SPIN METER: Few Dems say no to cash from PACs (AP)

By JACK GILLUM and KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Jack Gillum And Ken Thomas, Associated Press – Thu Aug 18, 3:55 pm ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has sworn off special-interest money to pay for his re-election bid. But it turns out those dollars are fair game for congressional Democrats — to the tune of millions.

An Associated Press analysis of campaign fundraising found that Democrats who are trying to regain control of the House next fall have raked in more than $15 million from political action committees this year, raising money from special interests even as Obama, the Democratic standard bearer, promotes his ban on such funds.

More than $1 million of that money flowed to the re-election committees of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.

Democratic leaders gloss over all that when they pressure the GOP presidential candidates to disclose their top donors, and even go so far as to trumpet the fact that Obama's campaign and the DNC don't take money from registered federal lobbyists and political action committees.

"The refusal to accept donations from federal lobbyists and PACs is critical to limiting the influence of special interests in the political process," Wasserman Schultz said in a recent conference call with reporters. "Unfortunately, every single Republican candidate for president today happily accepts donations from lobbyists and PACs."

Yet the checks still flowed to congressional Democrats, AP's analysis found, at roughly the same pace as they did in the last election cycle two years ago. And dozens of House Democrats even raised more interest-group money than they did during first six months in 2009, the most recent comparable period, when adjusted for inflation.

"Democrats have broadly supported campaign finance reform and disclosure for outside groups, while Republicans continue to oppose them," DNC spokesman Alec Gerlach said in statement responding to the AP's questions. "The DNC has refused PAC and lobbyist money since President Obama was elected, and Wasserman Schultz has refused it as well since she was elected DNC chair" in May.

The AP's analysis, drawing upon campaign records from the Federal Election Commission, found donations to House Democrats this year included big checks from unions, sugar producers and defense contractors — all PACs that filed notices with the FEC stating they were active in lobbying.

Indeed, it's a bipartisan money game, with top Republicans also cashing checks from special interests in 2011. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pulled in more than $500,000 from PACs since Jan. 1, as has his deputy, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

But Democrats have been on the offensive across the country, criticizing streams of cash flowing into federal elections following the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that lifted a ban on corporate donations in political campaigns.

"There is an army of lobbyists and lawyers right now working to water down the protections and the reforms that we passed," Obama said July 18 in White House Rose Garden, announcing the head of a new consumer-protection bureau.

Sheila Krumholz, president of the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics, said: "It's easy for presidential candidates to reject PAC contributions because they make up such minuscule portions of what the candidates need to raise. They can reject PAC money and take the high road all the way to the bank."

Obama's campaign has emphasized the president's decision to forgo contributions from registered lobbyists and political action committees. They note that President George W. Bush and 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain released their lists of "bundlers" — large-dollar donors who raise $50,000 or more among their networks of contacts — but no one in the current Republican presidential has done the same.

"President Bush disclosed his bundlers, but the current GOP field has not followed suit, raising questions about the extent to which special interests are funding their campaigns," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said after the campaign disclosed fundraising information in July. "More than 552,000 Americans have funded ours."

Yet, even some of Obama's bundlers have lobbying ties. Michael Kempner, who is president of MWW Group, a public affairs company with a Washington lobbying practice, raised at least $500,000. Other bundlers have worked as lobbyists in the past but are no longer registered, or they have lobbied state and local governments.

Employees at Washington's most active lobbying firms also have given tens of thousands to top Democrats in the House, AP's analysis found. That included $7,000 in contributions to South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn from executives at the Podesta Group, and $5,000 to Pelosi from Quinn Gillespie & Associates.

The AP measured contributions from industry PACs to lawmakers' election committees, but more potential conflicts could arise in money given to political leadership committees.

Washington has been awash in special-interest money during the past two years, particularly surrounding Democrats' signature issues, the Center for Responsive Politics found. In that time, more than two dozen corporations, trade associations and interest groups spent at least $20 million on lobbying for changes to health care and financial regulations and on economic stimulus funding.

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Follow Jack Gillum at http://twitter.com/jackgillum and Ken Thomas at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

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1st potential candidate for Giffords seat emerges (AP)

PHOENIX – Is Rep. Gabrielle Giffords running for re-election?

That's a question State Sen. Frank Antenori of Tucson wants to answer before the May 15 deadline for submitting nominating petitions. The first potential candidate to publicly declare an interest in running for the southern Arizona post, Antenori said Thursday he feels Democrats are exploiting a perception that she's running for re-election as a way to blunt attempts by the GOP to win the seat.

"You are not going to use this strategy for a political purpose and try to keep Republicans out of the race until May. Ain't gonna happen," Antenori said, explaining that such a late announcement by Giffords would leave GOP candidates flat-footed.

Giffords, who is in her third term in Congress but has spent the past eight months recovering from a gunshot wound she suffered during a meeting with voters, hasn't publicly said whether she'll seek re-election. She also has been mentioned as a potential candidate for a U.S. Senate seat next year.

Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said the decision on whether Giffords will run is for the congresswoman and her family to make. "Her recovery isn't based on (Antenori's) political ambitions," Johnson said.

Speculation on Giffords' future has buzzed since her surprise return to Congress earlier this month to cast her first vote since the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson that wounded 12 others and killed six people, including one of her aides. Her return to vote on the debt ceiling deal was celebrated as proof she could possibly return full-time to politics.

Giffords campaign chairman Michael McNulty didn't immediately return calls placed Thursday.

Some Republicans have privately expressed reluctance in speaking publicly about the future of the seat because of sensitivities of commenting on her career as she was recovering.

Antenori, who formed an exploratory committee for a potential congressional run, said three weeks ago he thought Giffords was going to run, but now is left to wonder after a loyal Giffords aide took another job and, he charges, the Democratic Party is testing the waters for other possible candidates for the post.

"If she is capable and has the physical ability to represent the district, I think she would be a formidable — almost unbeatable — foe," Antenori said. He's the only candidate so far who has said publicly he's even considering a run — but he also says he will probably cancel those plans if Giffords decides to make another bid for her seat.

