Blog Report of 1st District Candidates Forum, Pt. II

Okay, picking up with...

Question Five: What committee assignments would you pick?

BB: Ag, Education, Judicial

RD: Education and Workforce. Points out the error in Bruce's nomenclature. Agriculture. During the rambling response he says something about the majority our Natural Gas being imported from the Middle East, which is just flat out incorrect. Almost all NG is produced in North America because it is not readily transportable like oil.

BG: Human Resources and Health, Transportation. Points out those are just his wishes and the freshmen Congrescritters pretty much have to take what they get from the leadership.

DH: Anything dealing with environment. Armed Services, Education, Budget and, "anything with oversight."

Scoring: One point for Dickinson for pointing out the matter of committee assignments being not much of a matter of choice.

Question Six: What will you do about the immigration problem?

RD: He's been campaigning for 18 months now and never heard a word about immigration from voters until December. It's an issue now, because the Republicans want it to be and so it needs to be addressed by us. Basically he supports the McCain - Kennedy bill in the Senate. "But we need to take the hate out of the debate." Then he goes on to say, and I must paraphrase... When I look at the names of those killed in action in Iraq, I don't find anyone with the surname Dix, or Whalen or Kennedy, or Nussle. What I do find is Mendez, Gutierrez... Wraps up by saying that these people are good enough to come here and work for us and die for us and they deserve to be treated like human beings, not as a wedge issue to divide Americans.

I realize that I have totally failed to capture the strength if his statement. But, not only was this the best single answer by any candidate of either party to any of the questions in the debate, it was also one of the most eloquent statements on the current state of the immigration discourse in the nation. It was the best moment of the entire two plus hours.

BG: Compliments Rick on his eloquence. Swipes at Denny's harebrained scheme. Mentions Irish-Polish roots. Also supports McCain - Kennedy bill. We need to go after those who employ illegals.

DH: Begins his rant on bringing home the troops from South Korea to seal the southern border. "We could have this underway by late summer." Working with military planners on this. Points out that we allow 1 million legal Mexican immigrants every year.

BB: Slams the inherent racism in the debate. Mentions that people forget that we took Texas from the Mexicans, invaded Mexico and sacked Mexico City. Says that lots of Republicans are talking about a 2,000 mile wall, but, "you will never hear a word about how we'll pay to build it, how we'll pay to maintain and repair it." The GOP's greatest hero is remembered best for his demand that, "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall." "It is time to send practical, rational-thinking people to Washington." Oh and by the way, he inserts, he's the only candidate with a multi-lingual website (Spanish and Bosnian).

Scoring: Dickinson 4*, Braley 3, Gluba 2, Heath 0

Question Seven: What will you do to decrease our trade and general account deficit with China and India?

BG: The biggest deficits in history under Bush. Current account deficit now at 6% of GDP. We need tax incentives for companies that retain jobs as opposed to incentives for companies to export jobs. Repeats his call for repeal of CAFTA and NAFTA, "CAFTA plus NAFTA equals Shafta." Quotes Warren Buffet saying that the trade balance threatens to sink the US ship of state.

DH: Quotes Dennis Kucinich right out of the gate that NAFTA must be nullified. Then goes on to talk about the parable of teaching people to fish. "We have taught the rest of the world everything we know." Goes into a bit of a pretty good breakdown of global economics. Were stuck here. We have to compete on productivity and quality.

Again, Denny shows a glimmer of serious intelligence among the silliness.

BB: Points out that NAFTA and CAFTA have nothing whatsoever to do with the question which is about China and India. Well done Bruce. The trade agreements signed during the first Bush and Clinton administrations were supposed to open up markets to us. Exact opposite. Talks about a Frontline Special, 300 containers of Chinese goods enter Port of Los Angeles compared to 30 going out. "We get cheap consumer goods and electronics and in return they get scrap metal and recycled cardboard." Also talks about The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. In the end, Bruce says that we must redouble our investment in education in order to maintain technical and productivity leadership.

RD: "We must invest... We need to build a Nation, not Iraq, America." Education pays off in economic development and innovation which is our competitive advantage. Must fix the fiscal (budget) deficit. Must hold companies accountable for lazy business practices. Talks about the Maytag closure. Says that it took five times longer for the Newton Maytag plant to produce a washer than the equivalent product in the Whirlpool factory in Ohio. "Shame on Maytag." We have to do better.

Scoring: Braley 3.5, Dickinson 3, Heath 3, Gluba 2

Question Eight: What should the Federal Government do to combat the Methamphetamine epidemic?

DH: Difficult. The only thing we can do is step up the law enforcement efforts we have in place. Why do people need it (meth)? The answer is to educate children and encourage good homes.

