Biundo served as Rick Santorum’s national campaign manager in 2012 during the nomination phase on the campaign.  He served as Mitt Romney’s Deputy Coalitions Director in the general election.  Biundo then started the political consulting firm, RightOn Strategies.

“We are pleased to be joining the Clovis for U.S. Senate team,” Biundo told TheIowaRepublican.com.  “I had the honor of getting to know Sam Clovis during the 2012 campaign, and I am confident that Sam has the experience, dedication and work ethic needed to be Iowa’s next U.S. Senator.”

Like Santorum’s campaign at the onset of the 2012 campaign, many view the Clovis campaign as a long shot to win the nomination.  However, the similarities between Clovis and Santorum go beyond the fact that establishment Republicans and the media are skeptical about their chances.  Clovis is well versed on foreign policy issues and is an unabashed conservative who should find a following among GOP primary voters.  Biundo also intimated that the campaign intends to travel the entire state looking for votes.

“After working in Iowa for Rick Santorum campaign, I know first-hand that it takes a strong 99 county campaign to achieve victory in Iowa.  My team and I are looking forward to the working with Sam to ensure just that,” Biundo stated.

“I am excited to have RightOn Strategies join my team,” said Clovis.  “Their track record of putting together strong grassroots campaigns, including the one here that visited and competed in all of Iowa’s 99 counties, is exactly the type of campaign we are going to build.  In my opinion, Mike Biundo ran an outstanding campaign for Senator Santorum, and I am excited that he and his team have agreed to bring their extensive skills and abilities to our campaign.”

Clovis has scheduled a meet and greet at the Coralville Public Library on Wednesday, June 26th.  All three announced U.S. Senate candidates also have a fundraising deadline looming at the end of June.

More information on the Clovis campaign can be found at www.SamClovis.com.

Photo by Dave Davidson, Prezography.com

Bruce Braley, a key vote for ObamaCare, said this legislation would be “good for Iowa” and says he is “never intimidated.”

In that case, there is no time like the present for Bruce Braley to start answering these controversial questions:

Does Bruce Braley stand with President Obama and believe more of Iowans’ hard-earned tax dollars should be given to the IRS to implement ObamaCare?
Like President Obama, does Bruce Braley trust that the IRS will properly utilize the additional taxpayer dollars, rather than spend it on lavished staff retreats?
“Iowans were already ignored once when Bruce Braley cast his unpopular vote for ObamaCare,” said NRSC Press Secretary Brook Hougesen. “Now in the midst of scandal, will Braley continue advocating for even more taxpayer dollars to be wasted for mandates, penalties and fees that voters didn’t want in the first place?”

NRSC Press Release

“We are thrilled the pro-life citizens across the state are finally able to proudly proclaim their love for life by displaying a ‘Choose Life’ license plate, said IRTL President Marlys Popma. “People have been able to share their love for their college, for Ducks Unlimited, and even for amateur radio.  It is long past due that we can now proudly display our love for life!”

Conservative activist Jim Carley was one of the first Iowans to pick up the new plates. They cost $25 more than regular plates the first year. An additional $5 is added for each year thereafter. Carley believes that extra money is a wise investment.

“If all those that support life would spend the cost of one night out, we could flood the state with the ‘Choose Life’ message on a daily basis and show everyone just how strong the pro-life movement is,” Carley said.

Iowa Right to Life successfully collected more than 500 applications in one year from Iowans requesting the plates. That was the threshold required by the Iowa Department of Transportation to officially produce the plates. IRTL could not have achieved the goal without a huge grassroots effort.

“Several months ago I started volunteering with the Iowa Right to Life Committee,” Carley said. “I am calling on and coordinating with churches in eastern Polk County and western Jasper County to spread the word and activate more support for the future babies of Iowa. Babies are the creation of God and the most precious gift He can give us, the gift of life.”

Governor Branstad also played an instrumental role in helping to get the plates approved.

“Years ago, efforts were made in the legislature to pass it there,” said IRTL Executive Director Jenifer Bowen. “Stymied on multiple occasions, the project lay dormant for a few years, as we have focused our legislative energy toward late-term abortions ending, halting webcam abortions in the state in which they began, defunding the abortion industry, and more. A year ago we were made aware of another way to accomplish this and we did it!”

