Also important is taking back both the 1st and 2nd (and the 3rd would be nice, too) House districts. On the Politics1 site, former Baseball player Cal Eldred is listed as a possible (but undeclared) challenger to the 2nd’s Dave Loebsack and University of Dubuque President Jeff Bullock as a challenger to Bruce Braley in the 1st. Both should be premier targets.
Leonard Boswell’s health and age (he’ll be 75 at the start of the next Congress) should be an issue in the 3rd, though he’s not a moonbat as the freshmen reps are. One warning bell for him, the last time a Democrat ran for reelection at that age was Neal Smith in 1994, and he lost. His potential challenger is newly-elected State Sen. Brad Zaun. Zaun was the only new Republican elected to the IA Senate last November.
I don't see Brad as being enough of a Pit Bull to pull it off, but he'd be in the middle of his own Senate term, so would actually not be risking very much, except his personal time and energy.
Loebsack represents a Democratic district that was used to RINO Jim Leach. I caught Braley on a C-SPAN debate last year. Admittedly, his opponent was pathetic, but Braley was also very, very smooth.
Conceivably we could take Boswell’s seat if he retires. But it’s hard to see anyone beating Harkin. If King ran, he would definitely excite conservatives, but he’d also lose — and the House would lose one of its gutsiest conservatives. Is it completely certain that Harkin is running again, however?
Retaking the IA-01 will be tough, since it only gave President Bush 46% in 2004 and its freshman member is a pro. I think we need Jim Nussle to reclaim his seat for us to have a chance.
The IA-02 gave President Bush 44% in 2004, and taking it back would be very difficult even against the moonbat incumbent. Cal Eldred would at least have some name ID and connections to national contributors, but that seat was held by the RINO Leach in spite of, not because of, his GOP affiliation.
The IA-03 gave President Bush 50% in 2004 (he actually carried it by a couple of hundred votes), and, as you said, Boswell is quite old and not in the best of health. Rather than freshman state senator Brad Zaun, I think that Boswell’s 2004 challenger (Lombardo?) should take another crack at it. The IA-03 should be an easier target for us than the IA-01 and IA-02.