BB: The Federal government does not have ultimate responsibility here. The feds can provide resources and work with state agencies. Thinks there is misinformation about the extent and impact of the problem. Must focus on education, DARE programs and public service announcements. Actually mentions in a positive light the old, fried egg in a skillet PSA's, this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs.

Seriously Bruce? I never realized that you were such a hopeless square.

RD: His first job out of college was as a corrections officer in Clinton. An eye opening experience for a kid who grew up an a wholesome family on the farm. "Its all there just across the street." hopelessness and lack of opportunity is what causes the problem. These people are in many ways victims. Meth is just the new drug, latest in a long line from pot, to coke, to crack. Treatment for the addicts and economic and educational development to prevent the circumstances of drug use away.

BG: Unemployment is the biggest factor leading to drug use. It is not coincidence that Clayton County has the highest rate of meth arrests and also has the highest unemployment rate in the district. The poverty rate under Bush has increased. We need to produce jobs. Hypes his endorsement by Clinton County Sheriff, Rick Lincoln. We need to give more assistance to law enforcement, and then points out that the increases in manpower resources and funding under Clinton have been slashed by Bush. "We need to put people first."

Scoring: Braley 1, Dickinson 3.5, Gluba 3, Heath 2

Closing Statements

DH: Discussed the process of getting Republican lawyers to sign his petitions. He talked them into it because they could see that he was a common sense person. And what kind of indictment of the judgment of GOP lawyers is that, eh? Focus on individual rights. More ADM screed. "Take care of the small people." Midgets and dwarves? Quotes Ben Franklin, "Don't let the lawyers get control of Congress." "Don't pick who you think can win, pick the best person for the job." Closer: "The best days are yet to come."

BG The country is heading in the wrong direction and it is time for fundamental change. "The Republicans are destroying this country." The number one issue is ending the war in Iraq. As in ages past, "it will be the Democratic Party that comes forward and does what needs to be done." Commits to single-payer healthcare system the same as members of Congress get. Mentions Social Security, Bill Gluba will depend on Social Security and mentions the Railroad Retirement fund again. Closer is a JFK quote, "...with a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, lets us go forth and lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own"

RD: Gets all up in Bruce's face, saying "people running in this race" have not been active Democrats, not voted in primaries, not cared whether Anne Hutchinson or Dave Nagle go elected. "They want it so bad they can taste it." "Watched a couple of reruns of The West Wing and woke up one day and decided to run for Congress." speaks for a while in the third person again about his experience in winning elections and economic development. "I've been doing Jim Nussle's job for 18 months," citing his Medicare D seminars and No Town Left Behind efforts. "We don't just talk about economic development, we have a strategy." Closer: Something about being, "your champion, your advocate and your servant."

DH Plugs the website. "It will take a tough person to win this seat." Then echoes lays into Bruce a bit. You should elect someone with 23 years fighting for little people. Again with the pandering to the midgets and dwarves. He's the only candidate calling for Rumsfeld's resignation, the only candidate who's called Bush a liar. No congressional pay raises without hike in minimum wage. A very forgettable closer about being tough.

Scoring: Braley 2.5, Dickinson 2.5, Gluba 2.5, Heath 1

Final tally based on my and the Union Thug's scoring:

Braley 26.5
Dickinson: 28.5
Gluba: 20
Heath: 16

So, a narrow win for Rick Dickinson, mostly on the strength of that kick ass immigration answer, being a smartass on committee asignments and the fact that Bruce's answer on the meth question was uncharacteristically silly.

My personal anylisys is that this is Braley's race to loose but his margin is razor thin. He comes across too often as the smartest kid in the class. And despite Rick's rather gutless sideways referrals to "trial lawyers" and "people in this race" who haven't been lifelong Democrats that may end up costing him a vital percent or two. He is doing the right thing I think just raising money, running TV and ignoring it for now.

Rick would be a stronger threat if he would make economic development A part of the rationale for voting for him other than THE rationale. His answer on the immigration and the meth questions show he can do that and he should make more of an issue of it. And if you are going to put the knife in, for God's sake have the balls to just come out and do it, i.e. see Kennedy's attacks on Bill Dix.

Bill Gluba, bless his heart is bringing his A Game. If we had seen this Bill Gluba two years ago he might be the Congressman. But it's too late and the smarts of both Rick and Bruce put the fact that he's a bit of a lightweight on actually knowing the issues in a pretty harsh light.

I'm glad Denny is in the race if only as comic relief. But on the other hand, having him be the nutball and having him be the only one saying, "Drive less," and "were stuck with the global economy, now let's get busy," just makes those statements seem less important than they are. But at least someone is saying it.

I think it will be a long election night and we may yet all have to troop back up to Peosta. I guess it all depends on how much of his core support Gluba holds onto and if Denny can get more than 7% or so of the folksy, libertarian, nutcase wing of the party.