Iowa Independent » Sam Brownback

More than 10,000 greet Palin in Des Moines

Jason Hancock — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:47:51 +0000

DES MOINES — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was greeted like a rock star when she entered Hy-Vee Hall Saturday afternoon, carrying the message that the presidential contest in Iowa is far from over.

Lines to get into the rally stretched nearly three blocks. The fire marshal closed the entrance after 10,000 people were inside. An unknown number of supporters had to be turned away.

Those who did get inside were told that no matter what the polls say, Republicans have to keep the faith.

“Just 72 hours before the last presidential race, President Bush was down in Iowa,” said Kansas Senator and former presidential hopeful Sam Brownback, in Des Moines to speak at the Republican Party of Iowa’s annual Reagan dinner tonight. “He won it then because of your effort.”

The most recent poll has Obama up by 13 points with just 10 days to go.

Palin delivered virtually the same speech she did in a rally earlier in the day in Sioux City, focusing on taxes and making several mentions of “Joe the Plumber.” She also discussed what she called Obama’s “socialist” tendencies, saying “now is not the time to experiment with that.”

But the name of the game today was fear, more specifically, trying to show the Republican faithful why they should be afraid of an Obama presidency.

“The monopoly of power must be discussed in this election,” Palin said. “With an Obama presidency there will be a big government agenda in both houses of Congress and the White House.”

Earlier speakers also invoked the U.S. Supreme Court, a rallying cry for the conservative base. It was mentioned several times that the next president will most likely get to make two appointments to the nation’s highest court.

“We have the opportunity to get someone in the White House who will appoint people like [Samuel] Alito and [John] Roberts,” U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said.

Third District Congressional candidate Kim Schmett hit on all the conservative talking points – same-sex marriage, abortion and the war against “radical Islam.”

For her part, Palin stuck mostly to economic issues, referencing a line from former President Ronald Regan when she said “America is still the shining city on the hill.”

With almost every poll showing Democrat Barack Obama with a sizable and growing lead in the Hawkeye State, observers have said the McCain campaign’s greatest hope is motivating its base to turn out in large numbers on Election Day. Palin’s visit to Iowa this weekend was a step in that direction, and the reception she received shows just how popular the Alaskan governor is among social conservatives.

“I just love her,” said Wendy Richmen, of Johnston, who called herself a “right-wing conservative.”

“I think with her on ballot Iowa will go with McCain,” Richmen said.

Republican state Sen. Jeff Angelo said Friday that there was definitely an enthusiasm gap between supporters of Obama and supporters of McCain, but Palin changed the dynamic.

“The base is excited about the ticket, and that is because of Gov. Palin,” he said. “She will help drive up turnout, and could be the reason Iowa’s electoral votes go to John McCain.”

A Palin rally wouldn’t be complete without a hockey anecdote, and Des Moines was no exception.

“The Iowa Chops pulled out a narrow victory last night, and I’m sure a lot of the credit goes to the fans,” she said shortly after she was awarded a team jersey on stage.

“Well, with your help, we’ll pull out a victory in Iowa as well.”

Grassley: I’m Too Old For VP

John Deeth — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:32:31 +0000

“I’m too old to be vice president,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill.

Grassley is 74; Republican presidential candidate John McCain is 71.

“But I am young enough to be reelected to the Senate,” said Grassley, hinting at a run for a sixth Senate term in 2010.The Hill asked all 97 senators who aren’t running for president for their thoughts on the vice presidency and published the verbatim responses. Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin demurred on the vice presidency himself, saying his choice is Daily Show host John Stewart.

Other responses from senators Iowans may know well:

“I know already who it will be: the man in charge of the search” – Lamar Alexander

“I’m happy being called `Mr. Chairman’ ” – Joe Biden

“I can’t remember any time in my lifetime where I voted for a president because of the vice presidential nominee” – Sam Brownback

“Never say no. You always have to give it some thought. It depends who asks you, too” — Chris Dodd

“I haven’t considered it. I don’t have a clue, honestly” – John Kerry

But the funniest answer came from Republican Larry “Wide Stance” Craig, leaving office this year under the cloud of a sex scandal. His response? “I would say `No, Hillary.’”

