Newest Resident in Ames

I have heard that Rep. Tom Latham has recently purchased a home in Ames and will be moving there this summer. Supposedly this is going to be a longterm home, but I doubt that. To me this seems like he wants to move into Selden Spencer's backyard to help with campaigning.

Speaking of Ames, I made the trip over to Ames this afternoon. I was getting a little discouraged after seeing 4 SUV's with Bu$h stickers on them until I saw the young woman at Borders with the t-shirt that says, "The only Bush I trust is my own." Thanks, there is still hope.

Fallon for Governor Update: Thanks for your support!

I got this email from the Fallon campaign today and thought I was share it here.

Dear Friends, Well, we didn’t win the Democratic Primary on June 6th. But through your strong support, we sent a message that politics as usual is unacceptable. We created a buzz across the state, and the issues raised in this campaign are not going away.

Last year, the political pundits predicted I’d get no more than 5 or 10% of the vote. I received the support of 38,000 voters – 26% - and finished a strong third on far less money than either of my opponents. I won 8 counties and finished second in 25.

Many people are asking, “What’s next?” While it’s too early to talk about running again, I assure you of one thing: I have a lot of fight in me! Right now, my focus is on two things. First, Chet Culver and I are meeting (and will continue to meet) to discuss issues important to my supporters. I certainly don’t want to see Jim Nussle become governor, but I also want to make sure our concerns have a voice in the fall campaign.

Second, this campaign assembled tremendous resources, which I intend to build on. We have a list of 12,000 solid supporters, 25,000 additional contacts, 1,500 donors, 1,300 volunteers and an e-mail list of 4,400. With your help, I will continue to nurture and develop these contacts to build an even stronger base for future activism, advocacy and elections.

Again, I thank you for all you have done. At a time when clouds continue to darken the political landscape, we have reason for hope and celebration. I will continue my work to assure a brighter future for all who call Iowa home. I would be honored to have your continued support in this effort. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Ed Fallon

http://www.fallonforgovernor.net

Video from YearlyKos

I caught some video from YearlyKos on CSPAN this morning featuring George Lakoff, the person that founded Drinking Liberally, and a few others. It was pretty interesting. It will probably be replayed at sometime and watch it if you get a chance.

Here are a few other videos from YearlyKos including part of a speech by Howard Dean.

Some Risqué Flood Control in Des Moines

From the Des Moines Register.

City design with a vast difference

An anonymous source at City Hall tipped Iowa Ear off to this aerial photo on the Polk County assessor's Web page. It's of the city of Des Moines' detention basin at 2617 Easton Blvd.

The nearly four-acre basin was constructed about two years ago and "took some of the load off of the pipe downstream" and helps prevent flooding, according to Des Moines City Engineer Jeb Brewer.

Brewer swears that consultants who work for the city did not design the $5.7 million detention basin to resemble anything, but recent e-mails to City Hall from area residents seem to have found "art" in the not-so-subtle phallic design.

"It's pretty functional," Brewer said. "There's no artistic statement in our detention basin."

I saw this on Keith Olbermann last night and laughed hysterically. It was one of 2 referrences to Iowa on the show. The other one was a woman from Spencer, who as named as the Worst Person in the World. This woman was arrested on drug charges. With her 1 call from prison she called her 18 year old son and told him to sell the marijuana in the refirgerator for bail money. The police recorded the call and then arrested the son on drug charges.

Thoughts on the Primary

This is actually the 3rd time I am writing this because Blogspot has been down today. Hopefully it works this time.

From my posting the past couple weeks, it wasn't hard to tell that I was voting for Ed Fallon. I have been volunteering in Marshall County for the campaign. I helped organize a group of volunteers and we knocked on over 700 doors the past 3 weeks. This was the first time I had done something of this sort. I learned a great deal and met a lot of people. We were disappointed with the results in Marshall County, as Culver got just over 50%, Blouin 28%, and Fallon 21%. The UAW support really helped Culver here.

Chris at Political Forecast wrote about Fallon winning Polk County and about their grassroots organization.

...Fallon’s winning of the county (Polk) show just how critical a grassroots strategy that focuses on volunteerism and activism, particularly with regards to some of Fallon’s key issues, can change the tide in a district one would expect establishment candidates like Blouin or Culver to win.

Another county where the grassroots strategy was out in full force was Story County. Fallon won Story County with 44% of the vote with Blouin getting 28% and Culver 26%. Merlin, Marcia, Gavin, Susie, David, and a host of others did a great job on the ground in Ames.

