Pleasant Hill, IA – The FAMiLY LEADER learned that Governor Branstad has approved the use of the word “Governor’s” as part of the title of the upcoming 7th Annual Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) Youth. 

This is an obvious change in his position.  On January 18th, a spokesman for Governor Branstad’s office told The FAMiLY LEADER that the administration was planning to contact event coordinators and request the exclusion of the word “Governor’s” from the Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth.  The FAMiLY LEADER publicly complimented the Governor’s action via an email alert.

Last week, The FAMiLY LEADER learned the Governor has changed his stance by sending a letter of support to conference personnel saying, “I support the conference and its goal of eliminating bullying and making Iowa schools safe for all students.  I do not object to you including the word ‘Governor’s’ in the conference title.”  Governor Branstad also said, “You have my very best wishes for a successful conference this year and in future years.”  Through this letter, Branstad voices his full support of the mission of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning agenda through his high praise and the lending of his official title, “Governor”, to their conference.

Bob Vander Plaats, President and CEO of The FAMiLY LEADER, says, “Governor Branstad needs to be held accountable for his support of this conference and the promotion of a very radical and dangerous left-wing agenda.” 

As a former teacher, coach, and high school principal, Vander Plaats reiterated his and The FAMiLY LEADER’s opposition to harassment and bullying of any type within a school setting.  Bob remarked, “Effective leaders in education provide safe learning environments.  However, effective educational leaders also lead with a focus on academic achievement versus agenda acceleration.  It is greatly disappointing and, frankly, disturbing that Branstad and his administration have chosen to be puppets to a far-left agenda versus being effective educational leaders.”

According to the conference website (http://iowasafeschools.org/content/view/13/82/), the mission of the Annual Iowa Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth is to a) engage and educate students, educators, parents, community leaders, youth-serving professionals, policy makers, and others concerned about issues relevant to the LGBTQ community, and b) encourage networking and activism to inspire our communities to promote diversity, equality, and social justice.  The website also claims goals of eliminating bullying in Iowa schools and creating leadership opportunities for LGBTQ youth.  

According to the event’s website, about half of the attendees are students.  The FAMiLY LEADER is particularly disturbed by some of the components of the Governor’s Conference noting that special bathroom instructions are provided in the conference FAQ’s saying “transgender friendly restrooms will be available for the gender any individual identifies with”.  Parents can only conclude that their teenage daughter may well be sharing a restroom with a male who “identifies” as a female.  Also troubling is the fact that exhibitors are allowed to distribute condoms and/or safe sex kits. 

The FAMiLY LEADER does not support LGBTQ behavior and believes that a conference of this nature approves, promotes, and accelerates this behavior among students.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “men who have sex with men and persons exposed through high-risk heterosexual contact account for 82% of all HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in 2006”.  Therefore, The FAMiLY LEADER concludes that this conference is encouraging dangerous and unhealthy behavior while claiming to “provide a safe and supportive place in which to learn” as stated on their website.

The sponsors of the conference include the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB), Aviva, and Rockwell Collins.  The FAMiLY LEADER assumes that taxpayer dollars are indirectly being used to support the conference since school districts use taxpayer money for ISBA dues and ISEA is comprised of members whose salaries are paid with public funds. 

Vander Plaats commented on the irony of Branstad’s support for a left-wing agenda while former Iowa governors, Vilsack and Culver, chose to remove their title of “Governor” from the annual Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.  “Vilsack and Culver had no problem upsetting the conservative base when they removed their title from a prayer breakfast, while Branstad surrendered to political pressure and abandoned his alleged conservative principles.”  “Leaders….lead,” expressed Vander Plaats, “Branstad caved.”

Branstad was asked about BVP’s statement during his weekly news conference.  After a reporter cited the “puppet of the left-wing agenda” line, Branstad and his staff (standing in the back of the room), laughed heartily.  “I’m not a puppet to anybody,” Branstad added. “He knows better than that.”  Read more here.

Strawn was elected chairman in January of 2009.  Here’s a blog post with the background.

