Free Republic

Gannett newspaper, link only: Ted Cruz to attend influential Iowa bash on Saturday

VINTON | Gov. Terry Branstad is getting some brickbats from political opponents for his insistence that Iowa shouldn’t be playing host to unaccompanied illegal immigrant children, but none of that was evident on the campaign trail Tuesday. Asked whether the state should welcome the children, Branstad offered his empathy for the “illegal entrants” along with criticism of the Obama administration’s failure to secure the nation’s borders. “They have also failed to keep us informed,” he added, a reference to the federal Department of Health Education and Welfare not telling Iowa that more than 100 children who entered the country illegally...

In a campaign swing resembling that of a presidential candidate, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul plans to make a three-day trip across Iowa next week, another indication that the libertarian-leaning Republican is gearing up for a 2016 presidential run. Paul will be in Iowa from Aug. 4-6. He will make appearances at Iowa GOP offices in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines, according to a spokesman for his organization, RandPAC. He will also attend fundraisers for congressional candidates Steve King and Mariannette Miller-Meeks and the Cerro Gordo GOP. The senator will visit the Von Maur Corporate Headquarters...

Recent polls show a tight contest in the Iowa Senate race to replace retiring liberal Democrat Tom Harkin (D), so leave it to the Daily Beast to hype a video clip it recently unearthed to insist that it is evidence that Republican nominee Joni Ernst as a nut who betrays a "shocking ignorance" [see image below page break] about constitutional law regarding the Tenth Amendment and state nullification of federal law. That's how Ben Jacobs painted the military veteran and Republican state senator, suggesting her answer to a question posed to her at a September 13, 2013 event was an...

Iowa Democratic Senate hopeful Bruce Braley has shaken up his campaign, parting ways with admaker Larry Grisolano and pollster Diane Feldman after Republican Joni Ernst emerged from the primary with more momentum than anticipated, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. The mid-summer move by Braley quietly took place roughly a month ago, according to two of the sources, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak about internal campaign maneuvers. The pair were replaced sometime in June by admaker Saul Shorr and pollster Geoff Garin, both of whom have worked on a number of Democratic Senate campaigns. The race is...

 by Gina Cassini | Top Right NewsIt's not a good year for anti-gun nuts to make their case against concealed-carry handguns.First of course we have the businesses who stupidly banned such guns from their establishments, from Jack In The Box to Target to local restaurants -- and immediately were victimized by armed criminals who knew they would face no resistance. Then we saw the bar owner who openly welcomed customers packing guns, and saw a huge boost in her business. Now comes the incredible story of a concealed carry permit holder in Iowa who helped police nab five men who led officers on...

Des Moines, IA.—The Republican Party of Polk County will host a Summer Sizzle & Straw Poll on Sunday, August 24 from 5-8 p.m. at the Izaak Walton League Center, 4343 George Flagg Parkway, Des Moines. National, state and local candidates are also invited to participate in this summer fun-filled event. The Special Guest Speaker for the evening will be Dr. Ben Carson in his first public Iowa visit of 2014 as he criss-crosses the nation. The Republican Party of Polk County will also conduct a Presidential Straw Poll as part of the evening’s festivities. As the largest county in Iowa,...

A relative of an elderly Omaha woman who was raped and killed last year said Saturday that the brutal crime may have been prevented if the United States strictly enforced immigration laws. “What we’d like to have is the federal government to secure our borders,” said Bill Hartzell, 60, of Council Bluffs. “There’s a chance my grandmother would be still alive if our borders were secured.” Hartzell is the husband of Teresa Hartzell, a granddaughter of 93-year-old Louise Sollowin. Sollowin died three days after Sergio Martinez- Perez, a Mexico native in the U.S. illegally, broke into her South Omaha home,...

Every election cycle tells a story, but the storyline for the 2014 general election is still being written. Republicans have longed believed that 2014 would be a Republican year in Iowa, especially with the absence of a presidential candidate at the top of the ticket. Strong fundraising from Democrats seeking federal office, especially Congressman Bruce Braley who wasn’t challenged for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Tom Harkin is vacating, made it look like Iowa was leaning Democrat in the 2014 U.S. Senate race. A month into the general election, Braley’s campaign seems adrift, and Republican...

Updated 1:23 p.m. | Sen. Ted Cruz once again met with a group of the House’s most conservative lawmakers Wednesday morning to discuss potential legislative responses to the flood of children crossing the border. Cruz met with “more than 20″ House Republicans Wednesday morning, according to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to discuss a supplemental package meant to address the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border. “I didn’t have a hard count, but I know that it was more than 20,” King said. According to the Iowa Republican, lawmakers had breakfast and listened to Cruz’s take on the crisis. “The...

