Free Republic

Iowa Republicans and Iowa Democrats are both holding their State Conventions at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. If attendance numbers mean anything, Iowa Democrats are in big trouble. The photo above was taken during the remarks of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick who is keynoting the Democrat Convention. The photo below is of the Republican convention during a debate on the proposed rules that govern the convention.

All three Iowa Supreme Court justices up for retention election have been ousted from the bench. Around 54 percent of Iowans voted not to retain each of the three judges: Supreme Court Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and associate justices Michael J. Streit and David L. Baker. The campaign for the judges ouster was based on the court’s unanimous 2009 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa. There were 74 judges, including three Supreme Court justices, on the ballot Tuesday. Only the Supreme Court justices, however, came anywhere close to being removed from the bench. The highly charged campaign featured more...

Supreme Court Justice - David L. Baker Vote for 1 Precincts Reported 280/1774 Yes Non-Partisan 84156 50.82% No Non-Partisan 81451 49.18% Supreme Court Justice - Michael J. Streit Vote for 1 Precincts Reported 280/1774 Yes Non-Partisan 83461 50.43% No Non-Partisan 82025 49.57% Supreme Court Justice - Marsha Ternus Vote for 1 Precincts Reported 280/1774 Yes Non-Partisan 82479 49.95% No Non-Partisan 82629 50.05%

Brenna Findley, candidate for Iowa Attorney General, will have some powerful backup as she shares her vision for how to get Iowa back on track. Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's Attorney General, will be campaigning in Iowa on Monday, October 4, to elect fellow Republican Brenna Findley. AG Cuccinelli became nationally known when he was the first Attorney General to file suit against the unconstitutional mandate by Congress that would force Americans to buy government approved health insurance or face IRS penalty. Other states have also filed suit and, Cuccinelli continues to lead the way in the fight to protect the rights...

Earlier this morning, I spoke with Congressman Steve King (R-IA) in an exclusive interview about new developments on his discharge petition to repeal ObamaCare. King got the first Democrat, Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) to sign the discharge petition earlier this week. He remains about 40 signatures short of forcing Nancy Pelosi to schedule a floor vote on the repeal bill, but getting the first Democrat to sign the petition shows more bipartisanship for repeal that Pelosi had for ObamaCare’s passage, King points out. I asked King why the other Democrats who voted against ObamaCare haven’t signed the discharge petition, even...

Taking the opportunity to spread this word: Who: All Welcome What: Tea Party Demonstration When: NOON-2pm, 6 Sep 2010...Labor Day Monday Where: Brady & Locust, Davenport, Iowa. This is site of our original Tea Party in February of 2009! Within sight of Senator Harkin's office. Why: Because you are fed up with galloping socialism Remarks: Bring your sign, flag, costume. Leave your Al Sharpton bullhorn at home. Do NOT park at business in immediate area of intersection, be prepared to walk 200 yards from ample free parking Contact: QCTeaParty@hotmail.com Info: http://www.teapartynation.com/events/event/show?id=3355873%3AEvent%3A368813 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2572453/posts

Longtime senator benefits from expected Republican-trending year. If there's an anti-incumbent mood in the nation, someone forgot to tell Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley. First elected to public office 52 years ago and sent to Washington in 1976, the Republican remains a favorite for winning his sixth Senate term despite strong competition from Democrat Roxanne Conlin. Republican incumbents elsewhere have lost primary elections, but typically they have been ousted by candidates viewed as more conservative. Grassley didn't face opposition in the GOP primary, and polls indicate he's maintaining a lead over Conlin, a Des Moines lawyer. Democrats said they remain optimistic...

Gannett newspaper; link only http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2010/06/05/iowa-poll-iowa-voters-want-gay-marriage-on-ballot/

Des Moines Regsiter - title and link allowed only

North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling actually polled the Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary. Yeah, the one next week. Branstad is up by 15 points, 46-31, over Vander Plaats, with Rod Roberts at 13 percent. The poll was of 474 likely GOP primary voters with a 4.5 percent margin of error. From PPP press release: ""In the Iowa Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Roxanne Conlin appears headed for a romp, while Terry Branstad is surprisingly under 50% in his bid for the Republican Gubernatorial nomination. Terry Branstad has just 46% to entrepreneur Bob Vander Plaats’ 31% and State Representative Rod Roberts’ 13%....

