Thicke Considering Run for Sec. of Agriculture

Desmoinesdem broke the news yesterday at Bleeding Heartland that Francis Thicke, an organic dairy farmer near Fairfield, is planning to run for Secretary of Agriculture.

Thicke would be an outstanding asset to Iowa as Secretary of Agriculture. A working farmer and expert on many agricultural policy issues, he currently serves on Iowa's USDA State Technical Committee and has an impressive list of publications. In the past he has served on the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission, the Iowa Food Policy Council, and the Iowa Organic Standards Board. [...]

If Thicke runs for Secretary of Agriculture, his campaign is likely to become a focal point for environmentalists who aren't satisfied with our current Democratic leadership in Iowa.

Thicke released this statement yesterday with more information...

March 20, 2009

THICKE FORMS EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE FOR IOWA SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE

Francis Thicke (Tic-kee) announced today that he has formed an exploratory committee to advise him on the possibility of running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in the 2010 election. Thicke and his wife, Susan, are owners and operators of an organic, grass-based dairy farm near Fairfield . They process their milk on the farm and market it locally through grocery stores and restaurants.

Citing estimates that more than 80% of the $8 billion worth of food consumed in Iowa comes from out of state, Thicke said "Growing more of our food in Iowa represents a multi-billion dollar economic development opportunity." This potential economic activity could "create thousands of new jobs and help revitalize rural communities in Iowa, as well as provide Iowans with fresh, nutritious food," said Thicke.

The ethanol industry has been struggling to survive in today's changing economic climate. "Iowa's investment in ethanol production has brought economic development to agriculture, and we need to protect that investment," said Thicke. "However, it is time to reassess, and consider how future investments in renewable energy can be better targeted to profit farmers, and better protect our natural resource base."

Thicke has a Ph.D. in agronomy/soil fertility and has previously served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. as National Program Leader for Soil Science for the USDA-Extension Service. Thicke frequently speaks at conferences and workshops in Iowa, across the Midwest, and nationally on a wide range of topics, including local food systems and economic development, ecologically sound animal production systems, organic farming practices, and soil management for sustainable farming.

Thicke has served on the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission and the Iowa Food Policy Council at the appointment of Governor Vilsack, and on the Iowa Organic Standards Board at the appointment of Governor Branstad. He currently serves on Iowa's USDA State Technical Committee.

"I am looking forward to engaging people across the state in a dialogue on opportunities to make Iowa agriculture more prosperous and sustainable," Thicke said.

My first thought was that Thicke is qualified to hold this position and lead on key issues such as renewable energy, locally grown foods, and local control of hog confinements. Next, I thought this means Denise O'Brien, who narrowly lost in 2006, won't be running. O'Brien and Thicke have similar backgrounds and why beat each other up in a primary when they both care about the same issues.

Live Blogging PIN Conference: Loebsack, Bolkcom, Fallon, O'Brien

I am at the Progressive Iowa Network/DFIA conference in Iowa City. There are probably 50 people in attendence, mostly from Iowa City/Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities. There are representives from the Obama, Richardson, Biden, and Kucinich campaigns.

State Senator Joe Bolkcom (D-Iowa City) is introduced and as soon as he got to the podium Rep. Dave Loebsack came in and bumped Sen. Bolkcom. Bolkcom graciously gives up the podium and Loebsack promises this will be the only time this happens.

Loebsack thanks the people in attendance and says he knows a lot of the people here. Thanks Joyce Shulte, who ran against Steve King in 2006.

I know some of you aren't happy with everything the Congress has been doing. If I was elected in a district where 60% of the people voted for Bush, it would be a lot harder to do what I have been doing. I don't have extraordinary political courage.

Loebsack will be speaking at the ceremony of the departure of troops in Ottumwa. He says the war must come to an end and he is doing everything he can to end it. Bush is not treating properly. Democrats are trying to do that in House and Senate.

