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.
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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Sen. Barack Obama’s first two Iowa TV ads hit the air Tuesday. Emphasizing Obama’s past, the ads are intended to deflect criticism of the Democrat from Illinois as inexperienced.
Both ads are shot in the style of a documentary, splicing clips of Obama’s famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention with interviews of individuals Obama has known or worked with in the past.
The centerpieces of both ads are interviews with two somewhat unlikely characters: Republican Sen. Kirk Dillard of Illinois narrates the first ad, called “Carry,” which chronicles Obama’s career in the Illinois Senate. And the highlight of the second ad, titled “Choices,” is a clip from world-famous legal scholar Lawrence Tribe, who taught Obama at Harvard Law School (although, despite Tribe’s fame, Iowa Independent was unable to reach any caucus goers who were familiar with his work).On a press conference call held in conjunction with the launch of the ads, both Dillard and Tribe were made available to reporters. Each praised Obama unequivocally during their introductions on the call. Dillard described Obama as “someone who really carried the ball well and was instantly respected” when he got to the state senate. Dillard said he and Obama formed an unlikely “tag team, of a caucasian, suburban senator” and an African American from the inner city.
Tribe was equally laudatory in his opening remarks, describing how impressed he was that Obama chose not to accept any of the lucrative jobs he could have gotten as editor of the Harvard Law Review and instead chose to do work that he felt would make a difference.
When the questions started, however, things got a bit more interesting. As it turns out, Dillard, the Illinois Republican, does not consider his narration of an Obama TV ad to be an endorsement. “I’m with McCain in my party’s primary,” he said. But when the primaries are over, Dillard will once again look for a candidate, and Obama has many of the characteristics he will look for when making that decision.
Tribe’s endorsement of Obama was unequivocal, but academics do not often make such public endorsements on television. Iowa Independent asked Tribe what he thought about the frequent tension between academia and politics, and Tribe seemed aware of the difficulty of living in both worlds. But Tribe sees Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for a time, as a figure who can do it: “Barack is terrific at building those types of bridges,” Tribe said, “because when he was an academic at U Chicago, he was not at all abstract or theoretical or inaccessible” in the classroom. He added, “I don’t think he’d be one of those ivory tower types.”
The ads hit broadcast and cable outlets statewide last night, but details of the ad buy (cost and duration) are still unknown.
Videos are below:
“Carry”
“Choices”
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