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.
This is going to be a weekend people look back on as key when they discuss the 2008 election, says Cedar Rapids attorney Dave O’Brien.
“In campaigns sometimes you see a convergence of events that bring about real change,” said O’Brien, who has known Biden for 20 years and long ago signed on as a supporter. “This weekend is going to be one of those weekends for Joe Biden.”
O’Brien points to Biden’s new ad in Iowa dubbed “Cathedral” and to the senator’s performance in Sunday’s debate as reasons why this is the case. The ad, which focuses on Biden’s plan to end the war in Iraq so that U.S. forces don’t have to return to that region, is the campaign’s first to run in the state.
“It seemed most of the debate focused on his plan for Iraq,” he said. “People are starting to see that this is a guy who has the experience to be president. When this election in placed in the history books, this weekend will be seen as a turning point.”
Biden was in Cedar Rapids Monday night for a house party at the home of Tom and Nan Riley. Well over 100 people flowed off the cobblestone patio and into the adjoining porch and yard.
Iowa Independent Fellow Adam Burke compiled this video at the event:
One of those in attendance was Rep. Dick Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, who openly endorsed Biden in late June. Taylor helped with the 1950 Hungnam Evacuation from Korea and says that Christmas Eve experience in the theater of war showed him what happens when troops pull out of an area.
“One of the main reasons I support Joe Biden is because of his expertise in foreign affairs,” he said. “Servicemen are very patriotic and we need to back them 100 percent — that’s what Joe Biden is about. He understands that our soldiers don’t have what they need over in Iraq and that’s why he supported the funding.”
Tonight was one of the few campaign stops in Iowa where Biden was not asked about being the only presidential contender to vote for a measure to fund the troops in Iraq. He was, however, asked about his strategy to win the Democratic nomination.
“I’ve kind of gone about this backwards,” Biden said. “I spent a year before getting into this race deciding what I would do as president and not nearly enough time on how I would get elected as president. I know that sounds ridiculous. Twenty-five years ago when I thought about this, I thought about how not what.”
Biden says he knows who he would ask to be in his cabinet, what he wants to accomplish and what his first initiatives would be as president, but he hasn’t put enough time into planning his organization here and elsewhere. Despite all of that, however, he says that Iowans should be sure to read the fine print on the polls.
“If you look at the polling data then you’ll see that only 8 percent of you in this state have made up your mind who you are going to caucus for,” he said. “That’s what the Des Moines Register poll said.”
Biden told the audience there was a similar situation with the University of New Hampshire poll.
“Toward the end the respondents were asked if they really had any preference in this race at this point,” he said. “Forty-eight percent of the people in New Hampshire answered ‘no’ after being forced to pick somebody. They they were asked, ‘Of the person you’ve picked, are you only leaning toward that person or are you sure?’ Forty-two percent said, ‘I’m only leaning.’ Only 8 percent of the voters in the state of New Hampshire said they have a definite choice.”
While this is hopeful, Biden said it does not mean that he will win — but he does intend to make a few waves in the coming week.
“What it means is that if I can continue I think you’re gonna see by September that we will have more members of the Iowa House of Representatives endorsing me than anyone else running for president — including Hillary [Clinton] and Barack [Obama],” he said. “I think you are going to see that we are slowly, gradually, but substanially building a real, live organization out here.”
Biden will leave for his eighth trip to the green zone in Iraq next week. Campaign staff would not confirm if the new endorsements from Iowa legislators would be announced before that trip.
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