Tag Archives: Urbandale

Romney Victory Offices Update

June 23, 2012 – 12:56 pm

Incumbent candidates always start out with a ground game advantage based on their ability to ramp up offices and volunteers while the opponent is still battling it out in the primary. While it is a nice advantage, it doesn’t by itself win an election. Among many examples, George Bush has an enormous organizational advantage over John Kerry but still only won by a couple percentage points. And John McCain secured the GOP nomination well in advance of Barack Obama who was battling with Hillary Clinton almost into the summer months, yet Obama meaningfully out organized the McCain campaign. This campaign season, in place of the typical campaign offices in a specific state, we are seeing the opening of Victory offices which are a joint operation of the Republican National Committee, the state Republican Party and the Romney campaign.

Despite media representations to the contrary, we are seeing Victory offices opening in Battleground states across the county. Even earlier this morning a Victory Office was opened in Urbandale, Iowa (11:30am – 1:00pm):

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and Congressman Tom Latham invite you to attend the Grand Opening of the Victory Campaign Office. BBQ lunch and other treats provided.  Meet Congressman Latham in person.  RSVP to okelley@iowagop.org or just show up.

Earlier in the week, Pennsylvania‘s recent addition  to Mitt Romney’s Battleground radar got a boost with the opening of 7 Victory Offices:

“We currently have seven offices open across Pennsylvania and will continue ramping up our voter contact efforts aggressively,” Billy Pitman, Pennsylvania RNC Victory spokesman, said in a statement.  That contrasts with the 27 offices that the Barack Obama re-election campaign has scattered throughout the state, including a joint office with the Erie County Democratic Party in downtown Erie.

Finally, New Hampshire had some announcements a couple of days ago as well:

The Victory office in Bedford has a new communications director. Tommy Schultz, a Stanford University graduate, in 2010 worked on Meg Whitman’s campaign for governor of California and managed a Victory office in Tennessee. His most recent job was with CRC Public Relations of Virginia.

By keithbacker | Posted in Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania | Also tagged , | Comments (0)

Iowa Quick Hits

June 4, 2012 – 4:20 pm

Considering Iowa is both a Battleground state and a pure toss-up, not a lot has been happening in the state following the state caucuses.  But I guess that is somewhat expected for a small state that disproportionately dominates national elections due to its state fair straw poll and first-in-the-nation caucus. Iowa is one of many Battleground states with the defining political paradox of the season: a Republican governor reforming the state and improving the employment picture (Iowa’s unemployment fell to 5.1 percent in April, a 35-month low) versus a Democrat President whose policies have not worked across the country but would like to claim credit for the micro-successes in these states. This will be the never-ending battle through November.

Despite the comparatively fewer visits to Iowa of late, there are a few newsworthy developments:

The first in a war of dueling Iowa presidential campaign press conferences today included Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds stating that President Obama is hurting job creation efforts in Iowa.“President Obama has shown that he is fundamentally hostile to job creators, both in his rhetoric and in his policies,” Reynolds said at a press conference set at ColorFx, a commercial printing company in Urbandale. ColorFX employs about 500 people in Iowa, including around 200 at the Urbandale facility. CEO Jon Troen spoke about burdensome rules and regulations that business faces under President Obama.

The Iowa Republican Party is bragging that the GOP has increased its lead in voter registration over Iowa Democrats. As of June 1, the number of registered Iowa Republicans was 607,936, while Iowa Democrats claimed 595,423 registered voters, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s office. This follows the Iowa Republican Party surpassing the state’s Democratic Party in voters registration in March for the first time since 2006.

Almost 23 percent of Iowa’s working households are currently earning incomes below what is required to meet their basic needs, according to a new study released this morning by the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project. That’s roughly twice the federal poverty level reported for Iowa. And the shortfall is  exacerbated in some areas of the state where such things as rent, commuting costs and insurance are higher. The end result: Thousands of Iowa’s working families face home foreclosures, bankruptcies and/or are going without such things as health insurance or using friends and family instead of educationally challenging daycares to make ends meet, the authors of the new study said.

The last news item is very interesting because 5.1% unemployment is fantastic compared to the national average but it appears many Iowans are hurting greatly in this struggling economy.

By keithbacker | Posted in Iowa | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)
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