Monica Vernon-- not a progressive, barely even a Democrat but... richEx-Republican Monica Vernon officially announced that she's running for the IA-01 congressional seat-- the northeast corner of the state (Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown). It's a D+5 district that Obama won in 2008 with 58% and in 2012 with 56%.
Hillary sees the billionaire class as her benefactors and partners; Bernie has a different perspectiveOne of the problems with the professional political parties based inside the Beltway is that they instinctively discourage primaries. Party bosses hate them because they cost money and tend to cater to the base, making it more difficult to get muddled careerist hacks without vision into office.
This election cycle should serve as a case study in how not to run the DCCC. We've been referring to it as The Steve Israel Effect but, even if Israel is the worst practitioner ever, the DCCC's inability to do its job predated Israel for as long as anyone alive can remember.
PPP polled minimum wage as an issue in half a dozen battleground states with heavily-contested state-wide races, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky and Louisiana. Support for increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 was strong across the board, ranging from 61% in Illinois to 53% in Wisconsin. Opposition was strongest in Wisconsin, but still weak at just 39%.
The day after Rachel's report (above), McConnell fired Jesse Benton as his campaign manager. BOOM! Out! McConnell didn't like him much anyway, since Benton has been quoted and requoted telling Kentucky libertarians that he was "sort of holding my nose for two years because what we're doing here is going to be a big benefit for Rand in 2016." Benton, a longtime Paul family retainer, is married to Ron Paul's granddaughter, Valori Pyeatt (Rand's niece). Before remaking himself into a Paulista, though, he worked for Louisiana sleaze bag David "Diapers" Vitter.
Iowa, a swing state, has swung light blue in recent years. Bill Clinton won both times. Al Gore beat Bush in 2000. Obama won both times as well, 54-44% against McCain and 52-46% against Romney. The Democats control the state Senate and the GOP holds the state House. Party registration shows 689,794 Democrats (32.0%), 672,308 Republicans (31.2%) and 792,363 (36.8%) independents and others.The only really conservative congressional district in the state, is IA-04, home to one of Congress' most outspoken racists, Steve King.
As a state legislator-- and Speaker of the House-- Pat Murphy has been working tirelessly and effectively for ordinary Iowa families for many years. They know it and we've written about it before. Blue America endorsed him and we've been asking our supporters to help his campaign.
Authentic Miss McConnellTom Beaumont penned a widely distributed story for the A.P. today about the increasing challenges facing those who are trying to reform the Republican Party from within.
The F-16 jets of the Iowa Air National Guard that formerly buzzed the city of Des Moines have disappeared and we are told that their base at the Des Moines International Airport is in the process of refitting into a command center for unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, commonly called drones. The MQ-9 Reaper drones themselves will not be coming to Iowa but will be based in and launched overseas. When airborne, these unmanned planes will be flown by remote control via satellite link from Des Moines.