Johnson said the party isn't shopping around possible candidates for the post. "Congresswoman Giffords is our incumbent," Johnson said. "If she decides not to run, then that's the only appropriate time for us to be discussing other Democratic candidates."

Antenori said he plans to announce whether he's running in January or February after the state finishes drawing new boundaries for the congressional district. He believes Giffords ought to make her announcement within the first two months of 2012, too.

Antenori, who served in the Army in Afghanistan and Iraq before retiring from the military in 2004, lost a 2006 run for the congressional post, finishing second to last in a primary field of five Republicans. He went on to win a 2008 state House race and crushed his Democratic opponent in a 2010 race for the state Senate.

If Giffords decides to run again, she will have plenty of goodwill and money at her disposal. Democratic colleagues have held several fundraisers on her behalf in recent months and many are also donating to her campaign. As of June 30, they had helped her campaign generate more than $639,000 in donations.

According to the latest quarterly report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Giffords' campaign has nearly $788,000 in the bank.

Bruce Merrill, a longtime pollster in Arizona and senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said Antenori is trying to put his name out to voters in case Giffords decides against running for re-election. "People should, rightfully, try to position themselves," Merrill said.

But Merrill, who believes the Democrat is unbeatable if she seeks re-election, also speculated that Giffords probably wants as much time as possible to assess her health and whether she wants to run again.

"There is no reason, in my opinion, for her to announce until May," Merrill said.

___(equals)

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.

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Obama adviser: Obama not obsessed with keeping job (AP)

WASHINGTON – Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Republicans must decide whether they're going to "swear allegiance to the tea party" or work with Democrats to create jobs.

Gibbs, who now advises President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, tells NBC's "Today" show Congress should "pay attention to creating jobs again."

He also suggested that some Republicans "do not want to see this economy get better" because they know continuing misery will likely improve their election prospects.

Gibbs says Obama favors a number of moves to help businesses step up hiring. He says "the president is not focused on keeping his job, most of all. He's focused on creating jobs for the American people."

The former White House spokesman also says that Congress likely will be asked to continue payroll tax relief.

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Tea Party Endorsements Have Lost Their Luster (The Atlantic Wire)

If you're looking for an early indicator of how Tea Party brand will influence next year's elections, look no further than Gallup's first heat check of the 2012 congressional cycle. The organization asked voters how a Tea Party endorsement of a particular candidate would affect their vote. Short answer: its a turn off. "The effect is nearly 2-to-1 negative, with 42% saying they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate versus 23% saying they would be more likely. About a third say it would make no difference or are unsure," Gallup found. Even Republicans aren't enthralled with a Tea endorsement: 44 percent said it would be help and 42 percent said it wouldn't matter. As far as Democrats, only 8 percent said they'd like a Tea Party-minted candidate.

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Wis. recalls leave both GOP, Dems claiming victory (AP)

MADISON, Wis. – Recall elections prompted by anger over lawmaker handling of a proposal to curb union rights let Wisconsin Democrats narrow the Republican majority in the state Senate, but not capture control, and left both sides claiming victory while looking ahead to 2012.

The recalls targeting six Republicans and three Democrats were the largest single attempt ever to oust sitting U.S. lawmakers, bringing together powerful national unions and conservative forces that turned Wisconsin into a microcosm of the battle over union rights and a testing ground for messaging in next year's presidential race.

Republican senators who backed Walker's plan to eliminate nearly all public employee collective bargaining rights found themselves defending their seats alongside Democrats targeted for fleeing the state in an ultimately futile attempt to block a vote on the law.

More than $40 million was estimated to have been spent on the recalls, an unprecedented amount on nine local races that would exceed the $37 million spent statewide last year on the race that put Walker in power.

President Barack Obama stayed out of the recall fights, even though Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes are important as he looks ahead to 2012. He won the state by 14 points in 2008, but Republicans took control of the Statehouse just two years later and, along with Walker, ushered in a new conservatism that directly spawned the recall effort.

The recall campaigns largely stuck to tried and true partisan issues like the choice between cutting spending and taxes in the face of protecting government programs in a tight budget. The tone is likely to translate into next year when Wisconsin voters also will be asked to choose a new U.S. senator to fill a seat currently held by a Democrat and a possible recall effort against Walker.

"This state is up for grabs. It's remarkably volatile," said University of Wisconsin political science professor Barry Burden. "This is a 50-50 purple state."

Republicans lost two state Senate seats in the recalls, one short of the three Democrats needed to retake the majority. All three Democratic senators targeted for recall, including two on Tuesday, were victorious — leaving the GOP with a 17-16 edge in the chamber.

Democrats say they still plan to launch a recall effort against Walker next year, but the political turmoil that rocked Wisconsin with the unveiling of Walker's union bill in February and drew tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol for days on end is still expected to subside for at least a few months.

Walker already is trying to moderate, saying after the two Republican losses last week and the release of a poll showing a 59 percent disapproval rating that he wanted to work in a more bipartisan way with Democrats. His spokesman Cullen Werwie reiterated that message after the two Democratic wins Tuesday.

"With the uncertainty of the recalls over, the governor is looking forward to working together with the Legislature and job creators to get more Wisconsinites back to work," Werwie said.

Democrats, still stung by Walker's pushing through of the collective bargaining bill without compromises, were skeptical.

"I believe the governor is afraid for his job and is talking in moderate terms," said Democratic Sen. Bob Wirch of Pleasant Prairie, who along with Sen. Jim Holperin of Conover held on to their seats Tuesday. "I will believe him when he backs it up with action."

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate said Democrats have "fundamentally changed the face of power in the Wisconsin Legislature" through the recalls. Even though Republicans remain in the majority, Tate said Democrats' picking up two seats and making gains in Republican districts sets the table for big wins next year.

"It's really hard to go five for nine and not be pleased of the progress that we made," he said.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said in a statement that he was proud the GOP maintained its majority and, in his own combative way, also issued a call for bipartisanship.