Iowa is the 29th state to adopt some form of pro-life license plates. However, the “Choose Life” plates ran into legal hurdles in North Carolina. A federal judge, responding to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, ruled the pro-life plates unconstitutional because the state did not offer abortion advocates the same opportunity. The state is appealing the ruling.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has declined several interview requests from various media regarding the “Choose Life” plates. Iowa Right to Life is not supporting the plates as a way to create controversy or conflict. Instead, they are hoping the plates help win over hearts and minds.

“We are hopeful that they will serve as a gentle, non-confrontational message to women and men across Iowa that may be wrestling through the hardest decisions of their lives,” Bowen said.

The new “Choose Life” license plates are available by clicking here.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has been a vocal opponent of the immigration reform package that is being backed by a group of moderate Republicans in the Senate.  This isn’t the first time Grassley has had a ringside seat to an immigration rodeo in the U.S. Senate.  In 1986, Grassley support President Reagan’s immigration reform act that granted amnesty to over three million undocumented immigrants.

Grassley now regrets supporting the 1986 amnesty and has thus attempted to put some teeth into the legislation that is currently making its way through congress.  Last week, Grassley offered an amendment that would have required that the border be secured before any illegal/undocumented immigrant is grated any form of legal status.  Unfortunately, Grassley’s amendment was dead on arrival in the Judiciary Committee and on the floor of the senate.

While most Americans would agree that securing the boarder is the most realistic and commonsense approach to solving our immigration problems, the Republicans who are looking to pass immigration reform know it’s a deal breaker for Democrats.  That should give all Americans pause.  If there is no desire to actually secure our boarders, are we not effectively allowing anyone who takes up residence in the United States to be come a full fledged citizen as long as they jump through all the right hoops?

If you think we have entitlement problems now that the baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, just wait until Marco Rubio, John McCain, and Democrats open the United States up for citizenship on demand.

As one would expect, Congressman Steve King is doing his part in the battle to block the immigration reform proposal in the House of Representatives.  King is leading a group of 70 Republican members who are opposed to ANY immigration reform bill passing in the House.

King and others believe that the reconciliation process would strip any boarder enforcement mechanisms that the House would put in the bill. It is also likely that the final version of the bill would likely have enough votes to pass the House as long as Democrats support it.  As Glenn Beck said during an interview with King on Thursday, any immigration bill passed by the House would be a “Trojan Horse” that would grant amnesty to all undocumented people living in America.

Grassley and King have done a tremendous job of advocating for their position on this subject, yet many Republican leaders seem hell-bent just to do something on the issue of immigration in hopes to help them at the ballot box in future elections.  The news media, political commentators, and some influential Republicans have propelled an argument that Republicans will not be able to win national elections in the future without the ever expanding Hispanic vote.

Oddly enough, even some Democrats are worried about Republicans’ chances at that ballot box.  New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez recently told Politico, “I would tell my Republican colleagues, both in the House and the Senate, that the road to the White House comes through a road with a pathway to legalization. Without it, there will never be a road to the White House for the Republican Party.”

Shouldn’t the moderate Republicans in the Senate or the power brokers pushing for immigration reform be a little skeptical of their own legislation when someone like Menendez offers the GOP political advice?  Despite the fact that this guy has a major sex scandal dogging him, he still has the gall to tell Republicans what medicine they should take.

All Republicans need to take a step back and re-examine this issue.

Pandering to a specific ethnic group or any group of voters is not leadership, nor will it help Republican candidates win elections.  Yet, moderate Republicans in the House and Senate, the Republican National Committee, and National College Republicans all want to do just that, pander for votes.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think Republicans should ever look at voters based on color or nationality.  Even though the Democrats have mastered race and gender politics, I find the practice to be demeaning. Are we so foolish to think that every white man is alike?  Do you really think that every woman holds the same views on every issue?  Do we really think that the most important issue to Hispanics is providing a get out of jail free card to anyone who’s in the country illegally?

Talk about a bad case of overgeneralization.

Republicans will win national elections again once they begin to care about individuals.  It’s worked in Iowa during the last two presidential caucus cycles.  Both Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum offered a very populist message to voters.  They didn’t care if you were black, brown, white, rich, poor, male or female.

Huckabee and Santorum both talked about upward mobility.  To some, that might have meant getting a job, to others it meant advancing in their current job.  Maybe someone listened to that message and started their own business.  To the current business owners it meant growing their existing business.  It is in the best interest of Americans and Republicans for people to succeed, yet far too few candidates really care about opportunity and growth.

