Huckabee's New Year's Message

Live with Huckabee - working notes
Mike Huckabee says a negative campaign was pulled an hour from being launched this afternoon.

Huckabee says he 'll sleep with peace in his heart even though its not the conventional political thing.

If we gain the whole world and lose our soul, how has that profit us?

the kind of difference we really want to make is one where its safer.....more civil...that we love America more than we hate each other.

The smaller the government the more empowered people can be....

Huckabee ended with, let's show the world how politics should be done.

Veterans speak about hardships

December 29, 2007

50 veterans got their message across to various representatives of some of the presidential candidates yesterday evening: Put veterans first. An intimate group of more than 50 veterans joined together at the Holiday Inn in Des Moines, Iowa to hear different speakers describing the plight of homeless and mentally ill veterans.
Marine veteran, Ken Dohmen spoke about his work with veterans through the Central Iowa Shelter & Services, a homeless shelter. Dohmen said CISS accepts anyone older than 18, but that veterans make up about 30 percent of the individuals the shelter takes in. Dohmen's business card states "preserving human dignity."



Dohmen said he served during the Vietnam War and participated in evacuations from Cambodia.




(footage and narrative by Heather)

Caucus! The Musical- a feel good message (with humor)

Caucus! The Musical was shown today at 7pm in the State Historical Building. I unfortunately had to attend on my own, but still thoroughly enjoyed myself. The show was colorful and very humorous, yet held a serious message for caucus-goers. We all have the same basic goals: we want what's best for our families and our communities; and we can work together to accomplish them instead of fighting against one another. Overall, it was a great show that I wouldn't mind seeing again if I had company.

View Album

Get your own

(State Historical Building in Des Moines)

(footage and narrative by Crystal Rose)

Barack Obama Speaks in Des Moines

Before Barack Obama approached the stage I jotted down a few thoughts posted in my Branson Missouri Blog.
Obama sounded solid with a subtle stab at Senator Hillary Clinton positioning himself as an outsider to t he political arena and an insider to the struggles of the common man. Shots focused towards Senator John Edwards.

When Obama asked how many people were undecided a good 20 percent of the standing room only crowd raised hands. A third of the people showed by raising their hands that this was the first time they intended on caucusing for a candidate.

Ron Paul Supporters Trump Huckabee's local ABC news coverage

After making a few phone calls from the Ron Paul Des Moines office, I and a kid nicknamed Monk went outside for a break and saw some reporters on the opposite street corner. When asked, they said they were shooting a story on Huckabee, whose rarely bustling office is a door down from Ron Paul's. Monk had the idea that we should come out with signs and parade in front of the camera. Turned out to be a great idea, and after being slightly annoyed and actually requesting that we stay quiet, the cameramen decided to use us as part of their story by showing the contrast between the Ron Paul supporters and the complete lack of Huckabee campaigners.





(Footage and narrative by Crystal Rose, production by Heather Turner)

Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) speaks to Veterans in Des Moines

Last night the Circle of Friends for American Friends held an event at the Holiday Inn. Representatives of some of the presidential candidates spoke about their candidate's plans to 'put the veterans first.'

Former Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) was there to speak on behalf of Mitt Romney, whom he recently endorsed.





(footage by Heather Turner)

Photos of Barack Obama's Des Moines Headquarters

Barrack Obama's headquarters in Des Moines was filled with enthusiastic young men and women.

The environment was laid back compared to his top competitor Hillary Clinton. Obama will be in Des Moines on Sunday giving a speech at a local school.

Ron Paul Speech - Remaining Footage

(Video by Darin Codon)

Presidential Headlines

(Photos by Heather Turner. Taken in the Capitol building in Des Moines, Iowa)

Minuteman Founder Jim Gilchrist

The controversial efforts of states taking action on immigration after congress failed to pass legislation earlier this year has empowered citizen groups that have taken to task enforcement through their own methods.

The two interviews posted are of Jim Gilchrist founder of the Minuteman Project

A Rare Sign- Meeting Ron Paul

(Footage by Heather Turner)

We waited for the line to thin out a bit, but it was worth it for a brief photo op. Paul was surprisingly nice and seemed as genuinely excited to be signing a poster in pink as Crystal.
Crystal said the writing was done neatly, as opposed to the scrawled signatures in black on the other posters.

Washington Post Interactive - Short Video Interview

The Washington Post sent a journalist to cover the Ron Paul speech on December 27th.

