Kay Henderson discusses two private meetings held in the last week here at the Radio Iowa Blog. You know just how bad things are in Washington when a Republican candidate for Congress has to hold a private, unannounced meeting with his party’s own Majority Leader in the House of Representatives. A campaign press release says they were talking about spending reform. Hah. I’m sure Jeff was asking about who he needed to talk to on K Street so he could get some good golf deals and stuff, just like most other Republican congress-folk.
Anyway, Steve King’s closed sessions were even worse. He brought in the Christian evangelists from Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council to figure even more ways to make sure that the church and the state are never separated again.
For the love of God and everything else holy, let’s make sure that Lamberti doesn’t get a ticket to DC and let’s get King the hell out of there: Vote for Leonard Boswell and Joyce Schulte!
Very substantive. Have you seen any of the posts about how the Democratic party won’t let its candidates answer questions about their various positions? I’m still waiting to hear a reason to vote for Boswell instead of AGAINST Lamberti.
Bacon, great question. Here’s a start.
Boswell supports stem cell research and would overturn Bush’s veto; his opponent does not and would not, respectively.
Boswell supports an increase in the minimum wage with no strings attached; his opponent does not.
Boswell wants to protect Social Security from Bush’s privatization plan; his opponent does not.
Boswell supported the HAWK-I program whenever he could; his opponent voted to cut it.
Boswell just introduced a bill pushing to make college more affordable; his opponent voted to slash funding for Iowa schools and universities.
Boswell supports a woman’s right to choose; his opponent does not. In fact, his opponent has a 0% voting record from Planned Parenthood, and 100% from Iowa Right to Life. He even brags about it on his Web site.
Boswell has foreign policy on the Intelligence Committee and 20 years in the U.S. Army; his opponent has experience at flipping Casey’s pizza and wearing ridiculous suede shoes (don’t take my word for it, they are ridiculous, check ‘em out, hahaha…)
The list goes on. You might not be Boswell’s biggest fan, but we need Boswell in there. There’s too much at stake.
Additionally, Boswell held listening post events all across the district.
Even Kevin Schmidt made it out to one of the listening posts.
It’s never going to be perfect, but Boswell has been honest and working hard.
Thanks Mike,
That’s a pretty good list. I still have concerns about his votes on immigration, his 100% rating from the NRA, his anti-choice label from NARAL. But Lamberti obviously wouldn’t be an improvement in those regards, would he?
I hate the idea that I am voting for a candidate who is the lesser of two evils.
You’re right, I’m not Boswell’s biggest fan. That honor has to go to the proprietor of this little ol’ blog.
Anyone else lucky enough to participate in the Boswell push poll? The horrible way it was designed & executed, it can’t be helping his cause.
Bacon, I’m Boswell’s biggest fan on the blogosphere in the 3rd District because no one else is offering him online support and because I believe he’s the best candidate in the race for the 3rd CD who can make a difference. We’ve had the discussion before about my support for Boswell because of the nature of this race and because he didn’t have a primary opponent. He’s the Democratic nominee and I’m supporting him.
RF — what is this psuh poll you speak of? Your’s is the first report or inkling of a push poll that I have heard about. Can you let us know more?
Chris, he’s got a myspace site with lots of friends though!
The Boswell poll was just incredibly badly designed and executed. First of all, I asked how long the poll would take. 5-7 minutes I was told. Well, it took at least 25 minutes, even though I did not hesitate with any of my answers. They had a couple of mandatory questions about the Nussle-Culver race, they then went on to the Boswell-Lamberti race. My favorite question was about the most important issue in the race. They rattled at least 50 topics and subtopics to choose from. The actual “push” part of the poll was a very long laundry list of all kinds of issues/arguments for and against Boswell & Lamberti. As Lamberti’s negative argument list was much longer, the poll must have been for Boswell. I assume the goal of the poll is to figure out most effective messages against Lamberti/for Boswell. However, anyone who participates in this poll must be pretty po’d. I think in the end many will be pushed against Boswell just because you get so frustrated. It would also have helped if the pollster had been able to correctly pronounce at least one of the candidate names.
RF — Did the pollster identify themselves? I’d like to know some more specifics if you can so I can investigate and talk to someone at the campaign. I’m away from email and phone most of the day, but if you could leave me an an email or contact me via the contact form about the poll, I’d be interested in letting you know some more information if I find anything out (which I’ll probably post here on the blog as well).
I got a similar one but with all questions on Boswell. I think both campaigns are testing their negative messaging to see where each is strong and weak.
Chris - I didn’t catch the polling organization’s name. I think she did mention it. I got my call last Thursday, I believe. It was just a very badly designed poll. I have to question the poll creator’s professional credentials & skill.
It’s also important to remember there is a DISTINCT difference between a “push poll” and a poll that’s just “testing their negative messaging to see where each is strong and weak” [thanks, Mike]. When it comes to polling I ALWAYS consult the Mystery Pollster first then my college textbooks from the days of yore…