On the Campaign Trail with Ed Tibbetts

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, will preside over the House of Representatives tomorrow night at about 8 p.m.

That’s the time when Special Order speeches are given, usually to a near empty chamber. Already, Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., has taken his turn at the gavel.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s running TV ads in Iowa and several other states.

Here’s the link to see the 60-second spot. Politico.com first reported the ad this morning.

Pretty early for a TV ad with the caucuses a year away, but Brian Kennedy, a Romney adviser in Iowa, says with his recent announcement and all the attention being paid to the ‘08 race it’s a good time to tell people what he stands for.

The ad is running in Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Michigan.

The highlights: Romney’s a do-er, a “business legend,” in fact. He believes government spends and taxes too much. Judges shouldn’t legislate, we’re gorging on oil and schools are failing. We need to stop “dithering” and take action.

There’s something in there for everyone: Iowans who like ethanol, social conservatives who’ve been reading stories about Romney’s conversion on issues like abortion, fiscal conservatives who are wringing their hands over the deficit.

It brings up the challenge of the war on terror but doesn’t specifically mention Iraq.

It’s been reported the ad is running in Des Moines, but apparently not other Iowa markets.

For the politically-minded in the Quad-Cities, last night was a feast.

Four presidential candidates in Davenport. I can’t recall the last time, if ever, that happened.

I wasn’t here for the 1988 caucuses, but I’ve covered them all here since and I don’t think there’s ever been that much White House envy in our town.

John McCain at the Radisson in downtown Davenport and Joe Biden, John Edwards and Tom Vilsack at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds for a county Democratic fundraiser.

Maybe four at once isn’t a huge deal given that if you put all the folks running, and thinking of running, for president this year on the field at John O’Donnell Stadium not a single position would be unfilled. They might even have a pinch hitter or two left over. Still, it was quite a convergence last night.

Usually, it’s the state fair, a straw poll or a debate that draws presidentials to the same place at the same time. And usually it’s in Des Moines.

Hundreds of people turned out.

I spent most of my time with McCain at the Radisson while my colleague Tom Geyer was at the Fairgrounds. McCain spent a lot of time answering questions (and invoking Ronald Reagan’s name). If President Bush was mentioned, I missed it. Not even during the invocation by state Sen. David Hartsuch, who was quite eloquent.

McCain told a couple of jokes that, if I recall, were the same as the ones he told in Cedar Rapids at a fundraiser for Jim Nussle last year. One had to do with drinking Irishmen. (I know a couple of Dooleys in town who would have taken offense, so it’s probably a good thing neither would be caught dead there).

I did make it to the fairgrounds for a bit. Edwards had left, but Biden was wrapping up. Ex-Gov. Tom Vilsack was still there. His visit was unexpected. Party leaders say they were told he’d be coming only Saturday afternoon. Quite a surprise for chair Sue Frembgen, who thought when Vilsack’s people were calling with a surprise they were talking about bringing some signs.

Vilsack said he was planning to take the day off after 17 days straight working, but wanted to spend it with his wife, Christie, who’d agreed to be at the party function as a stand-in. So he ended up coming to Davenport, and several in the crowd told me they were impressed with his speech.

Frembgen said it was possible there had been as many presidentials at a previous banquet, but I can’t remember it.

All in all, a big night in presidential politics here. The stories are on other parts of this web site and in the paper. And with it only being February, who knows? This may be just the beginning. There are a lot of candidates, a lot of time and only so much state.

U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, sent some folks scrambling today when he scheduled a vote for Saturday on Iraq. But it doesn’t look like it’s upending what promises to be a full evening of presidential politicking in the Q-C.

I’m told Sens. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, and John McCain, R-Arizona, are still going to be in Davenport that day.

Biden will be at the Scott County Democrats’ Red, White and Blue fundraiser at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. John Edwards, who doesn’t have to worry about Senate votes any longer, will also be there.

McCain is still planning on being at the chili supper at the Radisson Quad-City Plaza. That event starts at 5 p.m.

Democrats in the U.S. House have identified the members they think need a boost in the 2008 election cycle and Reps. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and Phil Hare, D-Ill., aren’t on the list.

That’s good news for the two. Both are freshmen — and Braley won a district highly targeted by the Republicans last year. Yet, Democrats apparently think they can go it mostly on their own.

Undoubtedly, that’s because both districts tend to vote Democratic. Braley also has proven himself an able fundraiser. Makes you wonder if the DCCC knows anything about the Republican’s strategy for the state in 2008. So far, there haven’t been any whispers (none that I’ve heard, anyway) about who might challenge Braley.  

Twenty-nine members have been identified by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as qualifying for the Frontline Program, which gives vulnerable members a boost in money, message and strategy.

One person who is on the list: Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, whom Republicans have targeted before.

Also not on the list: Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa.

Loebsack pulled a big upset by beating Jim Leach, but he’s also in a district that is dominated by Democrats.