"The problems facing our state are too serious for these political games, and the Democrats' permanent campaign cycle," Fitzgerald said. "The Democrats need to start working with the other side of the aisle, not just moving on to their next recall target."

His message was echoed by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, the former Wisconsin GOP party chairman.

"Liberals should stop distracting voters with expensive recall elections and start helping Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans get Wisconsin back to work," Priebus said in a statement.

Wirch, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1992 and the Senate in 1996, defeated Kenosha attorney Jonathan Steitz with 58 percent of the vote based on unofficial results. His district covers the city of Kenosha and surrounding area in southeast Wisconsin near the Illinois border.

Holperin, who won with 55 percent of the vote based on unofficial results, said the election showed that not everyone disapproved of Democrats leaving the state during the heated collective bargaining debate.

"Voters apparently think that was more of a good thing than a bad thing," he said.

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Democrats Hold Their Ground In Wisconsin Recall Votes (The Atlantic Wire)

Wisconsin Democrats, at least, didn't lose any more ground last night in the state's recall elections. Sens. Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch (pictured) held on to their seats and kept the the Republican majority in the Senate to a 17-16 margin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The recall elections--which lost their drama when GOP won four of six elections last week--were seen in part as a referendum on labor organizing efforts in response to the controversial anti-union legislation that Gov. Scott Walker signed amidst large protests earlier this year.

Related: Wisconsin Republicans Keep the State Senate in Recall Vote

But even though Democrats failed to take the Senate, the Sentinel notes, "the narrower [GOP] majority would make it tougher to win approval of controversial legislation, such as stricter abortion restrictions or tougher penalties for illegal immigrants." Which led the Democratic party chairman, Mike Tate, to spin the result into a moral victory (Via National Journal): "[The recall elections] forced Walker and the GOP to pay public lip service to moderation and bipartisanship for the first time since they took power in January. All of these facts show that voters gave Democrats the overall victory in this summer's historic senate recall elections."

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Former AP political reporter Joseph Mohbat dies (AP)

NEW YORK – Joseph Mohbat, a former Associated Press political reporter who served as press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, has died, his wife said Monday. He was 73.

Mohbat died Aug. 10 of cancer in Brooklyn, where he lived, said his wife, Nancy Schuh, said.

"The AP was his home — he just came alive in that world, just ate it up. It was a sort of magical experience for him," Schuh said.

Mohbat was born in New York in 1937 and grew up in Rhode Island. After graduating from Middlebury College in 1958, he worked for an Illinois newspaper and joined the AP's Chicago bureau in 1960. He transferred to Washington in 1962 to cover national politics.

He was assigned to cover Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968. He spent more time with the candidate than any other member of the press corps, according to "The Last Campaign," Thurston Clarke's 2008 book chronicling Kennedy's run.

"Joe Mohbat sometimes found himself gripping Kennedy around the waist to prevent him from being yanked from the convertible" by passionate supporters, Clarke wrote of the close relationship between Mohbat and Kennedy. "Mohbat knew he was crossing a line, but could not bear the thought of Kennedy being hurt."

Mohbat was not traveling with the campaign when Kennedy was assassinated in California after winning the state's presidential primary election.

Mohbat won the Worth Bingham Prize for Distinguished Reporting in 1968. Covering the death of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 28, 1969, Mohbat wrote what's among the shortest lead sentences on an AP story: "Ike is dead."

"Joseph covered some of the key political stories of the 1960s with clarity and authority and a style all his own," said Kathleen Carroll, AP senior vice president and executive editor.

In 1970, Mohbat left the AP to become press secretary at the DNC. He was one of the first staff members to learn of the break-in at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. The case eventually brought down President Richard Nixon when it was revealed his re-election campaign was behind it.

Mohbat left the DNC after the George McGovern's landslide loss to Nixon in 1972. He wrote for newsletters covering the energy and home building industries before joining the Washington office of the advertising firm J. Walter Thompson.

He attended evening classes at Georgetown University Law School, where he received his law degree in 1978.

Mohbat served as a lawyer in private practice in New York before joining the New York City Law Department in the 1990s, where he worked until shortly before his death.

Survivors include Schuh and a son, Thomas, from a previous marriage.

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Michigan Democrats switch congressional districts to circumvent redistricting woes (The Ticket)

Conyers (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

A Republican-led congressional redistricting plan in Michigan has complicated the re-election plans of John Conyers and Hansen Clarke, two Democratic representatives from the state. But the lawmakers have found a novel way to avoid that challenge: they're switching their Detroit-area districts.

"Rep. Hansen Clarke looks forward to running for reelection in the new 14th congressional district of Michigan!," freshman Clarke tweeted Sunday.

The 14th district is currently represented by Conyers, a longtime member of the House. Clarke represents the neighboring 13th District. But their newly-drawn districts are much different, meaning they would have to introduce themselves to a host of new constituents and possibly face primary challenges from Democrats.

The switch benefits both men, but more significantly Conyers, whose base is located in the new 13th and who would have faced a primary against Clarke or outside challenges in the 14th.

Conyers, who has been serving since 1965, made no public statement regarding the switch, though sources tell Politico he supports the maneuver.

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Democrats win in latest Wisconsin recall. Is state a little less red now? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Republicans in Wisconsin’s Senate will retain their razor-edge margin over Democrats in the wake of a special recall election Tuesday.

Voters allowed two Democratic incumbent senators to retain their seats, meaning Republicans have just a one-vote majority in the Senate, 17 to 16. That's a narrower margin than before this month's spate of recall elections. Expectations are that it will push Gov. Scott Walker (R) toward a legislative agenda that holds greater appeal for Democrats or that is handled more sensitively than the so-called “budget repair billâ€

The reshuffling is expected to make it more difficult for the Republican majority to pass controversial legislation such as stricter restrictions on abortion rights or harsher penalties for illegal immigrants.

