MORE SCOOP, SAME CHAMBER – Speaking of ambitious, Gronstal’s gots himself an opponent now, Mark Brandenburg. He’s an adjunct prof at Iowa Western and a Union guy. From the release: “I grew up on the west end of Council Bluffs where my parents still reside; Council Bluffs is my home, and I deeply care about what direction and path we go down as a community. I know the deep-seeded values of this community; family, hard work, entrepreneurial spirit, faith and helping your neighbor,” said Brandenburg.

Nice work. Sources close to QCI are telling me that recruiting is going very well in both chambers for Republicans. Personally, although I’m an eternal optimist, I think we Rs are gonna have good year. Want some proof? It’s the fact that guys like Mark are stepping up to face a very uphill battle over in Counciltucky. Have some stuff in the hopper from the other chamber, stay tuned.

JOIN ME FOR THE 1ST QCI BREAKFAST CLUB! Hey all you QCI-ders. Come out for green eggs and ham Monday morning at Flanagan’s, 7:00am. We’ll kick off St. Patrick’s Day on a good start (mine will be Diet Coke… um there’s that whole work thing dudes). A fun opportunity to talk a little shop and some good food. Flanny’s is located on the corner of MLK and Ingersoll. You won’t miss it, there will be a ginormous tent. See you there bright and early at 7:00am! Who knows, it may become one of those power broker Des Moines breakfast clubs you hear about… um, probably not. Hope to see you there!

EMAIL OF THE DAY – So I’m not gonna name names to protect the innocent (oh yea, just like Dragnet style)… but I got this email from a “friend” with the subject line reading “Dude, if I make it this far, this is what I want to do‏.” The body of the email only had this story.

7.2s – I’m actually getting some good reaction to the 7.2 Interviews and since I’m always up for trying something once (except for well… meth) I’m asking you guys and gals to come up with some names of folks you would like to see take the 7.2. Be creative. It can be anyone… Who would you like to see take the 7.2? And yes, if I could get George Brett, he would have already done it. Talk amongst yourselves…

Another 7.2 from a family member… my sister April. She gives you a quick inside view of some stuff at the Capitol. Now, I only have one sister… but for all I know she’s the best sister, EVER! Anytime I’m crazy busy or have a huge project going, I know she’ll always there to help. And she has this 6th sense to bring a pack of smokes to the office for me, because she figures I’m too busy to head to the store… that’s solid. So here’s a very special 7.2 from my awesome sister April! (yes, that's Ted Danson in the photo with her)

1. Tell us your daily routine… what's the play by play?
I get up around 7:00, make coffee, do hair, make-up and clothes for the day. I try to be at the Capitol by 8:00. Sometimes I'm successful.

I'm a clerk in the Senate. First thing I do is check how many emails we've gotten since the day before (it usually hovers around 100). Check the debate calendar and pull bills for debate that day.

The rest of my schedule usually hovers around the Senator's. My job is to get him what he needs and where he needs to be. Once he's there I take the time to catch up on the websites I visit daily and check my own email.

Noon rolls around and I check to see if there's a free lunch. A major perk of working at the Cap is free lunches thanks to the gift law that prohibits any one group giving more than $2.99 to any one legislator during session. It's the kindergarten rule: if you bring it for one person, you gotta bring it for everyone.

I spend the afternoon wading through emails: filtering out the spam, deciding which ones to file and which ones to point out to the Senator. I file bills from the stack we get everyday. I help the Senator put out press releases and newsletters. Then, if I get everything done and there are no major catastrophes, I try to get out by 4:00 – 4:30.

One or two nights a week, I work at Barnes and Noble as a bookseller. I help customers find books, order something if we didn't find it in-store, check customers out at the register and put books away. We close at 11:00, after which I head home and immediately crash.

If I don't work at B&N I usually go home, eat something and settle in to a rigorous schedule of TV and talking with my family on the phone. Sometimes I meet up with friends or have something going on at church but most of my evenings are uneventful and pretty lethargic. I rarely make it through the news before heading to bed.

2. What's the most rewarding part of your gig?
In all honesty, everyday I get to help "fight the good fight." The Senator I work for shares a lot of my personal opinions and values. He's also Catholic (like me) and in a way I feel like we're on the same team. Everyday I am doing what I can to make Iowa a better place than it already is. I also work right next to the Senator who represents me in the Iowa Senate so whenever an issue comes up all I have to do is lean to my right and tell him how I feel about it.

That being said, I'd take the Majority over leaving at 4:00 any day.

3. Give me a big prediction – ala Chris Mathew's "Tell me something I don't know."
My prediction: I've been saying it for about a month now: McCain/Huckabee 2008.

Something you don't know: the key to a lot of legislators' hearts is popcorn from the Capitol cafeteria.

4. What are you listening to right now? What's in your mp3 or CD player right now?
A Fine Frenzy's "One Cell in the Sea." The soundtrack from the movie Once is amazing, as is the movie – I highly recommend both. I always have Carrie Underwood and Britney Spears in my car (Brit may be crazy, but her hits are still crazy good!).

5. What's your favorite hangout (bar, restaurant, etc.)?
I actually like to hang out at B&N when I'm not working. I get the employee discount on a grande non-fat vanilla latte and I get to actually skim books for something I might like to read. I really like a lot of the folks I work with and I can chat it up without getting the evil eye from one of the managers.

