JK in Iowa

[whometense]

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060729/OPINION03/607290310

RAGBRAI diary: Yes, there's politics; it's Iowa
ANDIE DOMINICK AND RICHARD DOAK
REGISTER COLUMISTS

July 29, 2006

We know you and some of our colleagues back in the air-conditioned office are wondering what you've been missing. Well, for one thing, there was Jim Nussle in Spandex. That's an angle on the gubernatorial candidate you'll never get on "Iowa Press."

And on Friday, Sen. John Kerry was pedaling through the heat.

There's always politics to be found in Iowa, such as when Nussle's campaign workers hand out free water (bribing the voters?) and then have to pick up empty bottles for miles...

[whometense]

1. Kerry: Don't change primary calendar Iowa first

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060729/NEWS09/607290342

The visiting senator says Iowa and New Hampshire should stay first, but he stays mum on Nevada.

By THOMAS BEAUMONT
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

July 29, 2006


Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, traveling in Iowa Friday, said the 2008 presidential primary calendar proposed by a national party committee last weekend risks complicating the nomination process.

"I'm in favor of Iowa as the first caucus and New Hampshire as the first primary," Kerry told The Des Moines Register after testifying in Iowa City at a Senate hearing on cancer research.

"Now if they stick something in between ... I think that's their choice," the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee added. "But it makes the system more complicated and probably slightly less democratic."

<...>

Kerry stopped short of saying he would object to a final schedule that included a Nevada caucus between Iowa and New Hampshire, which the Democratic National Committee will consider when it votes on Aug. 19.


<...>

"Every poll anywhere right now is meaningless," Kerry said. "You are talking to a guy who was 30 points down in Iowa for six months. I told you they were meaningless then. Right now, they are even more meaningless. People aren't focused on this."

[ProSense]

2. Thanks for posting these.

I guess everyone will know the DNC's decision in a few weeks, but according to one article I read, NH still can decide to move it's date up before Nevada (not that I fully understand the implications of all of this).

[ray of light]

3. I don't understand any of this stuff....why one state wants to change

or others don't want change...I feel by time it gets to my state, it's almost decided anyways.

Regardless, I'm tied up in these 06 elections. I feel the ramifications for setting things back on track begin January 07 with a new majority party. At that time, the media, election systems, Fair Media Act, Healthcare, Jobs, etc...are so much more important than which state gets dibs first. Also in 07, they darn well better make DC a state with real representation!

[TayTay]

4. That was a lovely panel yesterday

from what I could hear (and briefly glimpse) from the internet site. Lance Armstrong ws great, but the star, for me, was a woman named Shirley who just told it like it is.

http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde

From the panel yesterday.

[karynnj]

6. The University of Iowa has audio files of the statements

Here's a link to Kerry's

http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Eournews/cancerhearing/Kerry.mp3

His words were great. (His voice is fantastic - strong, but soft and caring at the same time

[ProSense]

5. Kerry on electing Democrats in 2006

Snip...

"The fact is, the United States of America is less secure today than we were five years ago," he said. "Less secure because North Korea has four or five times more weapons .... Iran is running amok, the Middle East - the wheels are coming off, and Iraq is a quagmire."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, said "there's a better course for America," and that begins with electing Democrats in 2006.

"Who you chose for your local races is going to have a profound impact on the country as a whole," said Kerry, who was making his fourth trip to Iowa since the state's leadoff caucuses in January 2004.

more...

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060729/APN/607290734