Brownback Uses Roe Anniversary as Money Pitch

Lynda Waddington — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:55:11 +0000

In his first direct email to supporters since leaving the race for the White House, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, has used the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade as a fund-raising catalyst for his political action committee (PAC).

The email, prepared and paid for by the Restore America PAC, a group identified as Brownback’s “leadership fund,” describes the ruling “that haunts us to this day” as being perpetrated by “activist judges.”

“Like many of you, I pray for the day that the highest court in the land overturns that decision, and this long dark night of abortion on demand comes to an end,” reads the message.

Brownback says in the email that he has faith Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito would be “a vote on the side of life.” Because of that belief, Brownback says the court is just one vote away from overturning Roe.

The email, after outlining the need for both a Republican president and U.S. Senate majority, makes a direct money pitch for the PAC.

“We have all been focused on the first goal [of electing a Republican president] — the primary season has been wild and unpredictable thus far. However, the second goal is just as important. If the Democrats maintain control of the U.S. Senate in 2008, no pro-life nominee to the Supreme Court will be confirmed,” he writes. “I have decided to commit my time and energy this year to achieving these two goals. However to do so, I need your help.”

The email contains five donation links in all, the final two suggesting a $51 amount — to elect 51 Republicans to the U.S. Senate. The money donated, according to the email, will be used to elect anti-abortion candidates to the U.S. Senate and to allow Brownback to travel and speak on behalf of such candidates.

In 2008, of the 10 Senate races highlighted by The National Journal as being hotly contested, eight are seats currently held by Republicans. Even in the traditional Republican strongholds of Alaska and Nebraska, the Republicans are expected to have to launch real campaigns if they want to hold on to existing seats.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, the Restore America PAC began 2007 with just over $10,000. It ended the third quarter with just over $1,000 in cash. In the past, however, Brownback has used PAC funds to support Iowa candidates. Contributions of $1,000 were made to congressmen Steve King and Tom Latham and former state Sen. Jeff Lamberti during his unsuccessful bid for Congress.

Brownback’s Departure, Norris’ Support Has Mike Huckabee Anticipating Iowa Growth

Lynda Waddington — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 22:23:06 +0000

While he’s not willing to name names, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says his presidential campaign is picking up momentum in Iowa and that he anticipates significant endorsement announcements will be made late this week.

“We’ve had a big weekend — in fact, quite a big week — beginning with the new poll numbers that came out in Iowa last week, showing that we had virtually tied in second place,” Huckabee said during a conference call Monday evening, Oct. 22. “I think that was somewhat surprising to many people, but, frankly, not so surprising to us. We have sensed a growing momentum and that was even before Sen. [Sam] Brownback dropped out of the race.”

In a Rasmussen poll from mid-October, Huckabee received support from 18 percent of those polled. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney topped the list with 25 percent while Fred Thompson had 19 percent. In addition, Huckabee said his Iowa campaign is now reaping the benefits from the Senator’s departure by picking up previous Brownback supporters.

“Our Iowa people tell us that many of his supporters have called and they are coming on board with us,” he said. “That’s a very good piece of news and we think that our numbers in Iowa will continue to climb.”

The campaign is also touting the results of the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit held in Washington D.C. over the weekend. Although former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the straw poll with 1,585 of the total 5,576 votes cast, Huckabee, who spoke last and gave a speech the Associated Press described as a “fiery sermon,” earned a close second place finish. When the poll results were separated into groups who voted online and those who attended the summit, Huckabee won support of more than 50 percent of those at the event. Romney, in contrast, pulled only 10 percent of the summit attendees.

