Yeah it is two days after the election.

Yeah we lost by 20 points.

But No, I'm not giving up,

 Below I put all four of our candidates this year, as well as a few that rumored to run and a couple that I would like to see run.

 I would really love to hear what everyone has to say about this district

What is worrying me is…

How can we pick up more state house seats?

How can we get competent, aggressive candidates in US HD-4, and US HD-5 after that terrible blowout?

Who is running for Grassley's seat in 2010?

How can we, the democratic activists of Iowa, make sure every race is competitive and no Republican get a free ride?

Maybe I ought to take a moment a celebrate but I am VERY cautious about Iowa losing Democrats in the state house.

What do you think? 

Not in Montana or North Dakota, where they are tied 

No not in Indiana… He leads by 3 there

No not in Missouri he leads there by 1

Not even in North Carolina, Florida or Nevada where Obama leads by 2,2 and 3.

And not in the remaining Bush states of Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, or Virginia.

But

Two Points down in Arizona!

And only three in Georgia!

Can you believe this!!!

http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

“I have tremendous respect and admiration for Jim Leach,” Miller-Meeks told Iowa Independent. “He’s about the most honest and insightful person I know in politics.”

August 12th 2008.

http://iowaindependent.com/3904/loebsack-miller-meeks-on-leach-endorsement

Sounds like my comments arent so baseless. But I do have more

What did she say after Leach endorsed Obama?

Restating her own support for McCain, she added, “You can have a difference of opinion and be allowed to voice that. … (Leach's endorsement of Obama) doesn't change the way I feel about him.”

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080814/OPINION03/808140309/0/GOIOWACITY

And for the knock out!

“I really had no desire to be in politics prior to last year,” Miller-Meeks said. “Nine years ago, when I first began visiting Congress with the Academy of Ophthalmology, advocating and addressing health care issues, I had a wonderful rapport and relationship with the honorable [former Congressman] Jim Leach. I thought [Leach] was an ideal representative for our District. He was very thoughtful. He was introspective. He was highly intelligent. He would dissect bills and issues and then give you a response. Now, he may not have always given the response that you wanted, but at least you were assured that there was insight and a true understanding of the difficulties and different sides of an issue. I always felt that he was doing what was best for the District and for the constituents within the boundaries of the Constitution.”

http://www.essentialestrogen.com/2008/08/newcomer_or_not_millermeeks_co.html

Did I cover all the bases “LC Lib”?

Just so people know. I like Jim Leach and Miller Meeks is absolutely wonderful! The best Republican we have running in Iowa, Hands down, but she will not win

No matter if you are a Republican, A Democrat, a Libertarian, or a member of the Objectivist Party, members of congress are voted into office by roughly 700,000 constituents and paid a very handsome salary to vote on legislation for the people they represent, thus the term “Representative”.

Now, very few people agree exactly on politics, or fall exactly in the same portion of the Right-Left sphere, therefore there is a need for compromise, and a need for tolerance.

However their is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for simply not showing up.

Steve King has missed 39 votes in the past congressional cycle, here are a few…

Republican Tom Latham is a shadowy figure, no one really seems to know who he is or how he votes. So I thought I would share with you how some bipartisan agencies have rated Congressman Tom Latham

Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance

Rated 31% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance

Rated 10% by CURE, indicating anti-rehabilitation crime votes

Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes

Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence

Rated 5% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes

Rated 0% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record

Rated 0% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record

 As scary as this is, it is just the tip of the iceberg.

More to follow…

First off, there where some questions I felt should be answered about William Meyers, Independant Candidate for Congress in District 4.  

1. DemWebs is William Meyers own creation. And is doing a splendid job helping out Democrats not only statewide but around America.

2. Meyers position on Iraq does not mirror Steven King's. As a close personal friend of William and a chief organizer of his primary campaign, I do not see how you could even come close to the assumption.

3. Meyer's view on immigration is closer to the center than most democrats, but not even close to Steve King.

4. As for Meyers taking votes away… If he would have quickly endorsed Becky Greenwald and actively campaigned for her, which I had constantly pleaded with him to do. I believe that he would have been able to swing quite a few moderates toward Greenwald and would have enraged enough Pro-Veteran Republicans to the point where they would stay home. Although some see his 1200 or so primary votes as insignificant, I would like to remind people that these are not straight party votes, a lot of his votes were from former Republicans or apathics

This race would have been an uphill climb for anyone but if the stars would have alligned, we could have really had a chance. Here's what I mean…

 1. Kurt Meyer, who was a distant second, barely recieving half the votes of Greenwald did a noble thing in offering her his support. Kurt is a good Democrat and above all wants to see the ideals his campaign stands for recognized than he ever wanted to hold the office himself. Also the Northern part of the district will recieve more Democratic votes merely by the presence of his support.