Ron Paul Excluded From Upcoming NH Debate (www.boston.com)

Paul: FOX News is 'scared of me'

By James Pindell December 29, 2007 01:40 PM

PLAISTOW, N.H. -- Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him.

"They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."

Paul's staff said they are beginning to plan a rally that will take place at the same time the 90-minute debate will air on television. It will be taped at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown.

"They will not win this skirmish," he promised.

The Fox debate occurs less than 24 hours after two back to back Republican and Democratic debates on the same campus sponsored by ABC News, WMUR-TV and the social networking website Facebook.

Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday.

He spent much of the day campaigning at diners in Manchester and Plaistow and downtown walks in Derry and Exeter.

Meeting Ron Paul and Supporters

Paul stayed to speak with his supporters after appearing at the Marriot on Dec. 27th. We all got a handshake and our posters signed. The room was mostly composed of young, college-age males.
(Photo of Heather Turner with Ron Paul taken by Darin Codon.)
(Photo of Crystal Rose with Ron Paul taken by Darin Codon.)
(Photo of Mike Megee with Ron Paul taken by Darin Codon.)

Students loaded up on the 'Constitution Coach' to head to the Ron Paul traveling camps that campaign on his behalf.

(Photo by Darin Codon.)
(Photo by Darin Codon.)
(Photo by Darin Codon.)
The messages on the side of the Constitution Coach included 'No Patriot Act,' 'Pro-Life' and 'Hope for America.'

(Photo by Darin Codon.)
(Photo by Darin Codon.)

Ron Paul (Photo Album)

Ron Paul Photos 122707

Ron Paul Speech - Video Segments from crowd

War on Drugs/Freedom

War on Drugs

I Should Take a paycut

Presidential Responsibility

You can do it!

We can Do it! Ron Paul

More on Privacy

Foreign Policy

On Iraq

If I could wave a wand

Freedom is exciting

On Federal Reserve

On Federal Reserve II

Constitutionalist



Ron Paul Fan

Meeting Supporters

Meeting Supporters

Ron Paul Supporter 3

Ron Paul Video

Ron Paul spoke at the Marriot in Des Moines Thursday before a crowd of about 3000 college-age supporters. (5 min. 55 sec.)

Arrival at the Ron Paul Campaign- 7 Days to the Iowa Caucus

Going into the campaign headquarters was pretty boring; I showed up after 5 and was asked to wait in a little room in the back with phone cubicles for someone to talk to me.

After about 15 minutes, I ended up asking somebody if they forgot about me; they did. No worries though. The guy put me on phone duty, which after sitting and reading pamphlets I realized this could be agonizing. So I guess I wasn't a very good volunteer because I quit after about 10 calls and started talking to a kid next to me named Steven who flew in all the way from Texas to campaign for his idol. I wanted ask him more, but he was focused on making phone calls.
Eventually, I got to talking with this kid, Jim, about the student camps that I kept hearing about around me. Turns out he was a leader of one of them. Later, I met him and Betty at the rally at the Mariott before Paul took the stage at 8 pm. Apparently, 250 students from the U.S. and four countries are staying in 7 camps across the state to campaign for Ron Paul. They have free transportation and lodging, and receive $15 per day for food while they go door to door encouraging people to caucus for Ron Paul.

(Photos and narrative by Rose)

John McCain headquarters- 7 days to the Iowa Caucuses

I was met by warm, smiling faces as soon as I stepped through the door. No one appeared adverse to my avant garde filming.

By the time I arrived close to 6 pm, only the more hard-core campaigners remained placing phone calls to Iowa citizens and running errands.

The walls were covered with handmade McCain signs and memorabilia with messages of a bi-partisan war effort (and U.S. victory), hope, no surrender and of course, digs at Mitt Romney.

Talk in the office varied, but everyone focused on winning over hearts and minds over phone lines reading scripted messages and even ad libbing to convince Iowans leaning Republican to support and campaign for Senator McCain on January 3rd.

From my cubicle I kept hearing: "He's ready to lead on day one." A common message being used by many campaigns.

A volunteer from Houston who arrived at about the same time I did said she was tired of the partisan fights between the two major parties. She said she supports McCain becaus he can bring both parties together to work for the greater good of the country, not just for what benefits John McCain.

Senior Grassroots Campaign manager, Jay Heine said Senator McCain will make an appearance at the Headquarters on Wed. January 2.


