Loebsack, Obama Hold Coffee Bean Leads

Loebsack, Obama Hold Coffee Bean Leads

"I better vote for Barack first," said Dave Loebsack as he accepted a coffee bean from the cashier at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn.

The 2nd District congressman made the pilgrimage Tuesday to the old-fashioned diner which is a well-known stop for presidential and local politicians. His main opponent, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, made the stop in August.

The Hamburg Inn runs a "Coffee Bean Caucus," where diners vote for the candidate of their choice by dropping a coffee bean in a jar. On Tuesday, Barack Obama had two full jars. The one John McCain jar was half full for Republican optimists, or half empty for pessimists.

"It looks kind of like the Republican economy," said the usually nonpartisan Dave Panther, the Hamburg Inn's owner.

“If the vote in the bean jar is any indication, I'm going to do well," said the congressman, though as a former political science professor, he was quick to note the unscientific nature of the poll. The Loebsack jar appeared to have about three dozen beans in it, while Miller-Meeks had a total of two.

Gary Sanders of Iowa City offered a strong opinion of Loebsack's opponent. “It really pisses me off that Miller-Meeks is running this Do-Nothing Dave thing," he said of the Republican candidate's ads. "We know how much you're doing.”

Loebsack has now earned a picture on the wall in the Hamburg's Ronald Reagan booth, where the Gipper dined in 1992. The new congressman's picture is kitty corner from a portrait of his predecessor, Republican Jim Leach. "I'm proud to be next to Jim," said Loebsack, who defeated Leach two years ago. "We ran the best and most civil campaign in the country."

“I'm the same Dave Loebsack who ran two years ago,” said the congressman, whose campaign is focusing on his record during his first term. He cited the College Cost Reduction and Access Act he worked on as an Education Committee member. “It provides the largest single infusion of college funding since the GI Bill.”

Loebsack Reluctantly Backs Bailout

Dave Loebsack said his vote for the financial bailout bill was "a lot reluctant," and said the people responsible for the financial crashed should by identified and punished, perhaps even with prison.

“I couldn't agree more and we have to find out how we got into this mess and then we need to resolve the problem," Loebsack said, when asked by Maria Conzemius of Iowa City if there was bipartisan blame for the financial crisis. "We need to hold folks accountable who made these mistakes, and if we find malfeasance we ought to punish them with prison terms," he added.

But Loebsack said the bill was, ultimately, necessary. "When it didn't pass, you saw what happened in the stock market," he said of the Dow Jones drop of more than 700 points the day the first version of the bill failed in the House.

Loebsack said the second version of the bill included more provisions for individual homeowners.

“If I had my way, we would have had a quick vote on the Paulson plan and voted it down. But over the course of a week to ten days the plan improved. I was concerned that if we didn't do anything the consequences would be far worse,” Loebsack said.

Loebsack's three opponents -- Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Green Wendy Barth, and independent Brian White -- have all said they would have voted against the bailout.

"This is one of those issues where people really have to search their conscience," said Loebsack.

“I think I'm the only person on Armed Services who doesn't have a big base in the district," Loebsack said of his other committee. "But we have a lot of veterans and active duty personnel, and on that committee I can do a lot for our veterans and our National Guard."

Loebsack greets Hy Joseph of Iowa City

Loebsack's last several months have been dominated by flood relief efforts, including a visit by President Bush to eastern Iowa. “People ask what was it like to be on Air Force One, but I would have taken President Bush around in my Ford Focus if the Secret Service had let me," said Loebsack. "But Senator Harkin and I had President Bush alone two on one for 30 to 45 minutes. He was literally a captive audience. When we got on the plane he was at $1.8 billion (for flood relief), and we got him up to $2.65 billion.”

Loebsack and Miller-Meeks meet in a candidate forum Thursday in Iowa City, along with Green candidate Wendy Barth and independent Brian White.

Obama, Paul win Coffee Bean Caucus

Obama, Paul win Coffee Bean Caucus

Barack Obama and Ron Paul were the two winners in the Hamburg Inn's Coffee Bean Caucus, held at the politically famous Iowa City diner.

Hamburg Inn patrons could vote as many times as they visited the diner by dropping a coffee bean into their candidate's jar.  The Coffee Bean Caucus was featured on TV's "The West Wing" in 2005.  Results were announced this morning on a live CNN broadcast from the Hamburg Inn.

Several candidates, including Obama, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Green candidate Cynthia McKinney, visited the Hamburg Inn in 2007.  Former president Bill Clinton also stopped by.

The votes leaned strongly Democratic in liberal Iowa City.  Obama had nearly a two to one lead over second place Democrat Hillary Clinton, who in turn held nearly a two to one lead over Edwards.  On the GOP side, Paul's lead was strong but less overwhelming over Mitt Romney.

Democratic		Republican
Barack Obama *	1733	Ron Paul	132
Hillary Clinton	830	Mitt Romney *	87
John Edwards *	445	Rudy Guiliani	71
Dennis Kucinich	291	Mike Huckabee	70
Bill Richardson	276	John McCain *	46
Joe Biden *	176	Fred Thompson	46
Chris Dodd *	79	Duncan Hunter	5
Mike Gravel	0
Cynthia McKinney (Green) *	36	Undecided	215

* Visited Hamburg Inn, 2007

Dodd: "Third, Fourth, First Is Better" in Iowa

Dodd: "Third, Fourth, First Is Better" in Iowa

At a stop at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn, Chris Dodd told Iowa Independent that "third or fourth" would be a good showing in Iowa, but "first is best."


David Osterberg and Jim Larew with Dodd

Dodd spent close to an hour at the politically famous diner, offering no speech but speaking with every one of about 50 every patrons, sometimes at length. Owner Dave Panther said Dodd was the sixth candidate to visit this cycle, joining fellow Democrats Joe Biden, John Edwards and Barack Obama, Republican John McCain and Green Cynthia McKinney. Three candidate's spouses -- Elizabeth Edwards, Jackie Dodd and former president Bill Clinton -- have also visited.

It was the second of Dodd's three Johnson County stops in 24 hours. Friday night, Dodd spoke at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where he won the endorsement of Iowa City Council member-elect Matt Hayek. "We need an adult in the room," Hayek said after the event. "Our next president won't have the luxury of getting up to speed internationally."

Dodd discussed his recent FISA filibuster with Iowa Independent at the Hamburg Inn.

Deeth: How's the FISA work that you did playing out on the campaign trail?

Dodd: I'm impressed how many people are aware of it, because the mainstream media wouldn't hardly cover it. People wonder whether or not blogs and the internet are having any value, and this story would have been buried away, forever maybe, and they might have gotten away with it. But we had 500,000 emails sent to members of Congress through our campaign office by the way, that was through our office and I respect that people did it. People expressing their concern about this had a lot of influence, I think, on people deciding they were going to pull this bill off the floor of the Senate. So it made a big difference, and people here this morning have certainly thanked me for making that trip back to Washington to be there to defeat that legislation.

Deeth. Some of the other Senators who are doing the same thing you're doing didn't go back.

Dodd: No, and they all went back for the farm bill, because that was good politics in Iowa. But the Constitution is what you swore to uphold when you are inaugurated or confirmed in the Senate, that's what you do when you take an oath of office. To me there's nothing more important, and this administration's had an assault on the Constitution for the last six years, and they continue to do it almost on a daily basis. If you can't come back and defend the constitution, I mean, this is a time when we need people to do that. If you let it pass and exonerate the phone companies who've vacuumed up people's phone messages, emails for five long years without a court order at the behest of the Bush administration, and they want to pretend it never happened, is just wrong. And that's why I stood up for 11 hours on the floor of the Senate and pushed back, and they finally pulled the bill out. That's going to come back in January, so we're not done with defeating that. It's a temporary victory, and I'm hoping next time I'll get some more members to come back to be a part of it. If you want to be President of the United States, you've got to lead, not just talk.



Deeth: You were saying last night at the Knights of Columbus that you were the best able to work across the aisle. So far this week I've heard Senator Obama and Senator Clinton also say exactly the same thing. What makes you more effective at working across the aisle than the other candidates who are claiming the same thing?

Dodd: Because I have. I mean, it's a simple record, it's one thing to say it, it's another to have done it. For 26 years, going back to the very first major legislation I was involved in, all the way up till just a week ago on Darfur. People say they are that way, I've actually done it. On the Family and Medical Leave, child care, all those I've done over the years really dozens and dozens, including fourteen pieces of legislation in the last two weeks that have become the law of the land as a result of my working with Dick Shelby, the Republican from Alabama, to get it done. So other people can say it, it's one thing to say it. But the question you want to ask is, where have you done this? What confidence do I have? Of course everyone wants to say that, but I think I'm the only one who's actually done it.

Deeth: You've been working really, really hard here in Iowa, literally staying in Iowa for a while, yet you're still lagging number-wise. What do you have to do to go on from Iowa?

Dodd: I think polls here don't mean as much as they do other places. It's a question of celebrity to some extent, and I think people are getting much more serious about this with ten or 11 days to go here before Jan. 3, and you need to have a good showing here. I don't know what that showing means, it depends where the others are.

Deeth: What's good?

Dodd: Well, you know, third, fourth, first is best here... and I'm hoping Iowans will recognize that it's important of those of us who've had something to say... I've been the most outspoken on the Constitution, the most outspoken on the Iraq war. I bring military service, Peace Corps service, I'm a person who can actually, with proven results bring Democrats and Republicans together. If that's what people are interested in, I think I'm an ideal candidate for Iowans.

Also at the Hamburg Inn was Jim Larew, chief legal counsel to Governor Culver, dining with former state legislator Dave Osterberg of Mt. Vernon. Larew, a leading backer of John Edwards in 2004, was pleased with First Lady Mari Culver's Edwards endorsement, though he was careful to note that the governor himself is neutral. Larew said the governor has "released" his staff to follow their conscience and support the candidates of their choice, and though Larew is busy he hopes to help Edwards again in the remaining days.



Patricia McMichael of Iowa City was signing a Dodd pledge card at the Hamburg. "He's a statesman," she said, " and we need that."

McKinney meets Bonior at the Hamburg Inn

McKinney meets Bonior at the Hamburg Inn


David Bonior and Cynthia McKinney cross paths at the Hamburg Inn

After finishing the talk at the Cottage in downtown Iowa City, Cynthia McKinney and the local Greens head three blocks up the street to a classic Iowa caucus stop, the Hamburg Inn. Since the Greens don't have party status in Iowa, there's no official caucus, but the Hamburg Inn had been alerted to McKinney's arrival. They had prepared a brand new Cynthia McKinney jar for the Coffee Bean Caucus. In this famous caucus ritual, once featured on TV's The West Wing, diners vote for president by dropping a coffee bean in a jar.

In an example of just how small Caucus World is, who should be sitting in the back corner at the Ronald Reagan table but David Bonior, John Edwards' campaign manager. Bonior was Democratic whip during most of McKinney's time in Congress, and the two old colleagues spend a few minutes catching up.

Since McKinney is looking at running for president as a Green, that means she'd be running against Edwards, or whoever the Democrats nominate. Still, Bonior had nice things to say about McKinney. "She was very progressive in the House," he said. "I know she had a lot of issues with the party, and this is her choice. Personally, our relationship's always been good, and I wish her well."

Bonior is upbeat about Edwards' chances, though most recent polls show him running a close third behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "We have a dead heat, but we have great support and enthusiasm," he said. "Our rural piece is strong, he's on message, and we're moving."

Bonior says there's little Democratic campaign activity in his native Michigan, where four of the top six candidates pulled their name off the Jan. 15 primary ballot. Only Clinton, Dodd, Kucinich and Gravel remain.

As a University of Iowa graduate, Bonior is very familiar with the Hamburg Inn. "I used to come in here after a six pack," he said, adding "I know you're going to use that line" so of course I have to. He was off to Clinton next, for an event with longtime Democratic activist Jean Pardee.



McKinney, meanwhile, was working the full house at the Hamburg -- 11:30 Sunday is pretty much prime time -- before dropping her coffee bean in her brand new jar. She's at least the fifth presidential candidate to visit the Hamburg Inn so far this cycle, joining Joe Biden, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and John McCain. Former President Bill Clinton also visited a couple weeks ago.

Cynthia McKinney in Iowa City, Liveblog

Cynthia McKinney in Iowa City, Liveblog



Good morning from the Cottage in downtown Iowa City. I'm here with ten or so folks to hear Cynthia McKinney. former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia, who's looking at a presidential campaign as a Green.

Several of the usual Green suspects are here: `06 governor candidate Wendy Barth, `02 lt. gov candidate Holly Hart, and Karen Kubby of the Emma Goldman clinic.

The run looks like a go: there's lit with a logo, and a website, runcynthiarun.org. Hart and McKinney are discussing the difficulty of ballot access in Oklahoma. "And I thought Georgia was the worst," McKinney offers. That was the state she represented fron 1992 to 2002 and again in 2005-06.

Why Iowa, now, in the middle of caucus season? "Why not now?" McKinney responds. She starts chatting with the local Greens and I get asked, for reasons that seem unclear, to stop the audio recorder, though I'm the only press here. She recalls her first trip to Iowa, for Paul Simon in the `88 caucuses.

They're planning to head up the street to the Hamburg Inn to crash the Coffee Bean Caucus, which only includes the Dems and the GOP. They discuss the logistics of getting into the `burg on a Sunday morning (their busiest time). Barth talks with me about the SODAPop sitins at presidential campaign offices. In Cedar Rapids a group meets every Wednesday at one of Hillary Clinton's Cedar Rapids offices. Why Hillary? She's the worst on the war, won't apologize for her vote, says Barth.

The crowd's up to about 15. At 9:42 the program gets slightly more formal, but the sound system's not on or needed. (As it's getting more formal, the audio recorder goes back on. I didn't miss any great Green Party secrets.) Hart is going the introduction, everyone applauds the word "impeachment."

McK compares the present era to the civil rights era in that things are bad -- but in the `60s things were moving in the right direction and there was hope. "How could it be that the myth of American prosperity could be laid bare before the world with Hurricane Katrina?" And New Orleans is a microcosm of what could happen to the rest of America. "We had Blackwater troops patrolling the streets. How could we turn mercenaries on our own people?" They're not rebuilding public housing, they're building million dollar condos.

"Since they don't have grounds to go to war, they lie to the American people." Says last two elections were stolen. "How could it be that we let these things happen and yet do nothing?" "You know that the election in Florida was stolen, and you know what happened, and yet we did nothing. In 2004, as in 2000, the theft turned on the black vote." Yet Dems, who get 90% of black vote, did nothing. "Where was the dissent on the part of the Democratic party, who conceded the very next day in 2004." Says we know what happened in Ohio in 2004 because of the Greens.

"Election theft didn't start with electronic voting machines, but now we have a problem with electronic voting machines." Cites errors in her district in `06, and ongoing court battled. "The court ruled that the election results belonged to Diebold. That's the state now where we are."

Moving to domestic spying. The greatest generation went across the ocean to fight for democracy and freedom, but they didn't fight for this. Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta didn't dream about this."

Says her travels are showing her "the tremendous capacity" of America. Cites the Ike military-industrial speech. "There's a lot of theft. $2.3 trillion out of the pentagon is missing. It's not missing. They just don't want to tell you who got it." When I asked the Pentagon comptroller, they said "the computers don't talk to each other." And they spent $20 billion to try. "I'm sure the computer science students at Iowa State and UI could go a long way to making those computers talk to each other and net spend $20 billion." Calls the war a "credit card war."

Says economy is "a house of cards, and a little breath from China or Japan or the oil states could blow it over."

As she tested waters, she asked young black voters "are you wedded to the Democrats, and have you done your research." Says she didn't get one yes. "Every young black person I spoke to is open. They're open." So what's that something different? For some it's running, for others its opening their minds to a new political party. "Not only are young people looking for that kind of hope, but they're looking for hope that will talk directly to them and go where they are. So we have to do that."

For the Greens, it means "we have to go deep into some neighborhoods where it's hard to understand the accent -- now I have a REAL Southern accent -- we have to go to where the people are." And we have to know the votes will be counted. "You might not agree with the outcome, but you at least have to feel your position was considered."

People are coming who are Dems, indys, GOP... "in most places my audience have been small on the Green side and large on the independent thinking side."

Q and A. Why didn't Gore and Kerry fight the results harder? "You would have to ask them. But in Florida the African American turnout was nearly 100%. And their votes weren't respected enough to be fought for. For me it is absolutely unacceptable. It was the black vote that created the Dem majority, yet not one of those Senators elected because of the black vote raised their hand in objection. It would not have overturned the election, it would have merely given us two hours to debate what happened in Florida." It wasn't about Gore, it was about the voters.

Wendy Barth notes that Greens were founded by "environmentalist white folks," and how can that build a coalition with blacks? "I hope it's going to work and I wound be doing it if I didn't think it would work." Says her old district largely Georgia, and there were people who wouldn't even shake her hand. "But in four years we overcame a lot of mistrust. SO I think me coming from the south, having already gone into areas that were unfriendly... there was a tremendous burden on the whites there who didn't want to be up front, but did a lot in a subtle way." Then the district was abolished as a gerrymander "and destroyed all the good work we did."

Says there was a Green internal issue with the Jema 6. "It's important that my party be there on these issues. Can't just sit there and watch. And a beautiful press release was done -- and then the pushback came and people were saying it was inappropriate for the Green Party to make a statement. And then I received a message from one Green who was concerned. She agreed with the release, but her fellow greens disagreed on this issue. And she didn't know who's compass was off. And I told her, on this voyage, some will be left behind, because they're not ready. Some of the Greens are going to be just as alone as I have been."

Campaign finance. "The issue is where the $ comes from and what people expect when they make contributions. That's why the Green Party has taken a position -- which I think should be tweaked a bit. Usually corporate contributions are funneled through PACs and all PACS are not equal. I think we should be careful to be sure that our money is conscience money, heart money, and we should produce justice, peace and truth. Those values are worth making campaign contributions for. I've always supported public financing, which we don't have. It's interesting that the arms dealers support Hillary's campaign. I don't know what that means for the war machine."

Iran. "War should always be the last resort, and usually it is the last resort, even the war we have now. I would suspect that war will always remain an option if other items on the agenda are not achieved."

Do Dems like Kerry and Gore value their position in the elite so much that they caved on the election? What made you resist that? (Question hard to hear -- and follow.) "The initial bill to fund the war passed by exactly the number of voted required, 218. The War Party - Democrats and Republicans -- were counting their votes in 2006. If you are able to eliminate one sure No vote, you're closer to 218. I was the only member of the Democratic caucus who lost in 2006. Why? Because I was a sure No vote. The person recruited to challenge me voted yes."

"The people who don't share my values are good at what they do, and they are determined to thwart people like us." Notes how unrepresentative Congress is -- too old, too male. "I've been invited to the club many times, but the cost was not only my integrity, but my dignity."

First presidential term? Rolling back executive power, a Department of Peace (through the State Dept.) Pullback military around the world and an immediate jobs program. "The construction trades are here" (can't be outsourced) so focus on that. "Retrofit for a green, carbon-neutral lifestyle and repair our crumbling infrastructure." Calls it "radical common sense."

I ask about the Nader/spoiler effect. "Pay attention to the black vote. Democrats abandoned it, Republicans obstructed it. The facts include one million black people not having their votes counted, they said they were 'spoiled'. It has nothing to do with the Green Party, it has everything to do with who's counting the vote. There was a concerted effort to construct a convicted felon list, and the when a similar named person showed up to vote they couldn't And there were 90,000 names on that list. Those of us who researched this or were victimized by it, we're outraged."

McKinney says she's backing Cindy Sheehan in her primary challenge to Nancy Pelosi, and emphasized the importance of having people running for office. Ask who in the room has run for office, four hands go up (Barth, Hart, Putman, me.) "Because accountability is not permitted, I get kicked out in 2002, get kicked out again in 2006. I'm being held accountable to the wrong values. If our elected representatives fail to be held accountable, we hold them accountable, or we change them, the way they changed me. Katherine Harris was rewarded with a seat in Congress, and I was thrown out."

What else would you do different? McKinney talks of budgeting. "The biggest snarer of your dollars is the Pentagon. I would significantly decrease the amount of money spent by the Pentagon." Roll back Patriot Act and such. Roll back Bush tax cuts. "I've supported every universal single payer health care plan. People who rail against `socialized medicine' in Canada and the UK have to explain why life expectancy is longer in Canada and the UK, why infant mortality is lower in Canada and the UK." Interested in the role of "assassination as a tool of the state," citing MLK, Fred Hampton, Tupac.

I've spotted a late arriving elected official -- Kelley Putman from the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. (Last I talked to her, she was backing Bill Richardson.) She asks about home district support. "Not yet, because this effort is as yet unannounced. There's a massive effort to get the Green Party to get on the ballot." Says she didn't lose her primary to Democrats, she lost to Republican crossover. "They used redistricting as a tool to try to get rid of me."

After the speech, Putman, who's been active in both the Democrats and Greens, said she's still considering Richardson, but has some concerns with him about the death penalty. "I can't believe we don't have a better group of people who want to be president," she says.

"We're on the wrong track on just about every issue that concerns our way of life," says McKinney.

After the talk, I ask McKinney what Greens should do on caucus night. She doesn't nibble: "I'm not here to talk about the Democrats, I'm here to talk about the Greens." Ron Kinum of Iowa City says, "Dennis Kucinich is closer to the Greens." McKinney is happy about the Ron Paul movement. " It's wonderful for the Greens, because people are thinking independently."

In part 2: Caucusland is a small world.

When Edwards and Biden Come to Town, It Changes the Nature of the Diner

When Edwards and Biden Come to Town, It Changes the Nature of the Diner

In science, the Heisenberg effect, or "observer effect," describes a phenomenon in which the observation or measurement of an event changes the very nature of the event.  For example, attaching a meter to an electrical circuit to measure the current inherently changes that current.

Or, in presidential politics, a candidate visiting a diner changes the nature of the diner.

Twin candidate appearances at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn bookended debate weekend as Democrats John Edwards and Joe Biden made the pilgrimage to the retro diner famed for its food and its high-profile campaign visits.  The two events tested, and exceeded, the limits of one-on-one caucus campaigning.

The Hamburg was heavily Heisenberg effected on Friday.  Technically speaking, John Edwards did not even set foot in the Hamburg Inn on Friday night, though Elizabeth Edwards did get in the door for breakfast Saturday morning.  When I arrived 45 minutes before the announced 8:30 p.m. event, several dozen people were already outside the Hamburg, and a glance inside the window showed every seat was full.

"It was such a big crowd, we decided to go outside," said Hamburg Inn owner Dave Panther.  A campaign staffer called for attention and asked the owners of the cars in the prime parking spots just in front of the Hamburg to move.  The feat was accomplished before the Edwards campaign bus arrived.

Elizabeth Edwards had just finished a book reading on the University of Iowa campus and was signing books after the reading.  The crowd outside continued to grow as arrival time approached, with many late arrivals clutching Elizabeth Edwards' books.  Edwards supporter Ed Fallon chatted with members of the waiting crowd.  His Edwards endorsement had made statewide news during the week, but the former gubernatorial candidate had declared his support for Edwards months earlier.  (He accompanied John and Elizabeth Edwards at an Iowa City stop in January.)  Fallon said it had been the campaign's decision to (in campaign parlance) "roll out" the endorsement that week.

The Edwards bus arrived playing the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."  Fading the track well before its closing line, "you make a dead man come," an announcer skipped the niceties and cut to the chase with a quick "ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, JOHN EDWARDS!!" intro.  Edwards emerged, climbed up a metal stepladder and spoke using a portable PA system connected to his bus.  The speech was a brief, intense, honed version of the Edwards stump speech.  Recent additions include the theme "I can't do this alone, I need your help," and an increased use of the word "lobbyist" since the issue emerged on the national radar screen in recent weeks.  It's hard not to sound populist when you're standing on a stepladder.

The Heisenberg effect may even have extended to the normally friendly, folksy neighborhood mood of the `Burg.  A staffer from a bird-dogging organization reported that some of the wait staff had quietly grumbled about getting stiffed on tips, or even on the whole tab, from patrons who occupied tables for a long time waiting for Edwards.  Edwards did meet briefly with Panther and the wait staff at the door to the bus just before departing, concluding a round of handshakes that reached the front few rows of the crowd of 250 to 300 people.

The handshakes continued as the bus rolled away, with Edwards leaning and reaching out the window.

Other top-tier contenders have gotten inside the Hamburg Inn this cycle.  John McCain (when his prospects looked brighter) made an unannounced stop in May.  Barack Obama visited in April, but he'd be hard-pressed to do a chit-chat session when he drew (he says) 10,000 people to a campus rally that day.

In contrast, Monday morning was classic Hamburg Inn -- though even a crowd half again as big would have changed the mood.  Every seat was full, and a few people were standing, but movement was reasonably easy and comfortable.

I strolled in 15 minutes before the scheduled 7:30 a.m. start and grabbed a seat next to Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and county Democratic chair Brian Flaherty.  Not just any seat -- a seat at the Bill Clinton table, where the former president dined in 2003 and the most wanted seat in the house if you're a Democrat.  (Republicans like the Ronald Reagan table, where the Gipper ate in 1992.)

"I called 100 people," said Biden supporter Mae Schatteman, a small energetic woman in her 80s.  "They better be here."  The crowd, at about 75, came close to matching her goal.

The senator arrived close to on time to solid applause.  Panther started to introduce the senator with some biography, but Biden pshawed the plaudits: "I'm Joe Biden."

In an illustration of just how intimate the Iowa caucuses can be, Biden began speaking literally next to me.  I reached around him and placed my audio recorder on the lunch counter in front of him.  Biden reached down and carefully positioned my recorder about 2 inches away from where I'd set it.

Biden strolled back and forth behind the counter, at arms length from diners, occasionally using the restaurant accoutrements as props.  "If you're moving two trillion dollars of the economy from here to here," he said of health care, "there's going to be winners and losers."  Biden illustrated the shifting trillions by picking up a sugar shaker and moving it from his right to his left.  He emphasized one statement by tapping a salt shaker like a gavel.

The speech was short, the questions were many, and the answers extended.  Biden took roughly a half dozen questions and expounded in depth on each, for as long as ten minutes a question.  That's well over the seven minutes and seven seconds of speaking time Biden had in Sunday's debate.

At one point, Biden noticed a small knot of three or four people waiting outside the front door and interrupted his remarks to urge them to come on in.  A person near the inner door opened it, and the folks outside opened the outer door and entered.  The crowd near the door shifted, but not much, to accommodate the new arrivals.  It was the kind of moment that makes every other state except New Hampshire jealous.

Biden Says Cheney's Changes Are About Oil, Bases

Biden Says Cheney's Changes Are About Oil, Bases

Presidential candidate Joe Biden said he's concluded that changes in Vice President Dick Cheney's opinion on invading Iraq since Cheney served as defense secretary in the Bush 41 administration are about oil revenue and permanent bases.

Answering questions from a crowd of 75 people at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn, the Delaware  senator emphasized that his plan for postwar Iraq was for a multipart federal state and not three separate nation-states.  Then, saying he had not said so before in public, he added:

"I am not a big conspiratorial guy, because really good conspiracies require really smart people.  (Laughter.)  But.  Working with for over 30 years with Vice President Cheney, working with and knowing Secretary Rumsfeld, knowing a lot of people in this administration, you're gonna get mad at me when I say this.  They are really smart guys…. They're dead wrong but very bright.  So I ask myself why is it that Dick Cheney knowingly, knowing what he knew with Bush I, arguing as he did with Bush I that we should not go into Baghdad… what would make them change their mind?  What would make people like Brent Scowcroft and Secretary Baker and other just puzzle about what happened to Cheney, a former ally?  The conclusion I have reached that is intuitive -- I can't prove it -- is that the desire to have a guaranteed piece of the oil and a guaranteed physical presence in the region with permanent bases must have been part of the strategic doctrine that I didn't believe was initially part of it."

Asked if Bush, Cheney, and others in the administration should be prosecuted for war crimes, Biden said there might not be time for impeachment before Bush's term expires, but "they can be prosecuted after they've left office if there's evidence they've committed a crime.  It would be a serious mistake if we let the record evaporate."

Questioners also grilled Biden about his support for the 2005 bankruptcy bill.  Kurt Friese, owner of Devotay restaurant, identified himself as a longtime Biden supporter but said he was concerned about Biden's vote. "It goes against everything else you've said here," said Friese.  "I gotta say, referring back to the special interests you talked about before… You're from Delaware.  And that's where the credit companies are."

Earlier in the question-and-answer session, Biden had called for public campaign finance. "I don't care how pristine you are," he said, "among those hundreds of millions of dollars there are a lot of people who have a lot of

interests."

"Middle class people are carrying an exceptionally higher burden in the cost of everything they do," Biden said in explaining his bankruptcy vote, "because so many people were declaring bankruptcy that in fact did not need to declare bankruptcy, including doctors and lawyers who were walking away from their student loans."

Biden said contrary to "urban legend" no one could lose their primary home under the bankruptcy bill.  "You ought to talk to John Edwards about people who are foreclosed on, when you talk about whether or not these hedge funds are going in with these sub-prime loans.  That's real.  This is not real."  Biden does regret not being able to place a cap on home value that could be protected in bankruptcy, citing movie stars who protected their assets in multi-million dollar homes.

Reveling in the format that allowed for extended answers, Biden discussed details of the bill and turned the question to health care.

"Here's what people are mad about that has nothing to do with the bankruptcy bill, but gets laid on the bankruptcy bill.  It's this.  There are people out there who have medical bills that run up.  The largest reason for people declaring bankruptcy is medical bills.  And you probably won't agree with me… If you run up, like I did, medical bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars, I should not be able to turn and declare bankruptcy and make sure the doctor never gets paid.  The doctor isn't the reason why I, in fact, should be able to declare bankruptcy.  What it says is, we need a national health care policy so no one has to do it.  But for us to shift the burden of health care to people who are good decent people who provide the health care to us, and say `you provide it, but we're not going to pay you, we're going to allow everyone who has a bill over 50 grand to declare bankruptcy so you don't get paid,' I think would collapse the medical health care system… I want to make sure that everybody who has a major health-care bill never has to pay it.  Why?  Because I will have provided catastrophic health insurance for every American.  Every American takes responsibility for that person who can't pay, not just a handful of providers who have spent millions of their dollars to pay.  Should that ICU nurse who kept you alive, should she not get paid?"

In a short stump speech before the questions, Biden emphasized his experience and his detailed approach to the Iraq war.  The senator was accompanied by his son Hunter, who received some gentle paternal ribbing when the cost of student loans was discussed.

Hamburg Inn Coffee Bean Caucus

Hamburg Inn's Coffee Bean Caucus is OK Online, But It's Better With That Breakfast Smell

Visits from two former presidents and one fictitious one, and a little creative self-promotion, have turned an old fashioned diner on Iowa City’s north side into one of the ritual stops on the caucus campaign trail. And this year the Hamburg Inn’s Coffee Bean Caucus – where diners vote for their favorite candidate by dropping coffee beans into labeled jars – has expanded onto the Internet.


Hamburg Inn owner Dave Panther at the Reagan table with some of his mementos, including a two-page photo of Barack Obama's visit last month.

I joined Hamburg Inn owner Dave Panther for a cup of that coffee in the Ronald Reagan booth at the Hamburg Inn, and he said Reagan’s August 1992 visit after a speech at the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch was the first big event in the history of the Hamburg Inn as a political stop. A small plaque and a photo of Ronald and Nancy Reagan mark the corner booth near the kitchen. Even in heavily Democratic Iowa City, it’s usually full.

The first major campaign appearance was during the 1996 caucus cycle when local supporters of Pat Buchanan brought him to the Hamburg. But it was in 2003 that the Hamburg Inn really cemented its reputation as a must-stop for caucus candidates. That March, former President Bill Clinton visited while in Iowa City for a University lecture. The Clinton table is two booths down from the Reagan table.

The other presidential candidate named Clinton has not yet visited.

“Our goal is to get Hillary here, and Obama back… Of the top six candidates we’ve had three so far – Edwards, Obama and McCain. I’d like to see Rudy Giuliani, and Romney, and McCain again. We’d get them all here if we could.”

“It’s interesting to see whether what’s in TV is what they’re like in person, in a natural setting.”

The Reagan booth also features mementos from the Hamburg Inn's January 2005 West Wing appearance.

The Hamburg Inn was Wesley Clark’s only Iowa campaign event in 2003. In September Clark was in Iowa City for a University lecture scheduled before his late entry into the race, and he subsequently decided not to contest the caucuses. Also visiting in the 2004 cycle were Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Edwards.

Panther premiered the Coffee Bean Caucus in early 2004. “I heard of a Mexican restaurant that had done a poll with pinto beans, and I was thinking about what we could do.” He also liked the alliterative sound of “coffee bean caucus.” The 2004 coffee bean caucus ran from January 7 to 17, ending the Saturday before the January 19 caucuses.

“We got an almost immediate response – I sent out some press releases, a Des Moines TV station picked it up, and from there the national people did and the ball just kept rolling. We even had foreign journalists from the Netherlands and Canada.”

While the first Coffee Bean Caucus was a publicity smash, its track record as a predictor is 0 for 1 –Dean won the beans but John Kerry carried Johnson County and the state on caucus night.

So far this year, both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have mentioned their Hamburg Inn visits in their local speeches. “Unfortunately I was out of town when Obama was here,” laments Panther, showing me a two-page photo of the visit in the New Yorker.


Dan Gable and John McCain

McCain’s visit was prominently featured in most coverage of his Johnson County visit earlier this month, in large part because wrestling legend Dan Gable joined him.

Panther says most events are attended by a variety of people and not just strong supporters of a particular candidate. One exception was when director Rob Reiner and actor Martin Sheen visited the Hamburg Inn the week before the 2004 caucuses on behalf of Dean, and Kucinich supporters got wind of the event and packed the place. “I thought that was a little much,” said Panther (an assessment I shared at the time). He still cites the event as one of his favorites, along with a visit by Patch Adams, the real-life doctor who was the basis for the Robin Williams movie. Adams visited on behalf of Kucinich. “Kucinich was very active last time, we haven’t seen that this year.”



The Reiner-Sheen event may have played a key role in winning the Hamburg Inn perhaps its biggest moment of fame, when the restaurant featured on the TV series The West Wing. Panther thinks Sheen, who starred in the series as the fictitious President Bartlet, brought the story of his visit back to the set and the writers worked the Coffee Bean Caucus into the show’s “King Corn” episode, where candidates are encouraged to back ethanol subsidies despite their actual views on the issue.

This year, Panther has added a new twist to the Coffee bean caucus – an on line version at coffeebeancaucus.com.

“I thought that since Johnson County is so Democratic, going on line would give us even more national prominence. We’ll get the actual coffee bean jars closer to fall.”

Online voters answer three questions: home state, party identification, and candidate.

“We’re linked to all the candidates sites on our site, and they can add the link to theirs. The idea is to have fun, but also to have an informed electorate.”

The Hamburg Inn’s roots date back to the 1930s, and the Panther family has operated the North Linn Street location – officially called “Hamburg Inn Number 2,” though Numbers 1 and 3 are long gone – since 1948. Dave Panther bought the business from his parents in 1979. Photos of the famous visitors line the walls, along with pictures of the diner in the 1950s and multicolored chalkboards displaying the menu that includes a dizzying variety of omelets, breakfasts, burgers and malts. Panther recently remodeled the restaurant, adding one additional table without sacrificing the classic look of the anachronistic diner that regularly tops local popularity polls. “We want to look vintage, but not old.”


Howard Dean and Christie and Tom Vilsack are among the many photos on the walls.

Iowa politicians of both parties have made the Hamburg inn a regular stop. Pictures and letters from Senator Chuck Grassley and former congressman Jim Leach hang in the Reagan booth, and Dave Loebsack held events at the Hamburg Inn last year. “Tom Vilsack came here often,” says Panther, noting that Vilsack ended his presidential campaign a week before a scheduled Hamburg Inn event.

Panther says he’s still thinking about who to support in 2008. He was not politically active before his restaurant leaped to caucus fame: “2004 was my first caucus. I thought the process was going to be more complicated. Now I’m getting more involved and more interested. It’s really stimulating.”

“I didn’t realize how much fun politics could be.”

Breakfast With Andy Stern

Breakfast With Andy Stern

Much delayed but finally served.

Well, that wasn’t anything like I expected. I went in expecting a speech, or a low-key talk, and instead I got a discussion. I thought maybe I was doing too much talking before we started, at the beginning, then I realized, wait a minute! We HAVE started and this is what it’s going to be!

Anyway, here’s some of the play by play. We had a dozen or so of us: long-time and new activists and a couple elected officials (Amy Correia from the city council, and later county auditor Slockett arrived)

Stern said labor’s membership in 2004 was looking less at the candidate “who can win” and more at the candidate who was best on the issues, and in the very glitzy 2008 cycle he hopes labor can steer the campaign back toward issues. He asked us – asked us! - how best to do that, when the press is already focusing on glitz.

Amy Correia cited a local group, The 49 (named for the 49% of Americans who DID NOT vote for George Bush) that was involved in local races in 2005 and in the 2006 general. Another local group cited was FAIR. (Pardon the GeoCites URL. Local activism doesn't have to be fancy, he said from the free Blogger account.)

Amy C: the 49 – issue forums

Other comments:
Jason Friedman: Iowans are very conversant in issues. Get candidates to focus on them. We believe Dems will win in 2008, and want to make the right choice.

Me: Sometimes Iowans also over-think the electability “issue.” (OK, I was a bruised Deaniac.)

Stern had a great analogy: Democrats think a campaign is Jeopardy, where you win if you get the most answers right. "But Republicans know it’s American Idol." So we get folks who win the quiz but don’t connect with people.

Mike Carberry wants an American Idol winner who’s talented! Some thoughts that Hillary’s events this weekend seemed scripted, and we Iowans don’t want fawning and star worship. I ask if it will wear off; most of us think so.

Stern talks about the incredible new level of accountability the net (particularly youtube) creates. Candidates have less control, and the roots can use the net do drive the campaign.

Andy then discusses SEIU’s “Running for president? Walk In My Shoes” campaign; they’re trying to get candidates to spend a real day with a real person, getting members to tell their unfiltered stories then have that person report their real-world observations.

He noted SEIU’s working on a health care forum in Nevada, but the DNC trying to shut down, since candidates are saying they’re not ready for joint appearances (“they’re ready to be president, but not ready for a debate.”

Andy notes that an interesting thing about the globalized economy is that multinationals now do business in countries where the health care issue has been dealt with (Everyone else in the world has it figured out”), and are learning that “you don’t have to have socialism to have health care.” This reduces the old-fashioned ideological opposition.

One of us asked what were the three most important issues SEIU’s dealing with. The bullets:



In health care we’re reaching a 1994 moment. Even insurance and business and GOP governors are discussing universal coverage. (He thinks we’ll have to get universal coverage first before pushing ahead to single payer.) Right now, labor is telling the Democratic leadership “you don’t have to wait for a Democratic president.” Unlike `94, one-time opponents now believe collapse of the health care system (“we have a SECTOR not a system”) is worse than change. Now it’s about political will

People understand we’re in an economic revolution, akin to the agricultural or industrial revolution but in a much shorter time frame. But while the economy is GROWING growth is not DISTRIBUTED. Even Alan Greenspan says the rich poor gap is threatening capitalism. And unions are part of the solution. “Unions are one of the few anti poverty programs that work and that don’t cost the government money.” Sharing when a company succeeds is what used to make America great. People should have a stake, a voice.

This war is a huge problem. Militarism is not our future, and being a world community is different than being a superpower

When asked if progress is likely on labor organizing rights, Stern says it’s rhetorically closer. People feel the balance of power in the economy is tipped to capital. In many states, unions are not a factor. And we’re beginning to be a public sector movement – one risk of that is private sector unions are associated with fighting corporate greed while public sector unions risk association with higher taxes. Labor to give a vision of unions as part of solution. Labor is not talking about other country’s models of unions (as opposed to health care). He notes we’re as far in time from the New Deal as the New Deal was from the Civil War. And we can’t build a 2007 economy around 1935 laws or mindsets.
And he adds “I cringe when John Sweeney says ‘we won they owe us’”

Peter Fisher notes that the immigration issue is puzzling to labor.

Stern says a consensus is growing that we need a path to citizenship for the 12 million people already here, and that we can’t vilify people who are trying to do what’s best to take care of their families. It’s getting hateful – when people are economically insecure they look for someone to blame. A lot of problems get solved when economy gets better.
We also need a plan to match immigration and job skills without driving down wages, and make it a criminal offense to hire the undocumented; he notes employers have a hard time complying without slipping into racially profiling. And once you tie a guest worker program to a specific job and employer, there’s a risk of exploitation.



The discussion turns to Wal-Mart; I ask how to make the case against shopping at Wallyworld to folks who worry about making their own ends meet. Andy says to keep at it; they’re lost 5-8% of sales on negative PR. The argument “You’re paying for their employee’s health care is also is effective. He notes the “fear based” corporate culture of Wal-Mart; the’;; pay for security cameras if anyone mentions low wages, but once the union talk simmers down, they stop staffing the cameras for less important matters like people getting mugged in the parking lot.

Back to the subject of other international models of labor, Stern notes that China is obsessively scared of scared of instability, and a large wealth gap is unstable. So China is actively, ironically, promoting unions.

And a quick straw poll of the Iowans at the table produces this list of likely caucus winners (predictions, not endorsements!) Edwards 3, Clinton 1, Obama 1, and one Edwards/Obama waffle. (No one actually had waffles but there was a nice looking omelet. Andy’s not a breakfast guy, which is a shame because the Hamburg Inn is the best in town). As we leave Stern “we’re counting on you for the methods and the methodology” to put issues in the forefront.

Followup: Andy is reading tonight at Prairie Lights, the greatest bookstore on the planet, from A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track. The reading will be broadcast on public radio WSUI's "Live From Prairie Lights" rogram. I was a semi-conventional journalist at WSUI back in the first Bush era.

At The Hamburg In With Denise O'... oops

At The Hamburg In With Denise O'... oops

Greetings from the Reagan Table at the Hamburg Inn. (The Clinton table was full.) Gary Sanders is our MC and our first speaker is Supervisor challenger Larry Meyers calling for a straight ticket. There have been a number of sightings of signs for Republican Alan Curry next to Larry's, but this isn't the first time I've heard Meyers call for a straight ticket vote.

Denise O’Brien is our headliner. Todays' big Dem event is the rally with Chet after the homecoming parade, but I'm leaving town for my last pre-election human being time. Now we have Mark Nolte (who says he has hope in the midst of all the negativity.)

My folks love the Hamburg and eat here every time they visit. And this place has been featured on the West Wing. This is a much better political experience than my last rally here – where the Kucinich folks raided a Dean event and bullied me out of the place.

Joe Bolkcom is up. Talking about taking the Hamburg’s used grease and making biodiesel, along with other health, environmental and civil right goodness.

Oops. Turns out Denise herself is not actually here – just the staff and the green bus. She’s here tomorrow (I’m not). Let’s get the talking points: Biography, diversifying farm crops and farm size, rural-urban ties, renewable fuels. Denise will have a positive impact on the national, even global level.

Last up we have Loebsack “who’s going to finally get rid of Leach” (the Reagan table is also the Leach table - birds of a feather!) Gary Sanders shoots down Press-Citizen article "Leach often at odds with Bush" and says 49% agreement with Bush is an unacceptable record.

Dave says GOP is sending out mailings attacking him. Shows 1) They don’t have a plan and 2) I’m gaining on them. He’s firing up the Go Dems stuff for this very Iowa City crowd in this very Iowa City place. Talking about ending the war, single payer health care, livable wages. “Leach likes to pretend he’s a Democrat but there’s only one Democrat in this race.”

Today’s hat pass is for tips for the wait staff – nice touch. After the speech, Larry Meyers and Joe Bolkcom talk bikes and Loebsack gets the TV camera love from channels 2 and 9.