Besides Polk and Story, Fallon won Adair, Decatur, Jefferson, Poweshiek, and Winneshiek counties. He got 2nd in 17 other counties. The farther away you get from Des Moines, the support went down, especially in the larger Eastern Iowa counties. He got a strong 2nd in Johnson County, but that was one county that many thought he should win. Here is the analysis from a volunteer for Fallon in Iowa City...

The "take away" I get tonight from looking at the early numbers from the Sec of State site is that Linn County, Scott, Dubuque and the smaller, more rural counties killed us. Ed was generally competitive, but in smaller, rural, and eastern-most counties, we were hammered.

State 29 writes about a piece from Todd Dorman that pretty much nails the primary and the Culver/Nussle matchup. Here is what Dorman wrote about Fallon:

Ed Fallon – Not bad for a guy who ran his campaign out of a minivan. Fallon struck a nerve when he talked about Iowans being sick and tired of politicians bought and paid for by special interests. Culver needs to bring Fallon’s disaffected supporters into the fold if he wants to win.

Another thing Culver needs to do is build upon Fallon's grassroots support. To beat Nussle, Democrats need to do more than just vote...they need to hit the pavement and knock on doors. Nussle will have money coming out of his ears. We won't outspend them, so we will need to out work them.

I want to finish by congratulating Culver on the victory. Even though I voted for Fallon, I didn't see anything that really turned me off on Culver (I just liked Fallon better). After a couple weeks of rest I will be ready to get behind Culver. With the thought of Nussle as Governor, I am pretty sure that other Fallon (and Blouin) supporters will feel the same.

I am off to read Marley and Me.

Air America Radio coming to Iowa City

There has been a group working to get a Progressive Talk Radio Station in the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area for some time now. Their hard work has finally paid off.

Two lineup changes at AM-800 KXIC will bring the progressive political talk radio of the Air America network to eastern Iowa listeners for the first time.

The Randi Rhodes Show will debut on KXIC on Monday, June 12, and run weekdays from 5 to 9 p.m.

The Best of the Thom Hartmann Program will be broadcast every Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to noon.

Now it's Des Moines/Ames areas turn to get on the Progressive Radio bandwagon!

Low Turnout?

I watched the 6:00 news tonight and they said it will be a low turnout and Blouin and Culver are counting on high turnout to win. Blouin might be helped by the higher turnout in the 1st District due to the primary for the US House seat. That means the low turnout might help Fallon out.

Polls are open until 9:00, so get out there if you haven't voted yet.

May Poll Results

The poll for May was who do you support in the Democratic Primary. Well, we will find out today who the winner is. Here are the results with 273 votes of the very unscientific poll.

Who do you support in the Democratic primary for Governor?
Ed Fallon 58%
Chet Culver 28%
Mike Blouin 12%
Sal Mohammed 3%

So we know that Fallon's supporters are online more. We will see tonight if they get out and vote more too.

A new poll will be coming out this week sometime.

Folk Music Friday: Merle Haggard "America First"

Country music is turning on Bush. The Dixie Chicks hit the #1 spot on the charts this week with their new CD and here is the new song by Merle Haggard. I know Haggard is country and not folk, but this song shows a change in thinking among Red Staters. There is a video of the song here.

America First
Why don't we liberate these United States
We're the ones who need it the worst
Let the rest of the world help us for a change
And let's rebuild America first

Our highways and bridges are falling apart
Who's blessed and who has been cursed
There's things to be done all over the world
But let's rebuild America first

---- Instrumental Interlude ----

Who's on the hill and who's watching the valley
Who's in charge of it all
God bless the Army and God bless our liberty
Dadgum the rest of it all

Yeah, men in position but backing away
Freedom is stuck in reverse
Let's get out of Iraq and get back on the track
And let's rebuild America first

---- Instrumental Interlude ----

Why don't we liberate these United States
We're the ones who need it the most
You think I'm blowing smoke
Boys it ain't no joke
I make twenty trips a year from coast to coast

The November elections could really see a big gain for the Democrats if the feeling expressed in this song are felt across the South. John Kyl has a strong Democratic opponent in Jim Pederson in Arizona, Jim Talent in Missouri has been neck and neck in the polls with his opponent Clarie McCaskill, and Harold Ford Jr. could win Bill Frist's seat in Tennessee. Add those to possible pick ups in Ohio, Pennslyvania, Montana, and Rhode Island and the Democrats could pick up anywhere from 4-7 seats in the Senate. I should also mention that Joe Lieberman, Bush's favorite "Democrat", could be upset by Ned Lamont.

