Wings & Things

An ongoing question of the post-Harkin era of Iowa Democratic politics - "what takes the place of the Steak Fry?" - may have been answered Tuesday morning.

Just days after the IDP's Hall of Fame dinner featured the first cattle call of all five presidential candidates, north Iowa Democrats announced that their annual Wing Ding- love the name, the menu and the logo - would feature at least four candidates: Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders.

Wing Ding organizers also promised " a special announcement by a new candidate declaring a run for U.S. House of Representatives." The bulk of the two dozen county Wing Ding Zone is in the 4th CD, and of course any news of a new challenger to Steve King would be very welcome.

But part of the Wing Ding Zone is in the 1st District.



Cerro Gordo County, outside the district, would seem an odd venue for a 1st CD candidate to announce. And "a new candidate" would, I HOPE, preclude Pat Murphy making his launch here.

Tangent: Team Monica and EMILY's List lobbed a serious grenade at Murphy Monday, citing choice issues:

Murphy said he has had a strong record on abortion rights for the past “12 or 13 years” he was in the Legislature.

That distinction is likely what raises concerns for Emily’s List, as Murphy earned accolades among the Democrats for Life organization in 2004 and had a stronger anti-abortion voting record prior to the past “12 or 13 years.” He earned a 100 percent rating from the Iowa Right to Life Committee for his positions in 2003-2004.

A 2005 article in a conservative online publication noted positively Murphy had helped to recruit and elect pro-life Democrats. Murphy most recently described himself as “pro-life” in 2007 when he took the helm as Iowa House speaker.

These same items were out there in the 2014 primary, but never really publicized, at least not to this degree.

Back to the Wing Ding: No official word on why Jim Webb isn't on the bill. Remember that the Hall of Fame initially announced four candidates, and then added Chafee later.

Team Webb, though, did find time to send out more than 50 separate retweets of this from Friday:

Webb "We need a president who can articulate Democratic values while at the same time working across party lines." #IDPHOF

— John Deeth (@johndeeth) July 18, 2015

All with similarly named accounts (IA 4 Jim Webb, NH 4 Jim Webb, SC 4 Jim Webb...) which all had the same photo of Webb as the avatar.

The Wing Ding Venue, of course, is the iconic Surf Ballroom, the most important Iowa location in rock history. For tragic reasons, of course, but the Surf's continued existence is more a celebration of the music itself.



At least I know what I'll be playing on the road trip.

So the Dems Wing Ding Dinner is at the Surf Ballroom in August. Who's playing there this week? Sir Mix-A-Lot: https://t.co/gJ1b4e8wxZ

— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) July 21, 2015

Factoid: "Baby Got Back" was a hit a whole Buddy Holly lifetime ago.

Expend the national media to descend in force again:

" the way one photographs a group of zoo monkeys." Concentrated Press Feeding Operation #media #IDPHOF http://t.co/5jk6tWPN0a

— Paul Deaton (@PaulDeaton_IA) July 21, 2015

As seen here.