Republicans will not fix their electoral problems as long as they think there is a piece of legislation out there that solves their problems.  Ronald Reagan once said, that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”  Yet, with Republicans still licking their wounds from the last election, they are stuck looking to the government for a solution.  No wonder the Republican Party is such a mess.

The 2012 election is behind us.  It was bad.  It’s time to move on, but in doing so, we need to return the ideals of Ronald Reagan, not big government, and we cannot win by stealing a page from the Democrats’ playbook.

Is Edward Snowden a hero or villain? A patriot or a traitor? A whistleblower or a liar? Truth is, we don’t yet know. Let’s see how it plays out.

In case it wasn’t already completely obvious that Governor Branstad is running for reelection in 2014, it should be now … My clandestine, ubiquitous informants tell me Branstad’s campaign has hired Vonna Hall away from Republican Party of Iowa HQ to serve as the governor’s campaign scheduler. Hall is the last holdover at RPI from the pre-Spiker era. She was also the only non-Ron Paul campaign staffer on the payroll …

Even more proof Branstad is running: They have already rented out the same Urbandale campaign office that Congressman Latham and the Romney campaign used in 2012. The sizable space also incorporated the entire 2012 GOP Victory operation … (edited: Not the space Branstad used in 2010)

Only a total political opportunist would become his party’s chairman for a few months to use that position as a springboard for higher office. It looks like that’s exactly what Tyler Olson did. He resigned at IDP chair last week and apparently plans to run for governor … The Iowa Dems are desperately scrambling for a viable candidate after the Iowa poll showed Branstad thumping Jack Hatch 57%-28%. Olson ain’t it.

The GOP primary for the U.S. Senate race is heating up. Finally. I anticipate at least two more candidates will join the fray by mid-July, after the finance reporting deadlines. And they won’t be the last ones, either … The obligatory Paulistinian candidate will also eventually jump in. Likely Drew Ivers …

Big Liberty will coalesce behind one chosen candidate, like a good little cult, and hope no one surpasses the 35% threshold in the GOP primary. That would send the nomination to the state convention … That would set up the Paulistinians for another convention coup attempt … Except, it won’t work this time, because unlike the 2012 Iowa Caucus, other campaigns will actually organize their delegates …

It’s very easy to out-organize everyone else when you’re the only ones trying. It’s a different story now, as we’re seeing on the county central committee level all over the state …

The circle is now complete. Iowa Republicans have formed District Executive Committees in all four Iowa congressional districts, without any of the meetings being called by Big Liberty’s Iowa headquarters …

The First DEC met in Cedar Falls on Saturday to elect officers. Marshall County Chairman Pete Rogers was named DEC chair. Benton County’s Tim Busch beat out Jim Conklin and Paulistinian Will Johnson for the co-chair slot. Conklin, a longtime Linn County activist, was named secretary …

Several people praised the efforts of Chelle and Scott Adkins for organizing the committee. Kudos. Plus Chelle is one of the few fellow East Carolina University alums in Iowa. So she’s OK in my book. And this is my book. Or column. Semantics.

Senator Grassley stuck the proverbial fork in Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential hopes by calling the Florida senator’s immigration views “naïve”. Grassley has led the good fight on immigration reform. He filed an amendment calling for border security first. Rubio was one of five Republican senators voting against it. Adios Marco …

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will boost his 2016 GOP primary prospects when he signs a bill requiring women to view an ultrasound of their baby before they get an abortion. This is good legislation that will save lives. Seeing an actual human being growing inside your belly is guaranteed to reverse some women’s decision to have an abortion …

Watching the lefties going apoplectic over this Wisconsin bill is hilarious. Whenever there’s legislation aimed at reducing or ending abortions, somehow that’s “extreme” in liberal land … Some people think crushing the skull of an innocent baby is extreme, but lefties have no problem with that … Fortunately, due in part to ultrasounds, the fight for life is turning against the liberals …

I have to laugh at the ridiculosity of people who refused to vote for Mitt Romney complaining that Barack Obama is the worst president ever. Only two men had a chance of winning the presidential election. If you didn’t vote for Romney, you helped Obama get elected, so you’re partly to blame for giving us the worst president ever. You look pretty ridiculous complaining about Obama now.

