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Grassley comments on Leach’s speech

August 26, 2008 By

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican, took the podium last night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, touting the attributes of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, says he’s disappointed Leach chose to endorse Obama so publicly.

Grassley says: "Obviously, he didn’t sway me and I still wonder why Jim Leach is doing this. I wish he weren’t. He gave a fabulous speech." Leach, a Davenport native who’s now a professor at Princeton, said Obama meets the needs of the moment and compared the Illinois senator to J.F.K.

Leach says he’s not leaving the Republican party, but is just asking others to ignore partisan divisions. Grassley says it’s clear Leach is still a Republican at heart. Grassley says, "He spoke an awful lot about good things about the Republican party, and Republican presidents, even mentioning Reagan in one of his examples, and I hope the American people, in particular the Democrat delegates, heard everything he said."

Grassley says it appears Leach based his support for Obama only on the foreign policy of the Bush administration, specifically Iraq. 

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Oldest, youngest Iowa DNC delegates are women; Iowa Republican speaks at convention

August 26, 2008 By

Just about half the Iowa delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver are women and they’re invited to join a march today to celebrate an anniversary — the 88th anniversary of ratificaation of the 19th Amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote. 

Ione Shadduck of West Des Moines is a retired lawyer, a first-time delegate to her party’s national convention and — at the age of 84 — she’s the oldest Iowa delegaste here in Denver.

She plans to vote for Hillary Clinton when the roll is called. "Just recognize what she has contributed, and recognize that the number of women who supported her are disappointed, because they wanted a woman president," Shadduck says.

Shadduck plans to vote for Obama in November, as she says her beef’s not with Obama, it’s with the media who she believes savaged Senator Clinton. "I really am not angry with him at all. I’m angry with the media because they were so biased against women and against Hillary specifically," she says. "Actually they were really nasty to her and I think what the media did against her made a big difference in the voting, I really do."

There is one member of the media, especially, who really gets her goat. "Chris Matthews — fire him!" she says of the MSNBC anchor.

At the other end of the age spectrum is Merci Wolff of Sioux City, the youngest delegate from Iowa. She’s 18. "I’m excited to be here to watch history being made," she says. "…I’ve been involved in politics since I was 10 years old, so this was kind of like a reward to be here and see things firsthand."

Wolff will attend Cornell College in Mount Vernon and plans to major in political science and women’s studies. Wolff, who may run for political office herself one day, feels a connection to Ione. "I think women that age are proud to see that women now are getting more and more involved," Wolff says. "I really think it shows a sign of the times."

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican who endorsed Obama earlier this month, spoke last night to the Democrats gathered in Denver. "This is not a time for politics as usual or for run-of-the-mill politicians," Leach said.  "Little is riskier to the national interest than more of the same."

Leach, a professor at Princeton, spent some time discussing American political history to make his point that Obama is a "transformative leader" who meets the needs of the moment. "A leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of idealism abroad," Leach said.

Another Iowan — Candy Schmieder of Marengo — was given a speaking slot moments earlier. The Obama campaign says she was invited to speak on behalf of "everyday Americans."

"Living in Iowa we had the opportunity to attend many events and to meet Senator Obama, Michelle and their family," she said."We learned they are very down-to-earth people who truly understand our point of view."

Schmieder told her fellow Democrats that Obama had not inspired her, but motivated her to return to school, get her college degree, and enter public service. "He has the judgment, compassion, intelligence, perserverance and experience needed to be the next leader of our country," Schmieder said at the end of her three-minute speech.

Read the text of her speech, and of Congressman Leach’s, over on the Radio Iowa blog.

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Obama in Davenport; Leach to speak at DNC in Denver

August 25, 2008 By

While many of the country’s top Democrats have gathered in Denver for their party’s national convention, the party’s nominee will spend part of his Monday in Iowa.

As he makes his way to Denver, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is stopping in swing states where polls show the race between Obama and Republican John McCain is close.

Iowa is one of those swing states and Obama is due in Davenport early this afternoon for a town hall meeting. It’s an invitation-only event.

This evening, former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach — a Davenport native who served in congress for 30 years, will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Leach, as you may recall, is a Republican who earlier this month endorsed Obama. "One Nation" is tonight’s theme at the Democratic National Convention, and Leach will serve to buttress Obama’s contention that he, as president, will be able to bridge the partisan divide that has stymied progress in Washington on a variety of issues.

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GOP candidate says Leach showed "true stripes" by backing Obama

August 14, 2008 By

The Republican running for Iowa’s first district congressional seat is ridiculing former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach’s endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

David Hartsuch Leach, a Davenport native, is a Republican who represented Davenport for many years in congress, but lost his bid for reelection in 2006 in Iowa’s second congressional district. David Hartsuch, a Bettendorf doctor, is the Republican candidate in the first district this year. "Maybe it was time for (Leach) to leave office," Hartsuch says. "I think (Leach) has been a good legislator for many years, but unfortunately I think he’s got it all wrong and I think he did show his stripes by endorsing Obama over McCain."