2. William Meyers could have immediately put his differences with Becky behind him and been a very vocal voice in her campaign. Suprising to the lay person, Becky holds very much the same ideals as William, differing only on immigration. William Meyer's strong netroots, appeal to moderate voters and the fact that he has served in the Armed Forces (where as Latham is all but a draft dodger), would have brought a swelling in grassroots support and support from the Northwestern more rural part of the district.

3. Miskell was embarrassed on Primary night. Plain and simple. I dont see a facet for him the district at all.

 4. We have great legislative races that will undoubtedly help the upticket and candidates (to name a few) like Bailey, Miller, Wessel-Krochell, Temere and Sodders who, if they need to or not are actively campaigning and bringing more democratic votes to the whole ticket

***Nothing makes me more upset than when a State Rep or Senator sits back during election season, merely because they are unapposed or otherwise guarenteed*******

 5. We have Barack Obama expanding his network in the State. We have John McCain ignoring Iowa. We have Tom Harkin who, for the first time, does not have a decent opponent and can help out his friend Becky Greenwald, while his Republican Counterpart (Grassley) is all but a ghost during this election year.

I could also talk about the “Coulda runs” (Dinsdale, Spencer, Sen. Beall, Sen. Olive) who are all coming out in support for Becky, or the immense support from many women's groups, for what would be the first congresswoman from Iowa, etc. etc. etc.

It is so close to being the perfect storm that we need to send Latham home once and for all that it excites me just to be a part of it. I hope many of you, even the ones out of the district, share in my enthusiasm!

The first time I saw this commercial it almost brought me to tears. My son's name is also Alex. That is why I fought in this war, so my son didnt have to and that is why I am fighting for a democratic President

Here is the link

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPx4JFvPmU

Keep up the good fight, our children are depending on us.

And thought that I would share it. Something both me and my son can enjoy on Fathers day:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBS8e7QX1zo

I just wanted to remind everyone out there, especially those who were disenfranchised by the primary campaign that there are still many great democratic candidates out there that need our help.

 Among these is Susan Radke. I recently volunteered for Susan at Scandinavian days in Story City and was very impressed with her knowledge and the way she really connected to the people.

I have no official ties to this campaign, but I would like to help out democrats in anyway I can, and I believe the best way to do that is to volunteer your time, effort and sometimes money.

Action is the key word here, to do something progressive for the cause.

I set up a facebook group and I can be reached through that if anyone would like to volunteer, and dont worry about time constraints, I have things that may take 5 minutes and things that might keep you busy for days, it all depends on the level of involvement you wish to have.

Here is the link

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15419328954

Thank you

Adam Smith

PS

I would also like to politely ask the great staff at Bleeding Heartland If they could help me promote this race

I am very tired of all these William Meyer's “supporters” coming out of the wood work.

I was actively involved in William's campaign since January and I remember contacting every Democratic legislator, not only in the district, but in the whole state, telling them about the campaign. I set up and managed networking sites for Meyers. I spent countless hours getting a hold of new and young voters and getting them the needed material to register to vote. I remember spending 3.80/ a gallon of gas

And now I come here and see all the crap that is posted, supposedly by Meyer's supporters, and I am sorry for my language but it offends me to no end!

William Meyers came from nothing and finished a respectible third in this hotly competitive race. But he did much more than that. William incoorperated many disenfranchised voters and many former Republican voters behind his candidacy.

He also brought veterans issues into the forefront, which truly moved me to action. And many other have been moved too.

I dont want to make this too long, so I will finish up quickly…

William Meyers is a close personal friend of mine, and I know that he doesnt condone the malicious posts on here. As I have said before, he is for Democrats Helping Democrats, and will no doubt be doing everything he possibly can to elect Becky Greenwald to the US Congress.

Now that we have a nominee there are many things that we can do here in the fourth to help her win the election in November

One that I would like to highlight is absentee voting

It is quite simple

Step one: Go to this site:

http://www.sos.state.ia.us/PDFS/AbsenteeBallotApp.pdf

Step Two: Print off request forms

Step Three: send your own in and pass them out to others.

Step Four: Make sure the people you hand them out to send them in 🙂

Step Five: Recieve your ballot and fill it out, than send in or return to your local county office!

We can really pick up some steam by getting a margin in the absentees! Plus it helps all democrats!

Thanks

Adam

The polls close in 50 minutes.

 Can I get a truce from our democrats on here to truly let the voters decide and leave it at that?

