Iowa GOP Bulb Brightens and One Dims

I held off on posting yesterday because I had word that a major announcement involving Republican Party of Iowa Chairman, Matt Strawn was in the works to go down today.  I presumed the scuttlebutt was correct that he would be stepping down and now we know that he has.  I of course have more than a few observations on this.

Matt Strawn took over after the “leadership” of Stew Iverson and Ray Hoffman.  Let me put it this way, Iverson and Hoffman are the RPI leadership rock star equivalent of Senate Republican Leaders Paul McKinley and Ron Wieck.  Yes, they are just that inspiring.  Needless to say, Strawn was a huge breath of fresh air and had much success in his first 2 year term resulting in a 2^nd term as chairman.

Let me state that I am a Matt Strawn fan, but somewhere on the road to Strawn’s coronation as the heir apparent to represent Iowa in Congress, things began to unravel and thus dim his political aspirations.  His anti-climatic and poorly run Ames Straw Poll has all but put the final nail in the event’s coffin.  And then the matter that has everyone around the country scratching their heads or sharpening their pitchforks like they are in Iowa, the way he handled the Iowa Caucus results.  His mistakes and re-made mistakes are well documented and have been cause for many who value our First in the Nation Caucuses to call for his resignation.

My concern is not only the irreparable harm that has been done to the Ames Straw Poll and the Iowa Caucus itself, but the fallout of his resignation.  Where does that leave us?  Are we better off as Iowa Republicans without Strawn at the helm?  Perhaps not.  It does not take a University of Iowa graduate in astro physics to understand that Bob Vander Plaats or one of his minions that he can control will want to take over.  Of course we also have to consider the strong possibility that the Ron Paulbots who have placed 4 of their ilk onto the RPI state central committee will try to grab the top post as well.  Still think Strawn should have resigned?  I can think of nothing more detrimental to the Iowa GOP than a Chairman Vander Plaats or a Chairman Ivers.

Let’s just hope none of these nutjobs can corral the votes to become chairman.

The brightest of the young new stars in Iowa politics, Secretary of State Matt Schultz, seemed to be owning the news cycle (Till Strawn) and his timing could not be better for his future in elected office.  Just a week ago was the arrest of Iowa democratic political operative and Obama staffer, Zach Edwards for “allegedly” stealing the Secretary’s identity for the purposes of implicating him in unethical or illegal behavior.  Speaking of Edwards, why in the name of Zeus’s $@%& is Matt Whittaker defending him?

The Dems who cry foul over any attempt to require authentication of a person’s identity at the polls, have gone way out of their way to prove the need for that which they claim is not a problem.

This isn’t the first time an Iowa democratic operative stole a Republican’s identity.  Then candidate for State Representative, Renee Schulte had her identity stolen by Adrian Noe who fleeced her for 30 large.

Last week, Secretary Schultz made a renewed call for legislation requiring that photo identification be presented in order to cast a ballot.  A similar measure passed 60-40 in the House of Representatives last year, but failed to be even taken up for consideration in the Gronstalling Senate.  This issue of election integrity via Photo ID is why a majority of independents sided with Republicans and even some Democrats in supporting the newcomer to statewide politics.

Democrats better wise up and realize that it’s their misguided philosophy that is their problem, not the freedom loving Americans preventing ACORN, ACT or DNC from cheating come election time.  Nobody likes a cheater which is why EVERYBODY hates the New England Patriots.

Jeff’s Link to Political Scandals

I don’t know how many times I have to tell my Democratic friends on the left side of the isle that the ends do not justify the means.  Yes, the stakes are high and nothing less than the direction of the free world is on the line, but cheating goes against everything our democracy stands for in the first place.

Last Friday it was reported by the Des Moines Register that Zachary Edwards was arrested and charged with the identity theft of Secretary of State Matt Schultz and/or his younger brother Thomas Schultz “with the intent to benefit, in an alleged scheme to falsely implicate Secretary Schultz in perceived illegal or unethical behavior while in office.” Edwards is a 29 year old Director of New Media for Link Strategies in Des Moines and was the 2008 Obama for President New Media Director in Iowa.  His name and bio are no longer listed on the firm’s website.  I’m guessing this sort of attention is frowned upon by non-partisan trade groups and corporate clients that Link does business for.

Link Strategies is run by Jeff Link, yes, THAT Jeff Link.  You may recall this awesome political manuever and subsequent ramifications that made the New York Times “Senator’s Campaign Manager Resigns In Furor Over Taping Of Rival’s Meeting”.  Harkin feigned outraged at the “young staffers who made a mistake” and dismissed the severity of their actions yet had them resign.  Okay.  Link returned for the next race and has been back on Senator Harkin’s kitchen cabinet ever since the press stopped caring. 

