Blog Report of 1st District Candidates Forum, Pt. I
It is a pretty good indication of what a crap blogger I am that it didn't even occur to me to take notes and file a report until the second (Democratic) half of the forum. So, even though I'd like to post a nice, bipartisan inside baseball report of all seven candidates, I can't.
Also, you must forgive the general, and horserace nature of this post. First, spur of the moment. Second, no laptop. Third, by the end of the forum 75 minutes later my wrist was killing me and I can barely read my notes. Fourth, I'm starting this at 11:30 as me and the Union Thug had to go out for a few post mortem beers first.
I will say this about the GOP contenders: there isn't a whole lot of there there. The reason they -- well Kennedy and Dix anyway -- are going so hard at one another is because there really isn't a hair breadth of difference between them. If you held a gun to my head and said, "Pick a Republican, hippie!" I'd probably go with Whalen as he seems like a bit more of a out-of-the box type of guy. But that said, all I heard out of all three of them were the same laisses faire , Devil take the hindmost, race-baiting, tax cutting bullshit as we've had for what seems an eternity now. So, there you have it, tip of the hat to Mike Whalen and a plague on all their houses.
So, format. 2 minute opening, 3 minute closing. Seven questions prepared in advance by the Clinton Chamber of Commerce Gov't Affairs Committee, et. al. (including yours truly) 2 mins. per question, no rebuttal, same questions asked of all three parties. Although, I must say, the guy doing the GOP moderation departed the text substantially, and his "additions" on the fuel question were quite unhelpful, in fact were outright stupid.
The Union Thug and I scored each candidate 1-4 on each segment.
Opening statements
The candidates open in alphabetical order.
Bruce Braley: Money Quote: "What candidate has the best opportunity to end 30 years of Republican domination of the 1st District."
Rick Dickinson: Rick is the only candidate who elects to go tie-less by the way, although he is wearing a suit. Focused on his record of never having lost an election and his economic development experience.
Bill Gluba: Most experienced candidate. Glad to be in Dubuque? (Only time he makes this gaffe) List the usual Democratic grievances; the war, the lies, the deficit... Makes a point of saying he is committed to keeping the Railroad Retirement System separate from Social Security. Pandering a bit there.
Denny Heath:Plugs the website right away. Wants to bring US military home from South Korea to defend the southern border. Money quote: When choosing your candidate in this election, "follow the money." He doesn't take PAC money. As if!
Scoring Dickinson 4 (slightly ahead on rhetorical style), Braley 3 (narrowly) Gluba 2.5, Heath 1
First Question: What are your plans for constituent service?
BB: Cites long history of community volunteer work and knows people have a "need for strong connections to their congressman." Bashes Nussle for not caring about the people in the First, too busy "serving his real constituents, special interest money."
RD: The one candidate "dedicated to community development." Talks about his No Town Left Behind tour and program of the same name. Mentions the unemployment rate. Says, "Business will be welcome in my congressional office." Two questions he will ask those businesses. "One, do you employ anyone in the First District? Two, if not why not?"
BG: Touts his experience as the person who helped set up Lane Evans' district office system, well known as a hallmark of constituent service. True dat. Panders to seniors, veterans, Highway 30 advocates and Chambers of Commerce.
DH: Nussle has no Clinton office, he will. Consider his life experience, he worked his way through college -- two degrees! Held almost every kind of job. Knows where constituents are coming from. Accessible. Tenacious working for them.
Scoring: Braley 3, Gluba 3, Dickinson 3, Heath 2
Second Question: What will you do to encourage young people to stay in the state? Both moderators felt it necessary to free-form this question into an general econ development question.
RD Money Quote: "I'm not going to Congress to change the world, I'm going there to change our world." Long econ development rant. Talks about his CREATE acronym and plan. Touts his experience in Dubuque development. 4k new jobs 10% of state job growth with 7% of population.
BG Sit down with businesses and figure stuff out. Very vague. Basically need to abolish NAFTA and CAFTA. "Fair trade not free trade." Very tame stuff.