Bolkcom is back at the podium. He is speaking about the accomplishments that were made in the last legislative session. He says the progress began in previous sessions and we finally started to see them happen. He says we were disapointed on some of the issues. It is easy for him to support every Progressive issue because his district votes 60-70% Democratic, but reality is most districts are 50-50%. It is vitally important that the fiscal house is in order and manage the resources we have.

Bolkcom is talking about starting the session in the Iowa Senate by passing a resolution against the troop escalation in Iraq. He says it wasn't picked up by the House, but it sent a message. Bolkcom sister chimes in that Joe won an award and you can see it on YouTube (Blog for Iowa has the video here.). Bolkcom goes through the progressive accomplishments that were made and reads off the tabacco tax, expanding civil rights, teacher's pay, anti-bullying in schools, cracking down on predatory lending, greenhouse gas registry and advisory council, and expanded the earned income tax credit.

One theme Sen. Bolkcom has is that it takes time for issues to develop. He says every issue that was passed has been in the works for a few years. He says the issues need to be discussed around Iowa and not just the progressive community. Fair share, clean elections, and health care reform are issues that would fit into this category.

Rep. Art Staed is now up. He is talking about the makeup of his district that means he must more of moderate voice in the House. He says we must bring the progressive issues need to br brought up at candidate appearences, both Democratic and Republican events. He says he is glad education and civil rights issues aren't part of the workshop events later because strong advances were made this year. He hopes more can be done on the environment and local control, health care, taxes, and highways and transporation. These issues need to be addressed in the next legislative session. Staed brings up the VOICE legislation and he thought it would be voted on in the House, but there were some problems in the funding aspect.

It is Ed Fallon's turn. Ed says the best thing about not being in office is that he can wear whatever he wants to events like these. Ed has shorts and a Buy Fresh, Buy Local T-shirt on. Some issues that need to be addressed in Iowa are CAFO's. We can't be spending more time in task forces, we need to take action on this issue and if not it might be a very, very short tenure for Democrats in the legislature.

Voluntary public financing is the key. If that is passed, we can see progress on many other issues because it cuts out the moneyed interests. Gronstal even voted for campaign finance reform 3 times back in the early 90's. Fallon thanks Rep. Pam Jocham (D-Dubuque) for her work on this issue. He says the VOICE bill has a chance to be the best law in the nation because it takes into account and fixes problems similar bills have had in Maine and Arizona.

Denise O'Brien is speaking now. She says she loves to come to Iowa City and thanks the people here for their support. She says she was disapointed with the outcome of the election, but has recovered. She mentions the nasty attacks that were made at the end of the campaign. She had been an activist for many years, but decided to make the change and run for office and she hasn't ruled out running again. That comment got large applause from the audience. She is disucssing the bill that gets local foods used in our schools. Agriculture is the environment issue in Iowa. This was a theme of her campaign and could have been a reason she lost. She stood up to the interests that are against family farming and the environment and other people can too. She goes off on aside and asks what can we do about Sioux County. She says her opponent had 10,000 more votes there. We must think about local economies, local food, and local businesses. These are our roots and where are values and families are and they must be strong for small towns to survive. She moves on to CAFO's. The only people in Iowa that are for large hog confinements are the big money. It is not agriculture, it is agribusiness. If North Carolina, which isn't a very progressive state, can have a moritoriam on CAFO's, why can't Iowa. These agribusinesses have bought their influence and clean elections would help limit their influence.

That is all of the elected officials and former candidates that are set to speak. Lunch is coming up and then we will be breaking up into workshop on the issues of VOICE, CAFO's, Fair Share, health care, and media. My battery is running low, so I need to go charge up.

Denise O'Brien Says Thanks

Tuesday was a great day for Democrats nationwide and for Democrats in Iowa, but I know a lot of people were disapointed that Denise O'Brien lost her race for Sec. of Agriculture. Denise sent out this email yesterday....