In addition to being Harkin’s braintrust, Link is also the general consultant for North East Iowa’s Rep. Bruce Braley.  I’m sure Link won’t ever do anything like that for Harkin, Braley or the Iowa Democrat Party again.  Oh wait, he in fact did do it again by allowing his new media director to illegally steal the identity of a rising republican star and implicate him in activity that would be characterized as unethical by the Iowa Democrat Party.  Coincidently, the IDP’s blog arm, Under The Golden Dome, made a series of charges of “unethical behavior” the same day Edwards’ alleged criminal activity took place.  Again, I’m sure it was just a coincidence.  Had to be.  Right?

This latest criminal activity Link is associated with solidifies him as the Democrat equivalent to Chuck Larson, Jr. who seemed to only hire political operatives with a criminal rap sheet for the ill-fated Tim Pawlenty campaign.  Ironically, it was Larson who was the Iowa GOP Chairman who condemned Link’s antics on the Harkin campaign back in 2002.

Perhaps in addition to not associating yourself or your business with Link Strategies is the lesson that when nefarious democratic operatives can no longer beat conservatives on the issues, they will resort to cheating and no law will stand in their way.  It is not surprising that while the Dems cry foul about Shultz’s efforts to require a Photo ID to ensure election integrity, they resort to criminal attacks on his integrity to defeat them.  Pathetically hypocritical liberal bs.

Note to Edwards, give Larson a call and see if you can work over there.  His firm is “bi-partisan” and you can use me as a reference if you like.  No need to thank me.

Roxanne – You Don’t Care If It’s Wrong Or If It’s Right

Oh Roxy, I’ve missed you!  And let me start by saying thank you for giving me an excuse to use my favorite and IDP Chairgendernuetralperson, Sue Dvorsky’s least picture in a post.

Quasi-famous or infamous trial lawyer, Roxanne Conlin is at it again.  Having failed in politics both as the Democratic nominee for Governor against Terry Branstad in 1982 and for United States Senate against Chuck Grassley in 2010, she is still trying to settle old political scores.  This time she is representing Christopher Godfrey in a $1 Million sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against Governor Branstad.  Godfrey is the openly gay (who cares) Iowa Worker’s Compensation Commissioner who when asked to step down by the Governor, refused.  The Worker’s Compensation Commissioner then had his compensation reduced by 30% from $109,000 to a paltry $73,000.  Can you picture me rolling my eyes?

The suit filed by Godfrey and his attorney Gloria Allred, claims he was asked to step down and then had his salary reduced because he was gay.  Oops, Gloria Allred. Roxanne Conlin, same difference so sue me.  No no no, not literally Roxy.  Now I’m going to throw out a crazy suggestion here, but maybe, just maybe the Governor was adjusting his compensation to make it in more in line with the private sector equivalent?  I think I remember Branstad saying something in the campaign about not wasting tax dollars and getting the budget back in line after 12 years of Vilsack and Chet Not Stupid.  I’m glad to see him making good on a campaign promise.

Having said that, my suggestion to Godfrey is to make a call to your old department in Iowa Workforce Development that still bares your name and see if they have any job leads for you.  Be prepared to tell them what job skills you possess.

And Roxanne, this is for you babe!

Speaking of the good Governor, he has made more than a few headlines by hiring outside counsel to defend him in the above mentioned lawsuit at $325 an hour (4x avg. rate).  Um, Brenna Findley is now your in-house “legal counsel”, so why must you hire outside counsel?  Exactly why are my tax dollars being double dipped by your office?  I’m asking because I defended your actions in this suit about two paragraphs ago.

For those of you who don’t recall, Brenna Findley ran unsuccessfully for Iowa Attorney General against Tom Miller.  She spent an unprecedented $1 Million dollars and all she has to show for it is a campaign t-shirt.  Perhaps Branstad is not comfortable with her as his lawyer when a million bucks is on the line given her track record with said amount?

The folks over at Under The Golden Dome did a story on this and once again I am starting to get pissed when I have to say this, but I agree with their take.  Son of a…

UTGG Live Tweeting Fox News Debate

@UnderAUnGnome

Once again I will be live tweeting the Fox News Republican Presidential Debate in South Carolina.

Debate starts at 8 PM Central. I’ll have my weekly post up tomorrow. I’ve been out of town interviewing for a new job.

