindsey http://iowaindependent.com/1217/obama-and-thompson-heavyweight-doubleheader-staged-in-coralville Two political forces descended upon Iowa and nearly collided Tuesday night, as Mother Nature responded with a torrential downpour, followed by two tornado warnings in Coralville. Due to the possibility of inclement weather, Obama’s campaign organizers moved their scheduled event from S.T. Morrison Park to the Marriott hotel, where GOP candidate Fred Thompson was scheduled to speak earlier in the day.

Opposing stages for the battle of the political superstars had been set. Standing in the right corner, former Republican Tennessee senator and “Law and Order” television star Fred Thompson, who weighed in on security, unity, and prosperity, while sporting his campaign slogan, “United by Our Core Beliefs” on a background banner. His opponent, standing in the left corner, Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois weighed in on foreign policy while standing tall behind a podium brandishing the “Judgment to Lead” motif of his latest tour.

The Thompson event was held in a large conference room, where an estimated 100 people gathered, primarily comprised of an older, homogenous crowd who appeared to be getting their first glimpse of Thompson. Rob Thomsen, a hotel guest from Baltimore, Md., took advantage of the Thompson pit stop. “We don’t see this kind of thing in Maryland,” Thomsen said. “I like Thompson,” said Thomsen. “I really like his charisma.” When pushed further as to what issues drew him to Thompson, Thomsen shrugged his shoulders, paused, and replied, “I like his energy, and I’m more of a middle-of-the-road guy.”The Obama event, scheduled to begin two hours after Thompson’s gig, was held in the hotel’s main ballroom further down the hall. As Thompson attendees began filing out of the hotel, their paths crossed those of young-looking Obama volunteers, who had arrived early to set up for the later event. The scene in the hotel lobby was reminiscent of a scene in the film, “The Graduate,” in which a group of elderly patrons exit through the revolving door as a group of younger guests simultaneously enter through the other side of the door. The setting is the famed Ambassador Hotel: the same hotel in which presidential candidate Robert Kennedy was assassinated the year after the film’s release.

The Obama event packed in roughly 1500 people, outpacing Thompson 15-1, but given the Democrat to Republican ratio in the “Peoples’ Republic of Johnson County,” the crowd size was proportionally equal, thus a draw.

Local endorsements were showcased before each of the presidential contenders showcased their political endorsements before he stepped into his respective corner of the ring. While Rep. Sandy Greiner, R-Keota, joined Thompson’s corner, Obama’s corner featured Rep. Bob Dvosky, D-Coralville, former Iowa House Democratic Leader Dick Meyers, and former advisor to President John F. Kennedy Ted Sorensen.

Before Greiner introduced Thompson, she took a moment to explain her reasoning for supporting Thompson. “At an age when most people are thinking about retiring and going golfing or fishing, Fred Thompson volunteered to live his life in a fish bowl,” Greiner said. “And we’ve all seen what happens to people that try and lead our country, they have no privacy at all. He saw a void and was willing to step forward and sacrifice his privacy and the privacy of his own family to lead our country.” Greiner cited the actor/politician’s experience, commitment and conviction as the main reasons for her endorsement.

On the other hand, Sorensen, who introduced Obama, cited judgment as the primary criterion for a president, before drawing parallels between Kennedy and Obama. “Judgment is the single most important quality in a president of the United States,” Sorensen said. “Kennedy had judgment, Obama has judgment.” Sorensen, age 79, who had to be helped up the stage, had not lost a step and came out swinging: “I would first like to thank these people for helping me up to the podium. My eyesight is not so good, but my vision is better than the president of the United States.”

Ted Sorensen gives audience mini-lecture over Cuban-Missile Crisis before introducing Obama

Ding! Ding!

Both candidates have taken great pains to paint themselves as “outsiders” who are running against politics as usual. Thompson, having taken a hiatus form D.C. to pursue his television acting career, was the first to step into the ring, although, to the chagrin of some of the crowd, he arrived 50 minutes late. “Our nation is at a crossroads in many respects, and we’re going to have to make some decisions with which way we’re going to go in our country,” he said. “Our opponents would like to take us down the road of more government, more bureaucracy, and more complications. They want bigger government, more taxes, more spending, more regulations and more bureaucracy.”

Obama — who, ironically, works in D.C. — has been campaigning against Washington, where he hopes to return in Jan. 2009 wielding a new title. Dogged by the experience question on the campaign trail, Obama has counter-punched with the notion that he has enough experience in D.C. to know that things need to change. He threw particularly sharp swings at Congress, especially Democrats, whom he said had been duped by the Bush administration to authorize the war in Iraq. “But the conventional thinking in Washington has a way of buying into stories that make political sense even if they don’t make practical sense. We were told that the only way to prevent Iraq from getting nuclear weapons was with military force,” Obama said.

“Some leading Democrats echoed the Administration’s erroneous line that there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda,” Obama continued, taking a few jabs at his Democratic rivals who voted to authorize the war in Iraq. “We were counseled by some of the most experienced voices in Washington that the only way for Democrats to look tough was to talk, act and vote like a Republican.”

With the D.C. insiders against the ropes, Obama pulled no punches as he continued to strike out at the entrenched status quo of Washington. “And the conventional thinking today is just as entrenched as it was in 2002. This is the conventional thinking that measures experience only by the years you’ve been in Washington, not by your time spent serving in the wider world. This is the conventional thinking that has turned against the war, but not against the habits that got us into the war in the first place – the outdated assumptions and the refusal to talk openly to the American people.”

After pummeling his message into the ground, Obama turned to a message of hope. “I’m not running for President to conform to Washington’s conventional thinking – I’m running to challenge it,” Obama said. I’m not running to join the kind of Washington groupthink that led us to war, that says that we can’t tell the American people what we think on big issues – I’m running for President to change this country. And I’m going to tell the American people where I stand.”

Thompson and Obama’s notions on the changing role of the Constitution differed as well, in particular how they would change its application. Thompson, a former federal prosecutor on and off the screen, argued that we need to return to a more limited government. “Those old fellas knew that you can’t concentrate too much power at the federal level,” Thompson said. “Not all solutions for our problems can be solved at the federal level. A government big enough and powerful enough to give us everything is big enough and powerful enough to take everything away from us.”

On the flip side, Obama argued that the Constitution has been exploited by the Bush administration, and that it needs to be returned to the people. “These last few years we’ve seen an unacceptable abuse of power at home. The Constitution is treated like a nuisance,” Obama said. “We’ve paid a heavy price for having a President whose priority is expanding his own power. We get shifting spin, secret task forces, secret budgeting, slanted intelligence, and the shameful smearing of people who speak out against the President’s policies. It’s time for us to stand up and tell George Bush that the government in this country is not based on the whims of one person. The government is of the people, by the people and for the people.”