Radio Iowa

Back in the blogging saddle again

It's been a tad bit busy around the Radio Iowa ranch and I've neglected this blog for a couple of days, but I'm back. 

First, a little about the Hillary Clinton event this morning in Waukee.  She's focusing on elder issues, not a bad gambit in a state where about a third of Caucus-goers in 2004 were age 65 or older.  The average age of an Iowa Caucus-goer is 55, I'm told.   

A majority of the crowd of roughly 400 who gathered in a cleared out Waukee High School bandroom were women.  At one point, Senator Clinton told the group, "I feel like Oprah," as she stepped off the stage at the front of the room to speed down the aisle so she could hold the microphone in front of an 83-year-old woman who raised her hand to speak. At past events in which there's interaction with the crowd, Clinton staffers have "manned" the microphones, but Clinton was doing the duty herself today. 

"We want to build a great base of support for making these changes," Clinton said as she concluded her remarks.  Next stop for Clinton was the State Fair, where we have a reporter stationed to bring us that story later. 

Finally, the votes are counted

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has won the 2007 Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll. 

Posts below track the Straw Poll pregame & speech-a-thon

During the speeches today at the Iowa GOP Straw Poll, I took notes on the fly and you can read them in the posts below.

Brownback is the last to speak at Straw Poll

Notes on Brownback's appearance:

Tommy Thompson's turn at the Straw Poll

Below are the notes from Tommy Thompson's appearance:

Duncan Hunter is next at Straw Poll speech-a-thon

Notes from Duncan Hunter's speech are below:

Huckabee's turn at Straw Poll

Below are the notes from Huckabee's speech at the Straw Poll:

Ron Paul speaks at Iowa GOP Straw Poll

Below are notes from Ron Paul's speech at the Straw Poll:

Tancredo, then Cox on stage at Straw Poll

Here are the notes from Tom Tancredo's appearance at the Straw Poll, followed by a few notes about John Cox's speech:

Iowa Straw Poll show starts late, Romney speaks first

Iowa GOP chair Ray Hoffman made a few remarks to the crowd gathered here in Hilton.  But first, he told the crowd as a "former Marine" he had to change the positioning of the flags.  The crowd cheered as he switched the American flag to his stage right.