The Polk County GOP is holding the Second Annual Gov. Robert D. Ray Golf Outing on Monday, June 24 … Last year’s inaugural event was a big success, raising around $20,000, and this year should be even better. Governor Ray and several prominent Republican officials will be on hand. There’s still time to sign up a foursome or as an individual …

Let’s hope former Drake Bulldog football star Glenn Lott will not be playing in the outing. Or at least, not on my team …  A few weeks ago, Lott broke a golf club over his partner’s arm, then stabbed him with it. Allegedly … All over a disagreement on Lott’s score on the previous hole … Lott was a DB for the Bulldogs in the 1970s and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills …

Another former Hawkeye state football player is garnering headlines in the world of professional wrestling. Former Iowa defensive lineman Ettore Ewen is a rising WWE star under the name Big E Langston …

Ewen‘s career at Iowa never amounted to much due to injuries, but he has done very well for himself in a short time in WWE. Ewen and his cohorts perform in Cedar Rapids at the U.S. Cellular Center on June 29.

Finally, I have a prayer request. My friend and former co-worker Tom Brand is dealing with the aftermath of a heart attack. Tom is the executive director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters so plenty of Iowans are familiar with him. Tom is only 42 and has a wonderful family down in Missouri. He’s recovering in the hospital, but can use your help …

A funny story about Tom: He bears a striking resemblance to a former wrestler with a ridiculous gimmick that went by the name Amish Roadkill. His entire vocabulary consisted of one word: “Chickens” … So, as an inside joke, mainly to amuse me, Tom would occasionally say “chickens” at random moments during his farm reports. God speed and quick recovery, my friend.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for dropping by. Sometimes possession is an abstract concept.

Photo by Dave Davidson and Naomi Leinen

GOP activists, officials and politicos were among the 75 supporters who attended a fundraiser for Mosiman Thursday evening at Republican Party of Iowa headquarters. The event was headlined by Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds.

“Mary is so respected by her colleagues in local government all across the state of Iowa, so she is starting out with a phenomenal network of individuals that know her, trust her and absolutely understand what this woman is capable of,” Reynolds told the crowd. “She is a CPA, she’s talented, she’s energetic, and she is going to do a phenomenal job of representing the state auditor’s office.”

Governor Branstad also heaped great praise on Mosiman, and former auditor David Vaudt, who resigned to become the chairman of the Government Accounting Standards Board. When looking for Vaudt’s replacement, Branstad wanted someone who held similar professional credentials.

“I thought we needed to have another CPA and we needed somebody that would be a watchdog for the treasury,” Branstad said. “But I also wanted a Republican and somebody that would run for the office. With Mary Mosiman we found somebody that was a CPA and the right philosophy for the taxpayers and to point out what needs to be done to keep Iowa on a sound fiscal basis.”

Branstad also found someone who had successfully been elected three times in left-leaning Story County. Branstad noted that is not an easy task. Story is one of only nine counties that he failed to carry in the 2010 gubernatorial election. The addition of Mosiman to the statewide GOP ticket could help Branstad and other Republicans on the ballot there next year.

“I’ve known Mary Mosiman for over a decade and she was a delight to work with in Story County as our Story County auditor,” said RPI Chairman A.J. Spiker, who used to chair the Story County GOP. “There’s really nobody in the state of Iowa that I can think of that would have been better for the governor to appoint to this position. I don’t know anybody who’s a better worker or harder campaigner so I know Mary is going to be a great addition to the ticket in 2014.”

Mary Mosiman sounded very much like a candidate ready to put in the hard work necessary to hold on to the auditor’s office in the 2014 elections.

“Every government entity uses taxpayer dollars to provide their government services, and to be part of the quality control that surrounds those public services, that matters and that’s why I really enjoy being there,” Mosiman said. “I am so excited to be there as you auditor of state and yes, as the lieutenant governor has said, I want to be elected to that position.”

Governor Branstad handed Mosiman a $250 check for her campaign coffers. He and Lt. Governor Reynolds encouraged all the attendees to support the auditor’s campaign financially and organizationally. Activists from the Des Moines area, Story County, Guthrie County and even Harrison County were among the attendees. U.S. Senate candidate Matt Whitaker was also on hand. The suggested donation at the door was $35.