Last week Iowa’s Republican governor said during his weekly statehouse news conference that Strawn had done a “reasonable job” as party chairman, a less than ringing public endorsement.  Speculation now starts as to who Branstad wants to take over, and whether the RPI’s state central committee would even ratify Branstad’s choice. (You may recall that Branstad’s preferred candidate for a state senate race in the Marion area this fall was not the choice of local Republicans.) 

Other candidates for the job of state party chairman last time around were Andy Cable of Eldora (Hardin County GOP chair), Danny Carroll of Grinnell (a former state legislator who is now the statehouse lobbyist for The Family Leader), Matt Randall of Ames (former RPI treasurer), Paul Pate (former Iowa Secretary of State, former Cedar Rapids mayor), Christopher Reed (former candidate for US Senate & US congress), Gopal Krishna (he was the treasurer of the Iowa GOP in 2009) and Des Moines attorney Ted Sporer (Polk County GOP chairman back in 2009). Sporer and Krshna were running as a chair/co-chair ticket in ’09. Here’s a blog post about the January, 2009 public forum featuring all but two of those candidates.

Below are today’s official statements from a variety of notables about Strawn’s exit.

(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry E. Branstad today released the following statement thanking Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn for his service to the party on behalf of Iowa Republicans:

“I want to thank Matt Strawn for his three years of leadership at the Republican Party of Iowa. Matt took over at a time when the party was in desperate shape, and rebuilt it precinct-by-precinct, putting it in the strongest position in years. Under Matt Strawn’s leadership, we defeated an incumbent governor for the first time since 1962, gained control of the Iowa House with a 60-seat majority, won six seats in the Iowa Senate, restored a strong financial standing and have surged in Republican registration. Matt’s leadership will be missed, but I am confident a smooth transition will take place at the Republican Party of Iowa and we will continue our party’s successes this November.”

DES MOINES – Sue Dvorsky, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, released the following statement following the announcement that Matt Strawn would step down from his position with the Republican Party of Iowa:
 
“It has been a privilege to work with Matt Strawn over the past year and half. While we don’t agree on many issues, we were able to come together and engage Iowans in the political process and lead a debate about the important issues facing our state. I wish Matt all the best in whatever comes next. We hope his successor will continue to work constructively with us on the issues where we have common ground, including the protection of Iowa’s First in the Nation status.”

(DES MOINES) – House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) issued the following statement in regards to Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn’s departure:

“I want to thank Chairman Strawn for his work on behalf of Iowa Republicans.  His dedication to advancing conservative principles is to be commended.

“Iowa Republicans are energized and committed to expanding our House Majority and electing conservatives who work to get the economy moving forward, put Iowans back to work and give taxpayers a seat at the table.”

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Jerry Behn (R-Boone) today thanked Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn for his service and constant dedication to Iowa Republicans.

“I want to thank Matt Strawn for his service and tireless dedication to the cause of promoting our great party, its values, principles and candidates. In his three years of leadership to the Republican Party of Iowa, we experienced an electoral resurgence, a voter registration comeback and a significant increase in our party’s financial resources. I wish Matt all the best and look forward to continuing to work closely with the Republican Party of Iowa in our shared goal of electing a Republican majority in the Iowa Senate.”

 

Obama then began talking about the themes he stressed during his “State of the Union” speech last night and after a few minutes he mentioned Conveyor Manufacturing and Engineering, the company that’s playing host to him today.

“We have a huge opportunity to help companies like this,” Obama said.

“You know, you have volunteers doing this and I understand, you know, some people maybe called in the results, maybe threw away the paper and didn’t realize how important it (was).  In normal years, the margin would have been big enough it would have made no difference, but I think there’s some lessons to be learned. We just, we take this very seriously and we need to perfect the process.”

Dave Kochel was the architect of Romney’s Iowa campaign:

“Caucus Night, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Governor Romney was winning the Iowa Caucuses. With the results now being unable to certify precincts, the party has decided they cannot declare a winner. We congratulate Senator Santorum on an excellent campaign in Iowa. The good news is the Iowa Caucuses had a record turn-out by Republicans and really what this represents to us is the first step to defeating Barack Obama in November and Iowa is off to a good start with the Caucus participation as it was. We’re pleased with Governor Romney’s results and we’re appreciative of the hard work that hte party did to certify these results.  It’s a very difficult thing. This is probably the most complete results that have ever been released by the Republican Party of Iowa.  As a former executive director I know because we were only able to release probably all but 50 precincts in 1996 when I was executive director, so it’s a very complicated and difficult thing to do. The fact that the results are so close means that they a’re unable to  declare a winner.”

