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Iowa Democrats and Bruce Braley’s campaign are drawing attention to comments Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst made during an ABC interview late last week. “What we see going on in Iraq right now, if this current administration had followed guidance from military leaders many years ago, we would not be in this situation,” Ernst said. Jeff Zeleny, ABC’s Senior Washington correspondent, asked: “Do you support the limited airstrikes that were started this morning?” Ernst replied: “I can say is what I would have supported is leaving additional troops in Iraq longer and perhaps we wouldn’t have this situation today.”...

Poor Jim Leach. In August 2009, when the former Republican congressman was named chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Barack Obama had not yet exhausted his charisma. The renegade Republican had cast his lot with the man who campaigned on “fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” explaining that he decided to break ranks and support Obama’s candidacy because “never in American history was the case for a course change more compelling in international relations and because I had become convinced that seldom had a more natural humanist been chosen to represent his party for national office.”Mr. Leach...

The most surprising and disappointing aspect of our politics is how little pushback there has been against the vile, extremist rhetoric that has characterized such a large part of the anti-Obama movement. President Obama's White House has largely ignored those accusing him of "fascism" and "communism," presumably believing that restraint in defense of dignity is no vice. Republican politicians, worried about future primary fights, have been reluctant to pick a fight with a radical right that seems to be the most energized section of their party. Their "moderation" has consisted of a non-benign neglect of the extremists and of accusing...

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) has been appointed by President Barack Obama to be the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), an independent federal agency dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. Leach, who represented Iowa in Congress for 30 years before a surprising 2006 defeat at the hands of Democrat Dave Loebsack, made headlines in 2008 when he publicly endorsed Obama for president over Republican John McCain. Last November, Leach and former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright served as emissaries for President-elect Obama at the international economic summit....

BREAKING -- And another one: the Obama administration will name a Republican as the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a White House official tells POLITICO. The announcement that former Republican Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa will be nominated this afternoon. -- Carol E. Lee (1:17 p.m.)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday named a bipartisan duo of Washington veterans to meet foreign delegations at this weekend's global financial summit, opening communication between the next U.S. administration and its global counterparts. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former Republican Rep. Jim Leach will be available for unofficial meetings on Obama's behalf at the Washington summit, which Obama himself will not attend, a statement from his office said. "This weekend's summit is an important opportunity to hear from the leaders of many of the world's largest economies," said Obama's senior foreign policy adviser,...

The Obama transition office announced on Wednesday that the president-elect will send two representatives to meet with delegates attending the G-20 economic summit being held this weekend: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican. The pair, according to a press release, will hold "unofficial meetings to seek input from visiting delegations on behalf of the President-elect and Vice President-elect." Afterward, Albright and Leach will brief Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Leach is both a curious and obvious choice. First, the obvious: he's a Republican who led the Republicans for Obama effort during...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday named a bipartisan duo of Washington veterans to meet foreign delegations at this weekend's global financial summit, opening communication between the next U.S. administration and its global counterparts. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former Republican Rep. Jim Leach will be available for unofficial meetings on Obama's behalf at the Washington summit, which Obama himself will not attend, a statement from his office said.

It was October 1992, nearly 15 years before the housing meltdown and subprime crisis. Republican Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa was on the floor of the House, talking about something that no one at the time seemed to care about: the potential danger that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac posed to the economy. In remarks later reported by the Washington Post, Leach warned that Fannie and Freddie were changing "from being agencies of the public at large to money machines for the stockholding few." Leach's prescient comments went unheeded — indeed, Congress spent the next decade and a half avoiding...

DENVER -- On a night when the wife of the presumptive Democratic nominee for president would take the stage at the Democratic National Convention following an address by the party's most revered elder statesman, it would be hard to imagine how a former congressman from eastern Iowa would even get notice, let alone high marks as one of the most important speeches of the night. Unless, of course, the former congressman was a Republican. So there was Jim Leach, former diplomat, friend of the Bush family and longtime Republican congressman from Iowa City, enjoying the enthusiastic response of thousands of...

