Night of the Rising Stars: The Good, The Strange, and The Future
If you did not know freshmen Kentucky Senator Rand Paul prior, and you attended Saturday night’s Iowa Republican Party event “Night of the Rising Stars†. . . then you certainly know him now.
I will get to Senator Paul, the evenings keynote speaker, momentarily but first let us briefly deal with the atmosphere and the purpose of the night’s event—recognizing the up and comers in the Iowa Republican Party. The crowd of 300-400 took to their seats in the warm, ornate theatre of the Hoyt Sherman Place largely to celebrate the impressive and hard won gains by Iowa Republicans in the last election cycle. The program included very short remarks from Senate Leader Paul McKinley, House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, Secretary of State Matt Schultz, Party Chairman Matt Strawn, and Governor Terry Branstad. Following Governor Branstad, Senator Chuck Grassley was brought up to introduce Senator Paul. I will spare you of the particulars, as the real story lay in the last two speakers, but will apprise you of a few things of note that did happen during the body of the program.
Believe it or not a quasi-disco atmosphere was attempted to be created, which was odd due to the advanced mean age of those in attendance. Thanks to a mirror ball hung from the ceiling, each speaker took to the stage under a shower of colored lights as the venue’s sound system blasted a song of their choosing. The “Rising Stars,†though some were in attendance, were mainly celebrated through videos which showed clips of them at the Statehouse telling the camera what they do for a living and why they chose to run for office. The crowd largely sat silent for the videos, with the exception of small outbursts of cheering at the appearances of Kim Pearson, Kent Sorenson, and Jack Whitver.
Thirty-one year old Secretary of State Matt Schultz provided the evenings first shot of energy with a robust presentation that included a fiery defense of his signature issue, requiring a photo ID be shown before voting. Party Chair Matt Strawn followed, in a warm and charismatic style, with a few words about [...]
Radio Station Encouraged McCain-Palin Signs To Be Brought In For Hoax Dying Child
The TCR OJ award (for those that manage to avoid accountability) goes to KCJJ's Morning Show, yet another sign that we will put up with any kind of illegal behavior...
(Coralville, IA) – An Iowa City area radio talk show host has admitted that an on-air report of a dying child’s last wish to set the Guinness World Record for having the most McCain-Palin yard signs is untrue and claims it is a hoax. “Captain†Steve Soboroff and co-host Tommy Lang of KCJJ 1630-AM in Coralville began asking listeners last week to take McCain-Palin yard signs and bring them to the radio station for a dying child. They now admit there is no such child. Soboroff admitted the hoax when interviewed by KGAN-TV of Cedar Rapids, but said[...]
What A Week: Ideas
I had a couple of interesting ideas from people I met this week while working at the Republican Party of Iowa booth at the Iowa State Fair. I think it’s great that people are willing to step out and share ideas like this, and even act on them if possible. TV Ad...
If You Are At The Iowa State Fair Thursday…
Among other things, I will be working at the Republican Party of Iowa booth at the Fair from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Thursday August 7. I believe the booth is in the Varied Industries Building. I look like the photo on the right. Most of the time. I hope to see you...Stay in Touch