I also love Jimmy's American Café. I've been a fan for years. The chicken fingers are incredible and the drinks aren't usually too expensive. The atmosphere is classic and relaxed and the patio is huge for when the weather gets warmer.

6. What's the last ball game you went to?
I went to a little league football game with my sister-in-law in Kansas City. Their little league football is FAR more organized than anything I'd ever seen. These kids were 8 and 9 and they had cheerleaders! And the cheerleaders had uniforms!! It was a fun game and pretty cute. Their helmets were all still pretty big so it looked like 22 bobble heads running up and down the field.

7. If you were not in this current gig or career, what would you be doing?
If I could quit my job now and make money at it I would be a full-time writer. I've kept a journal and a passion for the written word since I was 10. Plus, there are a lot of liberal writers out there. I would be an anomaly!

7.2 What's with?

…all the negativity? Apparently "The News" is only bad news. In case you need something to smile about in your daily journey through the world wide web, visit: http://www.cuteoverload.com/ and you can thank me later.

As I approach over 2500 hits and 3 months since the first post of this crappy little blog I thought I’d do a few house cleaning items, updates and announcements to the site.

1. Thank you very much for reading and kind words passed along about QCI. I really try to make it fun and have a goal to have one new thing a day on the site.

2. I’ve added a few new links to the “Stuff I Read.” As you can see it’s an eclectic list of stuff. New ones of note: Charlotte Eby’s Iowa Insider, Eastern Iowa Conservative and John Deeth. Ch, Ch Ch, Che Check ‘em out!

3. True or False… Linsday Lohan makes her comeback full circle this year.

4. I removed the Leader Board thinger for getting my jokes and references. Yoda was winning all the points. Congrats Yoda!

5. Anyone have a good NCAA Pool? Feeling lucky this year.

6. If you haven’t yet and you are considering it, please donate to Chad Barth’s 2nd Annual Walk for Epilepsy Fundraiser. To donate go to this site: http://www.walkwithchad.com/

7. As always, your feedback is welcomed and encouraged.

8. Lunch menu for today is BBQ Pork on a Bun, Sun Chips, Baked Beans, & Mixed Fruit. Anyone want to trade sun chips for beans? Huh?

9. As you have figured out by now, I learned how to embed YouTube videos to the site. To end this update and in honor of his return to Central Iowa tomorrow night, here’s “Liar” by Rollins Band. Isn’t this like the perfect song for a blog that talks a little politics? And how much does Henry Rollins rock? I know the anti-Bush stuff he said… blah, blah, blah… If I had to base what I listened to or watched on TV by the politics of the artists… there would probably be nothing left to rock out to…

BTW, this album is so friggin sweet…. Take it away Henry… and your “Rollins Band.”

How about few more scoops of randomness with your meatloaf. Gravy? Or would you like it QCI style… because we’re straight butter today.

WARD VS. GREENE IS ON – Why am I following this story you ask? First, it was my first real scoop posted here that got a little attention (oh yea, I read my sitemeter… lots of Google searches) Second, this thing gets interesting because I’ve been corrected on this story twice (which gets annoying, because I want to get it right the first time). But I digress. According to a reliable source with witnesses… it’s on like Donkey Kong.

A solid source tells QCI that Greene is out collecting the necessary signatures to be on the June 3rd ballot. So what does this mean? A few things… the Dems are serious and ambitious about their majority. Ambitious? Yea, because the seat is a solid R district. Until we see some fundraising numbers, I’m gonna mark this seat “Lean Ward.” On the other hand… there’s the Tami Wiencek thingy. Greene gots some name ID from her days at WHO-TV 13. It’s officially the bell weather now. This entire cycle has been up and down… what happens in this seat will determine which party's wave is big or small.

BLASPHEMY… PURE BLASPHEMY – Christian “Crunch” Caruth has this photo of merchandise gone bad. At the Ames Wal-Mart (like most Wal-Marts) they order t-shirts and sweatshirts of local high schools. As Christian said, “I went to High School, um, where, again?” I suspect a Roland-Story grad placed the order. Damn Norskies... you just can't trust 'em! Do they have a purple and gold Roland-Stoned t-shirt? Damn you Norsemen!

First, it’s SOUTH HAMILTON, not South Hampton. Second, our colors are red and white officially (the red evolved into a more cardinal or maroon because of a couple of uniform order snafus) not green and white. They got the Hawk right, Hector is struttin’ with his South High pride. Per Christian, they got it fixed, “I mentioned something to one of the associates working who gave me the stare of death. About two weeks later they had the right shirts.” Way to stand up for your school Christian! Go Hawks! Makes me want to belt out the fight song.

SPEAKIN’ OF SOUTH HIGH – …had a good “Do you remember this song from high school?” session with a couple of co-workers the other day. Which song won the “Oh now you didn’t” award? Check this video out… “Girl you know it’s true!”

Cruisin’ down Ingersoll I saw this sign that Spring is on its way (50 degree temps this week!). Most of you know I’m a Royals fan. But it’s hard not to root for the Cubs, especially when you can get a good deal on Old Style in just about any bar in Des Moines. Since hope springs eternal for you Cubs fans (and baseball fans in general) how are the Cubs going to be this year? For you others, how’s your team gonna do?