Iowa Caucuses Set for January 3
Iowa Republicans, instead of waiting until they know exactly what date New Hampshire will pick, voted to rein in the calendar chaos by locking in Janurary 3 as the date for the Republican caucuses, the Des Moines Register reports.
With Iowa’s date now set, a good date for New Hampshire would be January 10 — a week later. But New Hampshire’s Secretary of State has rejected that date as long as Nevada’s caucus date remains January 14.
“The ideal is to have at least a week between votes to give residents of the next state time to examine the winners, and to give the candidates the biggest bang for their victory. Anything less doesn’t give candidates, especially those who are lesser known or less monied, time to break through with their message, to raise money and to create commercials to help them capitalize on their success.”
Supercommittee Posts Big Fundraising Numbers
Lawmakers serving on the “supercommittee” charged with reducing the deficit “have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from special-interest groups, including a significant chunk from healthcare interests that want the panel to fail,” reports The Hill.
“Healthcare political action committees gave more to the deficit panel members than political action committees (PACs) representing energy, defense and agriculture interests, which could also be under the knife… Good-government watchdog groups have called on lawmakers to suspend all fundraising activity while serving on the supercommittee, but, so far, only Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has agreed to a moratorium. He raised only $25,575 in the third quarter of 2011.”
Obama’s Teleprompter Stolen
A truck used for President Obama’s bus trip in Virginia was stolen from a hotel parking lot, NBC News reports.
“Inside the vehicle were presidential seals, several podiums, $200,000 worth of audio equipment and President Obama’s see-thru teleprompter.”