Over the years I’ve spent a fair amount of time driving across Iowa to get someplace else and then home again. At least once a year, sometimes twice. Sometimes I actually travel to Iowa for something. This morning we started on U.S. 151 from Dubuque to Cedar Rapids, driving through freezing fog which cast a fairy tale frosting on all of the trees and grasses poking out through the snow. We saw a 4 x 8 Hillary sign on someone’s roadside property.
Traveling west on I-80 toward Des Moines we were confronted with Ron Paul signs placed on the slopes of overpass right of ways. Approximately every ten miles. They were less “slick” than the usual campaign signs – these appeared to be 2 x 6 or 4 x 6 with the exact same pseudo-homemade look. You’ve just got to love that affected “grassroots” patina.
I always keep on eye on the passing traffic when I drive. I look for license plates and bumper stickers. A significant chunk of the early morning traffic had Iowa plates. There were almost no bumper stickers. It served to remind me that most Iowans who are registered to vote don’t participate in caucuses. We did see one Romney 4 x 8 and one Huckabee 4 x 8 at different places on I-80.
We stopped for gas at a truck stop in Altoona. As we were pulling in a campaign bus emblazoned with “Huckabeast” was pulling out. I don’t believe one iota of the irony in the vehicle name has occurred to its occupants, considering the content of their web site. Right wingnut republican shills have always been irony challenged. I was disappointed that we hadn’t driven into the truck stop a few minutes earlier – I would have liked to ask them their opinion of Wayne Dumond.
I had the opportunity to read the Kansas City Star‘s resident political stenographer’s Sunday report from Iowa:
…Just a thought, but why hasn’t Hillary Clinton racked up more than nine endorsements from her fellow Democratic U.S. senators…?
Umm. Maybe because there are other senators running. You know, like Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and John McCain. Okay, he sort of said that:
…we’ll give her a pass on Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden…
So, I thought I’d take a look at the various campaign websites to see which senators have endorsed which candidates.
Gee, Steverino, here’s a really big list:
9/15 Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow Endorses Clinton
7/25 California Senator Dianne Feinstein Endorses Hillary Clinton
6/12 New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez Endorses Clinton for President
6/6 Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Endorses Clinton for President
Or from here:
…endorsing Hillary Clinton
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Or from here:
I couldn’t find a centralized endorsement list on Obama’s web site. It’s probably there somewhere…
Or from here:
Okay, let’s go to a “neutral” centralized source:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)Sen. Barack Obama
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)
Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.)
Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)Sen. John McCain
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.)
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.)Former New York City Mayor
Rudy GiulianiSen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.)
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)Former Sen. Fred Thompson
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
The Hill can’t seem to find Kent Conrad.
Gee, John McCain “only” has endorsements from ten senators (Joementum!).
Rudy gets an idiot’s and an adulterer’s endorsements! republicans really are irony impaired…
As for Hillary Clinton – there are 49 United States Senators who are Democrats – and three others of those are also running for president. 10 out of those 49 is quite good, considering everyone else’s list.
The stenographer ends his useless little piece with:
…Still, you wonder.
Only if you’re a lazy and an idiot.
Unlike the “staight-talker,” Clinton has NO endorsement from an independent in the Senate.
I am amazed The Stenographer failed to note McCain’s attraction to I’s.