Friends,

We have a lot to be proud of today. We stood strong on important issues. We brought to many Iowans a new vision for Iowa agriculture with new opportunities for rural and urban areas, and we created a network that connected hundreds of thousands of Iowans who already shared that vision. We also showed that a candidate offering new progressive ideas can be strongly competitive in Iowa. I have worked on these issues for most of my life, and I’m not going to stop now.

We ran a strong, positive campaign. I traveled tirelessly and my biodiesel bus reached all 99 counties. In the general election alone, we raised over $350,000 from nearly 1,800 contributors. That’s more than any candidate has ever raised for this race. We finished with 49% of the vote, despite being outspent nearly 2-to-1 by my opponent and a 527 group.

I want to thank my family for all their personal sacrifice, my supporters for their endless work, and the nearly half million Iowans who voted for me. I have been honored to be part of the fight for a better future for rural Iowa.

I am very proud of everyone involved in the campaign. This campaign is about all of you, and our shared vision. There is room in this state for all types of agriculture to succeed while still ensuring that rural Iowa is a great place to live, and a place where new farmers have a chance to thrive. I am gratified that your commitment to this campaign raised these issues to the prominence that they deserve.

I don’t think there has ever been a more exciting time for Iowa agriculture. Opportunity abounds with things like the exploding interest in local, healthy food and the burgeoning demand in renewable fuels. I for one am excited to continue to work to make sure that all Iowa families have a chance to participate in this exciting future. Rural Iowa can be the best place to live and provide all types of farmers a good living. We all need to continue to work together to make sure this possibility becomes a reality.

Finally, let me just say that the faith so many placed in me over this campaign has been humbling. It has been an honor to work with all of you to make this state a better place. And I do look forward to our work in the future.

Thank you all so much.

Sincerely,

Denise

Denise O'Brien Gets It

Back in September I thought to myself that, if all races were of equal importance, I would want Denise O'Brien to win the most out of any Democratic candidate. I couldn't really put my finger on the reason why. There are a lot of other good Democrats running for office (and a few not so good ones), but there is something about O'Brien that makes her stand out above everyone else.

Yesterday in the Des Moines Register Rekha Basu sums up my thoughts in a great article about O'Brien and explains how O'Brien just "gets it" about Iowa's future. The article begins with Basu retelling how she thought when she moved to Iowa, she would be living in a country house where milk was delivered and you were able to buy food from a roadside stand. Basu goes on to add...

We hadn't completely grasped that Des Moines was city and not country, or that Iowa agriculture was almost strictly about corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs, produced on an exceptionally large scale, then shipped elsewhere.

That would explain why the corn at the grocery store came from Missouri, and the pork was no fresher or choicer than anywhere else. And despite being a soybean state, there was no Iowa tofu to be found; soybeans went to feed the livestock. It also explained why there were few full-time farmers, and why people scratched their heads when I asked about visiting a working family farm.

Iowa wasn't "farm" country culturally or economically. It was corporate-agriculture country, interests well represented by the Farm Bureau and the big producers' and growers' associations.

The mystery was why we, as a state, accepted this model as best despite the costs to small farmers and the environment, and though rural communities were dying.

Basu closes by saying that there are Iowans that want to farm and Iowans that want to buy fresh food locally. O'Brien understands this and wants to make this a reality. This is a great chance for our rural communties to grow, it is a great chance for Iowa to grow. O'Brien gets it. I hope many other Iowans get it too and elect Denise O'Brien as the next Secretary of Agriculture.

Election 2006 Posts

I thought I would go through the posts that I have written on the candidates and put them in one post to make it easier for people to find.