Radio Iowa caught up with Bob Vander Plaats, a late endorser of Rick Santorum, just as he boarded a plane this morning, so he had just a little time to talk before take-off: 

“It’s exciting to see that (Santorum) won the Caucuses. I hope the media now reports that he’s the winner versus Romney’s the winner because when the results were inconclusive they kept reporting that Romney was the winner. I think this is great news for Santorum heading into Saturday with an Iowa Caucus victory at his back.”

The Iowa GOP emailed the rest of the media at 8:17 a.m. this morning with less complete results than were provided to The Register, which you can read below.  The Iowa GOP’s Headquarters is locked and no one is answering the door.  Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn is not responding to a request for an interview.  I’ve talked with folks from Romney’s & Santorum’s Iowa campaigns, though, and will be back later with their  commentary.

Des Moines, IA – The Republican Party of Iowa today released the final, certified vote totals of the January 3 Iowa Caucus presidential preference vote. The final, certified vote totals represent 1,766 of the state’s 1,774 caucus precincts, and reflect a record-breaking 121,503 Iowans who participated.
 
2012 Iowa Republican Caucus Certified vote totals (1766/1774 precincts certified)

• Rick Santorum  -  29,839
• Mitt Romney  -  29,805
• Ron Paul – 26,036
• Newt Gingrich – 16,163
• Rick Perry – 12,557
• Michele Bachmann – 6,046
• Jon Huntsman – 739
• No Preference – 147
• Other –  86
• Herman Cain – 45
• Sarah Palin –  23
• Buddy Roemer  - 17

Total (1766/1774)       121,503
 
Certified vote totals were unavailable for eight of Iowa’s 1,774 precincts. Full, certified vote totals per precinct are available online at www.iowagop.org.
 
 “Just as I did in the early morning hours on January 4, I congratulate Senator Santorum and Governor Romney on a hard-fought effort during the closest contest in caucus history,” said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn. “Our goal throughout the certification process was to most accurately reflect and report how Iowans voted the evening of January 3. We understand the importance to the candidates involved, but as Iowans, we understand the responsibility we have as temporary caretakers of the Iowa caucuses.””
 
As Strawn noted during the January 4 announcement of unofficial caucus night vote totals, Iowa GOP rules provided for a 14-day period by which each of Iowa’s 99 counties were required to submit a Form E document from each of the caucus precincts within the county. The Form E document is the official record of the presidential preference vote in each of Iowa’s 1,774 precincts.  The deadline for county Republican officials to submit the Form E documents was 5 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday, January 18.  Following Wednesday’s deadline, Iowa GOP officials were able to certify results from 1,766 of the state’s 1,774 precincts.
 
 Strawn noted that a hallmark of the Iowa caucuses is the openness and transparency within which the proceedings occur.  Not only do voting Iowans and presidential campaign representatives have the opportunity to observe the vote counting in each of the state’s precincts, but each presidential campaign had senior campaign officials in the Iowa GOP’s official tabulation center on caucus night.
 
 Strawn indicated this openness and transparency will continue during the post-certification period as the Iowa GOP will be making the precinct caucus Form E documents submitted during the certification process available for review to both presidential campaign officials and members of the media.

• AUDIO of 10-minute speech from House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha)
• AUDIO of 10-minute speech from House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Clear Lake)
• AUDIO of 2-minue speech from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Des Moines)
• AUDIO of 11-minute speech from Senate President Jack Kibbie (D-Emmetsburg)
• AUDIO of 5-minute speech from Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs)
• AUDIO of 9-minute speech from Senate Minority Leader Jerry Behn (R-Boone)

What, you ask, is that photo you see to the right? It’s a picture of the door knob that just got replaced at my house and the key I broke off in that lock at approximately 4:15 a.m. on January 4, 2012. 

