Thursday, May 22, 2008

GOP Senate Debate: Let’s get it on!






The Polk County Republican Party is sponsoring a live debate for the Republican candidates for the United States Senate. George Eichhorn (pictured right) and Christopher Reed (pictured left) have agreed to participate. Steve Rathje declined participation. Take nothing from the size differential in the pictures-our tech skills with pics are pretty limited.

Channel 13’s ace political reporter Dave Price will moderate. Dave authors the outstanding Price of Politics blog so if you have any questions you would might have just click on Dave's photo and let him know.

The debate will air state wide live on Friday, May 30, at 9:00 o’clock p.m. on Channel 11 in Des Moines. Check the IPTV website for listings in your area. The debate will be at the Iowa Public Television studios in Johnston.

Seating is limited and will be provided by the Polk County Republican Party. The Polk GOP can be reached at PolkGOP.com.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

This would be @ 9:00 PM on Friday May 30th, correct?

I would encourage Mr Rathje to participate in preparation for his encountering Tommy Bahamma in debate format in case he is the primary winner.

I am sure that TRS understands the need for "practice" to develop the skills necessary to be successful in the debate arena.

It is a learned skill to be able to be specific and concise in one or two minute responses rather than in a 25 minute general topic speech delivery.

Great work by the Polk Co GOP and the "Get Results" Chairman Ted.

I will be there!

Anonymous said...

Good work, Ted. Rathje seems cowardly. He just lost any hope for my vote.

Anonymous said...

Great work. Clearly Rathje realizes that with Eichhorn's entry that there is now a qualified candidate to take on Harkin. Can't wait to see the debate and then the real debate when Eichhorn matches wits and records with Harkin come November!

Anonymous said...

Seriously - what the hell is Rathje's problem? You have to be pretty arrogant to dis a statewide television opportunity. Or scared?

Maybe since he is woefully inept at raising money, he can't afford the gas to drive to Des Moines.

Anonymous said...

a date of the debate would be nice

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje couldn't get a tanning appointment in before the debate?

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje is afraid Eichhorn will eat him alive on stage? Literally...

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje couldn't get a bus ticket to Des Moines? God knows his campaign can't afford the gas.

Anonymous said...

yay dave price!

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje realized he is more annoying than a John Basedow advertisment...Fitness made simple, fitness made simple...

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje realized that Eichhorn would fill up the whole stage and he would have no where to stand?

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje is afraid of Superman? I mean, who can blame him for that?

Anonymous said...

Maybe Rathje is taking a math class?

What is $7,732 "COH" - $19,960 "Debts owed" + "fingernails on a chalkboard" speechs + 20 hours per week in a tanning bed?

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should be ignoring Rathje & Reed the gadfly candidates and focus on making sure the party's legitimate guy to go up against Harkin is supported. Eichhorn jumped in, the party is united behind him, let's have this debate and use it to rev up the base and get on with the general election where it matters.

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should throw a harness around Eichhorn, I'm sure he could pull the whole party down with him...I mean the whole party.

Anonymous said...

c'mon George, sing it with me now - one eight hundred, ninety five JENNY...that's one eight hundred, ninety five JENNY!

Anonymous said...

This is starting to look like a good old Krusty thread.

Anonymous said...

Steve Rathje thinks he is better than everyone else. The only reason people support him is because Leon Mosley tells them to. Shame on Leon for supporting such a jerk. The manner in which Rathje and his supporters have conducted themselves is dirty.

Anonymous said...

Why does Mosley tell people to support Rathje? What specifics has rathje offered regarding any issue in his "3 years, every county at least once snd some twice and 200,000 miles" campaign around Iowa.

How can Mosley be so misguided?

Al said...

I will be awaiting the debate. I have not had an opportunity to hear Mr. Reed speak, but I have had some correspondence with him. He seems like a very genuine individual that really wants what is best for our country. Eichhorn is a very polished speaker that has a very clear record of conservatism. My one concern is the fact that he waited so long to set up a website. This leads me to feel that he is not serious in his candidacy. I may be wrong, but that is the impression that it leaves one with.

Anonymous said...

I was talking to a couple of Rathje people who said that they were going to run a "clean" and "positive" campaign against Tommy Bahama.

Sorry, lost my vote. Not going to work.

Anonymous said...

