iowa – Page 7 – Moe Lane

#rsrh Just… one… more.

The last debate before the Iowa caucus is tonight. 9PM EST, hosted by Fox News. We just need to hold out for a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer, and it’ll be done until after the Iowa results.

Anyway: expect tonight to be as knockdown and drag-out a fight between Romney and Gingrich as either dares to do; Huntsman and Perry will try to keep themselves from immolating themselves on national TV; and the other three will be having some bittersweet moments of pre-nostalga. Yes, yes, I know that Ron Paul is currently polling well in Iowa; it’s not going to help. Sorry.

Still: almost there.

QotD, Presidential Candidates Take Note edition.

The Polling Company did a survey of Iowa Republican voters for Independent Women’s Voice* to determine what those voters are looking for. Click the link for the actual numbers (although I will note that possibly the most eyebrow-raising one is that “[n]o GOP hopeful has locked up more than 9% of Iowa caucus-goers”), but here’s the executive summary:

At this point it’s impossible to predict who will top the field in Iowa come January. It’s clear, however, that Iowa Republican voters want a candidate to emerge who is committed to repealing ObamaCare, reforming financially unstable entitlement programs, and devolving Washington’s power. And they want that candidate to use Iowa’s presidential springboard to reach the White House and enact real change.

I will refrain from commentary on this, except to note that none of this is fundamentally beyond the reach of any of the current GOP candidates for President. They just have to want to reach for it.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Continue reading QotD, Presidential Candidates Take Note edition.

If this story is accurate, Herman Cain will not win Iowa.

(HT: Hot Air Headlines) Herman Cain will not even come close to winning Iowa. This is the takeaway passage from the article that Team Cain needs to read and address right now.

Cain last visited Iowa on Oct. 22, and Tuel said the next time he expects the candidate back in the state is Nov. 19. Tuel also noted that plans are in the works for an early December bus tour through the state, much like the one Cain took ahead of the August Ames Straw Poll. Campaign sources said the tour might include a “mega town hall meeting,” with thousands in attendance.

During a lunchtime visit this week to Cain’s headquarters, located in a shopping center in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, reporters from ABC News found about a dozen volunteers telephoning potential supporters, many of them older Iowans. When ABC returned in the evening — a time when local campaign offices would usually be packed with an after-work crowd — only two volunteers remained in the office. They said that others were at home making placards for Friday night’s Iowa Republican Party Dinner, which Cain does not plan to attend.

ABC News visited the same campaign headquarters last month and found the office quiet and empty.

Continue reading If this story is accurate, Herman Cain will not win Iowa.

Gov. Perry at the Iowa Republican Presidential Forum on Manufacturing.

Perry plans to end federal ethanol subsidies, by the way.

Texas governor and Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry participated in a Presidential manufacturing forum today in Pella, Iowa (hosted by the Vermeer Corporation): and it’s pretty interesting viewing.

(The entire forum (and transcript) can be seen here.)

Governor Perry answered questions from both the moderators and the audience: if I had to sum up fifteen minutes of informed, fairly specific commentary in one sentence it would be “The single largest problem that the USA is facing in terms of job and economic growth is our own regulatory climate.” Perry was obviously relaxed and confident throughout the proceedings, which leads me to wonder whether a large part of his past public appearance issues have been due to lingering pain from his recent back surgery. Certainly he was knowledgeable and engaging throughout this particular event.

Continue reading Gov. Perry at the Iowa Republican Presidential Forum on Manufacturing.

Herman Cain ’12 Iowa caucuses: Obama, 2008? Or Dean, 2004?

Hot Air and Ace of Spades HQ are both contemplating the issue of Herman Cain, whether he can win, and whether he is truly likely to win. Fortunately or unfortunately – depending on your point of view – I take a utilitarian point of view on the matter: what does the Herman Cain Iowa plan look like? Does it look like this?

Campaign organizer: We’re going to harness the power of the grassroots and take this country back by getting together and coming together with one voice in caucuses all across Iowa to win and we’ve got people calling and the enthusiasm out there that I’m seeing every day is infectious!