Around 15 other legislators from both sides of the aisle were also on hand, including Republican Senate Leader Bill Dix and  Tyler Olson, who was chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party until resigning on Tuesday to prepare for a possible gubernatorial run against Branstad. The Republican and Democrat lawmakers gathered behind Governor Branstad as he signed Senate File 295 into law. The bill provides Iowans with the largest tax cut in state history.

“It’s a great day,” Branstad said. “It’s been a long time in coming, but it shows that patience and perseverance and bipartisan cooperation can pay off in a significant way for all the people of Iowa. So, I’m honored and proud to have the opportunity to sign it.”

Tempers flared at times during the 2014 Iowa legislative session. However, in the end, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass significant legislation to reform property taxes, education and healthcare.

“While other states and even Washington, D.C., allow those political differences to divide and create a partisan gulf that cannot be navigated, that simply is not the case right here in Iowa,” said Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds. “Instead, we are a state that asks what is possible, what is needed and what is the best for Iowans.”

Hawkeye Ready-Mix in Hiawatha hosted the signing ceremony. That site was noteworthy because it is in the home district of Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, who played a key role in the passage of the bill.

“I think it’s very significant,” Paulsen told TheIowaRepublican.com. “It’s the largest tax cut in the history of Iowa. House Republicans had laid out that it should include all classifications of property, it needs to significant and it needs to be predictable. It conforms to all of those.”

The bill provides permanent tax relief on every class of property, totaling an estimated $4.4 billion. Agriculture and residential property tax owners will save an estimated $500 million dollars over the next 10 years. The bill also includes nearly $90 million in annual income tax relief. Some of that relief will come in the form of a tax credit of around $60 for most taxpayers.

The bill also includes specific tax relief that both political parties had championed for the past few years. Particularly, Democrats were pleased with the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which will assist lower income Iowans. Senator Gronstal referred to the bill as “landmark legislation” that is good for every employer in the state of Iowa.

“The other piece that’s in there that was particularly important to House Republicans was a Taxpayer Trust Fund piece, where we now have a permanent mechanism of putting money into the trust fund,” Speaker Paulsen said. “We also have a permanent mechanism to return that to the hardworking taxpayers of Iowa. So, I’m also excited about that. When they’ve made an overpayment, we’ve got an mechanism to send it back and it happens automatically.”

There has been some grumbling among some city leaders that the property tax relief will mean less revenue for local governments. Governor Branstad brushed aside those criticisms, noting that the bill does not cut funding.

“I feel very confident that revenue to local governments will continue to grow, not as fast as it would have if we hadn’t provided this property tax relief,” Branstad said. “I think local governments are adequately protected in this legislation. I think it is a very good balance.”

Branstad also noted that smaller businesses and lower income Iowans receive the most tax relief from this legislation, but will also send a message that Iowa is “open for business”.

King lived in a world where he dreamt that his children would live in a nation where they would be judged by the content of the character instead the color of their skin.  While our society often tells us that one’s outward appearance is still the most important trait or quality, deep down we all long to be judged by the content of our character and our accomplishments.  Our skin color, gender, physical appearance, disability, or current social status should have no bearing on our ability to pursue our dreams.

The latest entrant into the Republican race for the U.S. Senate has exposed that some Iowa Republicans seem to care more about how a candidate looks than what he or she believes in or stands for.  Sam Clovis will be the first to admit that he’s not your prototypical U.S. Senate candidate, but he believes he offers voters something different, something that is lacking in politics today.

In a conversation before his announcement on Monday night in Sioux City, Clovis acknowledged that he’s not one of the GOP’s rock stars or even opening acts.   The nearly 200 people that squeezed into a conference room at the downtown Holiday Inn would probably disagree, but Clovis doesn’t need anonymous commentors on this website or people on Facebook to tell him what his weaknesses as a candidate are.  He not only knows them, he was willing to discuss them.

Dismissing a candidate for office based on his appearance is a mistake, but especially before they are given an opportunity to make their case.

Voters in New Jersey voters showed that they were able to look beyond Chris Christie’s appearance when they elected him governor in 2009.   In Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott is positioning himself to run for governor in 2014.  Abbott doesn’t look like your typical politician either.  He’s a paraplegic.  That doesn’t seem to bother Texas conservatives. Abbott is already plotting a 2014 run for governor even though Rick Perry hasn’t said he’s hanging it up yet.  If there is a Texas primary, Abbott will be considered a legitimate candidate despite his disability.  If Perry opts not to run for another term, Mr. Abbott will likely be called Abbott.