Former Republican Rep. Jim Leach endorsed Barack Obama's White House bid Tuesday, and said he hopes the Illinois senator considers a former GOP ally of rival John McCain as his running mate. Speaking on a conference call with reporters to announce a new effort among Republicans in support of Obama's candidacy, Leach said he thought Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel should join the Democratic ticket. "There are a number of impressive potential vice presidential candidates and this is a singular decision for one person, and that is Barack Obama," Leach said. "But personally I'd be hopeful in the list of serious...

Barack Obama's campaign is rolling out a number of centrist Republicans who are endorsing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee over Republican rival John McCain - in a show of his ability to win cross-over votes. A conference call Tuesday featured former Iowa Rep. Jim Leach, former White House intelligence adviser Rita Hauser and former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who represented his state as a Republican, but switched to become a Democrat so he could vote for Obama in the primary. Leach predicted that a lot of Republicans and independents are going to be attracted by Obama's campaign. The Obama...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON (AP)--A House Republican and Democrat, in the new spirit of bipartisanship, are urging President George W. Bush to name defeated Republican Rep. Jim Leach to be the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. ~ snip ~

The House on Friday voted 256-153 to support the military mission in Iraq Forty-two Democrats bucked their leadership to join a virtually united Republican Party and declare that the United States must complete "the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure and united Iraq" without setting "an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of U.S. troops. Three Republicans — Reps. Ron Paul of Texas, John Duncan Jr. of Tennessee and Jim Leach of Iowa — joined 149 Democrats and one independent to oppose the resolution. Three Democrats and two Republicans voted present in protest. Nineteen lawmakers did not vote....

1. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) Once approached by Democratic Leader Harry Reid to switch parties, Chafee has long supported liberal policies. He backs legal abortion, gay rights, federal-funded health care, strict environmental protections and a higher minimum wage. Opposes ANWR drilling. Also was the only Republican in Congress not to endorse the President’s reelection and one of three who tried to gut Bush’s tax cuts. 2. Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) A self-described “centrist,” Snowe scored a 100% pro-choice voting record as scored by NARAL and consistently votes with Democrats on social issues. 3. Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) “Snarlin’ Arlen” warned...

Moderate RINOS Undermine the GOP November 11, 2005 Download Windows Media PlayerListen to Rush Conduct Broadcast Excellence BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Well, now the White House has fought back. Will the congressional Republicans get their acts in gear? It looks like they're falling part. This gang of moderates under the tutelage of George Soros that killed the ANWR drilling project-- (interruption) You are unaware that the Republican mainstream partnership is funded by George Soros? I kid you not. It's on Michelle Malkin's website. I pulled it down last night. Here we go. She writes, "Many of you were asking for...

Dear Greg, Thank you for contacting my office about Hurricane Katrina and the situation along the Gulf Coast. I appreciate hearing from you. Katrina was the most devastating natural disaster to befall this country in generations. As with any catastrophic event, a certain amount of discombobulation was inevitable at the outset. But the leadership failures and chaos that ensued after the levees gave way in New Orleans were inexcusable. Katrina exposed a shocking lack of preparedness in our emergency-response systems at the local, state and, most importantly, federal level. It almost defies belief, for example, that help was delayed for...

2006 Congressional Election Cycle Has Begun  50 Republican Incumbents Undeserving of Support by Pro-life Voters   The Republican National Coalition for Life PAC is currently receiving phone calls from Republican candidates for Congress in the 2006 Republican primaries. Our usual practice is to mail our Candidate Questionnaire to Republican candidates in each district as soon as the filing deadlines are reached. When we receive the results of the questionnaire, they are recorded on our website at www.RNCLife.org so that voters can see for themselves it those seeking to represent them in Washington are truly pro-life. We hope that this service...

Gannett newspaper. Click on link.

WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Rep. James Leach has obtained a visa to enter North Korea and is expected to travel there late next month, multiple sources said Thursday. Two-term Congressman Leach (R-Iowa). chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, had shown interest in visiting the North in the past. His office declined to comment, but one source, speaking on condition of anonymity said, "I am glad he is going." A State Department official, also asking not to be named, said the general practice of the department is to "encourage" congressional visits. Another source called the...