RECOMMENDED: What Wisconsin says about labor unions' clout in America

An earlier recall election, held Aug. 9, dashed Democrats' hopes of seizing control of the Senate, but it did roll over two Republican seats in their favor. For Republicans, that represented a retrenchment from their gains of the 2010 midterm elections, which swept them into power in both houses of state government and the governor's office.

Both Democratic senators up for recall Tuesday managed double-digit victories. With 95 percent of precincts reporting in District 12 by midnight, Sen. Jim Holperin (D) defeated Kim Simac, a tea party organizer, 55 to 45 percent. In the District 22 race, Sen. Bob Wirch (D) defeated Jonathan Steitz, a corporate attorney, 58 percent to 42 percent, with all precincts reporting.

Senator Wirch’s district represents Kenosha and much of the area in southeast Wisconsin close to the Illinois border. Senator Holperin’s district lies in the northernmost area of the state alongside Green Bay.

Two weeks of recall elections gave both parties an opportunity to declare victory.

In holding their majority, Republicans claimed that voters were less than thrilled to recast votes for state senators they fully supported all along. They also said voters rejected the idea that kicking out their Republican senators served as a de facto referendum on Walker’s legislation, which Democrats portrayed as hostile to public-sector unions and the middle class.

For their part, Democrats claimed they succeeded in creating a Senate that will be less of a rubber stamp for Walker's policies. They also said the closer margin will help to give Democrats their voices back just in time for the 2012 national election cycle.

Telling the Associated Press that Tuesday’s recall election “fundamentally changed the face of power in the Wisconsin legislature,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate suggested that, “at the end of this historic recall effort, Democrats have the momentum.”

Republicans are casting the recall process as “political games” by embittered Democrats, according to Republican Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald. “Democrats need to start working with the other side of the aisle, not just moving on to their next recall target,” Senator Fitzgerald said in a statement released Tuesday.

That next recall target is decided: Walker. Mr. Tate and other Democratic leaders have already said they plan to begin efforts this summer to remove Walker from office when he becomes eligible for recall in 2012.

However, the public’s appetite is small for another recall election of a state official, even though Walker has lost some support.

Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh, N.C., polling firm that often works for Democrats, reported Monday that 50 percent of Wisconsin voters oppose recalling Walker, with 47 percent in favor. The findings reverse those in May, when 47 percent of voters opposed a Walker recall and 50 percent were in support.

Because Walker’s approval ratings have been sliding, the growing opposition to his recall probably has more to do with voter fatigue about the process itself.

Some 53 percent of voters disapprove of Walker’s performance. If a recall election were to take place between the current governor and former US Sen. Russ Feingold (D), Mr. Feingold would be the preferred choice for 52 percent of voters, compared with 45 percent who would vote to keep Walker in office.

In a statement, Public Policy Polling Dean Debnam said “a Scott Walker recall is still in the realm of possibility,” but added that “Democrats really might need Russ Feingold to run if they want to knock” Walker off the ballot.

Walker may survive a recall if he tailors more bipartisan issues, like job creation, to independent voters. “It will be nearly impossible [for Walker] to win Democratic voters back, but independent voters currently leaning against him probably could be convinced to come back to his side if the next six months are less divisive than the last seven months,” says Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

The Republican whom Democrats are expected to cajole and not criticize is state Sen. Dale Schultz, considered the single moderate in his party. Senator Schultz was the only Senate Republican to vote against Walker’s “budget repair bill,” and many Democrats have suggested that his vote is so valuable that he is first in line for any back-room negotiations that may take place once the Senate reconvenes this fall.

Time will tell whether Schultz ultimately serves as a lynchpin for more bipartisanship in the Senate, says Mr. Franklin. He will be sought after by Republicans, too, for potentially persuading moderate Democrats to vote for bills pushed forward by his own party.

“He’s certainly getting a lot of love and attention from a lot of people. Whether or not he’ll fulfill the role Democrats want him to fulfill” is less certain, Franklin says.

In Wisconsin, voters are about evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. “All evidence says [Wisconsin] is still a purple state,” says Franklin, which means it is likely to be among the swing states that decide the national election in 2012. “The underlying complexity of the electorate remains fairly closely divided,” he says. With so much hanging on Wisconsin next year, “a cliffhanger is the most likely outcome.”

RECOMMENDED: What Wisconsin says about labor unions' clout in America

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Wisconsin's historic recall elections wrap up this week (Reuters)

By James B. Kelleher James B. Kelleher – Mon Aug 15, 12:55 pm ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wisconsin's series of recall elections concludes on Tuesday when voters go to the polls in two state Senate districts where Democrats are being forced to defend their seats.

No matter who wins, Republican Governor Scott Walker and his Republican allies will retain control of the legislature, where the battle over public workers' union rights was waged earlier this year with public protests, legislative maneuvering and court challenges.

Republicans have managed to keep control of the state senate -- 17 to 16 at last count -- because Democrats failed to unseat three Republican state Senators in the key round of six GOP senate recalls last week. But Democrats did pick up two state Senate seats formerly held by Walker allies.

To many Wisconsin voters, especially Republicans, the special elections have been, as 70-year-old Wade Ellingson of Fond du Lac put it, "a waste of time and money."

Nevertheless, Tuesday's two final votes, like the seven before them, will be watched closely.

Two Democrats who opposed Walker's anti-union bill and even fled the state for weeks in an unsuccessful effort to prevent a quorum and delay passage -- Jim Holperin of Conover and Robert Wirch of Pleasant Prairie -- will be defending their seats.

"As always in Wisconsin politics, one has to give the incumbent an edge," said Mordecai Lee, governmental affairs professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

"It is likely the two Democratic incumbents will win their recalls -- but it is not a slam dunk," he said.

Holperin seems to be in the tighter race. His rival is Kim Simac, founder of the Northwoods Patriots, a Tea Party group.

Though Simac is a political novice, the district has leaned Republican in the three years since Holperin was elected.

READING THE TEA LEAVES?

Inside Wisconsin, Tuesday's votes will again be seen as a referendum on Walker's Republican policies since his election last year. It may also give Democrats who hope to recall Walker next year a sense how such an effort might turn out.