Hartsuch defeated Maggie Tinsman, another "moderate" Republican to win his state senate seat in 2006 and Hartsuch considers Tinsman and Leach two of a kind. "They were not Republicans to begin with. They’re not Republicans now and I do believe that Jim Leach has shown his stripes," Hartsuch said during an appearance at The Des Moines Register’s Soap Box on the state fairgrounds.

Moments later, Hartsuch told reporters Leach’s announcement will yield little for Obama. "If anything, I think it’s going to wake a lot of Republicans up and they’re going to realize what kind of leadership we’ve had in our own party and maybe it’s time to get back to our original, core values of limited government and lower taxes," Hartsuch said.

Hartsuch is a long-shot candidate who has raised about $16,000 for his bid to unseat Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo. Hartsuch admits his campaign fund is lean. "Right now, I can’t buy literature," Hartsuch told reporters. Buying ad time on TV and radio is out of the question, but Hartsuch points to 2006 election results which showed the Republican candidate for secretary of state spent no money on her campaign, yet got 42 percent of the vote in the first congressional district.

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Former Congressman says don’t take Obama’s win lightly

January 4, 2008 By

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach says Barack Obama’s decisive win in the Iowa Caucuses shouldn’t be under-estimated. Leach is a life-long Republican who lost his bid for re-election to the U.S. House in 2006. Leach, who’s now teaching at Harvard University, says the results in the Democratic race are remarkable.

"In one sense, you have the symbol of the establishment being thumped by the people with a candidate of a very unlikely background and a candidate with a worldwide background, someone of an African father and of a background that is going to tap the emotions of many people in the world," Leach says.

Leach contends history was also made in Iowa last night in terms of the organizations each of the three leading Democratic candidates amassed here. "What you had in Iowa was this year the single most sophisticated politics ever organized in any state in the history of the country on the Democratic side," Leach says.

"On the Republican side you had the most unique church-based politics that has ever come into play." Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, won the support of many Evangelical Christians last night. Leach made his comments today on Iowa Public Radio. 

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Former Iowa Congressman Leach to Harvard

September 18, 2007 By

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach has been named the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. "The country faces unique circumstances and it’s never been more important to develop a new generation of leadership," Leach says.

Leach had been teaching at Princeton, his alma mater, and took a leave of absence to take the new post, which is part of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Leach says one of his goals is to encourage young people to be more involved in citizenship activities — especially voting.

"I have been joking with people that I think it’s not good enough to vote once and I don’t mean by that the Chicago model, but I mean that if one doesn’t participate in the primary process, one leaves the choice of candidates and the direction of parties up to others," Leach says.

Leach contends mass participation by young people would change the campaign dialogue. "If you take the State of Iowa, for example, where we have a caucus process which means smaller participation, if every college student and every eligible high school student who is 18 were to participate the views of young people would have to be taken dramatically into consideration," Leach says. "And it would be a great step towards engaging on a regular basis a new generation of enthusiastic participants in the political process."

Leach notes, however, the "great irony" that many of the workers inside political campaigns are young, but their candidates haven’t yet been able to connect with the majority of the youth in the country.

"I’m particularly hopeful this year that we’re going to get a big turn-out of youth in the caucuses and primaries," Leach says. "This is one of my orientations to try to energize young people into the responsibilities of governance."

Leach, a Republican, represented Iowa in congress for 30 years before losing his reelection bid in 2006. Leach, who holds degrees from Princeton, Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics, stepped into the Harvard job for this academic year as the previous director — former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen — left to run for New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate seat.

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House approves measure to name Davenport courthouse after Leach

May 16, 2007 By

The U.S. House Tuesday approved a bill that would name the Davenport federal courthouse in honor of former Republican Iowa Congressman Jim Leach. Representative, Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, co-sponsored the bill. Braley says he first met Jim Leach as a freshman in college as Leach was campaigning in what was then the First District in 1976.

Leach went on to win the election and was Braley’s representative. Braley says this is a “very important bill to me personally,” and says the last time he talked with Leach, they were at the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum in Waterloo. Braley says that election in 1976 was the first time he was eligible to vote, and says it was not a vote cast for Leach.

“I’m pretty confident that I voted for his opponent in that election,” Braley says. Braley says Leach had a long and distinguished career of public service representing the citizens of eastern Iowa for 30 years, and that’s why he sought to have the building named for Leach.

Braley says “this is going to be a great honor, and one that’s well deserved.” The other co-sponsor of the bill is Representative Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mt. Vernon, who defeated Leach. The bill will now moves to the Senate for approval. Iowa’s two Senators have introduced similar legislation in the Senate.

 

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