Radio Iowa

Boswell kick-off

Congressman Leonard Boswell kicked off his re-election campaign with an event in Des Moines today.  The woman who introduced him called him "LEE-oh-nard."  She was reading a prepared script, and mispronounced his name at least three times according to Radio Iowa newsman on the scene, Dar Danielson.  Boswell's wife declared during her remarks that the Boz is back after treatment for a "non-cancerous" abdominal tumor, then Boswell himself responded to Danielson's question:  Did you ever think of not seeking re-election because of the heatlh scare?  "It was tough, but it's behind us.  It's over.  We're back to strength and I tell people if they want to know if I'm strong or not, just come up and take ahold of me.  I am.  I'm srong.  I'm going strong. I'm putting in long hours."

Armstrong for governor?

Before the taping of last week's Iowa Press, Governor Tom Vilsack shared a snippet of information about Lance Armstrong, the king of the cycling world who spent part of last week in Iowa.  Vilsack says Armstrong thought seriously about running for governor of Texas -- as a Democrat.  Vilsack's belief is that Armstrong would have won handily.

Vilsack on Iowa Press tonight

Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is the guest tonight on "Iowa Press" on Iowa Public Television (the show replays on Sunday mornings).  The discussion revolved around Vilsack as a presidential candidate.  If want to hear Vilsack talk about Iraq, North Korea, energy policy, Nevada as a Caucus state, or immigration, you might want to check it out. 

I've already written a story from Vilsack's Q&A with reporters afterwards (he will not challenge the veto override in court).  I'm in the process of working up a broad story about Vilsack's pledge to tackle Social Security and other presidential stuff -- from what he said on the show.

Allison out, Pate in?

Former Secretary of State Paul Pate, more recently Cedar Rapids Mayor, may be the Iowa GOP central committee's pick to replace Chuck Allison, the foot doctor who surprised party insiders by winning the June primary for Secretary of State.

Allison's drop-out gives me an opportunity to share something that happened before this blog started.  I was putting together profiles of Allison and Bob Dopf, the other GOP candidate in the June primary.  I asked Allison what his plans were for Primary Day.  Allison confided he was a bit worried -- he had told his staff at the foot doctor place to book him solid with appointments starting at eight o'clock.  "So I may not get to vote," Allison said.  I told him the polls opened at seven a.m.  "Oh, I didn't realize that.  Great," he replied. "I can vote before work."  Need I type more? 

Earthpark or Pork Forest?

David Oman, the executive director of the Earthpark project, held a conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon  For those of you a bit late to the dance, the Earthpark is a proposed indoor rain forest and outdoor environmental education center.  It's been called the Iowa Child Project and the Iowa Environrmental Project by its backers before they settled on the Earthpark name and dubbed the Iowa PorkForest and EarthPork by its critics.

Here is how Oman responded when a reporter asked him to respond to the critics:  "The project is unique in the United States...

Senate Ag Committee

Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss was in Ankeny this morning to convene a Senate Ag Committee hearing on the Farm Bill. Chambliss began by assuring the crowd he is not in Iowa to run for president, then added he may be the only member of the Senate who is not running.

Chambliss revealed he has gone pheasant hunting with Congressman Tom Latham and then he launched into a Johnny Carson-like monologue about Senator Grassley:  "He's prone not to spend a lot of money wherever he goes.  He reads used newspapers he's so cheap and when I was coming in from the airport last night I asked, I said 'Now, where are we staying?  Please tell me that Harkin picked out the hotel not Grassley.'  Otherwise, I would have been a camper on a lake somewhere."  (laughter from the senators and the crowd)

A little later, Congressman Leonard Boswell was invited to give brief remarks.  Upon his conclusion, Boswell picked up the package of peanuts which Chambliss' staff had ensured were readily available beside every microphone in the room.

Fibber McGee's Closet

My mother used to call one of the closets in our home "Fibber McGee's Closet" -- (based on the old radio show) -- and that's what I'll call this post because it's got a little about a lot of marginally-interesting stuff I've collected to blog about in the past couple of months...

Cheney campaigns for Lamberti

Vice President Dick Cheney headlined a fundraiser for GOP congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti over the noon hour.  The take for Lamberti:  $150,000.

Cheney gave a similar speech to the one he gave in the same room at the Wakonda Club in October of some year.  The main additions:  criticizing Murtha's plan for withdrawal from Iraq and adding Bombay to the list of places terrorists have bombed since 9/11 and an extensive criticism of the New York Times. He made no mention of what's happening in Israel and Lebanon.

Cheney began by saying "Thank you very much.  A welcome like that almost makes me want to run for office again."  The crowd laughed.  "When is that Iowa Straw Poll anyway?"  There was a brief pause as just a few in the room continued to titter.  "Almost -- let me emphasize that."

"It's always good to be in (insert name of state here)" he continued, then proceeded to mispronounce Lamberti's last name.  The first time is was LAM-berteee.  The last time in the speech it came out as lam-ber-TAY.  The correct pronunciation is lam-BER-tee. 

He closed with this:  "As we make our case to the voters this year, it is vital to keep issues of national security at the top of the agenda.  The president and I welcome the discussion because every voter in America needs to know where the president and I stand -- and where every candidate for federal office stands -- when it comes to the war on terror.  We have to face the simple truth, the enemies (who) struck America are weakened and fractured, but they are still lethal and still desperately trying to hit us again....Either we're serious about fighting this war or we are not. With George Bush leading this nation we are serious and we will not let down our guard."

The folks who paid $250 per person ($1000 for the folks who bought a picture with the veep, too) were served a salad, bread and a custard for dessert.   .

Special Session Part VI

So in parts one through four of today's special session blog postings, I did include the notes I took on computer while the House debated the veto override.  The Senate debated three times longer, and I was taking notes by hand (as explained earlier, no high-speed access on the Senate floor on press bench) -- so I'm just going to post a few highlights.

Senator Jeff Lamberti (R-Ankeny) was in the president's chair, so that meant Senate Co-Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Co Bluffs) called up the bill and Senator Keith Kreiman (D-Bloomfield) opened the debate (for those of you just tuning in -- the senate is split 25/25 so a Republican sits in the president's chair to make parliamentary rulings while a Democrat holds the power of leading floor debate).  Kreiman had prepared remarks, and unlike his Democratic colleagues in the House, he pretty much said the governor had erred when he made the veto.  Kreiman said he disagreed with Vilsack's contentions that the bill will hurt job creation and impair cities' ability to seize slum and blight properties.  Then Kreiman passed off to Senator Bob Brunkhorst (R-Waverly), who was brief (but we'll get back to him later for the screaming part).

Special Session Part V

Senate voting machine opens at 2:59 p.m. to take votes.  Vote tally announced at 3 p.m.   41 yes.  8 no.  Will provide debate recap later.  Rodell Mollineau said moments later in the statehouse press room that he didn't know whether his office would release a statement or a eulogy.