“In the overall, [Romney] slightly edged us with 30 votes, but that was with two weeks of email and mail ballots that could be encouraged in,” Huckabee said. “For us, the significance was that the people who actually made the effort to get to Washington, bought hotel rooms and airplane tickets and sat through speeches — we had more votes than all of the other candidates put together and a five-to-one margin over the nearest vote getter. That was extremely gratifying.”

For those who watched Huckabee’s performance in Iowa during the state party’s straw poll fund raiser, the results of summit participants isn’t necessarily surprising. Unfortunately for the Huckabee campaign, however, success in straw polls has not yet translated into donations or significant endorsements. (He took in roughly $1 million during third quarter fundraising and while that figure is the most he’s raised thus far in the race, it fell well behind the $5 million raised by Congressman Ron Paul, whom many consider to be much less viable.) The tide may be turning in Huckabee’s favor.

“All along people have said ‘You have to have this much money to be competitive’ and they’ve been quite wrong about it,” Huckabee said. “Every figure that has been thrown out there we have not met, but we are gaining ground. We’ve stayed on our feet. I think I’m the only campaign that has never had a retreat and has never had poll numbers that were better in the past than they are now.”

Huckabee said that because of recent good news, his campaign is now seeing the type of results in a week that would have previously been expected in a three- or four-week time frame.

“We’re at several hundred thousand dollars just from these last few days,” he said. “I have no idea what today is bringing in, but it has been pretty phenomenal.”

There was one more piece of good news that Huckabee said speaks directly to campaign momentum: An announcement by Chuck Norris — or “Walker, Texas Ranger” for TV Land viewers. The martial arts star, a long-time evangelical, writes a weekly column for WorldNetDaily. His entire Sunday article was spent on an endorsement of Huckabee, whom he described as “the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward.” The attention did not go without notice.

“One of the things that’s getting lots of attention and that we’re real happy about is the endorsement of Chuck Norris,” Huckabee said. “That just happened — it was something that came out of the clear blue. I’ve not had a chance to visit with him or talk with him. I heard about it and checked out the comments he made — it was very gratifying.”

Huckabee said that there is “no truth to the rumor — yet anyway” — that if he is elected president, Norris will be appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Who knows? Crazier things have happened,” he said.

GOP Debate: Rudy Uses ‘Hillary’ as Password

Douglas Burns — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:13:30 +0000

(Commentary) Even the most emerald of green press secretaries knows this to be true: Tell the candidate to answer the question he wants, not the one she gets.

Rudy Giuliani is taking this basic operating principle of American political debates to another level.

Hizzoner is debating the candidate he wants, not those who are on the stage with him.

In a Republican presidential candidate debate, televised on CNBC in the afternoon Wednesday and later rebroadcast on MSNBC, Giuliani continued to evoke the name of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Giuliani’s clear message to the audience: Are any of these guys on the stage with me so compelling, so Reaganesque, that you’d go with what you know in your heart would be their lesser chances in a general election?

Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, drew sustained applause from a Dearborn, Mich., audience when he quipped that if Clinton’s proposed health-care plans become policy reality, “Canadians will have no place to go to get their health care.”

Rudy knows the password to get into the Republican speakeasy and clink political cocktails with the conservatives. Just say “Hillary Clinton” to those suspicious eyes staring back at you through the peering slot and, presto, the door opens. The conservatives may have questions about Rudy, but they have their minds made up about Hillary.

Those lines about “Hillary care” and “Hillary bonds” and the insinuation that she’d even put her own face, the hated countenance, on U.S. legal tender, revs the Repubs.

“Hillary’s filled with endless ways to spend,’ Giuliani said at one point in the debate.

The Republican debate was the first to feature Fred Thompson, the former U.S. senator from Tennessee.

“I enjoyed watching these fellows,” Thompson said. “I admit it was getting a little boring without me.”

Thompson, a familiar face from the movies and his role on “Law & Order,” came prepared for the economic issues. He’d done his homework and effectively blended statistics dropping, grand philosophical lines and front-porch-swing ease.

