Iowa: Senate Democrats Give in to Daily Pledge of Allegiance

Iowa Senate President Jack Kibbie said Tuesday the Democrat-controlled Senate will agree to a Republican request to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily at the beginning of business.

Sen. Bill Dix, a Shell Rock Republican and former Iowa House member, proposed the daily pledge last week, saying, "We're Americans every day."

Senate members had been reciting the pledge once weekly on Mondays when they convened for daily business. The Iowa House recites the pledge each day.

Des Moines Register

Florida: GOP May Replace Early Primary With Straw Poll

 Look out Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Republicans in the nation's biggest swing state are preparing to weigh in on their party's presidential nominee as early as fall 2011.
The concept: a non-binding Florida straw poll at a massive event billed as ``Presidency V,'' which would also feature a nationally televised presidential debate. The plan, still in its infancy, enjoyed wide support from Republican Party of Florida leaders at its quarterly meeting last weekend.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/15/1975618/floridas-gop-may-replace-troublesome.html#ixzz18JiXcmwJ

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Iowa: Leonard Boswell in Reelection Trouble

Until this year, Boswell has not faced re-election in an environment as potentially hazardous to his party. Boswell's district is the least friendly to federal officeholders, according to the February Iowa Poll.

Fifty-two percent of adults in the 3rd District said they were inclined to replace their federal representatives, the highest rate among Iowa's five congressional districts. The rate jumped even higher among the district's likely voters, to 58 percent.

Des Moines Register

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Iowa: Grassley Cruising in Reelection

Iowa Senator, Chuck Grassley. Image via Wikipedia

Iowa Survey of 500 Likely Voters
March 17, 2010

Election 2010: Iowa Senate
Charles Grassley (R)	57%
Bob Krause (D)	31%
Some Other Candidate	4%
Not Sure	8%

Election 2010: Iowa Senate
Charles Grassley (R)	55%
Roxanne Conlin (D)	36%
Some Other Candidate	4%
Not Sure	5%

Election 2010: Iowa Senate
Charles Grassley (R)	57%
Tom Fiegen (D)	28%
Some Other Candidate	7%
Not Sure	9%

Rasmussen Reports

Iowa: Branstad Is Officially In!

Image by IowaPolitics.com via Flickr

Former Gov. Terry Branstad officially entered the race for the Republican nomination for governor today, announcing via Twitter he will tour the state beginning Jan. 19 in Des Moines.

Branstad, a Boone Republican who served four four-year terms as governor from 1983-99, will continue his announcement tour through Jan. 22, according to a message posted at www.twitter.com/GovBranstad2010.

WCF Courier

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Iowa: Culver Losing to Branstad & Vander Plaats

Iowa Survey of 500 Likely Voters
September 22, 2009

2010 Iowa Governor's Race
Terry Branstad (R)	54%
Chet Culver (D)	34%
Some Other Candidate	8%
Not Sure	4%

2010 Iowa Governor's Race
Bob Vander Plaats (R)	43%
Chet Culver (D)	39%
Some Other Candidate	9%
Not Sure	9%

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Iowa: Branstad Would Defeat Culver by 16 pts

Question: If the elections for Governor were held today, and the candidates were Terry Branstad and Chet Culver, who would you vote for between Terry Branstad, the Republican candidate and Chet Culver, the Democratic candidate?

Branstad: 53%
Culver: 37%
Don’t Know: 6%
Neither: 4%

Source: Concordia Group via The Iowa Republican

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Iowa: Early Voting Close to same pace 2004

Iowa – early and absentee voting, this year so far:

Democrat: 132,882, 50%

Republican:76,689, 29%

Other: 53,787,20%

Iowa – 2004 Final Early and Absentee Vote Numbers:

Democrat: 185,115, 48%

Republican: 118,167, 30%

Other:86,071, 22%

The Campaign Spot

And if Nevada and Florida are a clue, a lot less Democrats will be voting for Obama than voted for Kerry. Iowa looks like a toss up, no wonder all the attention from both campaigns in recent days.

Iowa Stunner

Obama will be back in Iowa to defend a state that everyone had written off as safely Democrat just a few days ago. Poll numbers have fallen drastically in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota over the last week, although Obama still has a tiny lead in each of these states.

Iowa Surprisingly Competitive

Some GOP observers with experience in Iowa and national politics are dismayed that the campaign is spending so much time here. Others say McCain must see something competitive for the ticket that few others do, in a state where polls show Democrat Barack Obama leading.

"I am puzzled by the decision because it seems to me the most precious resource presidential and vice presidential candidates have is their time," said Joe Gaylord, former executive director of the Iowa Republican Party and top adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "And their appearances in Iowa, while perhaps inspirational to the base, might be better spent in other states now.
Des Moines Register

The reason is that the polls in Iowa, just like in the rest of the country, are drastically oversampling Democrats. This ensures that Obama will appear to have a pretty big lead even before the poll has been taken. McCain does appear to be down in Iowa, but only by a margin in the low single digits.

Obama Stumbling in Northern Midwest

Obama is seen as having a great deal of difficulty in closing the deal in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. McCain would be likely to pick at least one of these states off if the election were held today, due to the undecideds breaking heavily in his favor and the Bradley Effect. My gut would say Wisconsin, but I will go with Minnesota for now because the numbers seem a little better there. I still believe Obama is winning in Iowa, just not by as much as the slanted polls are claiming—unless McCain can pull even in the polls. Then you are looking at a surprise Trumanesque landslide.