 

Newt’s Recipe for Campaign Failure

  Ron Paul did something pretty cool and well received by Iowa Caucus goers when he sent them all cookbooks filled with many recipes.  I can’t stand the guy, but his cookbook was a smart play.  The cookbook inspired me to share with you a recipe that has been a Gingrich family favorite for generations; how to create a failing presidential campaign.  Newt Gingrich has taught us so much over the years and this year is no different.  As your fearless leader of the Iowa political blogosphere, I have typed up a copy of Newt’s special recipe for presidential campaign failure:

INGREDIENTS

(1 Captain Kangaroo doppelganger sans the mustache, 2 ex-wives, 1 younger more attractive current wife, numerous leather-bound books on your shelves, 1 ego)

Step 1.  Preheat Iowa Caucus oven to 24 Degrees, with a West wind of 10-15 mph.

Step 2.  Announce your candidacy for president.

Step 3.  Go on a Mediterranean cruise with Calista (Wifey #3) two weeks later.

Step 4.  Deny internet reports that you have run up a tab “between 250k–500k” at Tiffany’s.

Step 5.  Pay off the tab and smile when Tiffany’s reveals that the debt has been paid in full.

Step 6.  Devise a strategy of campaigning by debate participation alone.

6A.  Use the word “Fundamental” like it is going out of style.

Step 7.  Ask yourself where all your campaign staff went?

Step 8.  Bash said staff and their profession of political advocacy (for you dumbass).

Step 9.  Attend 15 presidential debates and use your allotted time to eviscerate the media for cheap crowd applause.

Step 10.  Watch Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, rise and fall.  Take turn to surge.

Step 11.  Hire former parasitic political operative staff back to your campaign and hope they forgive you.

Step 12.  Coordinate your efforts with Strong America Now to remind voters about your ethics.

Step 13.  Cry about negative attack ads from PACs while America Strong Now trashes Romney and promotes you.

Step 14.  Finish a distant 4^th in Iowa Caucuses with 13% behind Romney 25%, Santorum 25% and Paul 21%.

Step 15.  Feign outrage over the negativity of the race and vow to respond accordingly.

Step 16.  Refer to the exact content and length (27.5 mins) of the movie your Super PAC has yet to release against Romney after you state you have no coordination with them.

Step 17.  Declare that Mitt Romney has a ceiling of 25% support.

Step 18.  Make self unavailable for comment to answer questions about Mitt Romney’s poll position of 41% in New Hampshire and 37% in South Carolina.

Step 19.  Write New Hampshire Primary concession speech for a 10% finish in 5^th place.

Step 20.  Write a new recipe for how a 4^th place finish in South Carolina can be incorporated into your master plan to win the nomination.

This recipe should be good enough for 8 servings, the likely percentage of Newt’s New Hampshire Primary support tomorrow night.  Newt has always wanted to run for president in the worst possible way and now he has.

The REAL Winners & Losers In the Iowa Caucuses

The political world has been captivated by the photo finish of the Iowa Caucuses between Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Rick Santorum.  Romney of course won by a mere 8 votes.  Awesome.  That news has been covered to death already and it’s only been 24 hours.  I’m going to share with you the REAL winners and losers of the Iowa Caucuses, the people, staff, endorsers and political operatives that made it all happen.

WINNERS

The biggest winner of the Iowa Caucuses is the Iowa Caucus itself.  Every four years we hear 48 other states bitch about how Iowa can’t elect a black candidate or a woman, is demographically disproportional to the rest of the country yada yada yada oh STFU.

Rick Santorum proved that the process we use to winnow the field of presidential hopefuls works.  With a shoestring budget and several pairs of shoes, Santorum used retail politics by not only visiting all 99 counties, but lapping the other candidates along the way.  Thank you Senator for showing the country that we know what we are doing and are damn good at it.

Secretary of State Matt Schultz took a huge risk by lending his support for Santorum when other statewide elected republicans pussed out from helping the candidates of their preference.  Santorum was the only candidate who gave a rip about seeing that the office of the secretary of state go into the GOP column last year.  Schultz stood by the guy who stood by him when nobody else would.  This speaks volumes about the integrity, character and loyalty of Secretary Schultz.  Branstad, Grassley, King and others should be taking notes.  You got outclassed by the new kid on the block.

Nick Ryan was the guy behind the scenes in Santorum world who kept the campaign on track without veering off the traditional retail politics style of campaigning that Iowa republicans expect.  It paid off big time.

Craig Robinson.  I remember when he was still just a pup peddling flat tax fan booklets for Steve Forbes.  My how the time has flown by.  Robinson (and if you are facebook friends with him, he’s told you 10 times) was a guest on This Week on ABC last Sunday.  No joke.  This was his first caucus as the point man for all things politically newsworthy in Iowa for the national media to get their tips from.  Not bad Craig.  Today the Sunday talking head shows, tomorrow the… well… the Monday talking head shows I guess.

