Tag: iowa

How do you say ‘[bleep] off, suckers!’ in Iowan regional dialect?

Well, Tom Harkin will be happy to show you how.

Despite direct appeals from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other top Democrats, Harkin has refused to transfer money from his $2.4 million campaign account to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to sources and campaign finance records.

Instead, the retiring Iowa senator has informed party leaders that he plans to use the campaign funds for a charitable contribution to an entity that bears his name: The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement at Drake University in Des Moines, according to sources close to discussions with the senator.

…That may be the funniest thing that I read all day.  No, wait, this is: Continue reading How do you say ‘[bleep] off, suckers!’ in Iowan regional dialect?

Not to pile on in Iowa-Senate… no, wait, I want to. Joni Ernst brings the fundraising thunder.

Good news.

Today, the Joni Ernst for Senate campaign announced that it raised approximately $6 million in the third quarter, more than doubling the total raised by her opponent, Congressman Bruce Braley, and setting an all-time Iowa record for the amount raised by a statewide candidate in one quarter.

Via Jim Geraghty. Jim notes that killing it in the fundraising isn’t the deal-sealer that it has been in the past – but it doesn’t hurt, either. More polling tomorrow; interesting to see whether Braley will get any good news out of it.  Lord knows that the man hasn’t had any lately…

Michelle Obama calls ‘Bruce Bailey’ (D-CAND, Iowa Senate) a ‘Marine.’

Full disclosure: I feel awful today.  Vaguely half-nauseous, having what we will gently call ‘digestive issues,’ generally logy and possibly congested: it seemed like an excellent time to take it easy.  It would take a definite electoral disaster to pierce this fog of illness, in short.

And Michelle Obama delivered.

Continue reading Michelle Obama calls ‘Bruce Bailey’ (D-CAND, Iowa Senate) a ‘Marine.’

Bruce Braley (D CAND, Iowa-SEN)… did *not* vote to authorize air strikes against ISIS.

I don’t care what he says here: Bruce Braley did not make the vote that he says that he made.

As in “I recently had the opportunity to vote to give the President limited authority to begin strikes against terrorists in Iraq and Syria.”  Except… that there hasn’t been a vote.  The President simply up and did it, because he says that the 2002 AUMF covers his actions with regard to Syria and Iraq.

Less than two months after President Barack Obama’s administration called for repeal of the Congressional authorization for the 2002 Iraq war, he is formally citing the 12-year-old measure as a basis for newly expanded airstrikes against the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant.

…Now, I happen to agree with the President on this, but I’m not going to pretend that there’s some kind of new Congressional authorization that covers this.  Why did Bruce Braley?  – Because what Bruce Braley DID vote for was something considerably less bomb-related: Continue reading Bruce Braley (D CAND, Iowa-SEN)… did *not* vote to authorize air strikes against ISIS.

The Democrats had a bad night in the Iowa Senate race.

Sounds like they lost a debate that they needed to win.

Such a tragedy.

Moe Lane

PS: The GOP locking down Iowa would make life exceptionally difficult for Democratic strategists.

Quote of the Day, This is Not Quite A DOOM Moment In The Iowa-SEN Race edition.

But it’s a big, fat warning sign. Short version: the Des Moines Register poll shows Joni Ernst beating Bruce Braley 44-38. That’s not the warning sign. This is:

[Braley] isn’t winning in his home district, in northeast Iowa.

That’s… great news, actually. Which means that it’s horrible news for Bruce Braley.

Via Hot Air Headlines.

Moe Lane

PS: Joni Ernst for Senate.

Staci Appel (D CAND, IA-03): against taking away terrorist traitors’ passports!

Wait, what?

From comments to this post comes a remarkably tin-eared comment by Democratic candidate Staci Appel on whether Americans who join terror groups should be allowed to keep their passports.  I sincerely doubt that anybody here will be surprised to hear that Ms. Appel has a problem with taking away those passports:

I would not be urging taking away their passports… I think we need to make sure that we work through the system and look through it on a very diligent basis.

Continue reading Staci Appel (D CAND, IA-03): against taking away terrorist traitors’ passports!

Bruce Braley (D CAND, Iowa-SEN): loves fundraisers, shrugs off veterans.

First, let me show you this advert via the (left-leaning) Sunlight Foundation: Bruce Braley, sucking up to public sector unions and the rest of Big Labor.

bruce braley

Now, you may be going So what? Everybody knows that all Democratic politicians suck up to Big Labor.  This isn’t news.  …Well, that’s a cynical way of looking at it, but never mind that right now.  The question is, what should Bruce Braley have been doing on that day? Continue reading Bruce Braley (D CAND, Iowa-SEN): loves fundraisers, shrugs off veterans.

Bruce Braley avoids voters at Iowa State Fair. …Wait, what?

Let me start out by pushing back on the suggestion that Bruce Braley can be usefully compared to Mitt Romney.  Mitt Romney, whatever his other faults, is personally a fundamentally decent man who you’d absolutely love to have as a next-door neighbor.  Bruce Braley is a former tort lawyer with a galloping sense of entitlement and he lies when it suits him. I’m not saying that people who’d prefer the company of the latter to the former are necessarily bad people – as a partisan hack myself, I recognize the power of solidarity – but you’d have to be a partisan hack to make that call.

None of the above should keep you from smiling at what’s below, mind you. Continue reading Bruce Braley avoids voters at Iowa State Fair. …Wait, what?