DH: Focus on retaining jobs we have. Touched on the situation with Alcoa and employees working without a contract threatening strike over retaining what benefits they have. China's cheap goods are a detriment rather than a benefit to society.
BB: Money Quote: "I'm not running to be economic development director of the First District, I'm running to represent all citizens." BAM! First blood to Bruce. Wants to focus on economic justice. Cites statistics saying education investment is more effective than corporate incentives. Pledges to do everything he can to block Congressional pay raises without rise in minimum wage.
Scoring: Braley 3.5, Dickinson 3.5, Gluba 2.5 (mostly for pandering to the Union Thug), Heath 2
Third Question: What's your position on Kelo v. New London? This is in reference to eminent domain, deliberately worded to try to trip up clueless candidates. None of the seven faltered at this rather low jump.
BG: He has serious problems with government takings without a clear public interest. Cites how Clinton did the south of Hwy 30/HyVee project without ever resorting to using eminent domain. "Cities must act in a fair, reasonable and rational way."
DH: "astounded by the Supreme Court." "Worst ruling in 100 years." Unconstitutional. Talks about ADM... WTF? Ends up saying government should not be allowed to condemn property under any circumstances without paying whatever the seller asks. But what if they won't sell Denny?
BB: He's the only one who read the opinion (Geek!) "Lots of knee jerk reactions," in the community and in Des Moines. It is a critical issue... Goes off into very erudite but technical analysis and looses 90% of the listening audience. Basically need to weigh on a case-by-case basis, "whether it benefits a small group or all of us."
RD "I'm not running for Congress to be a trial lawyer." Rick has been waiting all night to get that one in. It falls flat in my opinion. It's not Bruce's fault he's a lawyer being asked about a legal case. Then he basically goes on to make the same point Bruce made but takes longer to get there. He's never had to use eminent domain in all his years in economic development. Share benefits and burdens for all, "good people use good laws well." Which is a nice rhetorical flourish but I'm not sure what it means.
Scoring: Braley 4, Dickinson 3, Gluba 2, Heath 1
Fourth Question: What will you do to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? Two things here. First, I authored this question. Second, the GOP moderator took it upon himself sometime this afternoon to add the following: Specifically, talk about ANWR, refineries, alternative fuels, and offshore drilling. See, all but one thing are about... more fossil fuels! Idiots.
DH: Talks about the geothermal system in his new house. "We looked at wind but it is not cost effective yet. Our next car is a hybrid." We all have to do things like this. No to ANWR and coastal drilling. Leave it in the ground for future generations. Money quote: "Use less gas, drive less." Bless.
Too bad for Denny that his really interesting and courageous statements are bookended by totally crazy shit. Denny was the only candidate to utter the magic words, "DRIVE LESS."
BB: Catches the fundamental flaw in the reworded question. Money quote: "The bridge to energy independence does not pass through (over?) renewed dependence on fossil fuels." Bravo! Wants to offer incentives to entrepreneurs and R&D to explore new tech, including renewables and biofuels. Also discussed solar and wind. Tax incentives for R&D and adoption are the way to go.
RD: "Experience matters... I don't plant myself in front of an ethanol plant for a photo op, I am involved in building them." Again comes across as trying to be to hard, but a valid point nonetheless. "We have been involved personally with developing this industry."
Okay Rick. It is time to stop referring to yourself using the third person. I know you are trying to refer to your wife, family and "team," but it just sounds stupid. Stop. Now.
"We have to take the keys away from the energy companies." Rant about CEO pay and profits in the oil sector.
BG Compared the three responses to the responses of the GOP candidates -- al uniformly in favor of turning all our food into gas and pumping out every last barrel of oil in the NW Hemisphere. Point!! Digging up ANWR is the worst thing we can do, only 90 days worth of oil there (18 months but who's counting?) How sad is it that Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican set aside that land 100 years ago and his party now wants to despoil it. Switchgrass, biofuels, yadda, yadda, yadda. GOP Three never mentioned wind power, the fastest growing energy sector in Iowa. POINT!
Scoring: Heath 4, Braley 3, Gluba 2.5 (for rhetoric), Dickinson 2 (What are we going to eat, Rick?)
