‘2010’

A TV and film star is throwing a $100,000+ fundraiser for a candidate for Iowa governor tonight, but the beneficiary isn’t the bleeding-heart Hollywood liberal you might expect.

Former Iowa State University wrestling coach Jim Gibbons and state Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, both announced intentions Thursday to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell in 2010.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan’s attacks against U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley are simply “insulting Iowans who disagree with the [Obama] administration’s political decision to bring terrorists to the United States,” an aide to the senator told the Iowa Independent Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s comparison of civilian trials for terrorists to the murder trial of O.J. Simpson is “false and disrespectful,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said Thursday.

Not only is U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin confident that the Senate Democratic Caucus will be able to block filibuster attempts on a health care reform bill, but he is looking forward to the jockeying that will come from both political parties once the bill is signed.

Harkin said he “can only hope” that Republicans who have opposed reform efforts will make the legislation a theme in their speeches on the campaign trail.

“I hope it is an issue next year,” he said.

Those who immediately voiced opposition to a possible plan to move detainees currently housed at a military prison in Guantanamo Bay into a revamped facility on the Illinois-Iowa border should take time to research instead of offering knee-jerk reactions, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley said today.
“I’m not going to engage in political fear mongering about something [...]

The union representing state troopers and game wardens has reached an agreement with the state aimed at saving 43 jobs, Gov. Chet Culver announced Tuesday.

As GOP gubernatorial hopefuls try to draw distinctions from their Republican rivals, the Iowa Democratic Party continues to co-opt their critiques with the hope of weakening potential challengers to incumbent Gov. Chet Culver.
The latest attack was delivered in Dubuque by state Rep. Chris Rants against former Gov. Terry Branstad. Rants said he spoke earlier in [...]

The Des Moines Register showered more poll numbers on readers today, and the news is better for Democrats than it was over the weekend.
Though each Iowan seems to have his or her own ideas for how money should be cut from the budget, few blame the Democrats for overspending on their key priorities over the [...]

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, responded Monday to attacks from Iowa Republicans who say transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil is a “clear threat to national security.”