Posted December 26, 2013in Political Mercury
He’s Uncle Ben. The rice. Charmin. Ivory soap. The Folgers in Iowa’s cup. For about 20 years — with a clear-seas-ahead shot at 24 — Brand Branstad is the reliable reach on the Hawkeye State political shelf. Iowans don’t even put Gov. Terry Branstad on the shopping list. They instinctively
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Posted December 18, 2013in Political Mercury
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy built an industry with one of the best joke set-ups since “Knock-knock.” “You must be a redneck if…” goes the moneymaker in the Foxworthy arsenal. Similarly, political candidates have sought to sell voters on their answers: “You are a real Iowan because…” Some candidates talk of detasseling,
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Posted December 11, 2013in Political Mercury
Is Tyler Olson running a gubernatorial campaign or life-synching his way through a Hall and Oates song? “Leave me alone, I’m a family man…” (Of course, vote for me, before extending the politeness of privacy.) The leading edge of Olson’s image campaign is an unabashed self-fashioning as The Family Man.
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Posted December 04, 2013in Political Mercury
A 51-year-old retired Texas energy company CEO, who recently returned to his native Iowa to launch a bid for the U.S. Senate, says Hawkeye State voters will overlook the carpetbagger tag if he can make the case as a candidate with job-creating bona fides. “I think what people care about
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Posted November 27, 2013in Political Mercury
Rod Roberts is a supremely nice man, in a courtly way that makes you think he time-machined here from more serious decades in America when manners mattered. He is also a highly competitive man who is not intimidated. Yes, these two characteristics can co-exist in a modern politician. But too
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Posted November 20, 2013in Political Mercury
A who’s-who list of Iowa business leaders joined military and state officials at Camp Dodge in Johnston last Tuesday for the unveiling of Gov. Terry Branstad’s Home Base Iowa, a far-reaching effort aimed at providing jobs in the state for returning veterans. “Through their service, veterans have already proven they
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Posted November 13, 2013in Political Mercury
After the success of D-Day, a reporter asked Ida Eisenhower, mother of the commander of the Allied invasion of Europe, if she was proud of her son. “Which one?” replied Ida Eisenhower, who had seven sons — including President Dwight D. Eisenhower. That Midwestern humility forms the foundation, both in
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Posted November 06, 2013in Political Mercury
One in six Americans is Latino. The ethnic group is the fastest-growing in the nation. More than half of all babies born in the United States are minorities — and the average age of a Latino is 27.6. According to 2012 U.S. Census figures, Latinos are now the largest minority
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Posted October 30, 2013in Political Mercury
Kentucky’s Rand Paul based an extraordinarily effective Cedar Rapids speech on its contents. His colleague in the Senate who compiles it annually served as a key source in a “60 Minutes” segment on outrageous fraud in government disability programs. We are talking about U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn’s “Wastebook 2012,” the
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Posted October 23, 2013in Political Mercury
They are ever-present bit players on the modern political stage, ragamuffins with recorders at rallies and town halls. Political trackers. Republican and Democrats hire them to trail opposing candidates and sitting congressman in much the same way most of us play the lottery. You’ll probably toss the ticket (erase the
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