Sculpture seen at the John McCain Headquarters in Urbandale Iowa 7 days before the Iowa Caucus. (Photo by Heather Turner)
Wood engraving seen at the John McCain Headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa 7 days before the Iowa Caucus.

Iowa Caucus Slideshow (7 Days to Caucuses) McCain, Ron Paul

Arrival into Des Moines-7 days until Iowa Caucus

We arrived safely in Des Moines close to three p.m. and later dispersed to our locations. Throughout the day, a lot of issues and messages were touched upon in the Clinton, Paul and McCain campaigns.

The Des Moines Register set the general tone today as well. The paper recently endorsed the McCain and Clinton campaigns. Today's paper highlighted the media frenzy in Iowa as well as housing market woes some residents are experiencing.

Ron Paul Iowa Day 1 Video (1 of 5) "Christmas Vacation in Iowa" Part 1

Ron Paul Speech to 300 students in Iowa (1 of 5)

Iowa caucus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iowa caucus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iowa Resident Contributions to Presidential Campaigns 2008

The total for Iowa state is based on donations of over $200 from individuals, according to opensecrets.org. The data was compiled from the Federal Election Commission as of October 16, 2007.

Mitt Romney

$143,825

Hillary Clinton

$123,038

Thomas J. Vilsack

$116,850

 *Vilsack dropped out of the race in February. He served two terms as the Governor of Iowa

Barack Obama

$98,664

John Edwards

$84,175

Rudolph W. Giuliani

$63,850

John McCain

$43,873

Ron Paul

$39,796

Bill Richardson

$35,910

Joseph R. Biden Jr.

$24,150

Tommy Thompson

$22,190

*Thompson dropped out of the race in August.

Mike Huckabee

$19,327

Sam Brownback

$15,924

*Brownback dropped out of the race in October

Fred Thompson

$11,550

Christopher J. Dodd

$10,150

Dennis J. Kucinich

$8,694

Tom Tancredo

$8,425

*Tancredo recently announced his withdrawal from the race and endorsed Mitt Romney.

Duncan Hunter

$2,100

Mike Gravel

$450

Alan L. Keyes

$200

Iowa Resident Contributions 2008 by Metropolitan Area

CEDAR RAPIDS

Thomas J. Vilsack	$8,950
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	$8,150
Hillary Clinton	$6,375
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$6,050
Barack Obama	$4,599
Mitt Romney	$4,300
John Edwards	$3,725
John McCain	$3,416
Bill Richardson	$3,160
Christopher J. Dodd	$3,000
Ron Paul	$1,548
Dennis J. Kucinich	$1,400
Fred Thompson	$550
Sam Brownback	$529
Mike Huckabee	$300
Tom Tancredo	$250
Mike Gravel	$200
Tommy Thompson	$200

 
DAVENPORT-MOLINE-ROCK ISLAND, IA-IL

Barack Obama	$21,335
John McCain	$12,851
Mitt Romney	$8,035
John Edwards	$6,870
Hillary Clinton	$5,585
Ron Paul	$5,573
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$4,200
Sam Brownback	$3,100
Bill Richardson	$2,950
Thomas J. Vilsack	$2,400
Tommy Thompson	$1,540
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	$1,250
Tom Tancredo	$1,098
Fred Thompson	$800
Mike Huckabee	$750
Duncan Hunter	$250

 
DES MOINES

Hillary Clinton	$101,498
Thomas J. Vilsack	$78,300
John Edwards	$52,929
Mitt Romney	$50,225
Barack Obama	$38,373
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$35,725
John McCain	$16,200
Bill Richardson	$10,945
Sam Brownback	$7,057
Christopher J. Dodd	$6,750
Ron Paul	$5,232
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	$4,750
Mike Huckabee	$4,550
Tom Tancredo	$4,130
Fred Thompson	$3,800
Dennis J. Kucinich	$2,300
Duncan Hunter	$2,275
Tommy Thompson	$500

 
DUBUQUE

Mitt Romney	$9,600
John McCain	$4,652
Barack Obama	$2,011
Sam Brownback	$700
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$350

 
IOWA CITY

Barack Obama	$12,871
John Edwards	$6,908
Mike Huckabee	$2,600
Mitt Romney	$2,580
Bill Richardson	$2,250
Hillary Clinton	$1,850
Thomas J. Vilsack	$1,700
Ron Paul	$1,650
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	$770
Dennis J. Kucinich	$511
Fred Thompson	$500
John McCain	$400
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$250
Tom Tancredo	$165
Christopher J. Dodd	($100)