“We shouldn’t confuse the wealth of government with the wealth of nations,” Thompson said.

And here’s Thompson on Iraq: The United States can’t “leave with our tail between our legs.”

Thompson showed he belongs on the stage, so in a sense, the day was his.

The arrival of Thompson served mainly to hurt former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in this debate. Romney, who has what with a neutral eye can be called a substantial record of business and wealth accumulation experience on his resume, should be able to dominate the other Republican candidates in an economics debate.

Romney should have bottom-lined it: compare my net worth with the peasants running against me. We are talking capitalism here and the guy who can go Gordon Gecko should win, right?
What’s more, Romney was in Michigan, with a certain home field advantage as his father, George Romney, served as governor there.

Romney didn’t take ownership of this debate by effectively conveying the most obvious and powerful distinction: he’s the best businessman on the stage.

Romney did hold his own in a one-on-one with Giuliani about which perceived liberal Republican had the best record on taxes and spending in their respective geography, New York City and Massachusetts.

And Romney got off the best one-liners of the debate, book-ending the two-hour debate with them, in fact.

He blamed Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) for some of the state’s economic challenges.

“Frankly, I was a little nervous about coming here tonight,” Romney said. “I figured she was going to put a tax on the debate before we got finished.”

And he ripped Thompson near the end, saying the GOP debates were very much like “Law & Order.”

“It’s a big cast. It goes on forever, and Fred Thompson shows up at the end,” Romney said.

As for the other candidates, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has hooked his economic thinking to the so-called FairTax. It worked in the Iowa GOP Straw Poll in August but came off as hick gimmick here.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., acknowledged the snap of his one-time time rising elevator cable by joking that he was positioned in the “cheap seats” in the debate.

He did make some compelling observations about the economy.

“I think we are in the midst of a revolution we haven’t seen since the industrial revolution,” McCain said, referencing the number of people in the nation who make their incomes based on Internet-related activity.

U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, is one of those churchy types who just can’t cross over to the cocktail-and-croquet wing of his party. He comes across as far too corny to be presidential.

I mean, come on, he actually said of the United States of America: “This place rocks.”

Somebody should make Brownback spit out his gum before the next debate.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a thoughtful Republican-libertarian, said many things, but since this is Iowa Independent, we need only quote one line: “We can’t be bailing out farmers and subsidizing ethanol.”

And finally there is Colorado congressman Tom Tancredo.
Tancredo literally turned almost every question back on illegal immigration.

That movie “A Day Without a Mexican” is only a preview of the nation Tancredo would like to see, and his repeated references to this issue, his broken-record nasal speech on this, showed him to be one-trick pony we all know him to be.

Clinton Launches Health Care Ad in Wake of Presidential Veto

Lynda Waddington — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:34:56 +0000

The presidential campaign for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is launching a new television ad today in Iowa and New Hampshire that details the candidate’s record on the issue of health care.

The 30-second spot, entitled “Stand By Us,” describes Clinton’s efforts to pass universal health care in the 1990s and her work in relation to the Children’s Health Insurance Program — an expansion of which was recently vetoed by President George W. Bush despite Republican lawmakers such as Iowa’s own Sen. Chuck Grassley calling on him to approve the bipartisan measure. Although the U.S. Senate passed the measure with a veto-proof majority, the House vote was much closer.

Huckabee Gets First Legislative Endorsements But Romney Leads

John Deeth — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee picked up his first three Iowa legislative endorsements yesterday. But Mitt Romney, who leads in most polls of Iowa Republicans, also has a commanding lead in legislative endorsements.

Sixteen of the state’s 63 Republican legislators, including House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, are backing Romney. That’s double the number of his nearest rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. And as McCain’s support has slipped, he’s also suffered some defections from former supporters.

