The Fallon campaign sent out this press release last week...

Fallon has received invitations to eight debates and has accepted them all. "Unfortunately," Fallon said, "Boswell has declined debate invitations from WHO Radio, the League of Women Voters, and Women for a Stronger America. Some of these groups have issued multiple invitations since February and have yet to receive any response from the Boswell campaign."

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote for the Iraq War?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote in favor of repealing the estate tax?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote to the bankruptcy bill?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote to approve torture in the Military Commissions Act?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote for No Child Left Behind?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his continued support for NAFTA-like trade agreements?

Is it because Boswell can't defend the fact that 74% of his donations come from PAC's?

Is it because Boswell can't defend his vote to provide $14 billion in tax breaks and incentives for oil and gas companies?

So it is official, former State Rep. Ed Fallon of Des Moines will be challenging Rep. Leonard Boswell in a primary in Iowa's 3rd district.  The primary will take place in June.

Boswell has been named a Bush Dog Democrat by Open Left, as one of the Democratic Representitives that supports President Bush the most often.

Boswell has had a terrible voting record on important legislation.  He was among the minority of House Democrats to authorize the use of military force in Iraq (AUMF).  Boswell also voted for the PATRIOT Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a draconian immigration bill that never made it through the Senate, and No Child Left Behind.

Fallon won a surprising 3rd place finish in the 2006 Democratic primary for Governor by building a strong grassroots organization.  He won 26% when he was expected to get less than 5% at the start of the campaign (Chet Culver won with 39%).  Despite being heavily outspent, Fallon won Polk Co. and was the top vote getter in the 3rd district.

Fallon is socially liberal and fiscally conservative. He has pushed public financing of elections, universal health care, ending corporate tax give aways, and has never taken money from lobbyists and PAC's.

The caucuses showed there is a wave of populism riding across Iowa and Fallon could ride that wave to Congress.

Last month, Selden Spencer surprised many when he announced that he would not run again in Iowa's 4th district. That left Democrats searching for a candidate to unseat Rep. Tom Latham, who votes with President Bush nearly 90% of the time. I know party leaders have been asking different people about a possible run, but with no luck.

William Myers from Humboldt is an Iraq Vet who is considering a run, but he is virtually an unknown among Democratic activists in the district. Also, Kevin Miskell, who is Vice President of the Iowa Farmer's Union, is considering a run, however rumors have it that party leaders in Des Moines aren't jumping at him possibly running.

I thought I would rank the possible candidates that could run in the 4th district. My criteria are experience and location within the district. One problem with Spencer's campaign was it was very Ames (Story Co. ) centered. The size of the district (28 counties) means the candidates must do well in Ft. Dodge (Webster Co.) and Mason City (Cerro Gordo Co.) and not just Story County to win. The candidate also needs a hook that would make them credible with rural voters.

Read more to view my rankings of possible candidates...

Here are my final rankings of the speeches at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner...

1. Barack Obama - This was the 5th time seeing Obama in person and he gave the passionate, strong speech I have heard. Most in attendance would say he was one of the best and the press, including David Yepsen, declared him the winner too.

2. John Edwards - Led off the night with a riproaring speech that fired up the crowd. However, he was probably hurt by going first on a long night of speeches. He didn't get the media bump, but the 9,000 likely caucus goers left impressed with Edwards. I put it right up there with his speech at his campaign announcement in Des Moines back in December.

Our current immigration laws are pretty much written for corporations to bring in as much cheap labor as they want and then if the companies are caught they get off without a fine. So since our laws encourage this, don't illegals need driver's licenses to get to work?

The point is nothing changes until you enact and enforce laws preventing companies from hiring illegal immigrants. People don't immigrate to the United States to drive to the mall and stop at convenience stores. The vast majority of immigrants come here to work, earn money, and get an education for their children. If companies aren't able hire illegal workers then the people won't come here illegally.

Yesterday a judge ruled against Michigan moving their primary to January 15th. Michigan is considering January 5th or 12th or to their original date of February 9th.

I think Michigan should stick with their original date of February 9th because this would give the state the most influence in the nominating process. When they first decided to move up their primary date, the candidates pledged to not campaign in Michigan and all the candidates except Clinton, Dodd, and Kucinich took their names off the ballot. This won't change if Michigan decides to go on January 5th or 12th. That leaves February 9th.

If Michigan held their contest on February they could decide who the nominee. Now if Hillary Clinton wins Iowa, the nomination is pretty much locked up. However, it is entirely possible that someone else wins Iowa and Hillary holds onto New Hampshire, the Iowa winner takes Nevada and Hillary wins South Carolina. If 3 or 4 candidates are still competitive in the race on February 5th, the chances of the candidates each winning a couple states is high. That would leave Michigan (and Louisiana) on February 9th to maybe tip the scales one way or another to the eventual winner.

Michigan would be smart to move back to February 9th and hope for competitive contests in the early states.

At a campaign stop at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown on Saturday afternoon, John Edwards drew strong distinctions between him and Hillary Clinton by calling on Iowans to pledge to not caucus for anyone who takes money from lobbyists.

Edwards said trading corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats won't fix the situation in Washington. Edwards announced that he has never taken money from Washington lobbyists, which drew loud applause from the crowd of over 200. Edwards told the audience that they can do something about this by pledging to not caucus for anyone who takes money from lobbyists. Edwards used a Rural American Forum that Hillary Clinton recently held at Monsanto's Lobbying Headquarters in Washington DC as an example of what is wrong...

I'm not sure where they got the people from, but if I want to talk to rural Americans I come to Iowa.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Edwards campaigned in his 99th county this year, making him the first candidate to campaign in every county in the state this election cycle.

I attended an event in Marengo held by John Edwards on Saturday. The event was supposed to take place at the public library, but was moved outside to a park because the expected crowd was too large. However, there was also rain in the forecast.

The first speaker was Roxanne Conlin. She gave a very passionate speech telling that she is supporting John Edwards because he has the best chance to win and he will be a great president. She said that we need someone who will be a great president and not someone who will just be better than the current one because that is a pretty low bar. An older gentleman standing next to me leaned over and said you can sure tell she doesn't like Bush. Conlin introduced John and Elizabeth Edwards and right when the music started, the sprinkles began to fall.