It’s a good field of candidates for the chairperson position, but I think there’s a clear choice here. I believe the person who can best lead the party rebuilding and unification that needs to happen across Iowa; who can lead the way in candidate identification and development; who can be the most effective fundraiser; who can articulate Republican philosophy in a broad compelling way, and the person who can get the Iowa GOP back to winning ways again, is Ames businessman Matt Randall.

Randall, 33, is the youngest person in the race. But instead of being a disadvantage for him, Offenburger said his age merely allows him to be his own man.

Randall said he thinks his not having been allied with any particular candidate or group in the party could be an asset in his efforts to unify Republicans. Or, as he put it rather bluntly, “I haven’t been anybody’s boy, and I don’t come with an any hidden agenda.”

Offenburger said he knows his party needs a “wholesale rebuilding” after two straight election defeats, and his hope is that leadership will see Randall for what he is — “a key player in the future of not only the Republican Party but also the state of Iowa.”

“I don’t think the party has seen the bottom,” he said. “We are waiting for others to fail so that we can succeed. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be, but that’s the way it’s working right now.”

Krishna told the Iowa Independent that in spite of rumors to the contrary he is not and has never been a candidate for chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. This despite the fact that several members of the party’s State Central Committee view him as the favorite to win the position when the group meets on Saturday.

“I am not a candidate. I have never been a candidate,” he said.  “Talk to State Central Committee members. They cannot show a single e-mail or letter from me saying that I wanted their support or that I am a candidate. It’s just not true.”

Krishna said that while the position of chair is an important one, the way in which the State Central Committee is going about picking a chair is a disaster.

“The Central Committee has to have the spine to elect the best person they can,” he said. “They don’t.”

The race has deteriorated into a popularity contest, Krishna said.

“If we wanted to elect a chair on a popularity basis, we should elect the chair at the state convention,” he said. “The problem has been how the Central Committee thinks they have to pick from whoever wants to run. It should be the opposite. It is the responsibility of the Central Committee to go out and recruit the best person they can. It’s just like the board of directors of a corporation picking a new CEO. They go and get the best CEO they think can address the needs of the organization.”

Krishna also called into question the commitment of several Central Committee members, saying the seven members elected in April rarely ever come to meetings.

“How can they realize what needs to be done when they don’t even come to meetings? That makes a mockery of all the people who have been there before,” he said.

The Central Committee’s “lack of maturity” is one of the main reasons he is not running for chair, Krishna said.

Krishna also pointed the finger at Iowa’s conservative bloggers. He said they do little except “spew hatred” and spread lies. Krishna has been the target of attack from several conservative bloggers saying his time serving in RPI leadership during the 90s caused too much turmoil, a factor they believe disqualified him from taking the reins of the party again.

“How many good people are not running for office anymore because of the character assassination? Why would anyone who wants to do good subject themselves to all this harassment?” he said.

Ultimately, Krishna said he feels like he’s watching the party he’s worked to build since 1990, when he was first elected to the State Central Committee, being destroyed from within.

“You invest a lot of time and energy in something and you see it’s getting destroyed, you get mad,” he said. “A lot of people feel the way I do but are afraid to speak up. I’m not afraid. I will say what needs to be said.”

As of Jan. 2, there are 710,437 registered Democrats and 599,163 registered Republicans. Independents still outnumber both parties with 731,977.

In December 2007, there were 27,000 more registered Democrats. By August, that gap had grown to a little more than 91,000. In fact, the gap between the two parties has grown wider every month since summer.

Iowa, long considered a battleground state, went overwhelmingly for Democrat Barack Obama for president this year and expanded the Democratic margins in the legislature.

In the race to become the next chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, each candidate has stressed the need to close that registration gap as a priority.

The transition raised a little more than $3.8 million dollars between Election Day and December 15, with an average donation of about $70, according to a press release.

The list can be searched by donor name and sorted by state. Of the Iowans who donated to the transition, no big names stand out. And a quick search for some of the more controversial newsmakers of today (i.e., Rod Blagojevich and Roland Burris) came up empty as well.

O’Malley Dillon is also the wife of Patrick Dillon, Gov. Chet Culver’s chief of staff.

In her new position, O’Malley Dillon will run the DNC’s day-to-day operations, including fundraising.

The news came as part of the announcment that Obama had chosen Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to serve as chairman of the DNC.

The forum was originally scheduled for Dec. 27 but was postponed due to bad weather.

The Central Committee will pick the party’s new leader at a meeting Jan. 10. Eight men have publicly announced that they are seeking the position.

The forum will be held at the Republican Party of Iowa headquarters, 621 E 9th St, Des Moines.

Sarah Palin at a rally in Sioux City. (Photo: Douglas Burns)

And the exclusive story is no longer the exclusive domain of the traditional media. In many cases, it’s the small, independent media that are breaking stories and driving the news these days.

With that in mind, the Iowa Independent would like to share the best of the stories that you read here first.

1. Why John McCain will select Sarah Palin as running mate by Douglas Burns (June 29, 2008)

Sarah who?