Governor
Quad City Times Endorses Culver
Watch out Chet, the Boogeyman is Catching Up! - recommended
Report from the Johnson County Democratic BBQ -recommended
Lamberti Attacks Nussle's budget record
Nussle Scams Teachers, Children, and Future with NCLB
Iowa Teachers Endorse Culver

1st District
Braley Endorsed by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald
Meet the Real Bruce Braley
Braley Profiled on FireDogLake

2nd District
New Poll in 2nd District...Leach 50%, Loebsack 48%
Comments on Leach and Loebsack Debate - recommended
My Meeting With Dave Loebsack - recommended
Report from the Johnson County Democratic BBQ - recommended
Centrism is for Suckers (or the Sierra Club and NEA get swindled) - recommended
Leach Votes to Give Rich Another Tax Break and Hurt Working Iowans
2nd District Convention Report -recommended

4th District
Message from Selden Spencer
Spencer Endorsed by the Mason City Globe Gazette
Wes Clark Raising Money for Selden Spencer - recommended
Spencer's TV Ad Up and Ready To Go
Notes from Spencer's Campaign Stop -recommended
Latham Criticized for Negative Attack
Not Very Many People Like Tom Latham
Spencer's Speech at the Harkin Steak Fry - recommended
Selden Spencer Media Day
Selden Spencer Blogging from Afghanistan - recommended
Spencer Gets Props on MyDD - recommended
Latham Better Watch Out
Spencer Barnstorming the 4th District
4th District Convention Report

Sec. of Agriculture
Meeting Denise O'Brien - recommended
Met Denise O'Brien Over the Weekend

New Polls from the Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register has a bunch of new polls out. Here's a quick rundown...

Governor: Culver 52% - Nussle 43%
1st District: Braley 56% - Whalen 35%
Sec. of Ag: Northey 43% - O'Brien 42%
Sec. of State: Mauro 43% - Hanusa 33%

The only race that I am surprised about is for Sec of Agriculture. 2 weeks ago in the same poll, O'Brien was up 40% to 26%. So over the last 2 weeks her opponet gained 17% while O'Brien went up just 2%. It looks like the race will be real close.

This is the 2nd straight poll that has Culver over 50%. It seems Nussle can't get more than in the low 40's. Here is where the candidates are getting their support from...

Culver runs stronger than Nussle in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd congressional districts, which cover most of eastern Iowa. They run nearly neck-and-neck in the 4th District.

Nussle has the advantage in western Iowa's 5th District, a vote-rich area for Republicans that could give him a big boost if he's able to turn out the vote in that part of the state.

In the 2nd District, I wonder if Loebsack can follow Culver's coatails to pick up a couple % points.

Meeting Denise O'Brien

Yesterday, I attended a campaign event with Denise O'Brien. Of all the candidates I have met this campaign season, Denise has to be the nicest. I first met her back in June and she remembered me and asked how my 2nd graders were doing. So she not only remembered that I was a teacher, but she remembered the grade. I attended the first of 2 events she did in town and in between events she met with some local residents to discuss a planned hog confinement. I think it was great that took an hour away from campaigning out local residents and provide them with her expertise in the area. These are just 2 examples that show the type of person Denise O'Brien is.

At the event, O'Brien talked about 3 main things. First, she wants to get new people on the land and said that 10 years ago there were 60,000 hog farmers in Iowa and now their are just 11,000. That is not getting more farmers on the land. She said that trend can't continue for Iowa's rural communities to prosper. Second, she discussed local ownership and mentioned biodiesel and ethanol. She said that if we build this biodiesel and ethanol plants and they are owened by outside interests Iowans will still be paying high prices. We must make investments in Iowa by Iowans. Finally, she believes in local control, saying that Iowa's laws aren't strong enough. She said that a bill has been stuck in committee in the legislator for a few years now and that if Democrats gain control there might actually be a vote on it and it could pass. Denise closed saying that she brings leadership that can bring peole together to make the right decisions for Iowa.

The race for Sec. of Agriculture comes down to one simple thing. Do you want to live in an Iowa where Iowans farm the land, make the decisions, and reap the benefits or do you want to live in an Iowa where out of state corporate interests make the decisions for your communties? If you want to live in an Iowa where the land provides an opportunity for Iowans, then vote for Denise O'Brien.

