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.
Just days after former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of up to 100,000 people at Glenn Beck’s Washington, D.C., rally, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn announced she will headline a Sept. 17 fundraiser in Des Moines.
The Reagan Dinner, the party’s annual fall fundraiser, will be Palin’s first political visit to Iowa since the 2008 presidential election. She visited Iowa once during 2009 for a book signing, and Iowa conservatives have made no secret of there attempts to draw Palin back to Iowa.
As caucus season looms, Palin’s speech will raise many questions about her intentions and whether a run for the GOP presidential nomination is in her future. If she if greeted favorably at the event — which all signs indicate that she will — it might be a jumping-off point for her candidacy.
But regardless of her performance, political observers are quick to point out we’re still a long way from 2012.
As the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza wrote Tuesday, “… in conversations with a handful of Iowa Republican operatives, it’s clear that Palin hasn’t engaged in much outreach to the key activists and operatives in the Hawkeye State who traditionally help aspiring national candidates begin to build their Iowa organizations years in advance of the actual caucus vote. Palin should take a lesson from Hillary Clinton in 2008. Clinton avoided the state — or even encouraging the formation of a campaign-in-waiting — for much of the run-up to her presidential bid, knowing that a visit to Iowa would drive the political press corps batty with speculation about her plans.”
The Des Moines Register’s Kathy Obradovich adds, “The Iowa Caucuses, however, are still a lot more about quiet, personal contacts than rock-star rallies. What she does and who she meets in Iowa before and after the rally will speak a lot more clearly about her intentions.”
Still, Palin’s September speech will be a tremendous boost for the Iowa GOP and for Palin herself. A strong presence in Iowa is a must for anyone vying for his or her party’s nomination for president. Politico’s Andy Barr wrote Tuesday, “If Palin does run for president in 2012, the speech will mark one of the first tests of Palin’s brand in Iowa.”
And after nearly two years of making no moves that would indicate she’s interested in a 2012 run, The Register reports Wednesday morning that it was Palin’s people who approached the Republican Party of Iowa — and not the other way around — about whether the Reagan Day dinner slot was still open.
Palin’s trip marks yet another in a parade of Iowa visits by a prominent GOP figure in the lead up to the 2012 presidential campaign. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, gay-rights activist Fred Karger and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich all made appearances at the Iowa State Fair this month.
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