Outside the state, pundits will be seeking more clues to what 2012 holds in the national elections.

In Wisconsin, not only have Republicans kept control of the state Senate by the slimmest of margins, the limits they wanted to impose on public workers are now state law.

Walker fought for the curbs, which severely diluted union bargaining power and also make public workers pay more for healthcare and pensions, saying they were needed to help Wisconsin close a $3.6 billion budget deficit.

Democrats cried foul, pointing out that public workers already agreed to steep benefit cuts. They called the effort as union-busting, designed to hobble organized labor -- a major source of Democratic Party financing -- ahead of 2012.

The fight thrust Wisconsin into the national spotlight, igniting massive pro-union protests and political fights that led to the recall efforts against six Republicans who backed the union curbs and three Democrats who opposed them.

On Tuesday, analysts will be watching turnout carefully, since the key issue of senate control --- and a possible legislative block on Walker's conservative agenda -- is settled.

Analysts say Democrats may be less motivated to turn out to vote. Tea Party activists, meanwhile, appear more energized by the recent fight in Washington over the debt ceiling, seen as a clear victory for conservatives in the budget-cutting concessions agreed by President Obama and Democrats.

The nine Wisconsin recalls are historic. Until this summer, there had been only 20 state-level recall elections in the 235-year history of the United States.

Reflecting the national spotlight Wisconsin drew over the winter as Walker and his allies battled state Democrats, a tidal wave The money poured into the campaigns has been something for the record books, too.

Mike Buelow, research director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, estimates that candidates and outside groups spent as much as $37 million on the recalls.

That amount is "really astronomical for Wisconsin," he said -- more than double the amount spent on state legislative races last year when 116 seats -- not nine -- were up for grabs.

With the recalls acting as somewhat of a rehearsal for 2012, experts say the spending could be a harbinger of record outlays next year.

"This is the first major election of 2012," said Joseph Heim, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, "and one of the things we saw here was huge amounts of money."

(Additional reporting by David Bailey and Mary Wisniewski, editing by Barbara Goldberg and Peter Bohan)

(The following story corrected the governor's name in second paragraph)

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Coalition of moderate Dems loses more members (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Blue Dogs may be losing their bark. Despite polls showing a desire for more compromise in Washington, the political climate for moderate to conservative Democrats in the House has continued to deteriorate.

The 2010 election dropped the number of so-called Blue Dogs from 54 to 25. And the shrinking continues.

Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas will not seek re-election next year. Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma also plans to retire. Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana has opted to run for the Senate. Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina is reportedly being considered for the athletic director job at the University of Tennessee.

Other House members, such as Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah, face the prospect of running in less friendly congressional districts after their states complete redistricting. Rep. Jane Harman of California resigned earlier this year to run a think tank.

The early departures and the potential for more are feeding Republican hopes that they will win more of the country's swing districts in next year's elections and maintain their majority in the House. That also raises questions about whether the Blue Dogs as a group are in an extended decline as moderates from both parties disappear from Capitol Hill.

"The parties are becoming more polarized and that's unfortunate," Boren said. "The success of our political system weighs in the balance depending upon how many moderates, how many problem-solving pragmatists are going to be elected."

The Blue Dogs got their name by playing on an old Southern expression about the loyalties of Southern Democrats. The saying went that a Southerner would vote for a yellow dog if it were on the Democratic ballot, earning them the name Yellow Dog Democrats. A Blue Dog, the moderates reasoned, was a Yellow Dog "choked blue" by their more liberal Democratic colleagues.

Blue Dog lawmakers say that talk of their group's demise is overstated. When the balance of power shifts in Congress, they point out, it's generally those in the center who take the hardest hits.

"Basically, when the Republicans take over, they beat the conservative Democrats. When the Democrats take over, they pretty much defeat moderate Republicans," Ross said. "That's because when you're in a swing district, you're going to be a conservative Democrat or a moderate Republican, or you don't survive."

Lawmakers have several theories about why the ranks of moderates are on the decline. Congressional districts are being drawn in a way that favors increasingly partisan representation from both parties. Also, much of the money flowing to campaigns these days comes from interest groups with a decidedly partisan edge, such as the Club for Growth on the right or labor unions on the left.

GOP leaders have their own interpretation as well for the Blue Dogs' decline. They say that party affiliation has drowned out the Blue Dogs' ability to demonstrate their independence.

"There's a group of Democrats that were recruited several years ago that came to Washington thinking that they could be welcome and fulfill a role within the Democratic Party," said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. "I think that over time these members have found out that they're in a pack of purebred liberals."

Ryan McConaghy, a director at Third Way, a centrist think tank, warned against drawing strong conclusions based on the 2010 elections and a few retirements. He said there will always be a role for the Blue Dogs coalition because a large segment of the Democratic base identifies itself as moderate.

"I think their numbers will ebb and flow," he said. "I don't see them growing extinct anytime soon."

The Blue Dog caucus was formed in 1995 after the GOP took control of the House for the first time in four decades. They focus on fiscal issues and describe themselves as centrists who believe it's necessary for both parties to compromise to tackle the nation's problems. In March, the group put forward a goal of trimming $4 trillion in national debt over the coming decade, with two-thirds coming from spending cuts and one-third from tax increases.

President Barack Obama subsequently pushed for a $4 trillion deal as well, but in the end, conservative Republicans wouldn't go along with any plan that resulted in higher taxes.

In the 2010 elections, the GOP tied the Blue Dogs to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as to the struggling economy. While members of the caucus voted against the party on individual pieces of legislation, it was rare for members to vote against all of the party's top priorities. For example, 34 Democrats voted against the health care overhaul, most of them Blue Dogs, but only six Democrats voted against the economic stimulus bill.

Even those who voted "no" on both measures, such as Reps. Gene Taylor of Mississippi and Walt Minnick of Idaho, found no escape from attack ads linking them to the Democratic priorities because they had voted for Pelosi as House speaker. "Put the brakes on Pelosi. Replace Walt Minnick," said one television ad.