David Kochel.  Talk about a guy who deserved a caucus win.  After the Lamar Alexander campaign anthology, he has been the top guy behind the scenes for Governor Mitt Romney in Iowa.  Kochel was responsible for the best organization of any caucus campaign I’ve ever seen in 2008.  The organization was largely still intact to put the band back together and mobilize on caucus night.  Not too many people can say they are responsible for an Iowa Caucus win.  Kochel can.

Wes Enos.  It takes real character to stand up to your boss publicly knowing that your job is on the line.  We won’t know who is telling the truth about why Kent Sorenson really switched over to the Ron Paul campaign for a while yet, but in the meantime, from what I know of Enos, I have to believe him given what was at risk for him to do what he thought was right.

Under, The Golden Gnome.  My stat kount makes me feel guilty for only doing one post per week.  I have filled the gaping Krusty void in the blogosphere very well.  Why is that exactly?  I am Krusty.  Well one of three of them.  If you thought a Krusty post was particularly funny, that was me.  The Klown may be back soon and focus on Iowa legislative issues, where this site will kontinue being the kick-ass state and national politics blog.  Unless of kourse doing them both gets to be too time konsuming in which kase you kan all kiss my klown Kar driving ass.

And now what I know you have really been waiting for; the losers.

Losers

Bob Vander Plaats.  The shameless self promoter of “self above cause”, took it to a whole new level this time.  Bob shot his mouth off (and Santorum confirmed) about how he would need resources to advertise his endorsement in the range of $1,000,000.  Hold on a minute, I’ve got the FEC calling for a comment on the story.

Bob Haus is a veteran of numerous major campaigns in Iowa and is as good as anybody, but boy did he ever lose out this time.  Again.  In 2008, Haus held out for the helm of the Fred Thompson Iowa Caucus effort which began, floundered and abruptly ended with a thud in Iowa.  The same thing is happening today whether Governor Rick Perry admits to it or not.  I feel bad for Bob, he deserved better.

Doug Gross.  Who?

The A Team. The folks who ran Sen. John McCain’s 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign into the ground and bankruptcy were predicted by this Golden Gnome to provide the same fate to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.  Is it still too soon to say I told you so?  And how about Chuck Larson, Jr?  How bad did it have to suck for him to crawl with his tail between his legs to try and jump on the Romney bandwagon at the last minute after what he did in 2008, “At no time will we at the McCain campaign ever attack Mitt Romney for being in a cult.”  Nice.

Eric Woolson.  Even Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan called it a career eventually.  Mr. Woolson seems to be in the lightening round of the game, “How many failing campaigns can you be on in 2 years time?”  Let’s see, Miller-Meeks for congress, Vander Plaats for Governor, Pawlenty 2012 and now his most recent client Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out.  I’m sure his next race will be a winner though.

Kent Sorenson.  What a piece of work this guy turned out to be.  The self described Tea Party conservative in the Iowa Senate was the state chairman for Michele Bachmann’s campaign and even appeared with her at a public event just hours before publicly switching his support (or employment) to Rep. Ron Paul.  There are two things I have a problem with here.  I don’t care how much you want to leave a campaign, you don’t embarrass them with such classless disrespect like Sorenson did.  Secondly, you can’t call yourself a conservative and be for Ron Paul.  The IDP staff over at UTGD opined as to a possible reason why and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think they are right: “Sorenson was charged for selling marijuana (and also failing to pay child support and domestic abuse), and Ron Paul does support legalizing marijuana.”

America Strong Now seemed like a great organization promoting the use of Lean Six Sigma to fix the way things are done in Washington.  They were very active in the Ames Straw Poll and had people sign a pledge to only support candidates who will use their plan.  What they turned out to be is an eventual Super PAC advocating for Newt Gingrich and against Mitt Romney.  RPI Chairman Matt Strawn disassociated himself with the group after this was discovered.  Good thinking Matt, but you never should have been involved with them in the first place as Chairman of the party.  As Chair, it is your role to support the process and be impartial, not be associated with a group who will only advocate for certain candidates.  Strawn doing the right thing and leaving them is the reason why he does not make the loser list.

Republican Party Officials have no business getting involved in republican primaries and especially not working for a candidate in the Iowa Caucuses.  Doing so says to the other 48 jealous states that those who oversee our First In The Nation Caucus are for sale.  Shame.  The Ron Paul campaign in particular waved his purchasing of RPI State Central Committee members Drew Ivers, A.J. Spiker and David Fischer in our faces.  Wes Enos worked for Bachmann and National Committeewoman Kim Lehman supported Santorum.  All must go for putting the Iowa Caucus’ First in The Nation status at risk.

There you have it, the winners and losers behind the candidates that made the Iowa Caucuses what they are today.  Hopefully, despite the above mentioned party officials, we still have them.