Culver, O'Brien, and Mauro take leads in new Register poll

The Des Moines Register has a new poll that shows Chet Culver with a 7 point lead over Jim Nussle at 46% to 39%. From the Register article...

While the vast majority of likely voters remain loyal to their party's gubernatorial candidate, independents now prefer Culver over Nussle, 43 percent to 33 percent. In the mid-September Iowa Poll, Nussle had a 2-point edge over Culver among independents.

And here is a look at how the candidates are doing in each congressional district...

Culver runs stronger than Nussle in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd congressional districts, which cover most of eastern Iowa. They run nearly neck-and-neck in the 4th District.

Nussle has the advantage in western Iowa's 5th District, a vote-rich area for Republicans that could give him a big boost if he's able to turn out the vote in that part of the state.

The Register also did polling on the Sec. of Agriculture race and the race for Sec. of State. Denise O'Brien (D) leads Bill Northey (R) 40% to 26% with 32% undecided. For Sec of State, Democrat Michael Mauro leads Washington DC resident Mary Ann Hanusa 32% to 25% with 41% undecided. This is good for the Democrats in these races, but there is a lot of undecideds out there that could sway things.

Denise O'Brien gets support from DFA

Got this email the other day...

Democracy for America supports fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government. That's why we are supporting Denise O'Brien for Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture.

http://www.deniseobrien.com/

Denise has been an organic farmer and farm activist for over 30 years. She and her husband ran a dairy farm for 20 of those 30 years. During this time Denise became interested in agriculture policy that promotes the family farm. She has helped start several progressive programs to fight corporate influence in farming. In the 1990's she lunched the Women, Food and Agriculture Network -- an organization that supports women in farming.

Support Denise O'Brien

Denise's experience over the past 30 years has prepared her to step forward as a leader in Iowa. When elected she will work to create more opportunities in farming. She wants to reduce the influence of industrial agriculture -- which has a serious impact on family farms and prevents young farmers from entering agriculture. Denise will work with local farmers to clean up the water. This essential resource needs to be protected and preserved. She will also work to boost the local economy by promoting locally owned renewable energy operations.

With your support, Denise can win her campaign and bring progressive values to the Secretary of Agriculture's office. Please visit her website and help her in any way you can.

http://www.deniseobrien.com/

Sincerely,

Jim Dean
Chair

Report from the Johnson County Democrats BBQ

I had a great time at the Johnson County Democrats BBQ. The event was very well attended and it is lucky the Hawks pulled out the victory or the speakers would have faced a tough crowd. The first speaker at the event was Mike Mauro, who squeezed in some remarks during a commercial break. Mauro stressed three things: making voting easy, making voting accessable, and insuring safety and integrity in our elections. I will be shocked if Mauro is defeated in November.

Once the game was over the program began. After the introductions of the local candidates the Nussle Hussle dancers debuted with a special guest appearence from Gov. Vilsack. They put on a pretty good show.

Then it was time for the speakers. First up was Dave Loebsack. This was my first time meeting Loebsack and I was very impressed. He spoke about trade agreements, the mess that is Medicare Part D, and the need for Universal Health Care. He left giving 1 campaign promise. When elected, he will never leave behind those that need our help.

Loebsack then introduced CT Senator Chris Dodd. Dodd came out saying that this Connecticut Yankee has recieved a warm welcome in Iowa. Dodd's theme was community. He said Americans need to come together as one community and we can achieve amazing things when we work together. Dodd said that under Bush the theme has been "your on your own" and the greatest achievements by our country was achieved by working together as a community.

Dodd gave a good speech and he has a solid history of progressive stances on the issues. However, I think it will be hard for a Connecticut Yankee or a Northeat Liberal to be elected in 2008. I do hope he enters the race because we need more people out there pushing progressive issues.