In the end, many of the Blue Dogs were simply unable to distance themselves from the Democratic Party's leadership, despite voting against them on some key issues, said Burdett Loomis, a professor at the University of Kansas who has written extensively about the Blue Dogs.

"When push came to shove, they were Blue Dog Democrats, but they were Democrats," Loomis said.

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Dems hold lead in Senate committee fundraising (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Senate campaign arms for both parties say they raised about $2.7 million apiece in July. Democrats hold about a 2-to-1 advantage in cash on hand.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says it raised $2.74 million in July and ended the month with $9.2 million in the bank.

The DSCC has raised $26.2 million this year and has $1.8 million in debt.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $2.72 million in July and ended the month with $4.14 million in the bank.

The NRSC has raised $24.25 million in 2011 and has no debt.

The money is used by the parties to support Senate races in key states.

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Gallup: Congressional Dems beat GOP on generic 2012 ballot (Daily Caller)

In a new Gallup poll released Friday, a majority of registered voters say they would vote for a Democrat over a Republican if the 2012 congressional elections were held today.

The poll found 51 percent of voters leaning towards voting for a Democrat in next fall’s congressional election, with 44 percent saying they would vote Republican. Six percent were undecided, or would vote for a third party.

The Hill reports that although both major political parties were hurt by the debt ceiling debate, which ultimately resulted in a decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the United States’ credit rating, the poll suggests Republicans will suffer more in the eyes of voters.

Incumbent members of Congress are also in trouble. Only 24 percent of voters say their representatives deserve to be reelected, a Gallup poll released earlier in the week found. That’s the lowest number Gallup has ever recorded for this question.

Congressional approval ratings are also at an all-time low. A New York Times/CBS News poll released last week found 82 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Only 14 percent said Congress was doing a good job.

The Gallup poll released Friday also spells bad news for tea party candidates. Forty-two percent of registered voters (and 38 percent of independent voters) said they were less likely to vote for a candidate associated with the tea party movement. Meanwhile, 23 percent said they would be more likely to vote for tea party- affiliated candidate..

But Democrats shouldn’t pop the champagne corks just yet. Though Democrats win the generic ballot, their “favorable” and “unfavorable” public opinion numbers are both at 47 percent.

The poll does bring some good news for President Obama, who has trailed generic Republican candidates for two straight months. Friday’s Gallup poll has Obama beating a nameless Republican by six percentage points, 46 percent to 39.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. Gallup asked the questions after the recent debt ceiling battle subsided.

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Democratic Hill staffers head to Maui on taxpayers’ dime for Senate Indian Affairs Committee field hearing (Daily Caller)

Senate Democrats are charging taxpayers for a trip to Hawaii, The Daily Caller has learned. The entire press staff of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is in Maui, even though a field hearing there won’t happen until next Wednesday.

The committee’s oversight field hearing, scheduled for next Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Maui Beach Hotel, will focus on “Strengthening Self-Sufficiency: Overcoming Barriers to Economic Development in Native Communities.”

Rick Manning from Americans for Limited Government, which first discovered the hearing, told TheDC it’s unbelievable that Hill staffers talking about fiscal responsibility would waste money on a trip to Maui.

“It’s outrageous that Senate Democrats have so little respect for the American taxpayer that in the same month they buried our credit rating, they’re heading to Hawaii to celebrate,” Manning said.

A committee staffer told TheDC that the reason the hearing will be in Maui is “mostly because it’s his [committee chairman Sen. Daniel Akaka’s] home state.” It’s unclear if the field hearing will focus on any issues relating at all to Hawaii, or if the reasoning for scheduling the trip there is only because Akaka will already be in Hawaii during the congressional recess.

The staffer said Akaka is the only senator who will attend.

The Democratic committee staffers used taxpayer funding to travel to Hawaii a full week before their committee’s hearing date. When TheDC called the committee’s Washington, D.C., office Thursday afternoon, a different staffer who answered the phone said all the committee’s communications staffers are already in Maui.

It’s unclear if other committee employees, in addition to communications staff, are also in Maui.

It’s standard practice for taxpayers to cover travel expenses for congressional committee staffers, but there’s no way to know at this point how much the trip will cost, unless staffers offer up the information.

Committee staff declined to answer specific questions about why the field hearing was scheduled in Maui, nor would they say how many of their colleagues were there, on their way there, or scheduled to travel there.

They deferred all questions to the committee’s press staff, which is already, in its entirety, in Maui.

No one among the press staff in Maui has returned the TheDC’s phone calls for comment.

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Maui madness: single GOP staffer to join Dems for Hawaii hearing (Daily Caller)

Democratic staff for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee scheduled a field hearing in Maui next Wednesday, and the Republican minority will send one GOP staffer to join them.

A spokeswoman for ranking member Sen. John Barasso, a Wyoming Republican, told The Daily Caller that because the Democrats scheduled a field hearing, the Republicans are forced to send someone.

“When the majority schedules a hearing, the minority staff has a responsibility to send one representative,” Barrasso spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said in an email.

Unlike the Democratic staff, which is almost entirely in Maui a full week ahead of the hearing, Lawrimore said the single Republican staffer won’t head out there until next week.

“One minority staffer will cover the hearing,” Lawrimore said. “That staff person will arrive in Hawaii on Monday evening and will represent the minority on Wednesday at the hearing.” (RELATED: Dem. Hill staffers head to Maui on taxpayers’ dime for Senate hearing)

The committee’s entire Democratic press staff have already been in Maui for at least a day, even though the hearing isn’t until the middle of next week. The press staffers have not returned The Daily Caller’s requests for comment or more information about the trip, which is funded by taxpayers. Two regular office staffers in the committee’s Washington, D.C. office confirmed those original details for TheDC.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat, is the only senator who will attend the hearing.

The hearing will take place at the Maui Beach Hotel next Wednesday at 9 a.m. According to the committee, it will focus on “Strengthening Self-Sufficiency: Overcoming Barriers to Economic Development in Native Communities.”