McCain Makes Modest Gains in Iowa

McCain (R)	Obama (D)	Other / Not sure	Date
(12) Rasmussen Reports	43%	51%	6%	Sept. 25
(11) Marist College	41%	51%	8%	Sept. 18-21
(10) Research 2000	39%	53%	8%	Sept. 15-17
(9) SurveyUSA	43%	54%	3%	Sept. 17-18
(8) University of Wisc-Mad	45%	45%	10%	Sept. 14-17
(7) Selzer & Co.	40%	52%	8%	Sept. 8-10
(6) Opinion Research Corp.	40%	55%	5%	Aug. 31-Sept. 2
(5) Univ. of Iowa	43%	50%	7%	Aug. 4-13
(4) Rasmussen Reports	44%	49%	7%	Aug. 7
(3) Rasmussen Reports	38%	48%	14%	Jul. 10
(2) SurveyUSA	45%	49%	6%	Jun. 13-16
(1) Rasmussen Reports	38%	45%	16%	Jun. 10

(12) Rasmussen Reports - Telephone interviews with 700 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Sept. 25, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(11) Marist College Institute for Public Opinion - Telephone interviews with 467 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Sept. 18 to Sept. 21, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.
(10) Research 2000 - Telephone interviews with 600 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Sept. 15 to Sept. 17, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(9) SurveyUSA - Telephone interviews with 702 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18, 2008. Margin of error is 3.8 per cent.
(8) University of Wisconsin-Madison - Telephone interviews with 643 registered Iowa voters, conducted from Sept 14 to Sept. 17, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(7) Selzer & Co. - Telephone interviews with 616 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(6) Opinion Research Corporation - Telephone interviews with 828 registered Iowa voters, conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, 2008. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.
(5) University of Iowa - Telephone interviews with 617 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Aug. 4 to Aug. 13, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(4) Rasmussen Reports - Telephone interviews with 700 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Aug. 7, 2008. Margin of error is 4 per cent.
(3) Rasmussen Reports - Telephone interviews with 500 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Jul. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 4.1 per cent.
(2) SurveyUSA - Telephone interviews with 528 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Jun. 13 to Jun. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 4.4 per cent.
(1) Rasmussen Reports - Telephone interviews with 500 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Jun. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 4.1 per cent.

Compiled by Angus-Reid Global Monitor

New Polls Show McCain & Obama Tied in Pennsylvania and Iowa

In the inaugural Big Ten Battleground Poll taken as the nation’s financial crisis worsened this week, John McCain and Barack Obama were in a statistical dead heat in seven of the eight Midwest states included in the survey.
—Big 10 Poll

Iowa: McCain Cuts Obama Lead in Half

Date	McCain	Obama
8/07/2008	41%	46%
7/10/2008	38%	48%
6/10/2008	38%	45%
5/13/2008	42%	44%
3/31/2008	42%	46%
2/18/2008	41%	44%

—Rasmussen Reports

Top 20 Party Schools

1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
2. University of Mississippi, University, Miss.
3. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.
4. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.
5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
6. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.
7. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
8. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
9. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.
10. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
11. University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.
12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
13. University of Colorado, Boulder, Co.
14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
15. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
16. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
18. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
19. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
20. Loyola University-New Orleans, New Orleans, La.

Source: Princeton Review

Ethanol Pushers Have Hands All Over Obama Campaign

Nowadays, when Mr. Obama travels in farm country, he is sometimes accompanied by his friend Tom Daschle , the former Senate majority leader from South Dakota. Mr. Daschle now serves on the boards of three ethanol companies and works at a Washington law firm where, according to his online job description, “he spends a substantial amount of time providing strategic and policy advice to clients in renewable energy.”
Mr. Obama’s lead advisor on energy and environmental issues, Jason Grumet, came to the campaign from the National Commission on Energy Policy, a bipartisan initiative associated with Mr. Daschle and Bob Dole , the Kansas Republican who is also a former Senate majority leader and a big ethanol backer who had close ties to the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland
—New York Times

Iowa: 2 Polls Show Obama With Small Lead

	McCain (R)	Obama (D)	Other / Not sure	Date
(2) SurveyUSA	45%	49%	6%	Jun. 13-16
(1) Rasmussen Reports	38%	45%	16%	Jun. 10

(2) SurveyUSA - Telephone interviews with 528 likely Iowa voters, conducted from Jun. 13 to Jun. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 4.4 per cent.
(1) Rasmussen Reports - Telephone interviews with 500 likely Iowa voters, conducted on Jun. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 4.1 per cent.

Iowa: Obama Slows Down Emergency Flood Preparation for Photo-Op

"I wish this guy from Chicago would leave so we could finish filling the sandbags..."

Iowa: McCain Leads Clinton, Trails Obama

John McCain (R) vs. Barack Obama (D)
John McCain	42%
Barack Obama	46%

John McCain (R) vs. Hillary Clinton (D)
John McCain	51%
Hillary Clinton	36%

Obvious: Congressman States al-Qaeda Would Celebrate Obama Victory

But then again, so many are afraid to state the obvious in public.