Tom Vilsack was up next. Vilsack was very passionate and fired up. Maybe the Hawkeye game got him pumped up. Vilsack talked about how Johnson County Democrats have led the push for universal health care, education, and equal rights for gays. Vilsack added that it is this election that these issues are finally coming up.

Johnson County is a very progressive community. It is progressive ideas like universal health care, education, and equal rights that will lead this county forward. That is why we need Progressive candidates that are willing to fight for the underdog and not a DLC candidate who is afraid to take a stand because they might step outside the so-called center or upset the corporate interests.

The final speaker was Chet Culver. This was the first time hearing Culver since the primary. I have heard that Culver still needed some work on his stump, but after hearing him, I was impressed. His speech was very good and it was very clear that he has a plan. If I had a quarter for everytime he said that he has a plan, I could start my own Values Fund. Speaking of Culver's plan, I think his plan for education and renewable energy are great and those are my top 2 issues. Culver said that this election comes down to values. At this point, I was really hoping he would mention Nussle's lack of family values, but he didn't. Instead, Culver said that he was born in Iowa and has served in Iowa and leads with Iowa values. Nussle has served in Washington DC and would bring the Washington values of deficit, deceit, and cronyism to Iowa.

I was happy that I decided to make the trip for this event. I got the chance to hear some good speeches and I also met 2 bloggers and 2 regular posters on Democratic Underground.

For some more coverage and pictures check out John Deeth's blog.

Met Denise O'Brien Over the Weekend

I had the chance to meet our next Sec. of Agriculture, Denise O'Brien over the weekend at the Iowa State BBQ Contest in Marshalltown. After talking to her, I found out why she won the primary. She is a very nice, caring, and thoughtful person. It would be hard to find a person that wouldn't vote for her after talking to her.

O'Brien didn't give any speeches, she just went around talking to people. She talked about her vast experiences farming and being an activist for 30 years. She was very interested finding ways to bridge the urban-rural gap in the state. She even talked to someone from the Iowa State BBQ Society about ways that group can be connected to the agriculture community in the state. She also discussed renewable energy. The green bus was not there. They loaned to a group that takes medical supplies to Central America, so it was in Milwaukee getting loaded up for the trip. They will have it back and ready to go in time for RAGBRAI. And yes, there was some great BBQ eaten.

O'Brien is throwing a party this Friday, June 30th on her farm in Atlantic to celebrate her victory in the primary. It sounds like a lot of fun. Here is what her site says...

Denise's win was the biggest primary victory in the state of Iowa and we now have the opportunity to bring her vision to Des Moines. Come help us celebrate on her family's farm and begin the push to November. Donations are welcome and encouraged.

Please bring a covered dish, your own drinks and lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of live music and fun!

4th District Convention Report

I attended the 4th District Convention yesterday in Ft. Dodge. It was my first district convention experience and was pretty fun, though somewhat long. I met Drew Miller and Gavin there, both had laptops and Drew did some live-blogging from the event. Yes, Mr. Deeth, we did have wireless Internet. I didn't take any notes, so I am just going to toss out a summary.

Daryl Beal, State Senator from Ft. Dodge was the convention chair. He did his best to make the day exciting, and yes glamorous. State Sen. Jack Kibbie, Senate Co-President, was there and spoke later in the day. I didn't know much about Kibbie, but from the sounds of it the Iowa Democratic Party owes a lot to him for his years of great service. These 2 State Senators showed me once again how bad Larry "Quite your Fibbin" McKibben is.

Denise O'Brien, candidate for Sec. of Ag, was the first speaker. She was very enthusiastic, which was really good early in the day. She said that will be traveling in a green bus during the 30 days before the primary that will run on homemade bio-diesel. Her son-in-law has been collecting firer grease from local restaurants for awhile and making the homemade biodiesel. (Doing a little research when I got home O'Brien has a blog that is actually updated frequently.)

