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.
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They say you haven’t made it in Iowa politics until you’ve been sliced and diced by Civic Skinny, the gossip column that appears in Des Moines’ alternative weekly, Cityview. Well, going on that definition, congratulations is in order to Republican senatorial candidate Christopher Reed.
Reed, a 36-year-old businessman from Marion, is tasked with trying to unseat five-term incumbent Sen. Tom Harkin, and he’s doing it while being out raised by millions of dollars. According to reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission on June 30, Reed has raised a little more than $11,000, with $292 cash on hand. Harkin, by contrast, has raised more than $5 million, with $4.1 million cash on hand.
But according to Civic Skinny, who went through Reed’s campaign expenditures, regardless of whether he’s successful this fall, at least he looks like a winner.
On April 18, he anted up $263.14 for “suit, coat, ties†at Holley’s Men Shop in Cedar Rapids, and three days later he went back to Holley’s and spent $61.75 on “sport coat, shirt, ties.†That same day he parted with another $41.87 for clothing, at an unspecified place, and in mid-May he switched to the Men’s Warehouse, where he spent $237.42 for “clothing.†He also charged his campaign for at least three haircuts at a place called Cost Cutters, and he went on E-bay and ponied up $3.24 for a flag pin. Finally, he used $200 of his $11,765 for make-up before a debate on Iowa Public Television.
Skinny went on to question whether Reed’s donors would approve of his spending habits, comparing them to Harkin’s.
Harkin, who apparently uses his own money for haircuts and clothing, had cash on hand of $4,109,219.06 at the end of June. That’s enough for about 242,000 haircuts at Cost Cutters — or 1,268,277 flag pins on E-bay.
Apparently, subtlety is not Civic Skinny’s strong suit.
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