The clean and positive campaign talk and refusal to ask for supporters financial support were cornerstones of Rathje's "canned talk" for 2.5 years of his "I have been running for 3 years". Bad decision.

He is making another bad decision in deciding to not appear at the statewide televised debate. I have heard that a full schedule is the reason.

Maybe Rathje is following McCain on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and that is his conflict.

Al said...

I had not heard Rathje say that he would refuse to ask for financial support from his supporters. I sent a request for information to Rathje and he responded by sending a request for financial support.

I don't think that Rathje would fare that well in a formal debate, I think that this will favor Eichhorn, but it will give Reed some much needed face time with the public.

Anonymous said...

Eichhorn is a looser! He needs to spend some time in front of the mirror and work on his attitude.

Anonymous said...

Clearly the only qualified, serious candidate is Eichhorn. I am sure if the other guys had been up to the task he would not have come in. Thank god he did for the party. The top of the ticket needs to be a serious individual who has a background to be legitimate.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who trashes Eichorn clearly does not know him. He is a great guy with a great record. This the type of guy that should be in office. He is highly qualified principaled leader

Al said...

I wish all these anonymous posters would put their names out where we could all see them. I have the feeling that all these supporters of Eichhorn are in fact the same person.

Anonymous said...

Eichhorn has a long standing reputation that is well respected by the party as a whole. George would never saya bad thing about anyone. It is ashame that Ratjie can't find something new to run on.

Anonymous said...

I have been around for years and I have never seen Steve Rathje even help get anyone elected. THis guy is an unknown. He also has no personality, have you ever seen him smile. oops wait i think he did smile that one time after chewing on an immigrant. This guy is just rehashed memories of the presidential candidates. One thing that keeps harkin in office is a staff that is very proactive in helping people with their government problems (mostly in cases where there is to much government. What would Ratjie do?

Anonymous said...

In my mind clearly Mr. Rathje is afraid to debate. I have met the man, he is so slick he he makes you want to take a shower after you talk to him. George Eichhorn is an excellent man but he did lose his house seat in 06 to McKinley Bailey, because he had a bad attitude and woudn't work hard. If he is the nominee I would gladly help him. Christopher Reed is in my mind the most qualified candidate. I have met him and found him a pleasant and well spoken and knowledgable man. I don't think we need a politician with a record to run agianst Harkin again. But it goes down to this anybody but Rathje for U.S Senate.

Anonymous said...

Eichhorn is consistently conservative and has an impeccable record. Never met Reed and Rathje is a typical Republican.

Eichhorn has my vote.

Al said...

I have never met Mr. Reed either although I have had numerous email correspondence with Mr. Reed. I like how he was very responsive to questions. He seems like he would make an excellent representative. I heard Eichhorn speak at the District convention. He is an excellent speaker with a verifiable conservative record. Rathje seems to be another plastic man. When I hear him speak I keep wanting to look for the string that someone pulled to make him talk. When it comes to this race I could vote for any of the three, but for now I am leaning toward Reed.

Anonymous said...

First, I am an Eichhorn supporter and I have not been sitting here writing all of these postings - who has that kind of time... maybe Mr. Reed's supporters... because the fact you lean towards someone because they had the time to personally write you back about your personal issues is not a good criteria and the fact that they took a while to put up a website is ABSOLUTELY not a good criteria. What don't you vote for someone based on a proven record and the fact that they have proven support across the state with which to fight Harkin.

Al said...

Having a record is not always the best criteria either. The impression that I am getting from the candidates is that Reed is more concerned with what the people of Iowa have to say. From the time that Eichhorn announced that he was running to the time that he launched his website I could not find a way to contact him. This leads me to believe that he is not really committed to winning the nomination. I wanted to find out his views on a variety of issues so I could make a decision, but I couldn't. I am sure he would make a decent elected official, however I feel that Reed would be the better choice.

Anonymous said...

It is my understanding that Eichhorn did not work at retaining his seat in the Iowa House in '06

We get beat by a youngster for state house and NOW we run for US Senate?

Anonymous said...

It would be great for anyone posting here to challenge the issues Eichhorn outlines at:

http://www.iowansforeichhorn.org/issues.htm

Please write back to explain what you disagree with in terms of the issus. Also, please note where Reed's experiece and coplete understanding of the issues is outlined.

Anonymous said...

TRS has the link on the left side of the home page for eichorn.

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