Boswell's Race Downgraded

In yet another sign that some of the national observers think 2010 could be a tough one for incumbents, and specifically Democrats, Congressional Quarterly has knocked down Des Moines area Congressman Leonard Boswell a notch in his re-election efforts next year. Boswell is still favored, by the way. But a trio of Republicans is now planning on running for the right to take on the Boz: aviation consultant Dave Funk, State Senator Brad Zaun and former Iowa State coach/wrestler Jim Gibbons.


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Is your office gossip central? A new study says a little gossip may not be as bad as the bosses think. Not that I'm one to gossip about it, of course.

Challengers Beware: Predictions about Iowa Congressmen

Much of the media's attention has been focused on the Iowa governor's race and the so-called "mystery candidate" to take on Republican Senator Chuck Grassley next year. But a report I saw this weekend has a bit of a warning for anyone thinking of challenging Iowa's congressional incumbents, at least in two of the races.

Congresssional Quarterly has changed its predictions to favor the incumbents. Republicans Dave Funk and Brad Zaun beware: CQ moved 3rd District Democratic Congress Leonard Boswell's re-election race from "likely Democrat" to "safe Democrat". I don't know of a Democratic challenger for 4th District Republican Congress Tom Latham. But CQ changed the race from "likely Republican" to "safe Republican". Here's the report:

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And this video has no news value at all. But it shows how important "pausing" is between words:) Check out this anchor's unfortunate lack of a pause when he talks about how his co-anchor is off for the night.