Category: Fear and Loathing in Iowa

Long Knives in Iowa

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Michelle Bachmann pushed “a pardon … for a convicted drug dealer/money launderer in 2007”?

They’re bringing it all now — as predicted — and check out this bit buried in today’s Wall Street Journal profile of Bachmann:

Ms. Bachmann has gone through four chiefs of staff and two acting chiefs in less than five years in Washington, payroll records show, an uncommonly high turnover rate. On average, House chiefs of staff serve for nearly seven years, a study for congressional administrators showed.
“I found out real fast that the Michele I knew publicly is not the behind-the-scenes Michele,” said Ron Carey, who was hired as Ms. Bachmann’s staff chief last year and says he quit less than six months later. Mr. Carey said that Ms. Bachmann was consumed with getting herself on television and seemed indifferent to the task of tending to her district, a view expressed by more than half a dozen other former aides.
“It was all about building the Bachmann brand,” Mr. Carey said. A former chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, Mr. Carey had helped Ms. Bachmann win her first two congressional elections, in 2006 and 2008. He now supports former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty for president.

Former Bachmann aides now working for Pawlenty and attacking their former boss? And he expects to win:

Pawlenty is projecting confidence.
“This is going to be the start of the formal season. And I think we are going to do very well. I’m confident of that,” Pawlenty said Thursday night on Fox News.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Pawlenty, either. His campaign faces perceived financial problems following a second quarter fundraising report that failed to meet expectations; some top aides are working for the Pawlenty campaign either for free, or for a meager salary.
To that end, the Pawlenty campaign’s poured thousands into radio and TV ads leading up to the straw poll . . .

UPDATE: Here’s the background on the drug-dealer pardon:

Bachmann wrote the letter urging [President Bush] to pardon Vennes for his 1987 conviction on federal money laundering, illegal firearm sales and cocaine distribution charges. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison. . . .
Vennes’ latest troubles involve an alleged giant Ponzi scheme with local billionaire Petters at the vortex of the widening probe. Although Vennes has not been charged, a federal search warrant affidavit accuses him of facilitating a $1.2 billion swindle of five investors in companies controlled by Petters, collecting more than $28 million in commissions in the process. . . .
Vennes, however, has been a major financial contributor to Bachmann since 2005. He and his wife, Kimberly, have contributed a total of $27,400 to Bachmann since 2005. Vennes’ brother and his wife, Greg and Stephanie Vennes, have contributed another $8,400 to Bachmann since 2005.

Matt Lewis reported on this in the Daily Caller in May.

UPDATE: Pawlenty’s prospects assessed by Doug Mataconis:

Pawlenty has been under performing in the polls from the beginning, and has never been able to get a boost to put him in the same category as candidates like Romney and Bachmann, or potential candidates like Rick Perry. Absent an outright win or a strong second, it’s going to be hard for him to maintain a credible campaign.

(Via Memeorandum.) The Wall Street Journal talks about Pawlenty’s attempt to manage the expectations game leading up to Ames:

Mr. Pawlenty’s prediction that he will do “very well” are the rosiest from the former governor’s camp as of late, and his campaign’s actions suggest it intends to place better than fifth place. . . . A fifth place finish would mean Mr. Pawlenty is outperformed by second-tier candidates such as Herman Cain and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
His campaign estimates it will have spent $1 million in the Hawkeye State before the straw poll . . .
As the campaign notes, Mr. Pawlenty finished sixth in a late June survey of likely Iowa caucus goers. But the Real Clear Politics Average of Iowa polls shows Mr. Pawlenty in third place in state polls, coming in behind Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) and Mr. Romney. . . . It creates a difficult balancing act for team Pawlenty: The campaign doesn’t want to downplay its successes and strong organization in Iowa, but it also doesn’t want campaign watchers to expect Mr. Pawlenty to finish in first or second place Aug. 13.

Regardless of the expectations, if Pawlenty finishes third at Ames, it’s bad for him. If he’s fourth or fifth at Ames, it’s a catastrophe. So the main expectation is this: Pawlenty’s going to be fighting like a cornered rat for the next eight days.


