Watch Full Iowa Senate Debate!

Tonight, we saw the first televised debate in one of the mostly closely watched Senate race this election cycle, between Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst.

Hosted and moderated by local TV news station KCCI and concluded only a short time ago.

Thankfully, KCCI was kind enough to post the debate, in full, to their website..

Enjoy!

Iowa U.S. Senate Debate - KCCI News

Iowa Poll: Joni Ernst Now Leads Bruce Braley for Senate

I'll keep this introduction short, the latest Des Moines Register poll in Iowa for the first time in many months actually shows one of the two candidates in the lead. For Democrats though, hoping to keep control of the U.S. Senate, it's not exactly good news..

For details, I leave you in the very capable hands of Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register..

Iowa Poll: Joni Ernst now leads Bruce Braley for Senate

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Could a "True" Independent Really Win a US Senate Seat?

For many in America this political season, one of the most exciting races this year (for political nerds like myself at least) is the U.S. Senate race in Kansas. Why?

In this contest, political wounded Pat Roberts (Republican) is fighting to keep his Senate seat, first from his fellow Republicans (who deemed him not NEARLY conservative enough) and now against, of all things, an Independent.

For a bit of background for the readers who may not be familiar with this race, here are some basic facts to be aware of (1):

• Pat Roberts has occupied this Senate seat since 1996 and is attempting to win his 4th term.
• Roberts did NOT face an easy nomination process. Not only did he have to contend with several strong primary challenges, his victory over them was with only 48.1% of the vote. 
• Further, his opposition was not that widely dispersed as one of his challengers, Milton Wolf, managed to get 40.8% of the primary vote. 
• The top Democratic challenger, Chad Taylor, scarcely did much better. While he had only one primary challenger to contend with (in which he won 52% of the vote), it doesn't do you much good to win your party's vote when you have very little state-wide support. 
• As such, Chad Taylor made the shocking announcement that just a few months before the November vote, he was dropping out of the race.
• This was not necessarily much a blessing to Roberts however, as his own state-wide support was hardly much better than the Democrat's. 
• Enter into the equation Greg Orman: Officially a "non-affiliated candidate", who in 2008 ran in the Democratic primary to unseat Roberts but chose to withdraw before the Democratic primary. He has never held political office before and has spent his adult life working for several electrical companies in Kansas.

So, the main question many of you may be wondering is: So what if an "independent" is running for a U.S. Senate seat?

Simple answer: Because he could actually win.

Stupid Story of the Week: Rick Perry Indicted by Public Integrity Officials for Demanding DA actually SHOW Integrity..

Breaking News!

Texas Governor Rick Perry is indicted for first threatening and then carrying out a threat to veto funds to a District Attorney's office (including their Public Integrity Unit) after the District Attorney is convicted of drunk driving. Here is the "full story" from FoxNews:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been indicted for abuse of power after carrying out a threat to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors.

The Republican governor is accused of abusing his official powers by publicly promising to veto $7.5 million for the state public integrity unit at the Travis County District Attorney's office. He was indicted by an Austin grand jury Friday.

Perry said he'd veto the funding if the district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, didn't resign. Lehmberg had recently been convicted of drunken driving. The state's Public Integrity Unit operates out of her office.

When Lehmberg refused, Perry carried out his veto, drawing an ethics complaint.

Perry is the first Texas governor indicted in nearly a century. He's leaving office in January, but he's a possible 2016 presidential run.

Now, let that sink in for a moment: a District Attorney was CONVICTED of drunk driving (not simply accused or charged mind you) and because of this, Governor Rick Perry demanded this DA resign or else he was going to veto millions of dollars in state funds for that DA's office. When the DA refused, Rick Perry carried through his threat and is now being indicted for a supposed ethics violation by the "Public Integrity Unit" in the DA's office...

So, Rick Perry's attempt to have a DA take responsibility for her CRIMINAL actions and resign (in other words, showing some INTEGRITY as a DA) is being called unethical?? How about a DISTRICT ATTORNEY being convicted of drunk driving and not resigning as if they did nothing wrong or contrary to their duty as an enforcer of the law?

Need I say more?

UPDATE: Apparently I do. Turns out the DA in question (and the reason Perry vetoed the $7.5 million in funds) was found to have had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit. Plus, here is a good video on her arrest via KXAN in Texas:

Iowa Political News of the Day: Steve King as his usually Charming Self & Rand Paul's Disappearing Act!

I'm always a sucker for political stories from back home in Iowa and it turns out today's story is not only a classic story concerning one of my LEAST favorite politicians back home, also includes a rather telling moment for a major 2016 Presidential contender...

My favorite quote from the piece pretty much sums it up:

"But what of Senator Paul? He was eating a burger right next to King when the activists arrived. He shook their hands, took a bite, then fled, as if he’d forgotten that he’d promised to be somewhere else, like another state.?"

Funny, because that's EXACTLY how many Iowans who don't live in King's district feel!

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