I arrived home at the early hour on Wednesday morning after wrapping up Radio Iowa’s coverage of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses, held on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.  I drove in my garage, took the keys out of the ignition and made my way to the door that leads from my garage into the house.  As you can tell from the photo, I snapped the key off in the lock.  By 4:19 a.m. I had engaged the services of a locksmith.

Luckily, after I got back in the car and turned the engine on to stay warm, it occured to me to raise the garage door and back out to wait for said locksmith in the driveway, thereby avoiding any stories about the reporter who committed suicide the morning after the Caucuses.

I must have fallen asleep (I know, hard to imagine). The poor locksmith who apparently had tried to delicately tap on the window of my car had to knock rather loudly to wake me at 4:45.  His analysis of the situation was such that the half of the key you don’t see above — the half that’s embedded inside the door knob still – could not be removed. 

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself: “Why didn’t Kay use the spare key and go in through the front door?”  Well, that spare key was tucked away in the Master Lock by the front door to allow contractors who’ve been working on my bathroom since December 13 to come and go during the day. The combination of that Master Lock is a secret to me. I have spare keys in the key jars of neighbors, too, but who wants to get a knock on the door at 4:16 a.m.?  Who would answer the door at that hour?

My locksmith was able to gain entry to my house by completely dismantling the doorknob, but he had no replacement knobs in his kit.  I was able to sleep for approximately 25 minutes, then, before my first “hit” of the morning on a Radio Iowa station.  Then it was on to Michele Bachmann’s announcement, where a reporter colleague, upon hearing my key tale and getting the in-person look at the half-key that was still attached to my key ring, quipped: “Wow, you must have had a little bit too much caffeine last night.”

Just moments ago on this Thursday afternoon, then, my trusty locksmith has returned to Casa Henderson and installed the new doorknob he bought for me.  The doorknob is a gift from him to me and there was no charge for the return trip, so if you ever need the services of a locksmith in Des Moines, Iowa, you are to call 24 HR LOCKOUTS at 515.282.3699.

Cutting foreign aid “would be a disaster not just for the African children, it’s really a disaster for America,” according to Huckabee.

“If America wants to be known only as a country that puts bombs in neighborhoods, then that’s one thing,” Huckabee said. “But I think America also wants to be known as a country that puts food in the mouths of children in extreme poverty.”

AUDIO of that portion of the interview.

Here’s a transcript of part of his answer:

“One of the things that conservatives need to do is be on the front end, not the back end, of showing leadership when it comes to what true conservatism is really about. I can’t think of anything more worth keeping than the lives of human beings and so what the One campaign is all about is just simply saying this is consistent with conservative values and principles, not only for the obvious benefit to the recipients but for the strategic benefit to the United States so that as children grow up their image, their vision, their understanding of who Americans are is that Americans are the ones who saved our lives and Americans are the ones that our friends.

“That’s important because Africa is going to be the largest continent in population within another generation or so, eclipsing China. When that happens, I think Americans would have enough sense to realize it’s best that we have good relationships with these African nations, not relationships where they wish that we didn’t exist.”

“I think that’s right. It’s very fascinating. If I had to predict, I’ve been saying I think it’s probably Romney, Santorum and Paul, maybe not in that order – but probably.  And I agree with you about the Santorum thing. I’ve seen some interviews in which people have said, ‘Oh, it’s very much like that.’ But, you know, even on my own network at FOX I was very frustrated when I saw some of the chattering class talking-heads last night talking about that, ‘Well, you know Huckabee, he did well in Iowa, but then he sputtered.’

“I’m thinking, ‘Excuse me!’ You know, I qualified for the ballot in every state. I came in second. I won a lot of states after Iowa, but it wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Iowa and that’s why I’ve always argue that Iowa is a very important place for candidates to play. It’s not going to be the entire campaign, but it’s the make or break and if you can’t play there, chances are you’re probably not going to go much further and if you think you are, ask Rudy how that turned out for him four years ago to wait for us all in Florida.”  

AUDIO of response above.