Cain, Corn and … the Phantom Menace

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My American Spectator column:

DES MOINES, Iowa — Highway 193 runs nearly flat and straight some 60 miles southeast from the state capital in Des Moines to the Mahaska County seat of Oskaloosa, where the monument in the town square honors the tribal chieftain for whom the county was named. Chief Mahaska? “lived at peace with the white man and was slain by an Indian in 1834,” a plaque at the base of the statue explains to visitors.
There were many visitors in the Oskaloosa town square Thursday for the “Sweet Corn Serenade,” the annual festival celebrating the region’s most famous product. And this being Iowa in the summer before an election year, one of the visitors was running for president.
Herman Cain didn’t stay long enough to sample the corn — roasted in the husk and served with a pork sandwich for $3 a plate — but he did shake hands with residents and talk with several of the vendors before adjourning to the Smokey Row Coffee Shop on Market Street for a meeting with two dozen or so of his local supporters. “Happy to be here,” the retired Atlanta businessman began his presentation, “because I like to get out and meet people and talk to people.” He quickly segued into a variation of his standard stump speech, emphasizing his background as an executive — “a problem-solver, not a politician” — and his plan to boost economic growth. And given that the Dow Jones Industrial Average had just lost more than 500 points in the aftermath of an unpopular compromise debt deal in Washington, Thursday was a good day to be a non-politician with a pro-growth economic message.
Less than ten days before the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13, Iowa is swarming with Republican presidential candidates, nine of whom will appear on the straw-poll ballot. . . .

Please read the whole thing, which includes a mention of an ad I saw late last night on TV:

Having Rick Perry’s potential campaign looming on the horizon casts a certain shadow over the proceedings here.

Fear and Loathing on Highway 193; Pawlenty Aiming at Bachmann?

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DES MOINES, Iowa
Got back from Oskaloosa — an hour away on Highway 193 — about 6 p.m. local time and spent hours struggling to upload video and photos. Now I’m just a couple hours aways from my deadline for The American Spectator, and so there’s only enough time for a couple of pictures and a quick note.

Basically, the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13 is shaping up to be Tim Pawlenty’s make-or-break moment. And if he is broken, many observers will declare that it is his fellow Minnesotan, Michele Bachmann, who has broken him. Pawlenty and Bachmann are the only two candidates I’ve seen running TV ads here in Des Moines, and when I posted Bachmann’s latest ad here earlier today, it apparently got the attention of some T-Paw supporters.

Let’s just say that there is no love lost between the two rival Minnesota camps, OK? And we can also point out the obvious: If a Bachmann win on Aug. 13 would be a death knell for Team T-Paw, the clock is ticking down on the time at which “Minnesota nice” goes by the wayside and Pawlenty goes negative on Bachmann. Not that the candidate would attack Bachmann personally, you understand. But the oppo-research files on Bachmann wouldn’t be of any value to the Pawlenty campaign after Aug. 13, if a defeat at Ames effectively destroys Pawlenty’s viability.

Keep that stuff in mind, because surely I’m not the only journalist in Iowa who’s getting “friendly tips” about the Bachmann family’s tax records, etc. And I’m not even trying to get that kind of stuff. It’s just out there, as they say, and I can’t help it when stuff shows up in my e-mail inbox.

Now, a couple of photos from today’s events:

Herman Cain holds an impromptu press conference on the town square in Oskaloosa. Note the two handheld digital recorders at the bottom.

Dale Peterson showed up in Des Moines today. He is agricultural adviser to Cain’s campaign. Maybe he’ll also be on the lookout for people trying to steal yard signs.

And here is a video of a nice lady in Oskaloosa talking about the big annual festival:

I’ll have more later. But first I have to hit that deadline.

UPDATE: After hitting my deadline, I went out to Urbandale — about eight miles from my motel here in Des Moines — to take a quick after-hours look-see at Bachmann’s Iowa campaign headquarters, just to scope out the location. It’s in a shopping center near a pub called Groucho’s. So I was heading back out when I looked across the driveway and, less than 100 yards away from Bachmann HQ is the headquarters of . . . Herman Cain’s campaign. You could quite literally throw a rock from one office to the other. Kinda weird.

