Registrations for the pre-release screening of “I Want Your Money” in Des Moines are already trending beyond expectations of the group that is hosting the free event.  Event organizers now expect well over 200 people to attend the event to be held on Sunday October 3 at the Varsity Theatre, which can seat over 400 people.

“We’re delighted that people are willing to make this a priority on such short notice,” said Will Rogers, event organizer and Polk County Republican Co-Chair.  “There is a continued wave of discontent with Washington politics and the lack of good fiscal management by our current government.  People are really paying attention to the economy and our national debt and this movie illustrates the magnitude of the problem.”

The screening …

Note from Art Smith: As the Communications Director for the Polk County Republican Party here in Iowa, I have had the privilege of watching an extraordinary group of leaders build an organization that has been engaging for the party activists in Polk County, has brought itself into the eyes of the community, has succeeded in hosting several high-value events featuring nationally-known speakers, and most importantly, has provided a valuable support mechanism for our candidates.

The following is a letter from the leaders of Polk County Republicans, Chairman John Bloom and Co-chair Will Rogers.

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As you may be already aware, this election year could be one of the biggest landslide victories for Republican candidates in over 15 years, including right here …

What a great evening! Kathie Obradovich pointed out that it’s like being in an airplane hanger here at Hy-Vee Hall, but we have a great crowd, a lot of great Republicans and big group of press (75 registered), including a number of national names.

The theme of those speaking is what this crowd expects to hear: Reid and Pelosi are bringing the country down, killing jobs, killing the economy, stepping on the Constitution. What the country needs is smaller government, stronger jobs and economic growth, and greater fiscal responsibility, and Republicans can deliver.

Speakers included Republican Party of Iowa Co-chair Jim Kurtenbach, Representatives Steve King and Tom Latham, Senator Chuck Grassley, Former Governor and Candidate Terry Branstad, and Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn.…

Art Smith (“From The Right”) will be live chatting along with Conner Anderson (“From The Left”) at The Des Moines Register’s web site on September 14, 2010 from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.  Come and follow the conversation!…

Matt Strawn, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI), announced today that Sarah Palin will be the Party’s special guest at their upcoming fall dinner.  The Reagan Dinner: A Salute to Freedom will be held on Friday, September 17 in the evening, at a location and time that are yet to be determined.

“The Iowa GOP is pleased that Gov. Palin is traveling to Iowa to join the battle to return principled, conservative leadership to Iowa,” said Chairman Strawn. “Our economic and personal freedoms are under attack in Washington, DC and Des Moines. I know Iowa Republicans will be energized and motivated by Gov. Palin to stand up and fight for these principles all the way to Election Day and beyond.”

As noted by …

The following was released by the Polk County Republican Party:

The Polk County Republican Party commissioned a poll in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District that shows Republican Brad Zaun leading by 7.3% points in a head to head match-up with incumbent Leonard Boswell.

“These numbers are very encouraging for Senator Zaun and Republicans across the board.  It is clear voters in central Iowa are looking for new, principled leadership,” said Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa Matt Strawn.

Other highlights in the survey include:

• Zaun beats Boswell in Polk County, 46.5% to 38.4%
• Among Independent voters, Zaun again leads Boswell, 41.3% to 31.7%
• Boswell hard re-elect is only at 24.7% with a total re-elect of 34%, but 51.3% of voters say it’s time for a

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[Update: some of the text of the proposed rule change included struck out content - It's corrected now.  - Ed.]

Matt Strawn met with bloggers today to provide a report on the meetings he has attended at the RNC recently.  One of the items he brought back was the recommendation from the Temporary Delegate Selection Committee (TDSC), tasked with looking at how to modify the rules around Primaries and Caucuses in the 2012 Presidential Nominating process.

The proposal by the committee, which will be taken up at the Summer RNC meeting in August, establishes a starting point on March 6, 2012 for primaries and caucuses.  Iowa is one of 4 states exempted from the date, so we will be able to hold the Republican Iowa …

Overall, this was probably the most entertaining political event that I have attended yet this year.   Hats off to Iowans For Tax Relief (ITR) for putting on a great program!

The afternoon consisted of a speech by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (who is currently considered a likely candidate for President in 2012, but is being shy about the idea), and 8 minute speeches by each of the candidates for Governor (except for the Democrat) intended to be focused on the Iowans for Tax Relief Candidate Questionnaire.  The actual answers provided by the candidates to the questionnaire will be at ITR’s web site on Monday.  Dave Stanley, Chairman and Founder of ITR and Ed Failor, Jr, President of ITR, spoke at the beginning of …

I’ll be tweeting from the Iowan’s For Tax Relief (ITR) “2010 Iowa Taxpayers’ Day” event at the Northwest Holiday Inn in Des Moines.  All of the candidates for Governor (except for Governor Culver) will be grilled here today, and we’ve already got a number of press and bloggers present.

Even Steve Deace is here, standing 3 feet away explaining that he tries to get to these kind of events ONCE in a while so people don’t think he’s just a disembodied voice like the namesake of “Charlie’s Angels”.

Just had a nice chat with Dawn Pettengill (Republican State Representative from District 39, Benton County), who in 2007 switched from Democrat to Republican.  I asked her how it’s been being a Republican, and she said that …

From Iowa Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley:

Of all the weeks on the calendar, this may be the week Iowa taxpayers look forward to the least.

On one hand, this week marks the deadline for filing federal tax returns. Many Iowans will likely write bigger checks to both the federal and state government this year.

On the other hand, this is also the week where every school district in the state must certify their budget for the upcoming school year. Normally, this might not seem like a particularly noteworthy annual occurrence to everyday Iowans. But due to the recent actions by Governor Culver and legislative Democrats, property tax increases are on the way.

Last fall, when Governor Culver made his 10 percent across-the-board reduction after

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