A year ago this month, McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC announced a 13 member “Iowa Legislative Advisory Team.” The day after that announcement, one member, Rep. Dave Heaton of Mt. Pleasant, announced that he had not made an endorsement and did not plan to. Since that time, three of the remaining 12 — Rich Anderson, Dave Tjepkes and Doug Struyk — have switched to Romney. (Switching sides wasn’t a first for Struyk, who jumped ship from the Democratic Party in 2004.) Another ex-McCain supporter, Sen. Mark Zieman, is one of two Sam Brownbackers in the Legislature.

Three senators have endorsed Rudy Giuliani. All three — Jeff Angelo, Thurman Gaskill and Mary Lundby — are leaving the Legislature after next year.

Late starter Fred Thompson has yet to get formal backing from an Iowa legislator. Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul are also batting oh-fer thus far.Since it’s baseball playoff time, a box score is in order.

	Total	Senate	House
Romney	16	4	12
McCain	8	3	5
Giuliani	3	3	0
Huckabee	3	1	2
Brownback	2	2	0
Uncommitted (so far)	35	7	28
Total	67	20	47

And you can’t tell those players without a scorecard.

Legislator	District	Home County	Endorsement
Sen. Mark Zieman	Senate District 8	Allamakee	Brownback
Sen. Nancy J. Boettger	Senate District 29	Shelby	Brownback
Sen. E. Thurman Gaskill	Senate District 6	Hancock	Giuliani
Sen. Mary Lundby	Senate District 18	Linn	Giuliani
Sen. Jeff Angelo	Senate District 48	Union	Giuliani
Sen. David Hartsuch	Senate District 41	Scott	Huckabee
Rep. Dwayne Alons	House District 4	Sioux	Huckabee
Rep. Carmine Boal	House District 70	Polk	Huckabee
Sen. John Putney	Senate District 20	Tama	McCain
Sen. Larry McKibben	Senate District 22	Marshall	McCain
Sen. Pat Ward	Senate District 30	Polk	McCain
Rep. Mike May	House District 6	Dickinson	McCain
Rep. Bill Schickel	House District 13	Cerro Gordo	McCain
Rep. Steven Lukan	House District 32	Dubuque	McCain
Rep. Rod Roberts	House District 51	Carroll	McCain
Rep. Walt Tomenga	House District 69	Polk	McCain
Sen. Dave Mulder	Senate District 2	Sioux	Romney
Sen. David Johnson	Senate District 3	Osceola	Romney
Sen. Brad Zaun	Senate District 32	Polk	Romney
Sen. James F. Hahn	Senate District 40	Muscatine	Romney
Rep. Dave Deyoe	House District 10	Story	Romney
Rep. Tami Wiencek	House District 21	Black Hawk	Romney
Rep. Chuck Soderberg	House District 3	Plymouth	Romney
Rep. Ralph Watts	House District 47	Dallas	Romney
Rep. Dave Tjepkes	House District 50	Webster	Romney
Rep. Christopher Rants	House District 54	Woodbury	Romney
Rep. Jodi Tymeson	House District 73	Madison	Romney
Rep. Linda Miller	House District 82	Scott	Romney
Rep. Steven Olson	House District 83	Clinton	Romney
Rep. Rich Anderson	House District 97	Page	Romney
Rep. Greg Forristall	House District 98	Pottawattamie	Romney
Rep. Doug Struyk	House District 99	Pottawattamie	Romney
Rep. Royd Chambers	House District 5	O’Brien	-
Sen. Jerry Behn	Senate District 24	Boone	-
Sen. Steve Kettering	Senate District 26	Sac	-
Sen. Ron Wieck	Senate District 27	Woodbury	-
Sen. James A. Seymour	Senate District 28	Harrison	-
Sen. Larry Noble	Senate District 35	Polk	-
Sen. Paul McKinley	Senate District 36	Lucas	-
Sen. Hubert Houser	Senate District 49	Pottawattamie	-
Rep. Henry Rayhons	House District 11	Hancock	-
Rep. Linda Upmeyer	House District 12	Hancock	-
Rep. Chuck Gipp	House District 16	Winneshiek	-
Rep. Pat Grassley	House District 17	Butler	-
Rep. Dan Rasmussen	House District 23	Buchanan	-
Rep. Kraig Paulsen	House District 35	Linn	-
Rep. Dawn Pettengill	House District 39	Benton	-
Rep. Lance Horbach	House District 40	Tama	-
Rep. Polly Granzow	House District 44	Hardin	-
Rep. Gary Worthan	House District 52	Buena Vista	-
Rep. Dan Huseman	House District 53	Cherokee	-
Rep. Clarence Hoffman	House District 55	Crawford	-
Rep. Matt Windschitl	House District 56	Harrison	-
Rep. Jack Drake	House District 57	Pottawattamie	-
Rep. Clel Baudler	House District 58	Adair	-
Rep. Dan Clute	House District 59	Polk	-
Rep. Libby Jacobs	House District 60	Polk	-
Rep. J. Scott Raecker	House District 63	Polk	-
Rep. Jim Van Engelenhoven	House District 71	Marion	-
Rep. Rich Arnold	House District 72	Lucas	-
Rep. Betty De Boef	House District 76	Keokuk	-
Rep. Jeff Kaufmann	House District 79	Cedar	-
Rep. Jamie Van Fossen	House District 81	Scott	-
Rep. Tom Sands	House District 87	Louisa	-
Rep. Sandy Greiner	House District 89	Washington	-
Rep. Dave Heaton	House District 91	Henry	-
Rep. Cecil Dolecheck	House District 96	Ringgold	-