Iowans also have a history of electing candidates that don’t look like they came from central casting.  Chet Culver, Leonard Boswell, and Bill Northey have all been able to find success in Iowa politics despite carrying a little extra weight.  So the notion that Clovis’ campaign is over before it begins simply because of his appearance is absurd.

Clovis is a lot more than just a radio talk show host and political activist from northwest Iowa.  He’s is currently an economics professor at Morningside College.  He’s a graduate of the US Air Force Academy.  He has an MBA in management and a doctorate in public administration.  His military service spanned 25 years.  Sam commanded the 70th Fighter Squadron and retired as the Inspector General of the United States Space Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. When he retired from the Air Force, he had the rank of a full colonel.

In addition to his Sioux City radio show, Clovis has conducted 24 regional civics lectures in northwest Iowa since 2010.  The lectures covered a variety of topics that include the Constitution, education reform, national security, energy policy, immigration, and healthcare reform.  He may not be known across the state, but his base of support is much larger than that of the candidates who are already in the race or those who are likely to join the race, except for Bob Vander Plaats.

While many don’t seem to think that Clovis is a legitimate candidate, he has just as good of a shot to win the Republican primary as his likely opponents.  Every candidate in the race will likely struggle to raise a substantial amount of money in the primary, not just Clovis.  One area where Clovis will not struggle is on stump.  The next six months of the campaign will focus on meeting GOP activists and gaining their support.  Simply put, Clovis speaks their language, and they are not really going to care what he looks like.

For Clovis to be rendered an inconsequential candidate, one of the other candidates is going to have to be able to take the primary to a completely different level.  Nobody else will be able to do that on the issues alone, which means unless a candidate is able to raise and spend a lot of money on TV and radio, Clovis isn’t going away anytime soon.  Even still, his ability to relate and engage GOP activists on a myriad of issues will give even a well financed candidate fits.

Many Iowa Republicans seem to want to apply the same metric to gauge potential candidates as the news when broke that Sen. Tom Harkin would not run for re-election.  That’s also mistake. Tom Latham, Steve King, Kim Reynolds, and other big name Republicans have taken a pass on running for the U.S. Senate.  Clovis, or any other candidate for that matter, doesn’t need to beat Tom Latham in a primary.  He has to beat Matt Whitaker, David Young, and anyone else who gets in the race.

As we have seen in the recent radio and newspaper interviews of the other announced candidates, the bar is currently not set that high.  And if you listened to Simon Conway’s interview with Clovis on the radio Tuesday night, he did far better than Whitaker and Young.  We are beyond the point of comparing candidates against the ideal candidate.  The ideal candidate isn’t running.  Thus we can only compare Clovis and the others who get into the race against the current competition.

This race is wide open, and it is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.  As such, a long shot candidate like Clovis has a chance at winning the Republican primary.  Laugh all you want, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a long shot candidate who the media seemed to write off went on to win a primary.

If you want to pick a U.S. Senate candidate based solely on how they fill out their suit or whether they wear a skirt, that’s your progrative.  For me, I choose to settle on a candidate based upon on his or her intellectual attributes, base of knowledge, and life experiences.  I’m not saying that Sam Clovis is the guy, but he does have a lot to offer if you are willing to listen.

Despite having represented three of the five most populous counties in Iowa, recent polls show that Braley is still relatively unknown. The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll shows that Braley is unknown to 57 percent of Iowans.  A Quinnipiac University poll from late May also showed that 57 percent of Iowans didn’t know enough about Braley to have an opinion of him.

One also shouldn’t forget that Braley has been campaigning across the state for the past four months.  For most of that time, he has been Sen. Tom Harkin’s heir-apparent and the presumptive Democrat nominee.  Yet, it appears that neither his campaigning, nor the fact that he’s been uncontested in Democrat circles has helped him in the polls.

The Iowa media has often overstated the geographical advantage that an eastern Iowa candidate may have over his or her opponents in the general election.  In 2006, Republicans believed that Jim Nussle’s eastern Iowa roots would help him defeat Chet Culver in the gubernatorial campaign.  Not only did Culver win, he also carried most of Nussle’s congressional district.