Looking ahead to 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the odds on favorite against Vice President Joe Biden among Iowa Democrats for her party’s nomination. But, she would find a general election matchup against either Kentucky Senator Rand Paul or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie very competitive. Clinton edges former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and has an early lead over Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. There is a wide gender gap in these matchups. Although each of the potential Republican candidates has a more positive than negative rating with GOP...

DES MOINES, Iowa–Staci Appel, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s Third Congressional District, wouldn’t say whether some of the tens of thousands of Central American children dumped at the U.S. border should at some point be able to come to Iowa. Appel expressed empathy for the children involved but said the federal authorities first need to investigate the circumstances of the children. She said, “I’m thinking as a mom it’s terrifying for some of the children to be there and be alone.” But she added, “We have to work through the processes, the procedures of how it works to find out...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is visiting Iowa for the fourth time in eight months, hoping for a second chance to win over Republican voters who delivered him a stinging caucus loss when he ran for president two years ago. Perry, 64, hasn't said if he plans to run again in 2016. But he's clearly considering it and is meeting Saturday and Sunday with veterans and conservative activists in the northern Iowa communities of Algona and Clear Lake. Perry has been raising funds for GOP candidates and seeking advice from political insiders since November. He is signaling he's committed to the...

MARION and DAVENPORT – Anyone who tells you Chris Christie’s presidential aspirations are in trouble might think differently if they saw how Iowa Republicans reacted to the New Jersey governor on Thursday. Locals jam packed a Cedar Rapids-area restaurant in the mid-afternoon just for the chance to shake Christie’s hand. Then he wowed a crowd of 300 in Davenport with a motivational speech that had attendees buzzing. “He sort of rallied the troops for Governor Branstad, which he did a fantastic job of,” said Jeanita McNulty, who lives in rural Scott County. “And then, I think he was here to...

Making his first trip to Iowa in more than 940 days, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared, "I don't care about being loved. I care about being respected." "I tell them what I think and then everyone else will get to decide. They don't go in there and say, "Are you conservative enough? Are you liberal enough? Are you moderate enough?" That's not what people say, " he said. "They say, "Do I trust him? Can I count on him to tell me the truth? Is he somebody who can be a competent steward of our country's future?""

Gannett paper, link only: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/07/15/new-trial-granted-for-republican-suing-u-of-i-law-school/12672069/

DES MOINES -- A grassroots group launched an effort Tuesday to relocate at least 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant children to Iowa while political issues surrounding their plight get sorted out, a key organizer said. Rich Eychaner, announced a “1,000 Kids for Iowa” crisis initiative to provide safe homes for children from Central American countries who currently are incarcerated along the U.S. southwestern border. Eychaner said his foundation was calling upon the federal government to transfer 1,000 children from incarceration to Iowa to be cared for and supported by Iowa families. He said his organization hoped to coordinate and assemble the immediate...

The head of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa says Governor Terry Branstad showed a “lack of compassion” when Branstad said he does not want any of the unaccompanied children from Central America who are crossing into the southern U.S. to wind up in Iowa. Connie Ryan Terrell, the executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, says the state has a history of welcoming immigrants and many in Iowa’s faith community are “greatly disappointed” with Branstad. “If you look back to the 1970s, (former Iowa) Governor Ray was really the lead governor in our nation that worked to provide safe...

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) is running for a US Senate seat in the Hawkeye State. But he recently ran into a bit of trouble when he was caught on camera, in Mitt Romney-like fashion, sneering about farmers and the state’s favorite Republican elder statesman. Since then, his campaign has suffered a number of embarrassing missteps along the way, and the path to victory, it seems, isn’t getting any easier. And yet the most recent controversy to besmirch his image as a 'man of the people' is really quite silly. In brief, after his neighbor’s chicken wandered onto his vacation property,...

Chris Christie is headed to Iowa today. Whenever any politician heads to Iowa, the media starts buzzing about Presidential prospects. Just in case, the Judicial Crisis Network is going to greet the Governor with advertisements.There are, believe it or not, conservatives who have tried to give Chris Christie the benefit of the doubt on many issues. But one area where even those conservative get the jitters is judicial appointments. The Governor of New Jersey is a relatively powerful governor who makes many more appointments than the average governor. Christie, for example, appointed Stuart Rabner as Chief Justice of the New...