Bill Clinton, who signed the Defense of Marriage Act, said, "I remain opposed to same-sex marriage. I believe marriage is an institution for the union of a man and a woman." Only to flip-flop on July 8, 2009, in Washington D.C. then Clinton reportedly said: "I personally support people doing what they want to do. I think it's wrong for someone to stop someone else from doing that [gay marriage]."

How do I Stand Up 4 Freedom? Stand up and demand that our current government live up to the high standards that America was founded upon! Attend a "Stand Up 4 Freedom" Rally and let your voice be heard! 5-6:30PM Monday April 26 Ottumwa's Central Park 3rd Street in between N Washington and N Market Streets Ottumwa, IA 52501 6:00 PM Monday April 26 O'Laughlin, Inc. 29703 Lavender Place, Macon, MO 63552

Another campaign manager for Gov. Chet Culver announced Monday she is quitting, leaving the Democrat's re-election effort to a veteran Iowa Democratic activist. Abby Curran said she would leave at the end of April, only four months after she was hired to manage Culver's campaign for a second term. Her departure continues a tumultuous period for Culver, who has gone through two campaign managers and two interim managers in the past year... She will be replaced by Donn Stanley, who has long worked for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. The campaign upheaval comes at a time when polls show Culver's...

On Monday, March 29, the House of Representatives passed Senate File 2379 by a vote of 81 to 15 and it will now head to Governor Chet Culver (D) for his consideration. SF2379 had previously passed in the Senate by a vote of 44 to 4. This bill is a huge victory for gun owners in the Hawkeye State and reinforces the legislature’s intent to treat the provisions of the Second Amendment as rights, not state-granted privileges. This NRA-backed bill would change Iowa from a “May-Issue” state to a “Shall-Issue” state. Please contact Governor Culver TODAY and respectfully urge him...

DES MOINES — With the Iowa legislature moving toward adjournment, the year-long battle to overturn the Iowa Supreme Court decision establishing same-sex marriage is moving to a new venue — the campaign trail. Party leaders insist the 2010 election will be about the economy, jobs and protecting Iowans’ priorities: education, health-care, safe communities. The effort to overturn the April 3, 2009, decision legalizing same-sex marriage is unlikely to be “the” issue of the campaign, campaign operatives say, but it will be an issue that, in some races, may influence the outcome. “We don’t have to go out of our way...

OTTUMWA, Iowa – It’s no coincidence that President Obama’s national health-care campaign tour begins in Iowa City, Republican congressional candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks said today. "”Dave Loebsack is vulnerable this fall and now he's trying to run for political cover by having the President stump for him right here in his backyard," Miller-Meeks said of the two-term Democrat congressman from Mount Vernon. Miller-Meeks, a U.S. Army veteran and an eye doctor who is a former president of the Iowa Medical Society, said Obama’s stop is "on its surface designed to promote the budget-busting, massive health care bill signed into law this...

Cheers reign but jeers also greet ObamaBy Deirdre Cox Baker, For The Globe Gazette Thursday, March 25, 2010 10:05 PM CDT IOWA CITY — Dr. Erik Edens stayed outside the University of Iowa Field House for hours Thursday, steadfastly holding a sign that read: “Destroyer in Chief … Stop Socialism.” The 46-year-old Davenport native, who is now an Iowa City physician, was one of 250 protesters who showed their feelings during President Obama’s visit Thursday. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” Edens said, explaining that he thinks the health-care reform bill that Obama signed Tuesday will destroy much of...

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AFP) – US President Barack Obama Thursday launched a sales blitz for his historic health care reforms, as Democrats battled deep Republican anger to finish a set of fixes to the law. Obama returned on Air Force One to Iowa, the cradle of his 2008 campaign, to proclaim he had made good on the political change he promised, by enacting reforms dreamed of by Democrats for generations, but never realized until now. The president was also expected to take on Republicans as they seek to define the historic bill as a costly, big government power grab, in...

On Thursday, the President heads to Iowa City, where he announced his health care reform plan three years ago. This time he is trying to rally consumers behind it.

OTTUMWA, Iowa – Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican candidate for Congress in Iowa’s Second Congressional District, released the following statement today on Democrat Dave Loebsack’s vote in favor of a trillion-dollar health care bill that will kill jobs, cut Medicare, raise taxes, and hand a number of special deals to swing-state Democrats to buy their support for the bill: “Dave Loebsack hasn’t yet found a spending bill he could turn down. After voting for Wall Street bailouts, a trillion dollar stimulus bill that did nothing to curb unemployment, voting to raise our national debt by two trillion dollars, and voting...