Here comes the second penny?

Here comes the second penny?

Daily Iowan and no one else picks up on this:

"Looking for options to staff the fourth fire station with an already-tight budget, Wilburn said he was pleased to see the community pass the school local-option sales tax, which was approved Feb. 13. The mayor said he is gauging local interest for proposing a similar tax to pay for improving both the Fire and Police Departments.

"I would be interested in doing this, but only if I get the sense that the public is interested in doing so," Wilburn said.

I wound up reluctantly supporting the school sales tax, mostly because the diference between the money kept local if we passed it now and the money shipped to Des Moines if the state passed it later was roughly one high school. But one of my misgivings was that the cities would view passage as an opportunity to try again. It's only been two weeks, and here we are...

Shocked! Shocked I am!

Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn Backing Obama

Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn Backing Obama

From the in box:

Johnson County for Obama Kickoff Meeting
When: Tuesday, March 6, 6:30pm
Where: Holiday Inn Conference Center
1220 1st Ave, Coralville
rsvp link

Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn is going to be our keynote speaker and we'll also have live music, and of course, food.

This is a confirmed Obama endorsement:

“I support Senator Obama because of his views on education, healthcare and his ability to discuss faith in an inclusive way. I'm impressed by his state and national experience in reaching across the aisle to bring divergent views into consensus action” said Wilburn.

Ross was an early Howard Dean supporter; I remember him from meetings as early as April `03.

Obama Organizing In Johnson

Obama Organizing In Johnson

From the in box:

I'm writing to invite you to attend the kickoff meeting of our group, "Johnson County for Obama"... Tuesday, March 6 at 6:30pm. Even if you're not sure if you're going to vote for Senator Obama, you're invited to learn more. We're still looking for a location...

I'm not committed yet and I'll pass this sort of thing along as I hear about stuff.

Tom Miller, Mike Fitzgerald... Barack Obama

Tom Miller, Mike Fitzgerald... Barack Obama

From the inbox:

U.S. Senator Barack Obama's campaign today announced that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald have endorsed Barack Obama for President...

No wonder they weren't on that Vilsack list yesterday... that's a big zing to the former guv: the two longest serving statewide elected officials, so popular they ran unopposed last year.

I'm remembering Tom Miller was a Lieberman guy in `03. I considered that myself since my caucus support is the kiss of death (Hart, Jackson, Harkin, Bradley, Dean... my only caucus for a nominee was the `96 Clinton re-elect) and I wanted to be sure Joementum would lose. But luckily he didn't need my help.

Hey, Drew, do you have the inside dish here?

Tangent: As an Iowan I hate to say it, but some of the second-tier folks would be best advised to adopt a Screw Iowa strategy rather than try to break through the Three Rock Stars and the Home Town Boy. The true second tier, Vilsack included, each has a needle that could in theory be threaded:

Bill Richardson needs to spend every free moment in Vegas (he may already be doing that)

New Hampshire is a short hop for Chris Dodd

Wes Clark, if he gets in, should focus on vet-heavy South Carolina.

At this point it should be noted that the Screw Iowa Strategy (Gore 88, McCain 00) has never worked.

The articulate Joe Biden has no viable options, so from this day on I include him in the third tier with Dennis Kookcinich, Sal Mohamed and Mike Gravel (it's pronounced graVEL and not like rocks).