Quiz on the Iraq War

Since schools been out for a week now, I am getting antsy, so it is time for a pop quiz. Over at the Woodbury Democrat they have a True/False quiz about the Iraq War.

Fallon's Kicking it Old School

Well, at least Marc Hansen of the Des Moines Register thinks so.

And yet, if Iowa Democrats were able to take a governormatch.com test before the primary, I'm thinking most would line up with Fallon, the state representative from Des Moines.

They'd line up with him on corporate handouts, tax increment financing, hog confinements, nonviolent offenders, renewable fuels, farmland preservation, pollution, health care.

They'd be with him on almost everything dear to an old-school Democrat's heart. If there is such a thing as an old-school Democrat's Democrat in this race, it is Fallon.

10 Reasons to Vote for Ed Fallon

This week I have been volunteering for the Fallon campaign going canvassing for about 5 hours each day and making phone calls for another 2 hours. That hasn't left much time for blogging, laundry, or mowing. This morning I am off to get some things done and thought I post this entry from MyDD by craverguy on why you should vote for Ed Fallon.

#1: Ed Fallon understands the life of ordinary Iowans. Before he became a state legislator, his was one of many, many families in Iowa that couldn't afford health insurance. He is a farmer in his spare time and his district, which he knows like the back of his hand, is in the inner-city of Des Moines, the poorest area in the state.

#2: Ed Fallon is committed to campaign finance reform. His first priority as Governor will be to pass a Clean Elections law to take the money out of state politics. But Ed Fallon is no hypocrite. He practices what he preaches. He limits his fundraising to $2400 per person and refuses donations from PACs and lobbyists. While the average donation to one of his opponents is the cost of a monthly payment on a Mercedes, Ed's average donation is the cost of dinner for four at Chili's.

#3: Ed Fallon is in touch with the grassroots. They say you can't get elected in Iowa by limiting your fundraising that severely. But Ed does it all the time. In 1992, as a political novice, he defeated a 10-year incumbent for the nomination for State Representative. In 2002, after redistricting took away 70% of his district, he was renominated against two tough opponents with 68% of the vote. How does he do it? By knocking on doors and getting out to meet the voters personally at every opportunity.

#4: Ed Fallon cares about farmers. While Blouin confines his campaign to the big cities and Culver just coasts on his lead, Ed Fallon is out there on a tour of every rural county in the state. An amateur farmer himself, Ed opposes allowing factory farms to flourish in our state and supports sustainable, cooperative farming and making sure that Iowa can feed itself solely with local food systems. The head of 1,000 Friends of Iowa, a group devoted to curbing urban sprawl, he has the most complete and aggressive plan to keep urban growth from spiraling out of control.

#5: Ed Fallon supports universal health care. Ed is the only candidate for Governor of Iowa who knows what it's like to be unable to afford health insurance. That's why Ed is the only candidate for Governor to support a system of universal, high-quality, single-payer health insurance for every Iowan.

#6: Ed Fallon is for small business and against corporate welfare. While Mike Blouin's Iowa Values Fund diverted $700 million of the state's budget toward bribing big corporations to stay in the state, Ed Fallon was coming up with a plan to encourage small businesses, which won't pack up and leave for Mexico. He supports doing away with the Values Fund and using that money to pay for better education and affordable health care and he wants more funding for Iowa's highly-successful Main Street Program and more money for Small Business Development Centers and the Loan and Credit Guarantee Fund.

#7: Ed Fallon is a believer in equal rights for all. While Chet Culver opposes civil unions and Mike Blouin hedges his position, Ed Fallon is for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. And Ed Fallon is the only candidate for Governor who is both pro-choice and anti-death penalty. Chet Culver would enact a new death penalty law and Mike Blouin is against a woman's right to choose.

#8: Ed Fallon is the best candidate on the environment. He's sat on the House Environmental Protection Committee for 13 years and his record was enough to earn him the endorsement of the Iowa Sierra Club. He has comprehensive plans to improve the abysmal water quality in Iowa, stop urban sprawl in its tracks, and make Iowa energy independent via alternative fuels by 2015.

#9: Ed Fallon is the only Democratic candidate for Governor attracting moderate Republican votes. Republicans and Independents alike are planning to cross over and vote for Ed Fallon because he supports small business, property tax cuts, and an end to further gun control, and because they respect his integrity and freedom from corporate influence.

#10: Ed Fallon is the only candidate who can make a difference. He's the only one running for Governor who depends on the people, not the powerful, to make his campaign go, so he's the only candidate whose priorities as Governor won't be determined by Big Business and lobbyists. He is a staunchly independent Democrat and his own man.