Posted on 06/29/2007 11:45:33 AM PDT by pissant
If you are an avid reader of this web log, you'll know that I sometimes put some of the upcoming political events in a header of "Path of the Cyclone: Calendar". Well, let me tell you, after driving the 3 plus hours to Ames on Thursday afternoon, I pulled into my favorite convenient store to get some Diet Pepsi and the sirens started going crazy. What was approaching? A Cyclone (tornado/twister).
I headed over to Main Street to the old depot area and checked out the Brownback office that was being opened that night. It is a nice location with plenty of parking but the actual office is pretty quaint. I think it should be a nice satellite office for them. The winds and torrential rain literally put a 'damper' on their headquarters opener and I left before the Senator arrived. Lots of good, ambitious staffers with Team Brownback though.
As I was headed toward Hilton Coliseum, I drove by Sigler Publishing and noticed that the old Story County GOP/Tom Latham headquarters is now the Ames office of the Mitt Romney campaign. I felt as though I gave a lot of my fall semester to that building (helping out the Story Co./Latham/Nussle/V.P.) and it is an extraordinarily spacious building. I'm not sure what sorts of operations will be run out of there, but their Urbandale office is absolutely incredible in size and scope.
Congressman Tom Tancredo also has a very beautiful office in Ames (in the very lovely Welch Crowne Center) and they are planning to 'officially' open it next Sunday afternoon with some gool 'ol fashioned BBQ. I will be attending that and I've been in that office and am very impressed by their operations there. There are a couple of Democratic offices in Ames also (Hillary and Obama, I think).
After learning that a cyclone HAD touched down at the airport and that the weather system was passing, they let all the people at Hilton Coliseum out of the locker rooms. The event was supposed to start at about 5:30 but it was closer to 6. There were a few hundred people in attendance and it was all extraordinarily well planned and set up. Very professional and very classy.
They had some of the student organizers speak and then they turned the floor over to Dan DiMicco, Chairman and CEO of Nucor, the world's largest Steel producer and recycler. DiMicco's remarks lasted about an hour so I thought they got a little long-winded, but he did bring up some good points and was critical of both Republicans and Democrats. The entire event centered around America's trade policies and the future of manufacturing in the country. I found the topic to be pretty interesting and DiMicco was pretty interesting, just a little long-winded.
Sam Brownback and Duncan Hunter were also in attendance. Both spoke for about 5 to 10 minutes each. Brownback looked visibly exhausted and his voice was even straining a little but that is obviously because he just finished an incredibly aggressive statewide bus tour. He gave some nice remarks and talked about trade and about energy and said that the United States needs to become much more forceful with China because they refuse to float their currency. His remarks were timely and he received a nice reception from the very politically diverse crowd. I've seen Senator Sam several times and while he never wows you with any sort of oratorical brilliance, he does have a common sense midwestern flavor to his style.
This was also the second time I'd seen Duncan Hunter in Iowa. The first time was at the Hamilton Co. GOP fundraiser in March. Hunter is a powerful speaker. I was sitting at a table of almost all Republicans (minus one) and they were all saying 'wow' afterwards. Hunter has a very commanding voice and talked in great depth about his 'arsenal of democracy'. He also talks about his father and his son and their military service and what that has meant to him. Duncan received very fervent applause.
Afterwards, Brownback didn't really hang out too much as I'm not sure he had other stops or people to meet, but Hunter was probably one of the last persons to leave the room. He was literally talking to everyone. I didn't see any staffers there with him and Hunter was busy trying to pass out his information to anybody and everybody. I was very refreshed by this. To anybody who believes retail politics is over, seeing Duncan Hunter on Thursday night puts that to rest. He was working the room, by himself, for literally an hour. It was refreshing in an era where a lot of candidates have too many handlers and yes, possibly even puppet masters.
Overall, a nice event. Just another reason why Ames is home to the Iowa State Cyclones and the Ames Community Schools "Little Cyclones".
I am shaking in my booties! Not.
I carried the preacher3 handle from the Summer of 2000 through the "chad" period until a couple of months after W was inaugurated.
I guess I wanted something a little different, so I ripped off the character on the "X-Files"--WalterSkinner was born...
“I am shaking in my booties! Not.”
Stop personalizing politics. You’ll find it much easier and victory a lot closer. Again, just a suggestion.
>Does rhyme with Fred though....hmmm.<
Good observation, pissant.
>Stop personalizing politics. You’ll find it much easier and victory a lot closer. Again, just a suggestion.<
LOL! You are getting a little sassy, aren’t you, jedward? How did I manage to get to this ripe old age without your assistance? When you say I could shred....(but I’m too nice a guy), that’s a threat in my book. So watch it.
Well, I know freeper William Tell 2 has written some positive article on Hunter that he or I have posted here. If you have a blog or other media outlet, let me know. I will post it and PING the gang.
I also at times alert some other prominent bloggers to the stuff for them to link to.
Walter Skinner was Scully’s boss, no?
I don’t worry about Jedward. Hell, even if he was strictly a Fredhead, I don’t have any problem with them coming onto Hunter threads. Lord knows I show up on Fred threads from time to time. :o)
I hope you have more hair than he does. LOL
“that’s a threat in my book”
The fact that you viewed that as a threat, and want me to “watch it” proves you’re personalizing politics.
Can’t we all just get along?
-—Rodney King
Well, youd be alot more popular here if you looked like Scully. LOL
:) Yes.
Duncan Hunter is the man!!
Wake up America!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857978/posts?page=31#31
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857978/posts?page=96#96
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857978/posts?page=98#98
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857978/posts?page=100#100
I'll repost the article Wheeler wrote on Thompson...just snippets of it.
THOMPSON BUMMER
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Sunday, 13 May 2007
snip.... What a bummer.
It was a dry, lofty, legalistic pontification more appropriate for the Federalist Society. No, correct that - more appropriate for a group of Federalist Society interns. If you wanted to put the interns to sleep.
snip....
He ain't it, folks. Let me assure you from personal experience, he's no Ronald Reagan. I saw Reagan speak many times, and the "Reagan Magic" of energy, optimism, and electrifying charisma Fred Thompson does not have.
snip....
What upset me most about his speech, however, is that it was insulting to the audience. Fred Thompson is not a stupid man. He is a very bright guy and he knew exactly what this audience wanted, an audience composed of almost every leader in the entire conservative movement - and he on purpose did not give it to them. It was almost childish. "I know what you want but you can't have it, hahaha" seemed to be the message. Maybe not. Maybe not because Thompson can't give conservatives what they want, he hasn't got enough energy to do so. Whatever his reasons and capabilities, I was seriously turned off and so was just about everyone else.
>>>He [Duncan Hunter] was working the room, by himself, for literally an hour. It was refreshing in an era where a lot of candidates have too many handlers and yes, possibly even puppet masters.<<<
From Boston.com: An e-mail from Mitt Romney’s sons suggested that whoever the Republican presidential nominee is will have to raise $100 million. Duncan Hunter said he wouldn’t need to raise that kind of money because “most of that money goes to pay for consultants that help them look like they are conservative and I am conservative already.”
“Hunter was probably one of the last persons to leave the room. He was literally talking to everyone.”
He seems to be loaded with energy. He’s been on so many tv and radio shows, and still doing a great job as congressman, meeting with the president about borders, etc.
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