Michele Bachmann Touts ‘No’ Vote on Debt Ceiling Deal in Latest Iowa TV Ad

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DES MOINES, Iowa
While watching TV news in my motel this morning, I saw a Michele Bachmann ad, aimed directly at getting her supporters out to next week’s Ames Straw Poll:

It’s a good ad: She slams Washington “politicians,” blames the bad economy on Obama, says, “Someone needs to say no,” and closes with an invitation to Ames.

Also — let’s admit it — she just looks great on camera, doesn’t she?

‘Neo-Confederate Sex Panic’ Becomes the Biggest Political Punchline of the Year?

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DES MOINES, Iowa
Little did I suspect this morning when I boarded my flight at Reagan National that, by the time I reached Iowa, the nation would be deep in the grip of a hitherto unknown political fever: Neo-Confederate Sex Panic!

“It was like the secessionists .. . Even as [Obama] was
being inaugurated, the voices of secession were uniting in
the South and planning to bring this guy down, right?”

Da Tech Guy suggests Chris Matthews actually believes this stuff. So whatever you do, don’t disillusion him. And don’t tell Amanda Marcotte we’re laughing at her craziness.

Meanwhile, Herman Cain arrives here Thursday morning and will speak at the Greater Des Moines Partnership at noon and the Professional Educators of Iowa at 5 p.m. In between those events, he’ll visit the “Sweet Corn Serenade” festival in Oskaloosa. So I’m working hard, honest.

National Desk, Mickey’s Irish Pub, 3rd & Court, Des Moines, Iowa.





The karaoke contest starts at 9 p.m. If any readers are in the Des Moines area, come on down and I assure you, you’ll get your money’s worth.

UPDATE: T-Paw pulling his ads in Iowa? The first hint of politics I heard in Iowa today was a radio ad by Pawlenty.

So far as I know, Cain has run no ads at all in Iowa. I don’t know if radio or TV ads have any impact on the Ames Straw Poll, and don’t know if the Ames Straw Poll (Aug. 13) makes any difference to the outcome of the Iowa caucuses (Feb. 6).


En Route to Des Moines

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REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, Washington, D.C.
We had passed through the security checkpoint and were waiting for our belongings to come through the X-ray scanner. And waiting.

And waiting.

Our carry-ons and other personal items weren’t coming through. There was a flurry of activity involving the TSA agent in charge of security at Terminal A, who summoned a supervisor. To one of the ladies waiting with me, I remarked: “Another reason to hate terrorists.”

That’s what I always say in such moments, because I hate the extra hassles of security screenings, and I remember who’s to blame. And now I was enduring just another routine hassle of traveling in the post-9/11 era — or so I thought, until another of the ladies waiting said, “See the guy in the red tie? He’s one of the biggest imams in the area.”

Really? “Yeah,” she said. “He’s on the news all the time.”

And so our bags were stalled in the X-ray queue while the TSA assembled a team to escort the imam through extra security procedures. Finally, the X-ray conveyer started rolling again. I grabbed my laptop, shoved it in my backpack, and put my coat, shoes and hat on again. Just as I was about to get moving, the security agents escorted the imam past me. I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back sheepishly and said in clear but accented English: “Special treatment.”

Not the sort of special treatment one envies. He was obviously deemed a security risk and, you might say, “profiled.” Unfortunate perhaps, but certainly not my fault.

So I went to the cocktail lounge and had a reuben sandwich, chips and a Bloody Mary. Just hope that imam isn’t going to Iowa.


The National Desk, at the bar of the airport lounge, 11:30 a.m.