Okay. 12:45. Time for bed. Part II tomorrow.
Also, you must forgive the general, and horserace nature of this post. First, spur of the moment. Second, no laptop. Third, by the end of the forum 75 minutes later my wrist was killing me and I can barely read my notes. Fourth, I'm starting this at 11:30 as me and the Union Thug had to go out for a few post mortem beers first.
I will say this about the GOP contenders: there isn't a whole lot of there there. The reason they -- well Kennedy and Dix anyway -- are going so hard at one another is because there really isn't a hair breadth of difference between them. If you held a gun to my head and said, "Pick a Republican, hippie!" I'd probably go with Whalen as he seems like a bit more of a out-of-the box type of guy. But that said, all I heard out of all three of them were the same laisses faire , Devil take the hindmost, race-baiting, tax cutting bullshit as we've had for what seems an eternity now. So, there you have it, tip of the hat to Mike Whalen and a plague on all their houses.
So, format. 2 minute opening, 3 minute closing. Seven questions prepared in advance by the Clinton Chamber of Commerce Gov't Affairs Committee, et. al. (including yours truly) 2 mins. per question, no rebuttal, same questions asked of all three parties. Although, I must say, the guy doing the GOP moderation departed the text substantially, and his "additions" on the fuel question were quite unhelpful, in fact were outright stupid.
The Union Thug and I scored each candidate 1-4 on each segment.
Opening statements
The candidates open in alphabetical order.
Bruce Braley: Money Quote: "What candidate has the best opportunity to end 30 years of Republican domination of the 1st District."
Rick Dickinson: Rick is the only candidate who elects to go tie-less by the way, although he is wearing a suit. Focused on his record of never having lost an election and his economic development experience.
Bill Gluba: Most experienced candidate. Glad to be in Dubuque? (Only time he makes this gaffe) List the usual Democratic grievances; the war, the lies, the deficit... Makes a point of saying he is committed to keeping the Railroad Retirement System separate from Social Security. Pandering a bit there.
Denny Heath:Plugs the website right away. Wants to bring US military home from South Korea to defend the southern border. Money quote: When choosing your candidate in this election, "follow the money." He doesn't take PAC money. As if!
Scoring Dickinson 4 (slightly ahead on rhetorical style), Braley 3 (narrowly) Gluba 2.5, Heath 1
First Question: What are your plans for constituent service?
BB: Cites long history of community volunteer work and knows people have a "need for strong connections to their congressman." Bashes Nussle for not caring about the people in the First, too busy "serving his real constituents, special interest money."
RD: The one candidate "dedicated to community development." Talks about his No Town Left Behind tour and program of the same name. Mentions the unemployment rate. Says, "Business will be welcome in my congressional office." Two questions he will ask those businesses. "One, do you employ anyone in the First District? Two, if not why not?"
BG: Touts his experience as the person who helped set up Lane Evans' district office system, well known as a hallmark of constituent service. True dat. Panders to seniors, veterans, Highway 30 advocates and Chambers of Commerce.
DH: Nussle has no Clinton office, he will. Consider his life experience, he worked his way through college -- two degrees! Held almost every kind of job. Knows where constituents are coming from. Accessible. Tenacious working for them.
Scoring: Braley 3, Gluba 3, Dickinson 3, Heath 2
Second Question: What will you do to encourage young people to stay in the state? Both moderators felt it necessary to free-form this question into an general econ development question.
RD Money Quote: "I'm not going to Congress to change the world, I'm going there to change our world." Long econ development rant. Talks about his CREATE acronym and plan. Touts his experience in Dubuque development. 4k new jobs 10% of state job growth with 7% of population.
BG Sit down with businesses and figure stuff out. Very vague. Basically need to abolish NAFTA and CAFTA. "Fair trade not free trade." Very tame stuff.
DH: Focus on retaining jobs we have. Touched on the situation with Alcoa and employees working without a contract threatening strike over retaining what benefits they have. China's cheap goods are a detriment rather than a benefit to society.