A staffer in the committee’s D.C. office said the reason for holding the hearing in Maui is “mostly because it’s his [Akaka’s] home state.” It is unclear if the field hearing will focus on any issues relating to Hawaii or if it has been scheduled there solely because that is where Akaka is already spending the congressional recess.

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Ames Has Gotten Rather Mean Lately (The Atlantic Wire)

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was booed at the Iowa State Fair Friday when she tried to defend President Obama's record on the economy. The jeers at Wasserman Schultz come a day after Republican candidate Mitt Romney was booed for saying tax hikes on corporations hurt people because "corporations are people." With the likes of Rush Limbaugh complaining about the tone of the campaign season -- he thought the GOP candidates beat each other up too much in Thursday's debate -- it's shaping up to be an excitingly nasty campaign show.

"I thought the country was about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone, no exceptions," the questioner asked. "Tim Pawlenty, I want to know: When will you stand up for me?" ...The questioner did not back down, and asked Pawlenty why government gets involved in gay marriage at all, and whether he would see a gay American as a "second-class citizen."

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Democrats suggest third-party candidate viable in 2012 (Daily Caller)

Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg says new survey data shows voters are increasingly receptive to a third-party presidential candidate, who would likely draw more votes from the Republicans than President Barack Obama.

“The third-party candidate, with this data … might take more from the Republicans,” partly because he or she would draw disproportionate support from white voters without a college a degree, said Greenberg, a founder of the Quinlan Rosner polling firm.

His July survey of 1,481 likely voters showed that 58 percent of Republican-leaning voters and 70 percent of independents would consider backing a third-party candidate. The poll showed that 38 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of independents would reject the notion, Greenberg said in Friday briefing to reporters.

There “is clearly a space for such a candidate to come in” the 2012 race, Greenberg asserted. “More voters, particularly blue-collar voters, think a third party is an option.” (RELATED: Nader rules out another run but ‘almost 100 percent’ certain Obama will face primary challenge)

The prospect of a third-party candidate drew immediate interest from Democrats. The polling data suggesting voter receptivity to such a candidacy are “striking numbers,” said Democratic activist Will Marshall.

Greenberg is a Democrat. He worked as pollster for President Bill Clinton, and his wife is Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro. The new study was done under a contract for the Democratic-affiliated Democracy Corps and the Women’s Voices, Women Vote Action Fund groups.

Greenberg has been doing polls for Democracy Corps for a decade and has “released all the data … people are free to judge the credibility,” he told The Daily Caller. The survey is posted at the firm’s website.

The poll’s results “are not very pretty results … the political class as whole gets hit, the Republicans more,” he said.

In numerous recent elections, Democratic activists have backed third-party candidates in the hope of draining votes from insurgent conservatives. For example, a Democrat, Jack Davis, ran as a third-party candidate in the May 24 race for New York’s 26th congressional district. Davis got 9 percent of the vote, helping the Democrat candidate edge the GOP nominee 47 percent to 42 percent.

In the 1992 presidential election, Ross Perot ran as a third-party candidate and won 19 percent of the vote. Pollsters argue over whether he helped Bill Clinton, who won election with 43 percent of the vote, compared to the 37.5 percent won by then-President George H.W. Bush.

Perot’s voters had a history of voting twice as much for Republican candidates, including President Ronald Reagan, rather than for Democratic candidates, Greenberg said.

If Perot’s votes had been divided 2 to 1 between Bush and Clinton, Bush would have won 50.1 percent of the vote, and Clinton would have won 49.3 percent of the vote. However, because swing voters usually break against an incumbent, especially in a tough economy, more of his voters would likely have voted for Clinton and given him the presidency if Perot had withdrawn.

Going into the 2012 election, Obama’s coalition is more solid that the GOP’s, Greenberg said. For example, only 39 percent of Democrats would consider a third-party candidate, he said. But, he continued, Obama “is stuck at 48 percent [approval]… all these numbers are heading towards a close difficult election.”

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Democratic party's fundraising sluggish in July (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Democratic party's fundraising slowed in July, hurt by the cancellation of events headlined by President Barack Obama as he negotiated a debt ceiling deal with Republicans.

The Democratic National Committee raised $6.7 million in July, including $2.2 million for the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising account by the DNC and Obama's campaign. The Republican National Committee raised $6.1 million during the month.

Summertime is typically a slow period for political money as many donors are on vacation and few events are held. July was the DNC's lowest monthly amount since Obama launched his re-election campaign in April — the party raised about half of what it had collected in previous months.

Obama did not attend any fundraisers in July and Democratic officials said most of the victory fund money came from events held by first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others. Through the end of July, the DNC reported $20.1 million in the bank. It ended the month with $11.2 million in debt.

The RNC ended the month with $7.6 million in the bank. Chairman Reince Priebus has tried to reduce the party's large debt since taking over for former chairman Michael Steele in January. RNC officials estimate that they inherited $24 million in debt when Priebus started as chairman, an amount that has been reduced to less than $17 million.

Obama's campaign and the DNC raised a combined $86 million during the spring fundraising quarter ending in late June, giving the president a large money advantage over any potential Republican rival.

The campaign had to cancel 10 events while Obama and his staff remained in Washington for the showdown over raising the government's debt limit. As a result, the campaign has said it does not expect to raise as much in the summer as it did during the spring.

In August, Obama has held fundraisers in Chicago, New York and Washington.

Separately, the campaign arm of the House Democrats raised $4 million during the month, while their Republican counterparts raised more than $3.8 million. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ended the month with $8.1 million in the bank and $4 million in debt. The National Republican Congressional Committee wrapped up the month with $11.2 million in cash on hand and $2.7 million in debt.

___

Ken Thomas can be reached at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

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Democrats hold seats in Wisconsin recall elections (Reuters)

RHINELANDER, Wis (Reuters) – Two Wisconsin Democratic state senators beat back Republican challengers on Tuesday in the last of a series of recall elections triggered by a fight over collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Both Democrats and Republicans were claiming victory on Tuesday in a series of nine summer recall votes in which Democrats unseated two incumbent Republicans but fell short of winning control of the state legislature.

