QUOTE
In one bellwether Iowa county, Democrats upbeat
By James B. Kelleher
Published: 2006/06/16 13:11:02 CDT
TIPTON, Iowa (Reuters) - Doug Simkin has a little extra bounce in his step as he travels around this congressional district on the eastern edge of this politically pivotal Midwestern state.
That's because like a lot of people here, including some Republicans, the 40-year-old Democrat senses a shift in the political landscape toward the Democrats heading into upcoming November congressional elections and, beyond that, the 2008 presidential contest.
As always, the presidential race will begin in Iowa, where candidates face their first test with voters every four years in the state's party caucuses held in January.
"We're talking about the issues that matter: health care, the rural economy, education," Simkin, who heads the Cedar County Democratic party, told Reuters. "Plus the Republicans are doing enough, at the national level, to destroy their own credibility."
It's the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from a man who has removed the hood ornament on his Honda Civic and replaced it with a hand-painted peace sign; a man who says Henry Wallace, the Progressive Party's 1948 presidential candidate, is his hero.
What's surprising is how many local Republicans share Simkin's sense that the winds here may be shifting.
"It's going to be close," Don Young, the Republican mayor of Tipton, the rural county's largest city, said of the 2008 presidential contest.
BELLWETHER
Iowa may have a long history of progressive politics, but Cedar County, population 18,000, has rarely been in the vanguard.
Cedar County is probably best known as the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, the Republican was president from 1929 to 1933 and believed the Great Depression was a problem best solved by local governments and volunteers.
The local newspaper here is the weekly Conservative, a reminder of the days when the county was, in the words of the county's Republican party co-chairman Dan Boddicker, "solid Republican."
No more. In the last four presidential elections, the popular vote here has mirrored results nationwide. In 2004, when the country split 51-49 for Republican George W. Bush versus Democrat John Kerry, Cedar County split 50-49 -- just like Iowa itself.
In the extremely close 2000 contest between Bush and Al Gore, Cedar County's vote initially split evenly -- the only U.S. county where that happened. In 1992 and 1996, the county went for Bill Clinton.
Now, on the eve of this year's midterm elections, and with the presidential race to come, there are signs that sentiment in this key county is shifting again.
"There's definitely getting to be more liberal influence around here," said Young.
Still, centrist Rep. Jim Leach, one of only six Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, is favored for re-election to a 16th term.
FRUSTRATION
One factor contributing to the change is an influx of new residents from neighboring Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
"The county's population is shifting more toward the middle in everything," said Boddicker.
Republicans also register discontent with what they see as Bush's lenient proposals on immigration and the build-up of federal debt during his administration.
There's also growing frustration, among Republicans and Democrats alike, with the war in Iraq. "A lot of people are disgusted that it's gone on as long as it has," said Young, who still backs the fight.
The challenge for Democrats is figuring out how to capitalize on that frustration.
Voters are sensitive to anti-war messages because of the deaths in Iraq of two young men from the county -- Aaron Sissel of Tipton and Donald Griffith of Mechanicsville.
"I'm hearing people who are strong Republicans saying we've got no business being in Iraq and that we need to get out," Simkin said.
"But how do we get out while saving face? How do we get out without implying that they died for no good reason? People are trying to reconcile political with emotional issues and it's hard."
By James B. Kelleher
Published: 2006/06/16 13:11:02 CDT
TIPTON, Iowa (Reuters) - Doug Simkin has a little extra bounce in his step as he travels around this congressional district on the eastern edge of this politically pivotal Midwestern state.
That's because like a lot of people here, including some Republicans, the 40-year-old Democrat senses a shift in the political landscape toward the Democrats heading into upcoming November congressional elections and, beyond that, the 2008 presidential contest.
As always, the presidential race will begin in Iowa, where candidates face their first test with voters every four years in the state's party caucuses held in January.
"We're talking about the issues that matter: health care, the rural economy, education," Simkin, who heads the Cedar County Democratic party, told Reuters. "Plus the Republicans are doing enough, at the national level, to destroy their own credibility."
It's the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from a man who has removed the hood ornament on his Honda Civic and replaced it with a hand-painted peace sign; a man who says Henry Wallace, the Progressive Party's 1948 presidential candidate, is his hero.
What's surprising is how many local Republicans share Simkin's sense that the winds here may be shifting.
"It's going to be close," Don Young, the Republican mayor of Tipton, the rural county's largest city, said of the 2008 presidential contest.
BELLWETHER
Iowa may have a long history of progressive politics, but Cedar County, population 18,000, has rarely been in the vanguard.
Cedar County is probably best known as the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, the Republican was president from 1929 to 1933 and believed the Great Depression was a problem best solved by local governments and volunteers.
The local newspaper here is the weekly Conservative, a reminder of the days when the county was, in the words of the county's Republican party co-chairman Dan Boddicker, "solid Republican."
No more. In the last four presidential elections, the popular vote here has mirrored results nationwide. In 2004, when the country split 51-49 for Republican George W. Bush versus Democrat John Kerry, Cedar County split 50-49 -- just like Iowa itself.
In the extremely close 2000 contest between Bush and Al Gore, Cedar County's vote initially split evenly -- the only U.S. county where that happened. In 1992 and 1996, the county went for Bill Clinton.
Now, on the eve of this year's midterm elections, and with the presidential race to come, there are signs that sentiment in this key county is shifting again.
"There's definitely getting to be more liberal influence around here," said Young.
Still, centrist Rep. Jim Leach, one of only six Republicans in the House of Representatives to vote against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, is favored for re-election to a 16th term.
FRUSTRATION
One factor contributing to the change is an influx of new residents from neighboring Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
"The county's population is shifting more toward the middle in everything," said Boddicker.
Republicans also register discontent with what they see as Bush's lenient proposals on immigration and the build-up of federal debt during his administration.
There's also growing frustration, among Republicans and Democrats alike, with the war in Iraq. "A lot of people are disgusted that it's gone on as long as it has," said Young, who still backs the fight.
The challenge for Democrats is figuring out how to capitalize on that frustration.
Voters are sensitive to anti-war messages because of the deaths in Iraq of two young men from the county -- Aaron Sissel of Tipton and Donald Griffith of Mechanicsville.
"I'm hearing people who are strong Republicans saying we've got no business being in Iraq and that we need to get out," Simkin said.
"But how do we get out while saving face? How do we get out without implying that they died for no good reason? People are trying to reconcile political with emotional issues and it's hard."