For Fallon, Boswell, Meyers, Meyer, Greenwald, and Miskell, no matter what happens, the GE begins at 8:01 PM tonight. If you are not on the ballot, or the candidate you supported isnt on the ballot, no amount of bickering or infighting will change it.

Peace ya'll

First of all… IT CAN BE DONE

Latham is more volnurable than ever. Even when he was facing Spencer in “The Blue Wave of 2006” He didnt reach out this much to his constiuency. He moved to Ames (The Largest City in his district and of the only county (Story) that he lost in 2006). And I cant check my mailbox without getting a “Latham supports nurses” or “Latham supports Veterans” or something from Stew Iverson. (Yes, I am on the Pubs mailing lists, best to stay a step ahead).

It will take a lot of skill to send him home though. Here is what I believe needs to be done.

 1. Stop the Mudslinging- We are 3 days away from the primary, few people reading this blog are going to switch, but they may just hold out a grudge if you push too far.

2. Whoever wins needs to recieve three firm and public endorsements from there other primary challengers immediately. Voice your support for the nominee and encourage your voters to do so also.

We have four great candidates who are working different parts of the state and the demographic, but it will take some swallowing of pride.

 3. As the Candidates reach out to the voters, the voters need to reach out to the candidate. I am a VERY VERY staunch William Meyers supporter and have been almost since day one. But I am willing to dedicate my time and networking resources to whoever wins the primary, be it my candidate (which I firmly believe it will be) or ANYONE else.

I certainly hope others feel the same way.

4. We need to garner national attention. This can be done in a number of ways, get with me if you want some ideas.

5. We need to support ALL our legislative candidates. We need all democratic candidates from the whole IA-4 area to get on board, everyone from sheriffs, to county suprivisors, to state reps, to senators (State and Iowa).

We need pictures, we need press releases voicing there endorsment for our congressional candidate, we need to combine our resources, (in a way that will benefit all).

6. We need every county chair to actively organize. We need county captains, we need people to knock on doors, hand out pamphlets outside Wal Mart, Phone bank, Blog warriors, and letters written to every prominent democrat in America from Jimmy Carter to Jo Shmo County Vice chair of Nowhere Alaska, telling them about our candidate and asking for there support. And have people in t-shirts in EVERY Parade 🙂 Absolute grassroots.

There are many more things we need to do, but these are the things that we as volunteers can do and help get done.

And one more thing…It needs to start Wednesday!!!!!!!

Holla if ya hear me 🙂

That it will only take 1500 signatures to get ballot access for conservative liberatarian candidate for President Bob Barr?

As of Thursday (I called the LP headquarters) he has none.

You do not have to be a Libertarian to print out the sheets, sign the sheets or submit the sheets. Only an Iowa resident, above the age of 18 by November.

I am not going to point out the obvious fact that Barr's mere presence on the ballot is going to draw many votes from McCain in Iowa alone (oops I just did 🙂  ) but I will say that everyone who has supporters willing to vote for them should be able to be on the ballot, because that is after all the democratic way

PS, After mulling it over a bit, I really cant leave the party, as I have previously stated. Winning in 08 is just too important!

And I dont have any links so far to print out registration forms, but if anyone can find them (DM dem, Maggie, I know your better than me at this stuff) I'd be very glad

Recently, I have seen the very ugly side of politics. I realized that while we may call ourselves “Democrats” or “Republicans”, what is the difference?

It is just one person who promises other people things and than never comes throught with it.

Maybe I am wrong but it does seem like we do a lot of things for candidates and spend a lot of time on something that really doesnt matter

Peace,

Adam

Even though Grassley may not retire… 

It is never too early to start thinking about it, and I would like to put my top ten (and a dark horse) up here and make it an on going forum-investigation until we get some more concrete evidence.

 1. Bruce Braley- As a sitting congressmen with his freshmen achievements, Id give him my nod for number one.

2. Ed Fallon- A very strong base in the Des Moines and surrounding areas, might not be enough to get past Grassley, but if it is King or Latham instead, he'd have a good crack.

3. Dave Loebsack- As a sitting congressman, he has at the very least his own district to draw from.

4. Tom Vilsack- The presidental race went arye pretty quickly and If I know Tom the way I think I do, than I dont think he is ready to retire.

5. Daryl Beal- A great state senator that has an ultra firm base of support through central Iowa and can take a lot of the rural vote away from the republican candidate.

6. Patty Judge- As the Number 2 democrat in state politics, she brings name recognition, as well as a healthy relationship with state party leaders.

7. Frank Cownie- As mayor of the biggest city in Iowa, would definitely be able to do damage in this area, but is not a well known figure else where.

