Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
[Exclusive Guest Commentary] Recently, my home state of Michigan violated Democratic National Committee rules by scheduling its primary before February 5. In response, John Edwards removed his name from the Michigan ballot, as did three other Democratic candidates. Senators Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Senator Mike Gravel stayed on.
John Edwards’ decision has generated a lot of controversy, especially in Michigan – a state that I had the honor of representing in Congress for 26 years. But John’s decision was the right one.
Michigan is a big state, and the nominating calendar was designed to let early states go first. In the age of the multi-million dollar primary campaign, it is more important than ever to keep things that way. In early state contests, issues matter more than money, celebrity and advertisements. Voters can cut through the gloss and the spin to make decisions based on who the candidates really are, and what they stand for. I’ve experienced this myself. After the Iowa Democratic caucuses in 2004, my wife Judy and I were still undecided. So we went to New Hampshire and rented a car. For the next week, we followed the candidates around the state. At town hall after town hall, we heard them speak at length about the critical issues facing our country. We watched them interact with regular Americans, and respond to their problems and concerns. We developed a strong sense of who they were as people, and what they would be like as president.
At that time, John Edwards was not the best-known candidate in the race. But he spoke from his heart about the issues no one else was speaking about – such as poverty, and the divide between the rich and the poor that has created Two Americas. Most of all, he spoke passionately, and articulated a vision for a better America that resonated deeply with Judy and me.
John Edwards didn’t have the media hype and slick spin that other candidates had. If Judy and I had not had the opportunity to watch him in those small town halls, we might never have discovered the principled leader that we are proud to support today.
As I travel the campaign trail with him now, I see that same process at work again. Here in Iowa, John has visited all 99 counties. He has heard the concerns, the hopes and the dreams of voters in every part of the state, from Des Moines to Dunlap.
The current calendar was constructed to let candidates spend quality time in early states like Iowa, and get to know the people there. It was also constructed to give key Democratic constituencies the voice they deserve. Since the last election, the DNC added Nevada and South Carolina to improve geographic balance, and increase diversity by strengthening the voice of African Americans, Hispanics, and unions.
These changes made sense – but then the floodgates opened, and other states started agitating to move up too. To discourage them, all the candidates were asked to sign a pledge promising not to “campaign or participate” in any state contests besides the four DNC-sanctioned ones before February 5th. John Edwards signed it, as did all of the other Democratic candidates.
Michigan moved its primary to January 15th anyway, forcing John Edwards to make a painful but simple choice. As important as Michigan is, allowing his name to remain on the ballot there would be participating in their election. He promised not to do that, for reasons he believes in strongly. And a promise is a promise.
Michigan’s primary would heavily favor the candidates with the most money, the most media hype and the most gloss. Remaining on the ballot there would mean the pledge they signed was nothing more than lip service to the role that early states play in our nominating process. I believe that after 8 years of dissembling and double-talk from George Bush, Americans are ready for a leader who will play straight with them.
Michigan is a great state that has produced some of the finest Democrats in the nation, and no candidate has fought harder for the interests of the hard-working men and women of Michigan. John Edwards was laying out his proposal to revive the auto industry to Detroit audiences back in April, months before any other candidate was highlighting
Michigan issues on the campaign trail.
But John Edwards believes that the best way to start off our nominating process is to have candidates make their case to voters in their living rooms, instead of through their television sets. He promised to uphold the system that makes that possible. And he intends to keep that promise.
David Bonior represented Michigan in the US House of Representatives for 26 years, serving as Democratic Whip from 1991 to 2002. He is former Sen. John Edwards’s national campaign manager.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter