Monday Mashup

Monday Mashup

Very late edition today; was uninspired in the AM and been off having a life since.

Archie Brooks takes one for the team and bails, dramatically reducing the salience of CITEC as a fall issue. Over and over again we've seen: scandal only works if there's a direct link.

An Amusing look at B-List Candidates of both parties, including some 1994 GOP one term wonders.

This Boston Herald article will be the buzz of central committees for a while:

Any survey can be inaccurate or misleading. And 55 percent of ARG’s sample was either neutral or positive about Sen. Clinton. Thirty-two percent currently say they plan to vote for her in the primary.

But Bennett says he’s never before seen so many N.H. voters show so much hatred toward a member of their own party. He’s never even seen anything close.

“Forty-five percent of the Democrats are just as negative about her as Republicans are. More Republicans dislike her, but the Democrats dislike her in the same way.”

Hillary’s growing brain trust in the party’s upper reaches already knows she has high “negatives” among ordinary Democrats. They think she can win those voters over with the right strategy and message.

But we’re not talking about “soft” negatives like, say, “out of touch” or “arrogant.”

We’re talking: “Criminal . . . megalomaniac . . . fraud . . . dangerous . . . devil incarnate . . . satanic . . . power freak.”

Granted the Herald is the Murdoch tabloid of the Boston market. But somethig is real here. Voter sexism? Would another viable Democratic woman get the same reaction?

Mathew Gross predicts: "Hillary will have a hard time breaking above 35% of the white Democratic electorate, and, in the current calendar, is most likely to come in only second in Iowa, Nevada, and New Hampshire. South Carolina is another matter, and the string of southern states that follow will be Hillary's chance for a comeback if the high reverance for her husband among African Americans can be converted into support for her. That, of course, is a big IF."

My theory remains the contest quickly winnows to Clinton and the anti-Hillary, and what's underway now is the posturing to be the Not Hillary. WHich leaves self-proclaimed centrists (paging Mr. Vilsack) at a disadvantage.

Had good intentions to blog Mike Mauro, but family stuff came up literally on my way out the door and given the choice between seeing Mike Mauro or my kid, well sorry Mike. So my political activity for the weekend was limited to the Swisher parade where I photographed Ro Foege's Ro-Boats (not my camera so no photo-blogging). Confession: I used to wear a donkey suit in parades; one of the reasons I ran for the legislature was it got me out of wearing the donkey suit.

And the heat wave seems to have broken; the HQ of John Deeth Blog here at Bohemian Paradise is cooled by nature - or NOT cooled as the case may be. We peaked at a 92 degree indoor temperature, which made me somewhat disinclined to write. Seemed to help the Smallest Farm, though, as we are now harvesting pole beans. By "harvesting" we mean "one small serving about every four days." The heat also inhibited my participation in the annual Iowa City Curb Shopping Moving Sale; my take this year was limited to a couple shelves and Computer Number Seven. (That way if one breaks I still have six.)

Just Because It's Too Fun

Just Because It's Too Fun



Vague Political Tie-In: "Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has changed his political uniform from red to blue and is talking again about running for governor of Alabama, possibly in 2010," Sports Illustrated reports.

Said Barkley: "Alabama, that's my home. I'm thinking about running for governor; they need the help."

Barkley recently expressed his dismay with the Republican party and would most likely run as a Democrat."

Let's hope Godzilla isn't his opponent in THAT contest...

Herseth winning big

Herseth winning big

Gratuitous Stephanie Herseth post, with gratuitious pictures:



She's winning 60-26. In a very red state. And that picture with George McGovern is still at the top of her front page.

Herseth's strength registered across all regions of the state listed in the poll, with the lowest, 53 percent, in western South Dakota. Whalen, of Pine Ridge, had 31 percent there.

She attracted support from 34 percent of the Republicans surveyed and 89 percent of Democrats. Whalen was favored by 46 percent of Republicans - with 20 percent undecided.

Independents went to Herseth 71 percent to 18 percent, with the remainder undecided.

Hopefully Iowa's Whalen will do just as poorly.

Sales tax: Divide and Conquer?

Sales tax: Divide and Conquer?

Everyone wants some of that penny pie:

Area governments are asking the schools to share the money, but school officials say they fear doing so would cause voters to reject the measure.

``I have not had one person contact me in support of sharing,'' school board member Toni Cilek said.

``You can build those schools, but there's going to be no roads to them,'' said Coralville Council member Tom Gill...

It'll be a tough sell even if it's just "for the kids" (and I'm not sold even on that.) Throw in pet city projects and kiss the penny goodbye.

Earlier this week Supervisor Rod Sullivan wrote:

I have mixed emotions on the ICCSD Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) issue. I wish the ICCSD had chosen an option that was less bad for the lower income people in our community. Now that they have decided to pursue the tax, I wish the other governmental entities would leave them alone.

Of course local governments should cooperate. For the most part, they do. I just think it is incredibly disingenuous of other governmental units to try to piggyback on the ICCSD. The other governments know that the public will pass a sales tax for the schools, but not for any other unit of government. They want a piece of the action. These governments all have the opportunity to ask the voters to approve bonds, and Iowa City and Johnson County can ask for Local Option Sales Taxes. They do not need the ICCSD to pursue these options. But most observers of local politics realize that the ICCSD is the only governmental unit that could pass a LOST.

Coveting their money is one thing, but do not pretend you are trying to HELP the ICCSD sell the tax. Most veteran political observers agree with my observation the voters do NOT want other governments involved. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn¹t speak to enough people, is full of it, or is very wrong.

Though I voted against the tax on the Board of Supervisors (it passed 4-1), I feel the attitude of Supervisors Chair Mike Lehman has been among the best I have seen. His approach has been, ³if you are interested in sharing, we could certainly use it.² Mike has been supportive, and has not tried any guilt trips or hard sells.

What¹s more, I find it incredibly hypocritical that Coralville is upset with the ICCSD for a failure to cooperate. Were the schools consulted about Coralville¹s use of TIF districts?

The Gazette quotes Kelly Hayworth as saying it is ³always a concern when lack of discussion occurs.² I agree. That is why I have been asking for public discussion of the $6.3 million Coralville¹s TIFs have cost the County over the past 5 years. I have been on the Board of Supervisors for 19 months, and I have followed every meeting for much longer. The Board has had zero public discussions with Coralville on the issue of TIFs during this time. Cooperation, anyone?

Perhaps the concern is that the ICCSD held a public meeting as opposed to a private one. I firmly believe that more, not less, of what we discuss should be public. So I applaud the ICCSD for holding meetings that were open to all.

Back to the ICCSD and their sales tax. It makes me angry. Ironically, I can sit back and watch as other local governments try to doom it to failure.

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Meanwhile on the national scene: "Ned Lamont (D) leads Sen. Joe Lieberman (D (sic) -CT) 54% to 41% among likely Democratic primary voters..."

Mauro in IC Sunday

Mauro in IC Sunday

From the inbox:

Doug and Beverly Jones will be hosting a house party, August 6 from 3-5 pm 816 Park Rd in Iowa City and light fundraiser for Polk County Auditor Michael Mauro, Democratic Nominee for Secretary of State.

$25 suggested contribution and, as at all Dem events (Deeth notes: this means "in Johnson County"), everyone welcome and encouraged to attend whether you have the 25 bucks this week or not.

Register Roundup

Register Roundup

Editor emeritus Gilbert Cranberg speculates that the hard-right Iowa GOP platform hurts the caucuses. Not sure about that but it's a nice summary of lunacy: "The party's support for death-bed care for indigents actually is a softening of its position of four years ago that health care is a privilege, not a right..."

Meanwhile The Overated One actually touches on the truth - but only to reject it.

Not once...

While some Democrats dismiss him as a "loser" in a party that rarely gives a candidate a second chance, the crowd of about 100 in the Ness' backyard on Saturday didn't seem dismissive. With polls showing Kerry already running in third place among likely caucus-goers in Iowa, nobody else should be. He came from farther behind than that to win the 2004 caucus fight.

Not twice...

While some experts say Romney's Mormon faith will hurt him with some voters, it seemed to be helping him here Saturday.

but three times:

It's a measure of Romney's dedication to his Iowa effort that he broke away from the "Big Dig" calamity in Boston to keep his commitments in Iowa. Some in Boston thought he should have remained in the state to deal with the issue.

I'm not sure which is the bigger deal killer: the fact that Kerry was such a dull candidate that he couldn't defeat the least popular president since I Am Not A Crook, or the reality that the theocratic wing of the Republican Party considers the Mormon Church a pagan fertility cult. But both are absolute sorry, see ya, non starter deal breakers.

Pate's Out

Pate's Out

Several others beat me to it while I was having connection problems last night, but Paul Pate says no:

Pate — who served as secretary of state for four years, state senator for six years and, most recently, as Cedar Rapids mayor for four years — said ‘‘family responsibilities at this time’’ would not permit him to seek a return to state office.

Family responsibilities, the all-purpose excuse.... Seems odd because Pate was so gung ho just a couple days ago. The guy who's really screwed is primary loser Bob Dopf who first expressed interest, then bailed and endorsed Pate.

Speculation now seems to be centering on congressional primary loser Bill Dix. Mike Mauro, meanwhile, thinks he wants the desk over in that corner rather than this corner.