Losing Your Shirts

It's the right thing to do but still funny in a schadenfruede way: They literally sent the surplus Romney-Ryan shirts to children in Africa since they're worth about as much as the Zimbabwe dollar. It seems they do the same for the team that loses the championship, too. I'm not sure which pic warms my heart more:

This one...



or this one.



In all my excitement over Anesa Kajtazovic, I failed to note another congressional development: Democrat Staci Appel is taking another look at challenging Tom Latham, after exploring and then declining this spring. Republicans are bashing her already for changing her mind, but she's a better get for the Dems than the only other announced candidate, Some Dude Gabriel De La Cerda. Appel served one Senate term before losing to Kent Sorenson in 2010, but the way things are going for Sorenson, voters likely have some regrets...

In the No Surprise department:

Happy to announce that I am running for Iowa State Representative of District 91!!
— Emily Lofgren (@EmilyLofgren) July 8, 2013

Just as I predicted as soon as her dad, HD91 incumbent Mark Lofgren, announced his challenge to Dave Loebsack. In retrospect, the speedy announcement by Muscatine city council member Mark LeRette that HE was seeking the GOP nod in 91 looks like a failed attempt at a pre-emptive strike. So voters can either keep the Mark or keep the Lofgren. OR they can do what they should have done last time, because Democrat John "We Got" Dabeet is running again.

Daughter's candidacy puts Dad in a bit of a bind. Obviously no one would fault Mark Lofgren for supporting Emily; it was even rumored that he was not happy in the legislature and was considering a last-minute switcheroo in 2012. And Emily certainly has party credentials of her own; you know I'm all about those young candidates.

But if the elder Lofgren comes on too strong he risks alienating the LeRette supporters he'll need in the fall. And if LeRette wins, it's kind of a no-confidence vote in the Lofgren brand by his core constituents. My bet is LeRette is getting maneuvered out even now; newly elected Democratic senator Chris Brase will be high on the target list in 2016.

From: Terry Branstad
To: Kim Reynolds
Re: You're Not Helping

Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds today said she and Governor Branstad have an “ambitious schedule” and the state troopers who drive them around the state sometimes have to speed to make up time.

“Even…with this great job our scheduler does, it’s sometimes hard to leave these events and you run behind,” Reynolds said during a statehouse news conference.

Last week, the Iowa Department of Public Safety released the details of an incident in late April in which Branstad and Reynolds were in a vehicle being driven by a state trooper that was clocked going 84 miles an hour on Highway 20...

And on today of all days, when Terry announced that he was... not yet announcing but that he would be announcing. Only thing I hate worse is when they "announce" after they've filed.

Tyler Olson announced that he would be announcing... something... tomorrow. One look at the itinerary - Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Mason City - and it's clearly governor rather than 2nd CD.

And with Steve King continuing to rant No Amnesty on a near hourly basis it's important to remember that the left can push back on immigration, too. How about No Berlin Wall?