Huckabee Shines As GOP Forum Truants Devastate 2008 Prospects

Douglas Burns — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:47:49 +0000

The empty podiums spoke the loudest.

The Republican Junior Varsity All-American presidential forum tonight on PBS featured by far the most intriguing ideas and exchanges of any of the GOP or Democratic debate sessions to this point as the horserace element didn’t dominate the 90 minutes.

Who is the clear winner? Hard to say. Probably former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee who cemented his reputation for genuineness (and the mettle for an away game). This is sort of obvious, as well. Huckabee was the only candidate on the stage with an outside chance of winning and as a result was the only Republican with anything at risk.

The runaway loser in the African-American and Hispanic centered forum is the Republican Party itself as four leading GOP White House contenders were no-shows. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were conspicuously absent from the debate – with empty podiums serving as exclamation points to this inexplicable dissing.

In fact, the first several minutes of the forum focused solely on these absences

Here’s Huckabee: “Frankly, I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for our party.”

In many ways he seemed like some average American white guy apologizing to a black neighbor for an aunt’s racist joke at a barbecue.

Here’s U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.: “I apologize for the candidates who aren’t here. What they’re doing is sending a message of narrowing the base.”

If any of the political truants get their party’s nomination – which is likely unless Newt Gingrich makes a late entry and sprint or Huckabee comes from the middle of the pack – the Democrats will have these opening moments to play over and over and over in TV and radio ads from Miami to Cleveland. Moreover, two of the leading voices in African-American media, Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner, were hosts. Think they’re going to forget this? Or, let their millions of listeners and viewers forget?

Not only will these absences injure the Grand Old Republican Party in African-American and Hispanic communities, but they also will affect white independents, the latte-drinking, book club types who are self-absorbed to the point of voting based on self-identity. They don’t want to be identified with a party that is now sweating intolerance as if its members were huddled in a boiler room.

All of that said, this was the most interesting debate of the primary process so far because I heard things tonight that made me think, made me question some long-held beliefs – which is what the Big Four Republicans should have been in Baltimore at Morgan State University trying to do. One of the reasons I always loved to watch the Indiana Pacers’ Reggie Miller play is he stepped up his game before an away audience and earned their respect. That would be a big start for the GOP. Even George W. Bush is smart enough to get this.