Democrats had hoped to win a majority in the state senate following a fierce battle with Governor Scott Walker and his Republican allies earlier this year over public workers' union powers that involved mass protests, legislative maneuvering and court challenges.

"This was a political Rorschach test in that anyone can read anything into the result," said Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee governmental affairs professor and former Democratic lawmaker. "Politically, it was a draw."

He expected the results would embolden Democrats to try to recall Walker, which would require a half a million signatures just to schedule an election. "By November, we'll know if they're pursuing it seriously or not."

The Democrats who successfully defended their seats on Tuesday, Robert Wirch and Jim Holperin, were among 14 Wisconsin state senators who left the state in an attempt to prevent passage of an anti-union measure earlier this year.

Holperin beat political novice and Tea Party activist Kim Simac by 54 percent to 46 percent, according to WisPolitics.com. Wirch beat Republican lawyer Jonathan Steitz by 58 percent to 42 percent.

Overall in the recall elections, a total of three Democrats and four Republican incumbents kept their seats, while two Republicans were unseated.

CONTROL OF SENATE

Republicans managed to keep control of the state senate -- 17 to 16. But state Democrats point out that one Republican state senator, Dale Schultz, voted against Walker's curbs on public sector unions. They argue that the balance of power actually shifted away from the conservatives.

"The state Senate as now constituted would NOT have approved Walker's extreme, divisive assault on the middle class and working people," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said in a statement.

Brad Courtney, chair of the state's Republican Party, congratulated Simac and Steitz for mounting what he described as well-fought challenges.

"Wisconsin now emerges from this recall election season with a united Republican majority who has beaten off an attack from national unions and special interests and emerged steadfastly committed to carrying forward a bold job creation agenda," Courtney said in a statement.

Holperin told supporters in Rhinelander that he hoped the recall results would signal a change in Wisconsin politics.

"I do hope (these recalls) signal a new era of what I hope is a more moderate approach to public policy in the state, starting with the governor," he added.

Governor Walker fought for the union curbs, which restrict the bargaining rights of public workers and also make them pay more for health care and pensions, saying they were needed to help Wisconsin close a $3.6 billion budget deficit.

Democrats cried foul, saying public workers had already agreed to steep benefit cuts. They called the effort union-busting, designed to hobble organized labor -- a major source of Democratic Party financing -- ahead of the 2012 elections.

The fight thrust Wisconsin into the national spotlight, igniting massive pro-union protests and political fights that led to the recall efforts against six Republicans who backed the union curbs and three Democrats who opposed them.

Until this summer, there had been only 20 state-level recall elections in U.S. history, and the money poured into the recall campaigns has been something for the record books.

Mike Buelow, research director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, estimates that candidates and outside groups spent as much as $37 million on the recalls.

With the recalls acting as somewhat of a rehearsal for 2012, experts say the spending could be a harbinger of record outlays next year.

(Writing by James Kelleher and Mary Wisniewski; Additional reporting by Jeff Mayers; Editing by Jerry Norton and Cynthia Johnston)

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DNC aims at Romney, Perry (Daily Caller)

The Democratic National Committee is aiming its tweets, emails, videos and rhetorical fire at Gov. Mitt Romney, while largely ignoring the other candidates.

“Mitt Romney has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in Iowa,” the DNC declared Thursday, following a heated exchange between Romney and a few hecklers who jeered at his afternoon speech.

The DNC painted the exchange, which produced some GOP cheers for an aggressive and relaxed-looking Romney, as a “brutal” flub by the candidate. The party followed up during the evening with a video attack ad titled “Mitt Romney and the Luckiest People in the World.” It portrays Romney as sympathetic to heartless corporations.

Still, the Democratic PR machine had plenty of extra staff to go after Romney and put out a “Fact Check” claiming that Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann and Gov. Tim Pawlenty had followed the “extreme wing” of the GOP in opposing the recent $2.4 trillion debt ceiling deal.

Other DNC emails and tweets showcased news reports containing story lines that are disadvantageous to Romney.

The party machine also kicked out an email aimed at Texas Gov. Rick Perry. “The real ‘Texas miracle’ is that the Governor dares talk about our jobs, after demanding a state budget that will lay off tens of thousands of our teachers and kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, claimed Texas Democratic Party Spokeswoman Kirsten Gray. “For Rick Perry, the only job that matters is his own — and starting Saturday, he can finally be honest about why he’s spent the entire year ignoring the problems he created at home.”

The DNC tried to shape the media coverage by sending out a late-afternoon memo from Melanie Roussell, the DNC’s national press secretary.

“Instead of a new approach that puts party aside and America first, we hear a rigid and extreme ideology that asks working and middle class families to carry the entire load. … [GOP candidates are] driven in large part by their willingness to let the extreme Tea Party dictate the Republican Party’s agenda and take over the party, with the 2012 Republican candidates following their lead,” said her statement.

The memo pitched themes intended to shape voters’ and reporters’ attitudes towards the eventual GOP candidate. One painted Republicans as reluctant to lead.

“The Republican presidential contenders have fully embraced what we call the Duck, Dodge and Dismantle approach to leadership,” read the memo, “because they are ducking their obligation to the Middle Class; dodging their obligation to our nation’s seniors; and, they want to dismantle critical education and job creation programs.”

Another portion of the DNC memo was directed at older Americans, a voting bloc critical to candidates in Florida and other states.

“Extreme Aims toward America’s Seniors … each of the Republicans running for president has proven that their priority is not standing up for seniors or America’s middle class; their priority is protecting the wealthy and the special interests.”

To keep the many journalists now in Iowa fed with quotes and video, the Democratic National Committee is using the Smoky Row Coffee Shop in Des Moines to present Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Leonard Boswell and officials of the Iowa Democratic Party. They will discuss “the disastrous GOP agenda” at a 10:30 a.m. roundtable event prior to the Saturday straw poll in Ames.

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