Iowa's 1st Congressional District Archives

07May 2017 by Lynda Waddington

Rod Blum’s town hall vetting stinks

Gazette Column

If you happen to have a spare cup of courage lying around, please pass it to U.S. Rep. Rod Blum. Blum has agreed to four in-person meetings at public places in Iowa’s 1st District during the May recess. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he and his staff are busy redefining “public” by instituting unnecessary roadblocks for those who want to hear from and speak directly to one of the four men who represent Iowa in the U.S. House. Those who hope to attend are required to let the Congressman’s office know ahead of time. The registration process through Eventbrite requires submission of the applicant’s full name, email address and physical address. Upon arrival, Blum’s newly activated personal Stasi will be posted at the door to demand…

Pat Murphy campaigning like it’s 1999

Gazette Column

Have a look around. This is the year of the political outsider. Too bad 1st Congressional District Democratic hopeful Pat Murphy was robodialing instead of reading the memo. From the GOP’s reluctant embrace of a Donald Trump presidential bid to Hillary Clinton’s leftward drift courtesy of Bernie Sanders, has there been a time in recent history when political party loyalty held less value? In states with the largest primary and caucus turnouts the message is undeniable and the so-called establishment is taking a hit, for good reason. Voters are tired of the same people, running for the same offices, saying the same things on the campaign trail and then doing very different things once elected. Voters are no longer entertained by the once revered practice of partisan grandstanding unless there…

So much for lessons learned

Gazette Blog

There is one moment in the recent past that has, above everything else, continued to shape and solidify those who identify as liberals, progressives and Democrats: the 2000 presidential contest and the Florida fiasco. If either of the two limited recounts in Florida — one requested by Vice President Al Gore, the other ordered by the Florida Supreme Court — had been completed, it is likely that Republican George W. Bush would have won the state. If, however, a statewide recount of all disputed ballots had taken place, or would have been ordered by the court, the extremely narrow victor in Florida would have been Gore. Those scenarios are courtesy of a study commissioned by several news organizations in late 2001. There were other studies, of course, that provided more scenarios and…