Following are updates on races that are particularly important to Iowa:

Tom Harkin (D) is reelected to the US Senate.

Bruce Braley (D) reelected as Iowa District 1 US Congressman.

Dave Loebsack (D) reelected as Iowa District 2 US Congressman.

Leonard Boswell (D) reelected as Iowa District 3 US Congressman.

Tom Latham (R) is reelected as Iowa District 4 US Congressman.

Steve King (R) reelected as Iowa District 5 US Congressman.

Iowa Constitution Amendment passed.

Bill McCarthy (D) reelected as Polk Country Sheriff.

The Iowa State House and Senate races are still not all settled at this writing.  However, it appears that Democrats like have a majority in both houses again.…

Talking Heads:

No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin yet

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The House of Representatives today passed the Senate version of the $700 Billion Bail-out.  For now, it’s over.  Bush signed the bill shortly after the vote, and we have not seen nuthin yet.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, the market is not exactly tripping over itself to show its appreciation.  After the announcement of the bill passage, the Dow lost all of the 200 or so points it had gained today, and then some. 

I haven’t even had time to read the bill yet, but have heard so far that there’s some pork.  It shouldn’t surprise me that our Congress, while debating the bill most …

My cohort DJ is going to disagree with me.  Just you wait and see.

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Today did not scare me.  It did surprise me, because I didn’t think that Congress had the ability to face down the President, Treasury Secretary and their own part leaders all at the same time.  (For the votes of the Representatives from Iowa, see below, or this link for the roll call vote).

I am so proud of them!  From the above Reuter’s article:

“This isn’t legislation. This is extortion,” said Florida Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite. “This is so embarrassing it turns the stomach of most Americans.”

That pretty much sums up my thinking on this.

As I mentioned yesterday, I think we should seriously …

I just got home from the GOP Fest fundraiser here in Polk County.  I was a bit disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong.  I thought the speakers were great, the food was good.  The governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, gave an encouraging stump speech for McCain and Palin.

It’s just that the event was so lightly attended.

I walked in expecting to see a couple of hundred people or more.  I don’t think we broke seventy-five.  And probably half or more of the attendees were either candidates, current office holders, or party workers.  Both my wife and a co-worker of mine were there, which I appreciated.

On the positive side, I got to spend a few minutes with former Polk County GOP Chairman Ted …

Today was the first day of the Iowa State Fair.  I had intended to participate in the early morning event (but slept in instead) to break the record for the most corn-dogs eaten by the most people at the same time in the same place.  Sounds like it was a rip-roaring success, with over 15,000 people showing up, only 10,000 of which were able to enter the Grand Stand, and I’m not sure, but I think only about 8,400 corn-dogs were available.  We listened to the actual “Chomp!” on the radio, and it sounded like a lot of fun!

All 15,000 or so were admiteed to the fair for free.  By late this afternoon, I was still meeting people who had been there since the …