BB: Money Quote: "I'm not running to be economic development director of the First District, I'm running to represent all citizens." BAM! First blood to Bruce. Wants to focus on economic justice. Cites statistics saying education investment is more effective than corporate incentives. Pledges to do everything he can to block Congressional pay raises without rise in minimum wage.
Scoring: Braley 3.5, Dickinson 3.5, Gluba 2.5 (mostly for pandering to the Union Thug), Heath 2
Third Question: What's your position on Kelo v. New London? This is in reference to eminent domain, deliberately worded to try to trip up clueless candidates. None of the seven faltered at this rather low jump.
BG: He has serious problems with government takings without a clear public interest. Cites how Clinton did the south of Hwy 30/HyVee project without ever resorting to using eminent domain. "Cities must act in a fair, reasonable and rational way."
DH: "astounded by the Supreme Court." "Worst ruling in 100 years." Unconstitutional. Talks about ADM... WTF? Ends up saying government should not be allowed to condemn property under any circumstances without paying whatever the seller asks. But what if they won't sell Denny?
BB: He's the only one who read the opinion (Geek!) "Lots of knee jerk reactions," in the community and in Des Moines. It is a critical issue... Goes off into very erudite but technical analysis and looses 90% of the listening audience. Basically need to weigh on a case-by-case basis, "whether it benefits a small group or all of us."
RD "I'm not running for Congress to be a trial lawyer." Rick has been waiting all night to get that one in. It falls flat in my opinion. It's not Bruce's fault he's a lawyer being asked about a legal case. Then he basically goes on to make the same point Bruce made but takes longer to get there. He's never had to use eminent domain in all his years in economic development. Share benefits and burdens for all, "good people use good laws well." Which is a nice rhetorical flourish but I'm not sure what it means.
Scoring: Braley 4, Dickinson 3, Gluba 2, Heath 1
Fourth Question: What will you do to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? Two things here. First, I authored this question. Second, the GOP moderator took it upon himself sometime this afternoon to add the following: Specifically, talk about ANWR, refineries, alternative fuels, and offshore drilling. See, all but one thing are about... more fossil fuels! Idiots.
DH: Talks about the geothermal system in his new house. "We looked at wind but it is not cost effective yet. Our next car is a hybrid." We all have to do things like this. No to ANWR and coastal drilling. Leave it in the ground for future generations. Money quote: "Use less gas, drive less." Bless.
Too bad for Denny that his really interesting and courageous statements are bookended by totally crazy shit. Denny was the only candidate to utter the magic words, "DRIVE LESS."
BB: Catches the fundamental flaw in the reworded question. Money quote: "The bridge to energy independence does not pass through (over?) renewed dependence on fossil fuels." Bravo! Wants to offer incentives to entrepreneurs and R&D to explore new tech, including renewables and biofuels. Also discussed solar and wind. Tax incentives for R&D and adoption are the way to go.
RD: "Experience matters... I don't plant myself in front of an ethanol plant for a photo op, I am involved in building them." Again comes across as trying to be to hard, but a valid point nonetheless. "We have been involved personally with developing this industry."
Okay Rick. It is time to stop referring to yourself using the third person. I know you are trying to refer to your wife, family and "team," but it just sounds stupid. Stop. Now.
"We have to take the keys away from the energy companies." Rant about CEO pay and profits in the oil sector.
BG Compared the three responses to the responses of the GOP candidates -- al uniformly in favor of turning all our food into gas and pumping out every last barrel of oil in the NW Hemisphere. Point!! Digging up ANWR is the worst thing we can do, only 90 days worth of oil there (18 months but who's counting?) How sad is it that Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican set aside that land 100 years ago and his party now wants to despoil it. Switchgrass, biofuels, yadda, yadda, yadda. GOP Three never mentioned wind power, the fastest growing energy sector in Iowa. POINT!
Scoring: Heath 4, Braley 3, Gluba 2.5 (for rhetoric), Dickinson 2 (What are we going to eat, Rick?)
Okay. 12:45. Time for bed. Part II tomorrow.
posted by -cman- at 5/11/2006 11:22:00 PM
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