Progressive Democrat Issue 110: IOWA FOCUS: Des Moines Politics Luncheon Series and Dave Loebsack on Iraq

A new Politics Luncheon Series is starting in Des Moines:

DES MOINES, IA. -- The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series will kick off on Friday, March 9 on the Des Moines campus of Drake University.

The first guests, now confirmed, are Leon Mosley, the co-chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, and Scott Brennan, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Iowa. They'll discuss Iowa and presidential politics with Chris Dorsey, the IowaPolitics.com Des Moines bureau chief.

The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series is open to the public, media and invited guests. This luncheon will be held in Levitt Hall in Old Main. Parking is available at the Olmsted Center Parking Lot. Doors open at 11:15 a.m.

The cost to attend is $20 and each reservation includes lunch. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. and the program will run from noon to 1 p.m. Guests must be seated by 11:45 a.m. Due to limited seating, pre-paid reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling (515) 271-3747 or e-mail iowacaucuses@drake.edu.

The format includes:

** Welcome from a Drake official;;
** Introduction by IowaPolitics.com Des Moines Bureau Chief Chris Dorsey, who will act as moderator;
** 2-minute opening statement from the guests;
** Questions from moderator Dorsey to the guests;
** and additional written questions from non-media members of the audience flowing through and screened by moderator Dorsey.

The event will last about an hour and later be web cast at IowaPolitics.com.

The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series will provide a forum where major candidates, elected officials, major party leaders, campaign organizers, pollsters, pundits and other newsmakers can communicate directly with interested citizens as well as Drake students, faculty and staff. The series, launched less than a year before the crucial Iowa caucuses in January 2008, will help focus attention on major issues and Iowa's role in the presidential selection process -- both before and after the caucuses.

Drake University is a private institution recognized as one of the top master's universities in the nation, with more than 5,350 students from 45 states and 60 countries. Located in Iowa's capital city, the university is uniquely positioned to provide learning opportunities through partnerships with the city's and state's bounty of businesses, schools, government and cultural organizations. Drake's mission is to provide an exceptional learning environment that prepares students for meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship. The Drake experience is distinguished by collaborative learning among students, faculty, and staff and by the integration of the liberal arts and sciences with professional preparation.

For directions to Drake University refer to http://www.drake.edu/about/directions.php.

IowaPolitics.com, an independent, non-partisan online news service, maintains a free Web site at http://www.iowapolitics.com and a paid subscriber information service.

An online version of this release is available at http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=89400.

For more information contact: Julie Rutz at (515)226-8774 or rutz@IowaPolitics.com or Rachel Paine Caufield, Drake University Department of Politics and International Relations, (515)271-1924, Rachel.caufield@drake.edu

Turning from local Iowa politics to Congress, freshman Congressman Dave Loebsack just got back from a fact finding tour of Iraq. Here is his statement:

Loebsack back from Iraq
Friday, February 23, 2007

(Iowa City Press Citizen)WASHINGTON -- Freshman Rep. Dave Loebsack said conditions in Iraq "are more dire than I anticipated" and that he felt "physically endangered" during his first congressional trip to the Middle East.

Loebsack returned to Washington, D.C., on Thursday evening after a six-day trip that included stops in Baghdad, Iraq, Jordan and Brussels, Belgium.

"I always felt physically endangered, I felt threatened, even in the Green Zone with heavy security (the area where the U.S. Embassy is located)," Loebsack said in a telephone interview.

The troops "were great," he said, and no one asked about the nonbinding resolution passed by the House this month opposing President Bush's decision to deploy 21,500 additional combat troops to Iraq.

Loebsack, a critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, voted in favor of the measure.

He said the troops weren't interested in politics.

"'We're just here to do our job,' is what they told me," said the Mount Vernon Democrat, a member of the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Readiness.

Loebsack said seeing the situation in Iraq for himself reinforced his belief that it was proper for Congress to oppose the troop increase.

"Yeah, I do even more so, believe that it was the right thing to do," he said. "I don't see how escalation is going to accomplish what we want."

Loebsack said he thinks Congress would place benchmarks and conditions on future supplemental appropriations for the war.

Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., chairman of the Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations led the delegation. The contingent also included Democrat Robert Andrews of New Jersey and Republican Reps. Todd Akin of Missouri, Michael Turner of Ohio and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

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