…or does it look like this? Continue reading Herman Cain ’12 Iowa caucuses: Obama, 2008? Or Dean, 2004?

Tim Pawlenty comes out against farm subsidies. In Iowa.

In his official speech kicking off his campaign:

I’m here today to tell Iowans the truth, too.

America is facing a crushing debt crisis the likes of which we’ve never seen before. We need to cut spending, and we need to cut it…big time. The hard truth is that there are no longer any sacred programs.

The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out. We need to do it gradually. We need to do it fairly. But we need to do it.

Continue reading Tim Pawlenty comes out against farm subsidies. In Iowa.

On the Ellen Lewin situation.

Very quick background: Ellen Lewin is a professor at the University of Iowa who saw fit to reply to an (approved) mass email from the Iowa College Republicans with a “F*ck you, Republicans” mass email reply – only it wasn’t approved, wasn’t bowdlerized, and used her work email (which is the real problem). Lewin, of course, is trying the standard ‘Sorry if you were offended’ dodge, coupled with the ‘You made me do it by merely existing’ one – and a bit of a petulant whine about how one of the people that she just cursed out disrespected her by calling her by her first name, instead of the title (of respect) “Professor” (and thanks to the College Republican faculty adviser for highlighting that last bit).

Anyway: I wonder how quickly Ellen would lodge a complaint if her Republican students prefaced every response and comment in class with a “F*ck you, Ellen.” I’m going to guess, pretty darn quick. And with an utter lack of appreciation for the inherent irony of that complaint. Because, please remember: we’re not really human to people like Ellen. And when people like Ellen get stung in the self-importance, the mask swiftly slips.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

Via Instapundit.

Meet Ben Lange (R CAND, IA-01).

We actually talked yesterday, but Ben’s campaign came out with an online ad that they want to showcase. I was happy to oblige; it’s a good ad (and can be seen after the fold). The interview itself is below:

Ben’s site is here: he’s up against Bruce Braley, so every little bit helps. Continue reading Meet Ben Lange (R CAND, IA-01).

DGA spent 800K… attacking Obama.

Doofuses.

I believe that the topical response to this would be “You’re doing it wrong.”

Major Dem donors who wrote checks to the Democratic Governors Association funded a below-the-radar campaign that attacked Pres. Obama and other Dem all-stars, all in hopes of knocking off a strong GOP challenger.

[snip]

Iowans for Responsible Government is a 527 group founded by Rob Tully, the former state Dem Party chairman. Reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service this morning show the group raised $782K and spent $767K in the second quarter. That money came entirely from the DGA, in 3 contributions in May and June.

…And that money was spent trying – and failing – to get rid of Terry Branstad in the primary by claiming that he was a liberal Obama supporter. If it had worked, it might have revived Chet Culver’s collapsing campaign; as it stands, it’s over three quarters of a million dollars of Democratic money piled on the ground and set on fire. Branstad can now point to pretty much any criticism that he’s not conservative enough and plausibly claim that it’s just more Democratic smear-mongering. He’s already started. I imagine that Reps. Bruce Bailey and Leonard Boswell aren’t too happy about this, either: both need top-ticket support this cycle if they want to survive. Continue reading DGA spent 800K… attacking Obama.

Lots of Primaries today.

According to RCP, we’ve got primaries in California, Iowa, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Virginia. The news has been dominated by California’s, Nevada’s, and of course South Carolina’s – but they’re all important, so if you’re a voter in that state, hie yourselves and any reliable Republican voters within reach to a polling station. You can let the Democrats in your life sleep in, particularly in New Jersey and Virginia.

Also: KEEP YOUR VIDEO CAMERAS HANDY, PARTICULARLY IF YOU LIVE IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Anti-reform opponents of Nikki Haley and Bill Connor may be now past the point where their shenanigans can shape public opinion in time for the actual primary election, but there’s plenty of things that you can do to illicitly affect an election. Fortunately, sunlight is an excellent disinfectant – and, remember: as Mark Steyn notes here, Helen Thomas was taken down by a flipcam. There’s a reason that both Instapundit and I keep harping on this…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.