That was pretty much the reaction in June when the Iowa Independent’s Doug Burns not only said the one-term governor from Alaska should be John McCain’s vice presidential pick, but that she would be his pick. By late August, McCain actually did choose Palin to be his running mate, and Burns (and his crystal ball) were vindicated.

2. Agriprocessors official who sold used cars and favors has fled the country, residents say by Lynda Waddington (June 20, 2008)

If a scoop is defined as getting a story before any other news organization, then Lynda Waddington’s story about Hasom Amara, a former supervisor at Agriprocessors, can be counted as a super scoop. That’s because she not only broke the news to the public that Amara had fled the country, she broke the news to the Department of Justice and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division.

3. Dems’ coordinated campaign largely disbanded, replaced by Obama staff by Jason Hancock (July 3, 2008)

In a year that saw Democrats expand their majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, you wouldn’t think there would be much talk of missed opportunities. But in the months leading up to Election Day, Democrats were predicting (and Republicans were bracing for) huge gains that never came. This despite the fact that Obama overwhelmingly carried the Hawkeye State with his army of volunteers and paid staff blanketing the state and turning out supporters.

So are Iowans just notorious ticket-splitters, or was there something else to blame? Many point back to one of Obama’s first post-primary decisions, to forgo participating in the state party’s coordinated campaign and instead focus all efforts on his own election, a story we broke in Iowa. Many predicted at the time that this could make legislative races tighter, a hypothesis that seems to have panned out.

4. Fallon faces campaign finance questions By Chase Martyn (March 30, 2008)

Former state Rep. Ed Fallon

The Democratic primary for the Third Congressional District between incumbent Leonard Boswell and Ed Fallon garnered national attention and was widely expected to go right down to the wire. In the end, Boswell cruised to victory. Two major factors seemed to pull Fallon’s support down in the months leading up to the primary vote. The first was his outspoken support for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000, something Boswell repeatedly used to try and show Fallon was somehow less of a loyal Democrat. The second was a report by the Iowa Independent calling into question the campaign finance ethics of Fallon’s for-profit political advocacy organization “I’m for Iowa.”

One of Fallon’s major lines of attack was Boswell’s stance on campaign finance reform, calling the Blue Dog Democrat a pawn of corporate America due to his willingness to accept millions of dollars from corporate political action committees. So when Fallon revealed that his for-profit advocacy organization accepted contributions that would never be disclosed, cries of hypocrisy quickly followed, whether justified or not. His campaign never seemed to regain traction.

5. Iowa’s intelligence fusion center ‘connects the dots’ By Jason Hancock (July 29, 2008)

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government began creating a nationwide intelligence network with a headquarters in every state. The fusion center concept was born. Here in Iowa, very little was known about the organization, even though its major structure had been in place for years and its director, Russell Porter, was a well-known figure in the national intelligence community. As part of a nationwide series including the Iowa Independent and its sister sites in Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado and Michigan, the doors of this secretive organization were flung open. Soon after our coverage, the story of the Iowa Intelligence Fusion Center was being told on national television.

6.  The invocation that stole the show from Sen. John McCain by John Deeth (Oct. 11, 2008)

John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, had not yet arrived at an Oct. 11 Davenport event, so naturally very few media members had bothered to show. Luckily, the Iowa Independent’s John Deeth is much like a Marine -– first one in, last one out, which meant he was practically the only one there to file the following report:

Before McCain’s arrival, a minister delivering an invocation said, “There are plenty of people around the world who are praying to their god, be they Hindu, Buddah, or Allah, that (McCain’s) opponent wins. … And Lord, I pray that you step forward and honor your own name.”

The story quickly made its way across the Internet, and the preacher who made the remark, The Rev. Arnold Conrad, past pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church, was later “honored” as Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World.”

7. Obama/Richardson Caucus deal by Chase Martyn and Lynda Waddington (Jan. 2, 2008)

There is a lot of wheeling and dealing on Caucus night. One day before Iowans rocketed Barack Obama to front-runner status, the Iowa Independent reported on possible deals between New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Obama campaign that directed Richardson supporters to caucus for Obama in the second round of voting.  Both sides (and nearly every other Democratic candidate) denied the deal, but we found plenty of evidence on the ground.

8. GOP platform calls for end to ethanol mandate By Jason Hancock (Sept. 3, 2008)

It was a move that received very little attention on a night when most of the Republican National Convention was cancelled because of concerns over Hurricane Gustav, but for farm states, it was a big deal. The GOP’s national platform for the first time called for an end to a mandate that gasoline contain a set amount of ethanol. Overall, the 2008 RNC Convention was not kind to the ethanol industry, with Sen. John McCain and his vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hardly mentioning biofuels as part of the energy mix of the future. The move was seen as a putting the party in line with its presidential candidates, but many observers said at the time that it would cost Republicans support up and down the ballot in agricultural states like Iowa.

The Republican Party State Central Committee is expected to pick a new leader Jan. 10.

Several members of the party’s Central Committee said Gopal Krishna, who served as the party’s co-chairman in the late ‘90s and currently serves as its treasurer, and Danny Carroll, the former speaker pro tempore of the Iowa House, are both close to garnering the number of votes needed to win the seat when the committee convenes Jan. 10.