‘That Evil Hour …’

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How long, O Lord, how long? Where will it end?
All I ever wanted out of this campaign was enough money to get out of the country and live for a year or two in peaceful squalor in a house with a big screen porch looking down on an empty white beach, with a good rich coral reef a few hundred yards out in the surf and no neighbors.
Some book reviewer whose name I forget recently called me a “vicious misanthrope” . . . or maybe it was a “cynical misanthrope” . . . but either way, he (or she) was right; and what got me this way was politics. Everything that is wrong-headed, cynical & vicious in me today traces straight back to that evil hour in September of ’69 when I decided to get heavily involved in the political process . . .
But that is another story. What worries me now — in addition to this still unwritten saga of the California primary — is the strong possibility that my involvement in politics has become so deep and twisted that I can no longer think rationally about that big screen porch above the beach except in terms of an appointment as Governor of American Samoa.
I coveted that post for many years. For a while it was my only ambition. I pursued it relentlessly, and at one point in either 1964 or ’65 it seemed within my grasp. Larry O’Brien, now the chairman of the Democratic Party, was the man in charge of pork-barrel/patronage appointments at the time, and he gave me excellent reason to believe my application was on the verge of bearing fruit. I was living at the Holiday Inn in Pierre, South Dakota, when the good news arrived. It came on a Wednesday, as I recall, by telegram. The manager of the Inn was ecstatic: he called a cab immediately and sent me downtown to a dry-goods store where I bought six white sharkskin suits — using a Sinclair Oil card, which was subsequently revoked and caused me a lot of trouble.
I never learned all the details, but what was finally made clear — in the end, after a bad communications breakdown — was that O’Brien had pulled a fast one on me. As it turned out, he never had any intention of making me Governor of American Samoa, and when I finally realized this it made me very bitter and eventually changed my whole life.”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72

Don’t know about anyone else, but I can totally relate to that, and not merely because of Thompson’s gonzo sarcasm about O’Brien promising him a gig in American Samoa. (The actual 1964 correspondence between Thompson and O’Brien is included, pp. 454-455, 457, in Thompson’s first volume of collected letters, The Proud Highway.) Frazzled after months covering the 1972 Democrat primaries, and once more up against a deadline to supply what he called “The Final Wisdom” of it all, Thompson was hinting at a basic truth about politics:

A small number of people reap whatever direct benefit is gained by the labor of many thousands.

Well-connected insiders are appointed to cushy diplomatic jobs. Campaign consultants cash in their contracts. Lobbyists get paid to hustle the politicians to provide special consideration to interest groups. The rest of us — the field hands of the political plantation, as it were — have only the pleasure of gazing at that big Greek Revival mansion with its Ionic columns and saying to ourselves: “We’ve got our guy in there.”

This is true whether we are Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. “We” win, but “they” govern.

Sic semper hoc. Continue reading ‘That Evil Hour …’ →

News: Herman Cain Beats Rick Perry and I Just Bought My Ticket to Des Moines

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The media don’t much like him, but whenever he gets a chance to meet people one-on-one, he wins:

Presidential candidate Herman Cain won the straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver this weekend with 48 percent of the votes, followed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.
“How about spectacular,” Cain said to ABC News when asked how he felt about winning. . . .
Cain gave a rousing speech at the summit Sunday morning, energizing the crowd with his message about American independent energy, immigration, and fighting the establishment. . . .
On Saturday, Cain placed second in the Smart Girls Conference straw poll, losing to Rep. Michele Bachmann by only 4 votes.

And there’s news from Iowa, where Pottawattamie County GOP chairman Jeff Jorgensen tells the Des Moines Register:

“As I study the current field of Republican presidential candidates, there is only one candidate who is not a politician and is not encumbered with political concerns,” Jorgensen said in an e-mail. “This candidate has offered true capitalist, free market, common sense solutions to our problems, not political solutions. His name is Herman Cain.”

Meanwhile, my own Iowa plans are moving forward: I just spent $340 for a one-way ticket to Des Moines, leaving Wednesday.

Herman Cain’s “Common Sense Solutions” bus tour of Iowa starts Thursday, and I’m planning to be there: Ten days on the campaign trail in Iowa, all the way up to the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13.

Thanks to everyone who has hit the tip jar to help make this trip possible and if you haven’t hit the tip jar yet, what the heck are you waiting for?