Iowa Independent » Scott Brennan

Lt. Gov. Judge as IDP chair?

Jason Hancock — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:55:45 +0000

Civic Skinny, the political gossip column published every week in Des Moines’ alternative newsweekly (Cityview), says sources inside the Iowa Democratic Party expect Lt. Gov. Patty Judge to become the party’s next chair.

The idea, Skinny says, is that the move would bolster Gov. Chet Culver’s standing leading up to his re-election bid in 2010.

Here’s the guy’s note to Skinny: “Taking a page out of Vilsack’s playbook (for once), Chet wants Patty as the chair of IDP just as Vilsack had Sally Pederson as chair of the party.” He adds: “It makes sense to have the lieutenant governor overseeing the party as they roll into the 2010 campaign. Vilsack put Pederson in as chair in 2006 as they rolled into his unsuccessful presidential bid. Pederson’s draw was that she was universally liked by the party and had access to a big Rolodex of donors.” Then he asks, in what Skinny can interpret only as a snotty aside, “What is Patty’s draw?” (Well, she did have her name on every gas pump in the state for a few years.)

The theory goes that current Iowa Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan will step down to either practice law or fill Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s position if he is tapped to serve in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama (Miller was an early and fervent supporter of Obama).

Other top Iowa Dems don’t see risk to Iowa caucuses

Chase Martyn — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:40:07 +0000

After the Iowa Independent published an interview with Dave Nagle in which the former congressman and Iowa Democratic Party Chair said Sen. Barack Obama was “throwing Iowa under the bus” with his proposed DNC calendar commission, the Des Moines Register’s Tom Beaumont published a story in which other top Democrats sounded a more reassuring note:

â€œSenator Obama continues to believe in the important role that Iowa and New Hampshire have historically played in the process of choosing our partyâ€™s presidential nominee,â€ campaign spokesman Brad Anderson said.

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan said the party â€œshould always look for ways to improve the nomination process.

â€œSenator Obama is committed to ensuring the Iowa Caucus will remain first in 2012,â€ he added.

The calendar commission will meet in Denver this weekend in advance of next week’s Democratic National Convention.

McCain talks free trade at Iowa State Fair

Dien Judge — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:47:35 +0000

Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain visited the Iowa State Fair on Friday.

U.S. Sen. John McCain promised to open new markets for Iowa agricultural products during a visit to the Iowa State Fair.

“I get a chance to come here and meet and greet the real America, the people that are providing products all over this world,” said McCain. “All over the world, people are consuming the quality products that are produced right here in the great state of Iowa. And I want to say thank you for that. And my mission and my job as president of the United States, one of them, will be to make sure that every market in the world is open to your products.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke to a crowd of several hundred people who had gathered at the Des Moines Register building at the fair, emphasizing the value that can be added to pork products when new markets are opened up around the world. McCain was joined by his wife, Cindy, as well as fellow Republican, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Lang also stood with McCain during the speech. Northey and Lang — two long-time, vocal supporters of government programs that promote ethanol –applauded as McCain discussed his views on energy policy, despite McCain’s opposition to federal subsidies for renewable fuels.

“I want to tell you, we will disagree from time to time,” said McCain. “I believe in renewable fuels. I don’t believe in ethanol subsidies. But I believe in renewable fuels. I believe we have to do all of those things to restore our economy, but my friends, we will disagree on a specific issue, and that’s healthy.”

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain speaks to the crowd at the Iowa State Fair. He was joined by Iowa agriculture secretary Bill Northey and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation president Craig Lang.

The Arizona senator said that the United States needs to enact an “all of the above” strategy to attempt to achieve energy independence. “We must achieve energy independence,” he said. “I call it the Lexington Project. It’s got to be wind, tide, solar, nuclear. Nuclear power has to be part of any solution. My friends, we’re a long way from the ocean, but we’ve got to drill offshore and we’ve got to drill now.”

McCain ridiculed a statement from his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who had called on Americans to check for proper tire inflation to reduce fuel costs. “My friends, I’m all in favor of inflating our tires, don’t get me wrong. But that’s a public service announcement, it’s not an energy policy.”

The presidential candidate also visited various Iowa State Fair landmarks Friday, constantly surrounded by curious fair-goers as he viewed such displays as the famous Butter Cow and the 1,250-pound winner of the largest boar contest.