8. Staci Appel- Definitely a change of pace from Grassley and depending on the thoughts of the nation, and who is elected president in November, maybe the best shot we have. Would also draw the womens vote.

9. Kevin McCarthy- Hasnt exactly made sprinter strides in the house, but has done the best he can with a mixed bag of moderate and blue dog dems, not to mention the likes of ultra bigot Chris Rants making sure the house is divided and does not work together.

10. Rob Hubler- So the odds are stacked against him winning this election against the looney Steve King, and he may be a little old too. But I think that King's comments will get him more votes in this race than anyone expects and western Iowa is definitely where we need to get our votes from.

And…Drum roll please… my dark horse candidate…

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell- Although not the most well known challanger, she is a GREAT representative, a hard fighter, and a brilliant campaigner. If she can get the ball rolling early and often, shore up support, and get the funds rolling in, she just might do it

Now I'm done, dont be shy, let me know what you think!

Alright, It seems to be buzzing everywhere on the blogs. Honestly I am tired of it. The smoking ban is one of the greatest steps forward I have seen Iowa take in a while and here are my reasons why…

I Am Running for the Iowa House

by Nate Willems, Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 05:29:04 PM EST

Hey,

I just wanted to tell everyone about the young Democrats group I started at DMACC Boone Campus. I am hoping we can get some state Legislatures to speak. I am also hoping we are able to blog, canvass, and in all other ways help out the IDP.

If you have any suggestions about how a group of young democrats can help our party or if you would like to attend one of these get togethers. Drop me a line on this blog post and I'll make sure I get back to you promptly!

Thanks

Adam Smith

DMACC Boone Democrats

Gretchen Lawyer is running for Representative of the 36th district in Iowa. She is kicking off her campaign today (April 12th).

I have already taken on a huge load for the upcoming summer and early fall electoral season. I, as many others , understand the importance of widening our majority in Iowa and getting valuable support for the Democratic candidate in this very important swing state of Iowa.

Despite my large campaign list, I have decided to help two others in there quest for the Iowa House. Gretchen Lawyer and Nate Willems (who I hope to do a diary post on later this week).

I am hoping that I can get some help from those out there in the blogisphere… I have a lot of things that I would like a little help on, most notably getting a website set up.

IA-36 must be won for the democrats, it is absolutely crucial.

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9952679158

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/19069

gretchenlawyer@gmail.com

The topic of earmarks is one that has been frquently chatted about on many of the Republican blog posts. I hear a lot of Democrat so and so did this and Liberal So and So did that, so I thought I should share a few facts about Pork Barrel Spending and our Representatives here in Iowa.

Fact 1: The leader among senators in earmarks?

Republican Thad Cochran Mississippi, with $837,000,000+!!!!!!

Fact: 2: The leader among Senators in Iowa?

Republican Chuck Grassley with  $323,000,000+!!!

 Fact 3: The Leader among Iowa congressmen?

Republican Tom Latham with $69,000,000+!!!

Fact 4: Notable Legislatures that have less ear marks than Latham's 63

Democratic Sen. Obama 55

Democratic Sen. Feingold 0

Democratic Sen. McCaskill 0

Democratic Rep. Boswell (IA) 26

Democratic Rep. Braley (IA) 27

Democratic Rep. Loebsack (IA) 25

Here is to hoping Latham's hypocrasy doesnt go unnoticed.

Happy Easter!

Its almost 3 oclock and I am still perfect in the NCAA tournament! Thought I'd post this before that changed:)

Anyways, on to more important things, how many people are attending the peace rally in Ames on Monday (I believe its monday). It would be nice to put faces with the blog names and network with other progressive democrats.

Thanks for listening

Adam

I have really been getting into the election this cycle and am enjoying helping out a lot of candidates on the National and State level and hope that all of you are too. Find someone that you feel will best represent you than go out and do what you can to make change happen.

The powers that be will never just give it to you

Anyways here is a site for Ed Fallon, one of my favorite politicians

http://www.equalitygiving.org/

Make sure you vote for Ed and spread the word

Thanks!

Elisha Gayman is one of our most progressive state legislators. I recently happened upon an extreme right wing blog suggesting that there readers start out on a smear campaign against her, in an attempt to turn over her seat (which she won by 200 votes last election). This really boiled my blood. He also continued to talk about McKinley Bailey, A veteran, and also announced that there should be a smear campaign against him.

This had really motivated me to do whatever I can to help these progressive democrats against a very desperate, un-American, values-lacking Republican Party of Iowa.

I would also like to plug one of my favorite Reps, Susan Radke in the 10th district.

Thanks for hearing my rant, and I hope you all will check out these candidates and help if you can.