As for the ideas, one that emerged was from Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo: instead of giving D.C. statehood, have Virginia annex half of the city and Maryland the other half.

Former ambassador Alan Keyes also noted that residents of D.C. who don’t like their lack of representation in Congress can move. Sort of harsh. But sort of right.

The most striking philosophical exchange involved Darfur. Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian-isolationist Republican, called for the United States to pull back its troops from all areas where there is not a national interest, which would mean, in his view, no boots on the ground in Africa. “Feel good” reasons are not enough for U.S. involvement. Writing off the desire to stop genocide as simply “feel good,” as if it were a decision to drop a few coins in the Salvation Army man’s basket outside the Hy-Vee in Carroll, Iowa, made Paul look more cold and calculating than any character Ayn Rand ever imagined.

“I couldn’t disagree more with that answer,” said Brownback, who has often said “a child in Darfur is as sacred as a child in the womb” in making his “pro-life” case.

And here’s Keyes.

“If somebody’s being hurt somewhere in the world, somebody in America grieves for them,” he said.

Keyes and Huckabee had a fascinating difference on a question of race, with Keyes, an African-American, downplaying race as a factor and Huckabee acknowledging it as a root cause with a force unusual from a Republican.

“I don’t believe there is this deep divide between blacks and whites,” Keyes said.

Not so, says Huckabee, who said a disparity in hiring often stems from outright racism, from employers looking at a black face and preferring the white one waiting for the next interview slot.

“That’s something government can’t change but leadership can certainly speak to,” Huckabee said.

A dynamic that struck me tonight is that true-believing evangelicals, which is a fair description of Huckabee, have a window of opportunity to reach black and Hispanic voters because these pols view race in Christian terms and can truly connect with this audience — and if nothing else show that their faith is stronger than the many cultural messages that make so many white people uncomfortable around minorities at best and ugly racists at worst.

Brownback, whose own immediate family is of mixed race, strikes me as someone who could make some inroads for his party as well as with minorities, not on the scale of a president but in day-to-day work in the Senate.

One of Brownback’s ideas for helping underprivileged areas is to allow for the creation of flat-tax zones he argues would give incentives to business development. There are clear problems with going that route in terms of moving to a regressive tax. Brownback also called for opening a National African-American Museum on the Washington Mall.

Huckabee showed real strength in the area of crime and the courts, noting the disproportionate number of minorities in the criminal justice system.

The nation, Huckabee said, doesn’t have a crime problem.

“We have a drug and alcohol problem,” he said.

He called for more drug treatment and less incarceration.

“We have to quit locking up all the people we’re mad at and lock up the people we’re afraid of,” Huckabee said.

Ron Paul went further.

“We need to repeal the whole war on drugs,” Paul said. “It isn’t working.”

Alveda King to Campaign for Sam Brownback

Lynda Waddington — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:32:28 +0000

On the heels of a canceled special appearance at Des Moines Roosevelt High School, Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will meet with supporters of Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback this Friday in West Des Moines.

King, a noted anti-abortion activist, has been scheduled to speak at several venues during a tour of the state. Her appearance at Roosevelt was canceled, according to principal Kathie Danielson, following complaints from parents and when a review of the material showed the planned speech dealt with both civil rights and anti-abortion issues.

“Of course for public schools, any time there’s any discussion of a controversial issue like sex, religion, in the school, we want to give our parents the option of asking that their student not attend,” she told the Register yesterday.

King is the daughter of slain civil rights activist Rev. A.D. King. She has dedicated her life to anti-abortion causes and founded King for America, Inc. to “assist people in enriching their lives spiritually, professionally, mentally and economically.”

“Defending the life of innocents is the most basic civil right, and I’m proud to support Dr. Alvada King and her efforts on the pro-life issue, civil rights and helping people in need,” said Brownback.

The meeting with Brownback supporters to discuss civil rights and anti-abortion causes will be held on Friday from 11:15 a.m. to noon at the Brownback for President Iowa headquarters, 2700 University Ave., Suite 206, West Des Moines. King has formally endorsed Brownback in his bid for the White House.