Following McCain’s speech, Iowa Independent interviewed Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan and Iowa House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. John Whitaker.

Iowa Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan and Iowa House Agriculture Committee chairman Rep. John Whitaker respond to McCain's visit at the fair.

Whitaker said McCain is apparently out of touch with what is happening right now in the grain markets. “He talked about the export market, but he apparently didn’t check the markets this morning,” said Whitaker. “The dollar went up and corn and beans just plummeted overnight because of that. You know, they were up yesterday, then boom. One little bit of news on the dollar and then you have a lack of exports because of that. And our export market dries up like a hot August wind.”

Brennan said McCain’s opposition to renewable fuels programs in the past has put the Republican candidate at odds with Iowa’s values. “He’s against the farm bill and against the ethanol subsidies, and has been from the get-go,” said Brennan. “He’s just wrong for Iowa. He’s always been wrong for Iowa.”

Brennan went on to say McCain’s 10th-place finish in the Republican Straw Poll last year and his fourth-place finish in the Iowa Republican caucuses is enough to show that the candidate does not understand Iowa’s values. “Iowans, the little bit they know of him, they haven’t liked him,” said Brennan. “And for good reason. He doesn’t stand up for Iowa values.”

Iowa Dem Chair Brennan Endorses Obama

John Deeth — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:27:44 +0000

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan endorsed Barack Obama for president today. The endorsement leaves Senator Tom Harkin as Iowa’s only remaining uncommitted superdelegate.Two weeks ago, Brennan told Iowa Independent, “I agree with Senator Harkin at this point, why not let the contest play out,” and said it was possible he may not endorse until the nominee was apparent.

In addition to his own convention vote, Brennan will name one “add-on” delegate, who will be officially unpledged but is almost certain to be an Obama supporter. That person is subject to ratification by the state party convention June 14, but that’s highly likely. Supporters of caucus winner Obama are expected to control more than half the convention. Combined with the forces of John Edwards, who endorsed Obama last week, that figure jumps to about 70 percent.

Obama now has seven of Iowa’s 11 superdelegates. In addition to Brennan, those are:

Governor Chet Culver

Congressmen Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald

State party vice chair Sarah Swisher

DNC member Richard Machacek

Hillary Clinton has backing from three (using the Clinton campaign’s term) “automatic” delegates:

Congressman Leonard Boswell

State Senate majority leader Mike Gronstal

DNC member Sandy Opstvedt

Boswell’s Clinton support is a new campaign issue, as 3rd Congressional District primary challenger Ed Fallon is urging Boswell to switch his support to Obama.

Obama is scheduled to speak in Des Moines tonight. The campaign is not calling the event a “claim victory” speech, though many observers are interpreting it as such.

Iowa Dem Chair Brennan Remains Committed To Being Uncommitted

John Deeth — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:51:27 +0000

“I honestly haven’t decided when I’ll say something,” Iowa Democratic Party chair Scott Brennan told party activists in Iowa City Sunday. As party chair, Brennan is also a national convention superdelegate, and he and Senator Tom Harkin are the only two Iowa superdelegates who are still uncommitted.

“I’m a Pollyanna, but I still have some hope that after we finish on June 3rd, in the next couple weeks after that we’ll have some clarity, and I’ll never have to make that decision,” said Brennan.Part of Brennan’s reticence is his wish to protect Iowa’s first in the nation role. “Part of the reason I think Iowa remains first and why we attract candidates is that we been an honest broker,” e said. If he did endorse, “the unhappy candidate is going to identify every little thing and think there was a cabal by the state party. But I agree with Senator Harkin at this point, why not let the contest play out?”

Brennan noted that a Republican plan that recently won approval keeps Iowa and New Hampshire first. As for attacks on caucuses being low-turnout events and Iowa’s relative lack of diversity, he pointed to the record turnout and Barack Obama `s win and said, “It’s pretty clear that Iowans are open minded. We’ve refuted those two arguments pretty well.”

“I live in Happy Land” about the ongoing nomination fight between Obama and Hillary Clinton, said Brennan, noting that in Iowa, as in the rest of the country, the contest has led to a Democratic voter registration surge. “We had 60,000 new Democrats who cam out to caucus. And the other piece that goes with that is we have an 85,000 voter registration advantage over the Republicans.”