Illinois’ 17th congressional district (the fightin’ 17th) is about to get exposed to the nation.

The real nation. Colbert Nation.

U.S. Rep. Phil Hare’s office said Wednesday the freshman congressman is going to be on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report.

The Report features a segment called “Better Know a District,” a bit that pokes fun at congressional districts across the country — and, to boot, puts the local congressman in front of Colbert.

It’s a hot seat, too. Colbert’s accused congressmen of taking orders from Barbara Streisand, taking bribes from a lobbyist and getting a Democrat to ”admit” he’s a Republican.

Did I mention the one where he asked one congressman whether he’d feasted on human flesh?

We don’t know what’s in store for Hare. Do you suppose the Republican opposition machine will tune in?

Soon, these questions should be answered. Tim Schlittner, a spokesman for the congressman, says he’ll tape the show March 9. Still waiting for word from Comedy Central when it might air.

When he was first approached about going on the show, Hare wasn’t sure whether he should do it and said he hadn’t really seen the show that much. It airs at 10:30 p.m. locally.

He’s apparently changed his mind. Schlittner says Hare’s been watching the program a little more and is ready to have a little fun, even if it’s at his own expense.

“I think one of the things Cong. Hare says is he takes this job seriously, but he doesn’t take himself too seriously,” he said.

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are cozying up to Iowans today, but they’re doing it without having to endure the state’s blizzard conditions.

Obama is slated to attend a reception tonight of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Chamber of Commerce at the Hyatt Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. I’m told he was invited but won’t be making remarks.

Meanwhile, the Hotline’s blog says Clinton sent out an e-mail urging a vote for Joel Miller, a Democrat, running in the six-way race for Linn County Auditor.

The early jousting between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, and Barack Obama, D-Ill., over the Iraq War continued today.

Thus far, the language is fairly tame. But it also comes a year before the Iowa caucuses, a time when candidates of the same party are usually loath to offer direct contrasts between one another.

That it’s happening this early shows how competitive the campaign is — and how volatile the war is as a political issue.

The Clinton campaign engaged Obama this morning by sending out a news release claiming the Illinois senator was distorting her position on redeploying troops.
In New Hampshire yesterday, Obama compared his approach to the war with Clinton’s, saying Clinton calls for a cap on troop levels but doesn’t begin a phased redeployment.

He called that a “pretty substantial” difference.

The Clinton campaign responded with what it called a fact check. It said Obama made a mistake. “Sen. Clinton has long been on record in favor of a phased redeployment of our troops,” said Howard Wolfson, a Clinton spokesman.

The campaign cited several statements and a pair of votes, one of which was on a June 22, 2006, measure that said President Bush should submit to Congress a plan by the end of the year that included “estimated dates for the continued phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq.”

Obama’s campaign responded the real difference is that he’s clearly set specific dates for redeployment. “Only Barack Obama has legislation that would, by force of law, begin a redeployment by May 1, 2007 and have all combat forces out of Iraq by March 31, 2008,” Bill Burton, a spokesman said today.

Clinton has rejected a timetable.

Since Clinton announced her candidacy and hit the campaign trail in Iowa she’s been grilled about the war. She’s been faulted for failing to concede she made a mistake by voting to authorize the war in 2002. She’s also been criticized for the explanations she’s offered for the vote.

Obama, who was in the Illinois Senate at the time of the resolution, opposed the measure, which he notes frequently — and which his campaign did again today.

The war has proved a touchy subject for both candidates. In Ames on Sunday, Obama criticized the administration’s prosecution of the war, which he said “wasted” the lives of 3,000 American troops. He apologized for the remark, but has been taking heat for it since.

So it’s really no secret that Rep. Bruce Braley’s a boffo fundraiser.

The freshman Iowa congressman raked in $2.5 million in the 2006 campaign, his first. And, according to reports he filed this week, he’s sitting on a $250,244 pile going into the 2008 cycle. (What, already?!)

In other words, if there’s any Republicans out there thinking of making a run at him — and so far no names have surfaced — the ante starts at a quarter-million.

Braley’s bank account is about twice what any other Iowa congressman has, though Braley also is carrying a $46,000 debt, most for media expenses.

Wednesday was the deadline for year-end financial reports, wrapping up the 2006 election cycle.

Here’s another interesting little tidbit: Braley gave $6,000 to Democratic primary rivals Bill Gluba of Davenport and Rick Dickinson of Sabula.

Both men still are carrying debt from the primary campaign last year, which you may recall, got a little rough with Gluba and Dickinson complaining Braley was slinging mud at them.

Gluba got $4,000, while Dickinson got $2,000.

Both contributions were made shortly after the Nov. 7 election.

“Bruce thought it was the right thing to do,” says spokesman Jeff Giertz.

Also: U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., had $55,000 in the bank at the end of the year. He also gave $1,300 to Gluba, a longtime friend.