King will speak at Iowa State University tonight and at Drake University on the racial implications of abortion on Thursday night. Her visit is sponsored and organized by Iowa State University Students for Life, the Iowa State Committee on Lectures and Drake University Respect for Life.

Where is the Republican Leadership? Stalled Suicide Prevention Bill Irks Iowa Democratic Veterans

T.M. Lindsey — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:17:00 +0000

Like death itself, suicide is a nonpartisan issue, but Sen. Tom Coburn’s, R-Okla., procedural hold on a bill that would help prevent suicide among veterans has thrown a partisan cog into the congressional machine. The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill (S. 479), introduced in the House by Iowa Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-3rd District, sailed through the House in March, passing by a vote of 423-0. And now, Iowa Democratic veterans are speaking out against silence on the matter among the Republican leadership — in particular, the GOP presidential candidates.

“This is clear bipartisan support for a bill of vital importance,” said Bob Krause, chair of the Iowa Democratic Veterans’ Caucus. “We are surprised that none of the Republican presidential candidates has publicly voiced objection to Senator Tom Coburn’s action that continues to block debate on the measure in the Senate.”

Coburn has vowed to continue his hold on the Joshua Omvig bill, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, before the August recess. Coburn called the bill insulting to veterans and warned that its mandatory mental-health screening could harm their future job options. “I’m going to continue to hold this bill until we work on the issues to guarantee freedoms of the veterans in terms of the tracking,” Coburn said on the Senate floor.The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill is named after a soldier from Boswell’s district in Grundy Center, Iowa, who took his own life after returning from Iraq. The bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to step up screening, counseling and other mental health services for returning war veterans by mandating this process.

“We support the efforts of Joshua Omvig’s parents, Ellen and Randy, who as they deal with the tragic loss of their son Joshua, press forward on this bill so that other American families do not endure a similar tragedy,” Krause said. “To have a single senator hold up this critical bipartisan bill with no publicly expressed outrage from the Republican presidential candidates calls into question which party truly supports the troops and military families in America. All of the leading Democratic Presidential candidates, as well as the Democratic leadership in the Senate and the House, are on board. Where is the Republican leadership?”

Harkin, who served in the military during the Vietnam War, was surprised by Coburn’s hold and steadfastness and took the Senate floor to fight for his fellow veterans. “The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act has received intense scrutiny, including two hearings in the House and three in the Senate. The bill has been strongly endorsed by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled Veterans of America and other veterans’ groups,” Harkin said. “So it is a travesty to have this bill held up, now, by a single senator for reasons that are completely bogus.” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has also joined 30 of his senatorial colleagues in co-sponsoring the bill, including presidential candidates Sens. Joe Biden, D-Del., Hillary Clinton, D-NY, Barack Obama, D-Il., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

The aim of the bill is to reduce the shocking rate of suicide among our men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA estimates that more than 5,000 veterans take their lives each year. Suicide rates are 35 percent higher for Iraq veterans than for the general population. And the Department of Defense recently reported that the Army is now seeing the highest rate of suicide since the Vietnam War.

For now, the fate of the Joshua Omvig bill rests upon the shoulders of Coburn, whose hold is blocking it from a debate and subsequent passage on the Senate floor. On the Democratic side of the aisle, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., whose father committed suicide years ago, has vowed to push this bill through by the end of the year. “We are not going to let one or two senators stop us from moving forward on this,” Reid said on the Senate floor during Harkin’s plea to Coburn.

Until then, members of the Iowa Democratic Veterans’ Caucus have called upon the Republican presidential candidates to take the leadership on the bill and speak out on the campaign trial, thus removing the congressional cog from the bureaucratic machine. “Their silence exposes their shallow support-the-troops rhetoric,” Krause said. ” `Support the Troops’ means a lot more than `Support the War.’ “