The Des Moines Register is one of the most liberal yellow journalism rags in the country. And eastern Iowa is as blue as they come. As usual, it’s the cities vs. the rural areas. No one was more surprised than me when Bransted won re-election.

catsandbooks on January 26, 2013 at 12:13 PM

No shite…I stopped my subscription after the horrible presidential primary they sponsored with PBS. I was shocked to see this news. No more Harkin BBQ where Obama stood there with hands at his waist, while the rest of the participants had their’s over their heart for the National Anthem…

Grassley has been a counter-weight to Harkin…and Iowa’s unemployment rate is 4.9%, under a REPUBLICAN governor–Branstad.

Bmore on January 26, 2013 at 11:37 AM
…hi Bud Bmore…the Palin thread is still going!…still on the right side!

KOOLAID2 on January 26, 2013 at 11:38 AM

Why you gotta be such a jack-ass? Stirring up shit just for the fun of it? And you you always gotta throw out multiple comments to open a thread. You just like to hear yourself talk?

Then you have the Repub party which is really just an extension of the Doug Gross clown show. Gross is the puppetmaster of the party and basically runs Branstad. I left the party years ago due to all the repub squishes. They absolutely despise conservatives.

HalSandro on January 26, 2013 at 8:20 PM

While Gross may be an adviser to Branstad the Iowa GOP is currently ran by ardent Ron Paul supporters. The Iowa GOP has had quite a bit of drama leaked out into the public over this very issue and it has been embarrassing for their grassroots movement. Accordingly it is the state GOP party that will lose this race, not Gross or Branstad.

Um…no? Are you familiar with Iowa, or do you just like Steve King because of his national prominence with hardcore conservatives? He is marginally popular in his district, but he is wildly disliked in the eastern (and more populous) part of the state.

Esoteric on January 26, 2013 at 2:02 PM

52.9% King
44.9% Vilsack

That is an 8 point victory. King is more than “marginally” popular in his district with an 8 point victory.

You are correct the key for any IA GOP-SEN candidate (not just King) is keeping Black Hawk, Linn, Johnson, Scott, Story and Polk counties close enough. In these college/urban heavy counties King is despised and any GOP candidate will be ‘marginal’ at best. I believe Lt-Gov Reynolds has the best shot, but the national media (notice I didn’t say local) will have a field day with her DUI issue. Branstand is getting up there in age himself, so I don’t see him doing it. Basically the GOP bench isn’t deep in Iowa and Harkin knows that. The Democrats bench is deeper by far. This is why I predict a DEM hold on this seat. Iowans like balance of power (look at our Statehouse and how we voted for senators from two parties for quite a few years). The IA GOP party has organizational and internal issues that they can’t pull it out.

Agreed. I’ve lived in King’s district and in Southeast Iowa. Quite a difference.

Branstad and Latham would both be favored to win. Reynolds would also be strong. King, however, makes me nervous statewide.

steebo77 on January 26, 2013 at 2:15 PM

Hey steebo77. I have lived in what I call Harkin county (otherwise known as Warren county) and I own a farm in S.E. Iowa. I think Iowans are bi-polar anyway. Getting more liberal every year though.

Then you have the Repub party which is really just an extension of the Doug Gross clown show. Gross is the puppetmaster of the party and basically runs Branstad. I left the party years ago due to all the repub squishes. They absolutely despise conservatives.

Die Harkin. And rot in Hell.

M240H on January 26, 2013 at 2:14 PM

After the 2012 fiasco in Senate races, I will not get my hopes up.

SouthernGent on January 26, 2013 at 2:45 PM

Agreed on both. Harkin is one of the vermin who flew to Nicaragua to visit with the tin-pot Marxist Ortega. But the otherwise sane people of Iowa kept electing him to the Senate. Makes no sense.

If I was a betting man, Chet Culver is heavily eyeing the now open Senate seat. Culver is relatively young. If he makes it to the United States Senate, he’ll eventually be running for President, or Vice President.

Jurisprudence on January 26, 2013 at 4:17 PM

I think you’re way overestimating Culver’s appeal. He wasn’t particularly popular by the end of his term, and Branstad bounced his substantial backside out of the Governor’s mansion back in 2010. Granted I don’t live in Iowa anymore, but I get back a couple times a year, and I’ve heard nothing from family and friends, or anyone else, to make me think he’s had a great resurgance in popularity.

Braley is the one to really be worried about. If the Socialists nominate Culver for this seat, they’d be giving just about the best gift the Republicans could hope for. Branstad and Latham could probably beat him, and though I don’t know much about Reynolds, based on what I’m seeing people write here, she could probably top him too.

Unfortunately, it’s Iowa; a state that should be more red than it is, and where for some reason Democrats Socialists overperform and Republicans underperform. With that fact in mind, Culver could pull it off if Republicans screw up, but they would still most likely be able to beat him….

Craig Robinson ‏@IowaGOPer

Source close to Congressman Steve King: He’s giving it a serious look. Apparently his phone is blowing up. #iowa

A commenter tells me that Chet Culver isn’t related to the Culver family that founded the fast-food chain. Since I couldn’t find a good reference one way or the other, I’ve removed that from the post above, and apologize for the error.

Correct, he’s not. But his father, John Culver, occupied the Senate seat held now by Chuck Grassley’s.

If I was a betting man, Chet Culver is heavily eyeing the now open Senate seat. Culver is relatively young. If he makes it to the United States Senate, he’ll eventually be running for President, or Vice President.

The Hill ‏@thehill

Harkin promised wife that they would “live together in a way we’ve often talked about — before it gets too late” http://j.mp/YuWdfZ
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canopfor on January 26, 2013 at 1:47 PM

I’m taking this to mean that they will retire to their house in the Bahamas, and not be spending too much time (or ANY time at all, for that matter) at the run-down crappy bungalow in Winterset he lists as his iowa residence.

It’s the progressive thing to do, after all…………..

Esoteric on January 26, 2013 at 2:02 PM
Esoteric on January 26, 2013 at 2:06 PM

Agreed. I’ve lived in King’s district and in Southeast Iowa. Quite a difference.

Branstad and Latham would both be favored to win. Reynolds would also be strong. King, however, makes me nervous statewide.

Steve King, on the other hand, is poison to those moderate GOP’ers and swing voter types. He’s like Michele Bachmann in Minnesota: he can survive in his particular region, but would flop statewide.

Good riddance. Steve King would win easily if he ran.

Um…no? Are you familiar with Iowa, or do you just like Steve King because of his national prominence with hardcore conservatives? He is marginally popular in his district, but he is wildly disliked in the eastern (and more populous) part of the state.

King would be a disaster of a nominee, the perfect example of Republicans shooting themselves in the face by nominating the one candidate who could lose a winnable race.

The answer is Terry Branstad. Branstad would be a shoo-in. Tom Latham would also be a strong candidate. Of the three Iowa Republicans in prominent positions, however, the only one that cannot win is Steve King.

Good riddance. Steve King would win easily if he ran.

sauldalinsky on January 26, 2013 at 1:44 PM

Sure, if you lopped off the eastern half of the state. I like Steve King (even met him a few times – really nice guy), and he’s well suited for Northwest Iowa, but I don’t think he’d be as popular in Des Moines or the Quad Cities.

Harkin promised wife that they would “live together in a way we’ve often talked about — before it gets too late” http://j.mp/YuWdfZ
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