Essential Estrogen

Elsewhere on this site we have a list of upcoming political events. If you had quickly scanned the list before today, you'd have noticed something missing: IOWA

It seems to those of us buried in the grassroots on both sides of the sidewalk that we are living in an age without leadership -- at least without leadership that plans to actually take action to preserve Iowa's First in the Nation status.

Yeah, we all know the Ames straw poll on the Republican side of things is nothing more than a glorified fundraiser. We know this. They know this. The candidates know this. Soon we'll see buses chartered by candidates traveling down the road to Ames, filled to the brim with Republicans who will walk into a room in which the outcome results are already known. Whomever spends the most, gets the most out of the straw poll. Outside of the revenue, however, the GOP leadership in Iowa seems genuinely disinterested in the process. Case in point: To date, the only event the Iowa GOP is planning is an annual fundraising dinner in April.

On the Democratic Party side of things, it's difficult to tell if the slights against our own state are intentional or accidental. Nevada -- you know, the spoiler state the DNC set between Iowa and New Hampshire -- already has a events calendar for the candidates. (Of course, this could be because Nevada hired one of the most adept political folks in Iowa to run their first ever caucuses -- but that's fodder for a whole other post.) Both New Hampshire and South Carolina have also gotten in on the goods by setting debates and candidate forums.

Oh, Iowa, where for art thou?

To date, the Iowa Democratic Party has set two fundraiser dinners, both of them annual affairs, and one... yep, count it, ONE... Presidential forum. The forum will be co-sponsored by the IDP, ABC News and ABC5/WOI-TV and held on Aug. 19 in Des Moines, televised live on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. From the IDP press release yesterday:

“The Iowa Democratic Party is proud to co-sponsor this debate with ABC News and ABC5/WOI-TV,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan. “We welcome all of the candidates to Iowa, and encourage them to participate in the debate and share their vision for our country with Iowans and Americans.”

ABC News chief Washington correspondent and anchor of This Week George Stephanopoulos said, “I think it’s terrific that we are able to continue our On the Trail series in Iowa with a live show from a state crucial to the election process. This is an historic election and I look forward to bringing our viewers a discussion that will further inform them about where the candidates stand on critical issues.”

Why is Stephanopoulos the one to highlight Iowa's importance in the political process? Of course, we all agree and applaud Chair Brennan for his "welcome" message to all the candidates, but where is his "Rah-Rah" for Iowa? Further, why is Iowa... the FIRST IN THE NATION... the last of the four beginning states to actually start developing events to bring the candidates into our state?

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but we've spent the last 24 hours searching for a list of the individuals in your community who serve on the State Central Committees of each party. Near as we can tell, such information within the Democratic Party is a classified government secret that we'd have to kill you for knowing. In stark contrast, members of the GOP's SCC are laid out for display on the Iowa GOP site. In lieu of offering the same for the Democrats then, we do have a few of the electeds from the SCC for your viewing pleasure.

Democratic SCC Officers:

• Chair Scott Brennan
• First Vice Chair Sarah Swisher
• Second Vice Chair Phyllis Thede
• Treasurer Ken Sagar
• Secretary Dori Rammelsberg-Dvorak

We encourage all of our readers to contact their leadership and demand both groups begin promoting Iowa's First in the Nation before it is lost.

As for us here at EE, we have our own message to send to the SCC members and paid officials of both parties, "Get out there and promote Iowa... or just get out."