 
OMAHA, NE-IA

Barack Obama	$115,028
Mitt Romney	$61,700
Hillary Clinton	$60,105
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$22,950
John McCain	$18,346
Bill Richardson	$14,800
John Edwards	$13,585
Sam Brownback	$10,032
Tom Tancredo	$9,299
Christopher J. Dodd	$8,500
Fred Thompson	$6,550
Ron Paul	$6,100
Thomas J. Vilsack	$3,400
Tommy Thompson	$2,731
Mike Huckabee	$600
Dennis J. Kucinich	$500
Duncan Hunter	$250

 
SIOUX CITY, IA-NE

Mitt Romney	$21,475
Barack Obama	$3,684
Bill Richardson	$2,000
Thomas J. Vilsack	$1,400
Mike Huckabee	$1,077
John Edwards	$825
John McCain	$813
Ron Paul	$500
Tom Tancredo	$495
Sam Brownback	$349
Hillary Clinton	$250

 
WATERLOO-CEDAR FALLS

Mike Huckabee	$5,100
Joseph R. Biden Jr.	$4,800
Tommy Thompson	$4,600
Rudolph W. Giuliani	$2,000
Barack Obama	$1,650
Bill Richardson	$1,050
John Edwards	$1,000
Hillary Clinton	$525
Thomas J. Vilsack	$450
Mitt Romney	$400
John McCain	$250
Fred Thompson	$250
Dennis J. Kucinich	$150
Tom Tancredo	$100
Duncan Hunter	$50

Source: http://opensecrets.org
--
http://www.bransonedge.com
http://www.bransonmissouri.blogspot.com

Breakdown of Candidate Visits to Des Moines

How often have the Presidential Candidates visited Des Moines? Hopefully, the numbers will pick up during this next week when we blog and film from the city leading up to the Iowa Caucuses on January 3rd, the first in the nation.

The number of visits to Des Moines, Iowa by Republican and Democratic Presidential hopefuls since January 1st 2007 as reported by the Des Moines Register:
DesMoinesRegister.com

Total visits     Democrats       Republicans

217                         134                        83

Democratic Candidates

Joe Biden (DE)   23 visits
Hillary Clinton (NY) 22 visits
Christopher Dodd (CT) 24 visits
John Edwards (NC) 18 visits
Mike Gravel (AK) 4 visits
Dennis Kucinich (OH) 3 visits
Barack Obama (IL) 23 visits
Bill Richardson (NV) 17 visits

Republican Candidates

Rudy Giuliani (NY) 3 visits
Mike Huckabee (AR) 15 visits
Duncan Hunter (CA) 0 visits
John McCain (AZ) 8 visits
Ron Paul (TX) 6 visits
Mitt Romney (MA) 10 visits
Fred Thompson (TN) 4 visits

Presidential Visits in Iowa by City (Des Moines Register)

Map data ©2007 Tele Atlas - Terms of Use

Map

Satellite

Hybrid

Iowa visits by city
Map by Register Data Editor James Wilkerson and Digital Content Editor Michael Corey.

Candidate "visits" are counted by how many cities are visited in a trip. This means that if a candidate visits more than one town per day, a visit is counted for each city. Multiple appearances on the same day in the same city are counted as one visit.
Click on city name to show on map, get details

