Monday, November 5, 2012
Here are the facts about Iowa's judicial retention vote, which has been linked to the future of gay marriage in the state.
Here is a primer on Iowa's judicial retention vote. Why does Iowa use judicial retention? In 1962, Iowa voters approved a constitutional reform that replaced the process of selecting judges by popular vote with a merit selection and retention election process. In a retention election, judges do not have opponents. Instead, voters decide whether or not to retain a judge in office. If a judge receives a simple majority of "yes" votes, the judge may serve another full term. Why do some people see the vote as a referendum on gay marriage? In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively legalized gay marriage in Iowa. In the 2010 general election, three justices who were part of that decision — Marsha Ternus, David …
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Iowans will vote on whether to retain Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, but the outcome could reveal much more about how America feels about gay marriage and politics in the judiciary.
As Iowans head to the polls on Tuesday, they could be part of a defining stand for or against gay marriage in America and politics in the judiciary. One of Iowa’s biggest races is an historically procedural item on the back of the ballot. Voters will be asked, "yes or no," if Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins should remain in office. “I'd say that the Wiggins' vote matters to all citizens of the state, regardless of sexual orientation,” said Maeve Clarke, an Iowa City woman who married her longtime partner the day after Iowa began recognizing same-sex marriage in 2009. “It is a matter of keeping the State's Supreme Court fair and impartial - making sure politics plays no part in decisions that come before the court.” Wiggins was …
The nightmare possibility of recounts and contested ballots notwithstanding, the 2012 election season is almost at its end.
We're almost there. After months of television ads, mailboxes stuffed with campaign fliers, yard signs spreading like daisies, phone calls, door knocks and a barrage of campaign stops, the 2012 election season is about to come to an end. Are you glad? Or are you political junkie who will go into withdrawals when the pundits and politicians shake the dirt of Iowa off their heels until it's time for the 2016 Caucus? Take our poll, and tell us how you feel in the comments.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan campaigned in Cedar Falls as the 2012 election season wound down.
Four more days, not four more years, was the theme of the day as Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan addressed an enthusiastic crowd in Cedar Falls Friday. "A handful of states will determine this," he said. Ryan called on supporters to speak to their undecided friends and neighbors. "We cannot afford to wait four more years for real change," he said. "Let’s make sure we only wait four more days." The cheering, stomping audience responded by chanting, "Four more days! Four more days!" Ryan asked the crowd to remember living through the Iowa floods as they watched the news of devastation from Superstorm Sandy. He urged Iowans to donate to the Red Cross. "Let’s be there for them, because that's what Americans do," he said. …
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Former president implores voters in the key swing state of Iowa to see that the "good guys" win again.
Former President Bill Clinton, accused of many things in his day but never of excessive brevity, seemed to be finished with his 40-minute speech Wednesday in Waterloo on behalf of President Obama. Clinton had the 500 or so people in attendance standing, clapping and cheering as he exited the stage at the Electric Park Ballroom following his speech, and he was shaking hands as he made his way offstage and the lightbulb went off. The former president suddenly dashed back to the microphone, saying he’d made a note to himself about Waterloo that he forgot to bring up during the speech. “Waterloo is famous,” he said, going on to talk about the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at a different Waterloo in a different time. That time would have been in…
Former President Bill Clinton campaigned on behalf of President Barack Obama in Waterloo on Wednesday in the waning days of the 2012 election season.
Former President Bill Clinton, campaigning on behalf of President Barack Obama in Waterloo on Wednesday, spoke about Superstorm Sandy and remembered the Iowa flood of 1993. "There’s not a Democratic way or a Republican way to fight a flood, to rebuild a community," he said. Speaking to about 500 people at the Electric Park Ballroom, he said America was seeing Obama at his best as the president works alongside Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in response to Sandy's devastation on the East Coast. "That’s the way it ought to work when there’s not a flood," he said, to cheers from the enthusiastic crowd, which included Stephanie Kloberdanz and her 11-week-old daughter Brosie O'Banion. "I figured I'd start her off on the right track," …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Mitt Romney's running mate will stop in the Cedar Valley in the waning days of the 2012 election season.
Paul Ryan will make a campaign stop in Cedar Falls on Friday. The vice presidential candidate will speak at the University of Northern Iowa's West Gym, 1227 West 27th Street, in Cedar Falls. Doors open at 12:45 p.m. and the program is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. Tickets are available online. The event is one of several campaign events in Eastern Iowa in the waning days of the presidential race. Former President Bill Clinton is speaking in Waterloo on Wednesday, Ann Romney stopped in Cedar Rapids Tuesday and Michelle Obama spoke in Iowa City Monday. According to the campaign's website, all attendees will go through airport-like security and should bring as few personal items as possible. No bags, sharp objects, umbrellas, liquids, or …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
President Barack Obama spoke Wednesday afternoon in Mount Vernon's Cornell College on Tuesday's debate, Mitt Romney and his policy record.
President Barack Obama spoke to a packed crowd Wednesday at Cornell College, calling out political rival Mitt Romney and touching on Tuesday night's debate. He reiterated criticisms of Mitt Romney’s economic plan in a 25-minute speech and made what seemed to be a tongue-in-cheek admission of his criticized debating skills. "I’m still trying to figure out how to get this thing, debating," he said, with a smile. "I keep on improving as time goes on. We've got one left." The crowd of about 2,000 people noticeably raised the temperature of Cornell College's Richard and Norma Small Multi-Sport Center in Mount Vernon. Audience members seemed torn between waving their bright blue campaign signs and fanning the heat from sweaty faces. For their …
Friday, September 28, 2012
The First Lady spoke on the University of Northern Iowa campus, promoting early voting and her husband's re-election bid.
Michelle Obama urged an enthusiastic crowd in Cedar Falls to vote early Friday. "Here in this state, it is already Election Day," she said. "The beauty of where you are is that early voting started yesterday." She said in 2008 her husband, President Barack Obama, won Iowa by 87 votes per precinct. "That could mean just a couple of votes in a neighborhood," she said. "Maybe you know someone who might be thinking their vote doesn’t matter. Just keep that number, 87, in mind when you talk to them." The speech, on the University of Northern Iowa campus, was the latest in a string of campaign visits to the area, including by Barack Obama, who visited Waterloo in August. Michelle Obama's early voting pitch, part of an orchestrated part of the …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The President spoke in Waterloo Tuesday during his three-day tour of Iowa.
President Barack Obama waxed nostalgic Tuesday even as he looked forward to the November election, thanking Iowans for propelling his 2008 candidacy and landing him in the White House and asking voters to let him finish the job he began four years ago. "Some of you may remember one of the first stops after I announced I was running for president was right here in Waterloo," he told about 1,800 people at the Riverloop Amphitheater, with the setting sun reflecting off the Cedar River as his background. "It was on your front porches, in your backyards, that the movement for change began," he said. That message resonated with many in the crowd. "It means we're important," said Jamie Obehrheu, 25, of Waterloo, after the speech, when asked what …
Karl
8:03 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012
My mistake! Oh well, still an unconstitutional act that was rightly overturned. more ›