But enough of the 17 committee members remain undecided that the door is still open for another candidate.

“I’m not sure there is a clear front-runner right now,” said Jason Hutchinson, a member of the party’s State Central Committee.

“I know there are some members who see a couple front-runners right now, but I honestly don’t. I think it is still too early to be determined. There are still several candidates who can get there.”

The names that come up most often as other potential chair candidates are Matt Strawn, co-owner of the Iowa Barnstormers arena football team, and Paul Pate, former Iowa Secretary of State and mayor of Cedar Rapids.

Several committee members said the voting process could be long and drawn out, with no candidate easily getting the majority needed to win the position.

Committee member Isaiah McGee, who also serves as a councilman in Waukee, said he is pleased with all the candidates but hasn’t heard enough from any one of them to make a decision. Additionally, he said if no one emerges who fits the qualifications the party needs, the process should start over.

“If at the end of the day, no candidate meets all the qualifications that we need as a party chairman then I think we should go back to the drawing board and keep looking,” McGee said.

Every candidate has pluses and minuses, McGee said, and if the vote goes to multiple ballots, it could be anyone’s race.

Hutchinson agrees, saying the committee members he has spoken with are open to any candidate, even if they say they already have a preference.

“A lot can change before we finally vote,” he said. “Once we see everyone’s plan for the party’s future, that could change everything. I personally remain completely undecided, and I think a majority of members feel the same way.”

Central Committee will host a forum from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 27 at GOP headquarters for the public to meet the candidates for chairman and co-chairman. But McGee said many members won’t be able to attend due to the meeting being scheduled so close to the holidays.

Party seeks unity

Several common themes emerged in conversations with committee members about what they are looking for in the next chair, the first and foremost being an ability to unify a fractured party.

Moderates within the party are arguing that the RPI’s drift to the right has hurt party in recent elections. Social conservatives counter that a party thrives when it sticks to its core principles, and in Iowa the GOP has been defeated of late because it has forsaken those values.

Each of the declared candidates seems likely to appeal to the social conservative wing of the party, but each has also expressed a desire to make the party more inclusive.

Hutchinson said the ability of the next chair to bring everyone under the same tent would determine the party’s success for years to come.

“This has become a fractionalized party,” Hutchinson said. “The last two cycles haven’t been particularly kind to Republicans, and when that happens, frustration develops. It tends to make us bicker back and forth. I’m looking for someone who will be able to unite us in a common mission and push forward. I don’t think the divide is as big as it has been made out to be.”

Krishna, the consummate party insider, has become a lightning rod for criticism from the conservative blogosphere, with most critics pointing to his tenure as co-chair, when his fellow Republicans accused him of trying to undermine the party’s leadership. Krishna is dismissive of the bloggers, saying they are trying to create a rift in the party.

But every candidate has his downside, McGee said. The question is what can they bring to the party, and that is what has to be measured, he said.

The party has fallen behind its rival in use of technology, Hutchinson said, which is another thing a party chair must address.

“But technology goes beyond simply having a Facebook page,” McGee said. “You should be able to answer why having a Facebook page is important. How can things like Twitter help us advance our party?”

Fundraising ability will also be key, Hutchinson said.

“Labor injected a lot of money into this last election cycle, so we have got to fund-raise heavily to make up for that advantage the Democrats have,” he said.

With a gubernatorial contest just around the corner, Hutchinson said it is important for a strong leader to be in place in order to ensure the GOP has a viable shot at taking back Terrace Hill.

“Right now our activists, our donors, even our leaders within the party are kind of waiting and looking for leadership to emerge,” he said. “I’m sensing there is a lot of energy out there to move the party forward, but everyone is waiting for a leader to move us forward.”

Ideology aside, the next chair has to be someone who can win elections, McGee said.

“That might be the most important thing,” he said. “You can be against abortion all you want, but you have to be in a position to do something about it.  You can be against the tax policy all you want, but you actually have to be in a position to change the policy. Winning is important, and it’s critical to find someone who understands how to win in the future.”

Jindal was asked if he would be was interested in being president, to which he simply replied “No.”

He elaborated that he intends to run for re-election as Louisiana’s governor. He did not preclude the prospect of changing his mind, however.

The 37-year-old first-term governor visited Iowa last month, sparking speculation that he was laying the ground work for a presidential run in four years.

Former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney is hiring a team of staff members and consultants using money raised by his Free and Strong America political action committee, which most believe is a precursor to another presidential bid.

According to the Globe analysis, he spent $244,000 on contributions to congressional and other candidates between April and the November elections. He has spent more than twice as much on staff salaries and contracts to hire professional fundraisers, who are compiling contributor lists that will serve Romney well in a future presidential campaign.

In essence, Romney is financing a political enterprise that he can use to remain a national GOP leader and use as a springboard should he decide to launch another presidential bid for 2012.

In Iowa, Romney’s PAC spent $16,000 on two state House races and two state Senate races, including $10,000 for Republican Kim Reynolds in the southwestern Senate District 48.

Romney was long considered the frontrunner in the Iowa Caucuses until he was surprisingly defeated by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in what turned into an ugly campaign.