Mauro to Seek Re-Election

I don't recall seeing a big announcement news conference or even a news release on this, but it seems as if Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro wants to keep doing his job. On Mauro's website, I found this...

In 2006, after serving as Polk County Auditor for nearly a decade, I was elected Iowa’s Secretary of State. I am still humbled by the confidence that has been entrusted to me in this role, but also very proud of my accomplishments since taking office. However, there is still much work to do — my passion for public service and my commitment to the great state of Iowa is stronger than ever. That is why I am running again in 2010.

Obviously, it's the last line that grabs my attention.

It's Day One for us (Shawn Terrell and I) here in Tampa for Super Bowl 43. It's a soggy mess. It has rained much of the day. Not quite the sun-drenched paradise everyone at the office gave us so much crap about before we left! But it's hard to complain. We're staying with my in-laws, which has already meant great food...beef stew offered a great reason to stop by their house while we were working on our 10pm story. So did the strawberry cake (strawberries are in season in Florida right now) my wife's "Grammy" made. Man, it was good.

We haven't seen any celebrities yet. Maybe they're at the strip clubs. There sure seem to be a lot of them near Raymond James Stadium. And, no, we didn't stop at any of them. But we did get to listen to Bruce Springsteen practicing on the field at Raymond James Stadium (at least we were told he was actually in there instead of some recording they were playing inside). He is performing at half-time of the Super Bowl, in case you hadn't heard. We heard "Born to Run" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and we watched the practice fireworks. That was pretty cool, too.

I ran into Jay Gray from NBC news. I hadn't seem him since the Iowa Caucuses. He seems like such a great guy. I wonder how he handles traveling as a correspondent all over the country all the time. And maybe that "Earl" guy from the NBC show is right about karma. We UPS'd our equipment to Tampa, so we wouldn't have to carry it on the plane. Apparently, there was some big ice storm in Louisville, so only one of our three packages of equipment actually made it here. The rest is supposed to come Friday. Fortunately, the NBC crew from Tucson let us borrow its lights for our night-time shooting. What a huge help! On our way out, we found a way to return the favor. The NBC crew from Jackson, Mississippi had a minor crisis. Their camera battery died and they needed to shoot something. So we lent them ours. They were incredibly nice, extremely gracious. That southern hospitality, I guess. They said we should let them buy us a beer for helping them out. Sounds like a good idea.