In an attempt to try to put Braley’s current name ID struggles in perspective, I tracked down the earliest poll I could find from Nussle’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign.  I found a November of 2005 Rasmussen poll that showed that only 14 percent of respondents didn’t know enough about Nussle to have an opinion of him.

Nussle also had a 49 percent favorable rating compared to a 37 percent unfavorable number.  Nussle’s +12 favorable number is slightly worse than Braley’s +15 in the Register’s poll, but fact that only 29 percent of Iowans have a favorable opinion of Braley should be a concern for Iowa Democrats.

Sure, the Republican candidates are basically unknown, but they will have a yearlong high profile primary to make themselves known to Iowans.  Braley doesn’t have a primary fight to help him earn media attention.  Democrats should also worry about outside groups attacking Braley in the early stages of the campaign.  If a group does that effectively, his negative numbers could skyrocket and at the same time make it difficult for himself to portray him self in a positive manner.

Braley may look like the odds on favorite in the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Iowa, but his polls numbers suggest otherwise.  After serving six years in Congress and campaigning around the state for the past four months, one would have thought that Braley’s name ID would be higher.  Like the GOP field, Braley is barely known, and that’s good news for Iowa Republicans.

The announcement elicited a standing ovation from those gathered in the room. Clovis made it clear that the conservative values he espoused every day on the radio would continue to be a focal point of his campaign. That includes social issues that other candidates might prefer not to talk about, like abortion and gay marriage.

“Anyone that knows me will tell you that what I say, I believe and I believe what I say. I’m not going to equivocate. You’re going to get blunt answers from me. That may come back to haunt me, but that’s how I see things,” Clovis told reporters afterwards.

Sam Clovis further stressed his conservative credentials during the event with a couple of props taken out of his jacket pocket. “All of you know what these are. This is my NRA card. This is my concealed carry permit,” he said. The display drew more loud cheers.

His 30-minute speech provided attendees with a full spectrum view of what a Clovis candidacy will be about. He touched on almost every hot button political issue currently facing the nation and provided a frank view of where he stood on the topic. The supportive crowd broke into a applause numerous times. It was the type of speech that is likely to endear Sam Clovis to conservative primary voters.

The announcement events for the other two official GOP candidates, Matt Whitaker and David Young, paled in comparison to the large, supportive crowd that welcomed Clovis to the race. Although the Morningside College professor is well-known in northwest Iowa, that name recognition does not extend to the rest of the state. However, the other announced candidates,including presumptive Democrat nominee Bruce Braley, all face that problem.

“One thing you have to remember, it’s 51 weeks until the primary. That’s a long time,” Clovis said. “That’s a lot of road work we’re going to do. I think we’ll have opportunities to go to a lot of different venues and speak to a lot of different groups and I think once they hear what I have to say, I think name recognition is not going to be a problem.”

Although Sam Clovis is an “unconventional” candidate, he has entered the race prepared to focus on the important details necessary for a successful campaign apparatus. Volunteers manning the tables set up just outside the meeting room used signup sheets to collect contact information from each attendee.

Perhaps just as significant, the Clovis campaign already had ballot petitions on hand for attendees to sign. Smart move. Petitions to get on the ballot are one of those tedious details all campaigns must go through. For a statewide race, these can be very time consuming. Sam Clovis got a head start on that process by gathering numerous signatures, from several different counties, at his announcement event.

“We have a very strong organization,” Clovis said. “It will emerge. That’s one of the things we’ve worked on the hardest, to get that organizational structure put together.”

Not everything went off without a hitch, however. Both the introductory speaker and Clovis stumbled over their words at the very beginning at the event. Also, his large campaign banner hanging at the front of the room started to fall early in Clovis’ speech. On some campaigns, that would be a firing offense for the staffer who hung the banner.

Those kinks aside, the event provided a solid launch to Sam Clovis’ campaign. Clovis bade farewell to his popular radio show Monday in order to engage fully in the senate campaign. It was not an easy decision. However, he sees a path to victory in this race.

“It’s wide open. I think the field is ready, I think Iowa is ready for a non-traditional and unconventional candidate and I’m certainly that,” Clovis said.

Sam Clovis intends to model his campaign after the style of Rick Santorum’s successful 2012 Iowa Caucus method, by going to all 99 counties on a shoestring budget. Clovis was one of the first prominent backers of Santorum’s efforts in Iowa.