Selden Spencer, running for Congress against Tom Latham, spoke next. His message was great and he had some fantastic lines. He explained how he decided to run, how the Republicans have failed us, and what he wants to do when he is elected. His message really excited the crowd. He mentioned being a rubber stamp and empty suit in the same sentence as Latham often and got loud cheers each time. You could tell that Spencer is new to running for office. His message was great, but he could use a little more polish on his delivery. One piece of advice from this amateur is to make sure you take up a bottle of water with you when speaking. As he speaks more and more, he will get better. His message was there and the excitement was overflowing.

Perhaps, the most interesting part of the convention was the voting for the state central committee. There were 4 females and 5 males running with 3 females and 3 males getting elected. To be elected you needed to have a majority of the votes, which meant that we would vote over and over until people got over 50%. After it got narrowed down to just 2 females, the two woman tied, so one of the them decided to drop out, so we wouldn't have to vote over and over. For the most part, the people I voted for made it!

Sec. of State candidate Michael Mauro spoke. He stressed how important it is to have a Democrat as Sec. of State, pointing to Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Mauro talked about his experience running elections in Polk Co. and how that would be valuable as Sec. of State.

Dusky Terry came and spoke. He had a lot of the same ideas as O'Brien and made it sound like whomever was the last Sec. of Agriculture did not do a very good job with factory farms and water quality. He did not say this, but that is the feeling I got from the speech. Terry said that Iowa needs to improve a lot in those areas. Terry speech was really good, he had it down. It eerily seemed like a TV commercial. Terry is young and seems smart, so he should be a part of Iowa politics for a long time. I liked his ideas, but I also like O'Brien's bus idea. (I couldn't find a website for Terry, maybe I need another cup of coffee.)

Vilsack couldn't make it because of the weather, so he called in. He had some good comments about the same old stuff. It would have been nice to have him there in person, then you could compare the current candidates to him a little easier.

Ed Fallon had John Tapscott, a former candidate for Governor in the 197o's , speak for him. He focused on campaign finance reform and gave a very passionate speech. He said, "if you read the platform that will be approved today, there is only one candidate that stands up for that and that is Ed Fallon. Ed is for a woman's right to choose and against the death penalty." He really showed the differences between Fallon and the other 2 candidates.

The platform process started up and I left the main room to go chat with some people. At this point, my attention span was wearing down and I was getting tired of sitting. I got to talk with Drew, people from the Spencer campaign, Tom Harrington and some other people from Story Co.

Russ Feingold showed up at the same time as Chet Culver. Being a Senator trumps being a candidate for Governor, so Feingold spoke first. He kept his speech short and to the point. He was very enthusiastic and so was the crowd. I think the Democratic base does support the censure by the sound of the applause Feingold got. There was bit of confusion when Feingold said "it is very important that Iowa elects a Democratic Governor and we have 3 great candidates including our next Governor right here!" Culver waiting to speak next, was the only candidate for Governor in the room. Feingold came back later and cleared it up that he did not endorse any candidate for Governor.

I didn't listen to closely to Culver. I went and talked with Feingold and the people from the Progressive Patriots Fund and talked to people running the Spencer fundraiser. From what I heard Culver said all the right things, but it is just hard for me to get excited about him.

Feingold's speech at the fundraiser was full of excitement. He got many ovations, most were standing ovations because most of the people were standing around the pool at the hotel. Many of the people attending totally agreed when Feingold said Democrats need to stand up and show some spine. From what I heard from people in the crowd is that Democrats need to stand up for us because we have their back out here. I think that was the whole theme from Feingold's speech. Hopefully, Feingold comes back to Iowa often in the future.

Spencer and Blouin followed (too bad Fallon couldn't make it), but I didn't pay much attention. I went to shake Feingold's hand before he left and then found the beer cooler. After a long day, a cold one sounded real good.