“You saw the exit date from Pennsylvania, you saw X percentage op Clinton people wouldn’t vote for Obama and vice versa,” Brennan acknowledged to activists still fretting about mending fences. “But they had been subjected to a heated campaign for weeks. I think when we have our nominee, and people compare our nominee to John McCain, those people come home.”

Brennan offered a strong critique of McCain’s Thursday visit to Des Moines, noting poor attendance. “He came in tenth in the straw poll, fourth in the caucuses. I don’t see much enthusiasm on their side.”

“John McCain’s making enough mistakes by himself, I don’t know if we need a nominee right now,” Brennan added.

Brennan is also confident about Iowa Democrat’s chances on the rest of the ballot, starting with Senator Harkin. “Chuck Grassley only ever cared that Grassley won, so I doesn’t have coattails,” Brennan said of the popular Republican senator who isn’t on the ballot for two more years.

“But Tom Harkin would like every dogcatcher to be a Democrat. Harkin doesn’t have much of a challenge this year. He doesn’t have to worry about himself. So he can get out and do things in parts of the state that normally don’t get much attention.”

“Congressman Loebsack’s got opponents, but I haven’t seen much out of them so far,” Brennan said. “(Congressman Bruce) Braley doesn’t have much of an opponent. I think we’ve got a decent shot in the 4th District. (Republican incumbent Tom) Latham doesn’t make anybody mad, but that’s because he doesn’t do anything.”

Brennan said he expects Republican efforts will focus on the state legislature. “(Senate Democratic leader Mike) Gronstal’s got a 30-20 advantage, he’s going to pick up a few more Senate seats.” In the House, Brennan said, “that’s where the Republicans are going to fight the hardest, that’s the one place they even have a glimmer of hope.”

Iowa Civics Shine Through at Presidential Forum

Lynda Waddington — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:56:16 +0000

Why would a national organization with national name recognition choose to hold its first presidential forum in Iowa?

“This forum is clearly another example of why the Iowa caucuses are so important,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan said following Monday’s event. “Not only do organizers understand that presidential candidates are in our state, but it is a reflection on the fact that if the Iowa people are supporting an event, the candidates know it is something they should also be supporting.”

“Is there really any other place in America where you could get 2,700 people, a former governor, the current governor, at least one Iowa congressman and four Democratic presidential candidates to come together on a Monday morning to talk about cancer?” asked participant Ellen Jeffers.

Gov. Chet Culver and U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack set out the importance of the event and Iowa’s role in raising the national conversation.

“We hear your call to action,” said Loebsack in his remarks that began the forum. “As we look toward the 2008 elections, I know I will be looking for a president that is willing to answer that call. Our next president will be confronted with many issues of concern to the American people, and fighting this disease should be at the top of the list.”

Culver continued along the same thread when he came to the podium.

“I believe there is no better place in the country to hold this forum than Iowa,” he said. “As the candidates know, and because of our first-in-the-nation presidential caucus, here in Iowa we are accustomed to asking thoughtful and often very challenging questions. A note to the candidates: We have come to expect honest, direct and straightforward answers.”

Lance Armstrong says that, at the end of the day, the success of any single-issue forum will come down to candidate priorities.

“I personally thought [the forum] was amazing,” he said following the event. “We had a lot of very significant candidates here, and they discussed the issue we wanted them to discuss — not the issue I wanted them to discuss but the issue that millions of people in this country wanted them to discuss — a devastating illness called cancer.

“As we know in this country, there are a lot of topics that we could discuss and debate. This just comes down to an issue of priorities. When we look at the war, I’m sure a lot of candidates would like to show up and discuss that — the war is debatable. This issue isn’t debatable. We are glad that we had the participation that we did, and we’re glad that the content was what it was.”

When looking toward tomorrow, however, when the forum will continue with the Republican contenders for the White House, Armstrong says he primarily feels disappointed at the lack of participation.

“Let me first say that I think Mike Huckabee is a rising star on that side,” he said. “But I’ve said this before, and there’s no reason not to say it again — it’s a disappointment that two cancer survivors on the Republican side — Mayor [Rudy] Giuliani and Sen. [John] McCain — will not be attending. That being said, I understand that they have other commitments.”

The forum continues tomorrow in Cedar Rapids with Republican candidates Huckabee and Sen. Sam Brownback.