City	Total visits	Republicans	Democrats
Boone	1	1	0
Adel	6	2	4
Albia	3	1	2
Algona	12	5	7
Allison	6	3	3
Alton	2	2	0
Altoona	4	2	2
Amana	3	1	2
Ames	67	44	23
Anamosa	12	6	6
Ankeny	10	6	4
Arcadia	1	1	0
Atlantic	9	5	4
Audubon	5	2	3
Austin	1	1	0
Bedford	4	1	3
Bettendorf	12	7	5
Bettendorg	2	1	1
Bloomfield	5	2	3
Boone	17	9	8
Booneville	1	1	0
Burlington	20	6	14
Cambridge	1	1	0
Carroll	17	8	9
Carter Lake	1	0	1
Cedar Falls	20	9	11
Cedar Rapids	82	31	51
Centerville	4	1	3
Chariton	5	1	4
Charles City	9	3	6
Cherokee	7	3	4
Clarion	6	1	5
Clear Lake	15	10	5
Clinton	21	6	15
Clive	3	2	1
Colo	1	0	1
Coralville	15	8	7
Corning	4	1	3
Corydon	3	1	2
Council Bluffs	47	25	22
Crawfordsville	2	1	1
Cresco	2	1	1
Creston	9	5	4
Cumming	2	0	2
Dakota City	2	0	2
Dallas Center	1	1	0
Davenport	60	26	34
De Witt	3	2	1
Decorah	10	5	5
Denison	12	6	6
Denmark	2	2	0
Des Moines	217	83	134
Dubuque	41	12	29
Dyersville	5	2	3
Eagle Grove	1	1	0
Earlham	1	1	0
Early	2	2	0
Eldora	4	4	0
Eldridge	3	0	3
Elkader	8	1	7
Ellsworth	1	1	0
Ely	1	0	1
Emmetsburg	10	3	7
Estherville	4	2	2
Fairbank	1	1	0
Fairfield	13	4	9
Forest City	5	2	3
Fort Dodge	27	12	15
Fort Madison	10	3	7
Garner	3	1	2
Gladbrook	2	2	0
Glenwood	2	1	1
Greenfield	5	2	3
Grinnell	14	5	9
Grundy Center	11	6	5
Guthrie Center	5	1	4
Guttenberg	3	1	2
Hampton	6	3	3
Harlan	9	5	4
Hawkeye	1	1	0
Holland	1	1	0
Holstein	1	1	0
Hull	1	1	0
Humboldt	6	4	2
Ida Grove	6	4	2
Independence	14	5	9
Indianola	30	9	21
Ionia	1	1	0
Iowa City	44	9	35
Iowa Falls	12	6	6
Jefferson	8	5	3
Johnston	19	8	11
Keokuk	5	0	5
Keosauqua	4	2	2
Knoxville	6	1	5
Lawton	1	1	0
Le Mars	17	10	7
Madrid	1	1	0
Manchester	15	6	9
Manson	1	1	0
Mapleton	2	2	0
Maquoketa	12	6	6
Marengo	6	3	3
Marion	6	2	4
Marshalltown	30	16	14
Mason City	30	13	17
Milford	3	2	1
Missouri Valley	4	3	1
Monona	1	1	0
Monticello	6	1	5
Montour	1	1	0
Moscow	1	1	0
Mount Pleasant	14	7	7
Mount Vernon	4	2	2
Muscatine	25	12	13
Nevada	7	3	4
New Hampton	8	3	5
Newhall	2	2	0
Newton	21	11	10
North Liberty	3	2	1
Norwalk	1	0	1
Odebolt	3	3	0
Oelwein	13	2	11
Ogden	2	2	0
Okoboji	3	3	0
Onawa	6	4	2
Orange City	9	7	2
Osage	4	1	3
Osceola	6	2	4
Oskaloosa	14	6	8
Ottumwa	19	6	13
Panora	2	2	0
Parkersburg	1	1	0
Pella	9	7	2
Peosta	3	0	3
Perry	6	2	4
Pleasant Hill	1	1	0
Pleasantville	2	1	1
Pocahontas	4	2	2
Primghar	2	1	1
Radcliffe	1	1	0
Red Oak	8	4	4
Rock Rapids	5	4	1
Rockwell City	4	2	2
Sac City	3	1	2
Sergeant Bluff	1	1	0
Sheldon	8	6	2
Shenandoah	5	1	4
Sibley	3	2	1
Sidney	2	1	1
Sigourney	4	1	3
Sioux Center	9	8	1
Sioux City	48	25	23
Sloan	1	1	0
Spencer	15	11	4
Spirit Lake	4	1	3
Stanhope	1	1	0
State Center	1	1	0
Storm Lake	9	3	6
Story City	6	4	2
Swisher	1	1	0
Tama	11	3	8
Thompson	1	1	0
Tipton	9	3	6
Toledo	1	1	0
Treynor	3	3	0
Urbandale	14	10	4
Vinton	13	3	10
Wapello	6	3	3
Washington	15	5	10
Waterloo	44	14	30
Waukee	10	6	4
Waukon	4	2	2
Waverly	17	4	13
Webster City	11	5	6
Wellman	1	0	1
Wellsburg	1	1	0
West Branch	2	0	2
West Burlington	2	1	1
West Des Moines	31	19	12
West Liberty	2	0	2
West Union	2	1	1
Wilton	2	2	0
Windsor Heights	1	1	0
Winterset	11	5	6
Woodbine	1	1	0

http://data.desmoinesregister.com/caucus/map1.php