I’ve only provided endorsements for President and for legislative contests that affect me directly. Unfortunately, personal and work commitments have kept me from providing a broader assessment of candidates.

If you have not had adequate time yourself to interact with candidates or research them at their web sites, I can make a couple of simple suggestions:

There are a number of web sites with candidate assessments from varying perspectives, including general political principals and specific policy areas. Using various Google searches (such as “2008 Congressional candidate comparison tax“) you can[...]

District 60 is currently represented in the Iowa House by Libby Jacobs (R). She decided retire from the house this year and so we have a fresh set of candidates.

Dr. Alan Koslow (D) is a vascular surgeon who has been involved in health related volunteer activities for over 30 years. Without being a legislator, he has authored bills passed by the Iowa General Assembly, focused in the health and child services area. He has worked in missions to El Salvador after an earthquake. He considers himself a Smaller Government-Private Business-Progressive Realist. Koslow’s main focus is Health Care. His positions appear somewhat moderate, although he advocates leveraging our “balanced budget” to stimulate the economy by spending it on teacher pay, improving infrastrucutre, early child development programs.

Russ Gibson (L) is a customer service representative for FBL Financial Group. He states on his web site that he is not[...]

Yes, I am specifically attached to this race since I live in the district currently served by Leonard Boswell (D).

Leonard came into office in 1997. When he first entered Congress, he promised that he would serve no more than 4 terms. He has served 6 already. He votes along party lines over 95% of the time. Although he has supported President Bush on some key bills that served a more conservative agenda, he also voted with Bush on the $700 Billion Bailout. Reviewing his record, he appears to be both socially and fiscally moderate to slightly liberal.

Kim Schmett (R) has served as the chief administrative law judge with the Iowa Department of Inspections and[...]

This year, the US Senate seat currently held by Tom Harkin is up for grabs. I say “up for grabs” in an attempt to relieve us of the idea that the incumbent has no chance to be unseated.

Harkin has been in the US Senate now for 6 terms (24 years). Without a doubt, he has done some good things while in Congress. Probably the most positive, and the one he speaks of the most, is his authoring of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has also been a big supporter of farmers and Iowa’s universities.

Harkin is also known in the state, like Neil Smith[...]

The major candidates for President are considerably closer in their policies and philosophy than the overwhelming rhetoric may lead you to believe. For some, this really is a hard choice.

It took a while for the conservative base of the Republican Party to get through the grieving process when it became apparent that John McCain was the nominee. The result of that process is a candidate who has managed to reconcile with the base by both making statements that fit the conservative agenda more adroitly (some would say McCain is not exactly honest in this regard), and the addition of a stronger conservative on the ticket in the person of Sarah Palin. McCain professes and hopefully holds to a more conservative leaning on some key social issues, but still tends toward a more liberal approach to fiscal policy. It is[...]