Another successful Iowa Corn 250 at the Iowa Speedway.   Nearly 40,000 Iowans showed their enthusiasm for racing and the Indy Car League, and the competitive racing I think may give the track in Newton another IRL event.      My highlight of the event was to interview my favorite athlete Milka Duno.  (I already got into an argument with people on whether a race car driver is an athlete, and we aren’t going there…).     I am not a “fan” of many sports figures.    Part of the reason is that in my profession, I’ve interviewed athletes, entertainers, politicians, etc…and you have to concentrate on the task at hand.  The other reason is that if I get an opportunity to meet somebody I admire, they may turn out to be a jerk.  Who wants to live with that disappointment?

    I had the opportunity to meet and interview Milka Duno, driver of the Citgo #23.   O.K., I’m not going to hide the fact is what draws you in is that she is attractive, but her story is fascinating.  She’s a naval engineer, has four master’s degrees, and took up driving in the late 90’s after a friend suggested she give it a shot.. She even has a children’s book, “Go Milka, Go” which shares the importance of education to children.  Milka is a positive role model.  Part of the reason I’m a fan is she is moving forward in a male dominated profession, even when things are tough. 

    …and yeah, things are tough.  I interviewed her after an awful practice, where she recorded poor times.   While I was defending her driving skills to others, I still argue that the chemistry is just not there with the Dreyer-Reinbold team..as they got to find more speed in the car.  Milka exited the race after 20-some laps, due to handling problems.   It was moving too slow and was about to be black flagged anyway.  

   Despite the struggles, Milka had time for the fans.   I remember hearing on my way back from the Indy 500 of how she stood for over an hour and a half signing autographs.  She continues to have a positive attitude, and is a terrific role model.  Make sure click on RYAN"S PHOTOS on the adjacent page.

    Here is a portion of the interview with Milka.  I did have a few “recording problems”, so its not as clear as it should be.That was my fault...and be warned that English is not the native tongue of this Venezuelan.  Then again…I think she speaks 4 different languages…

  Click Here

Other Cedar Rapids notes:

-Milka was actually announced to drive in 2007 for Cedar Rapids car owner Larry Cahill. However, Cahill never entered the Indy series that year

-This week her teammate, Buddy Rice, was sponsored by Cedar Rapids businessman Kirk Taylor, who owns Express Auto delivery. It was a tough go for him too, finishing 22^nd.

 I predicted that at least one incumbent would be knocked off in Linn County local elections, but wasn't sure which one it would be.  Well, actually the incumbents all won their primaries, but there were some close elections.   There were familiar names on the ballot and if anything, it may clue us in on what is going to come down the pike this November.   Auditor Joel Miller surprised many... not necessarily because of his win, but the margin of victory. Miller has proven himself to voters, but  I don't think that people voted against challenger Lyle Hanson based on experience, as Hanson is certainly qualified.  Hanson's experience includes serving on the Cedar Rapids City council as Finance commissioner in the old Commission form of government.  Voters over the past few elections have indicated change, and Hanson may still be considered part of the "former" establishment and thus voters did not support his candidacy.  This may be an obstacle for current Cedar Rapids police officer David Zahn who is running on the Republican side for sheriff. Zahn served as Public Safety commissioner before the council/city manager form of government came about. 
  The Linn County supervisors elections will have nothing to do with party politics, it will all have to do with rural vs. urban.  The incumbents, who all live in Cedar Rapids, will have tough challengers. 
    On another note, Republican Peter Teahen, who is well known in Cedar Rapids, received around 67 percent of the vote in Linn County (Gazette 6/4/08)  in his bid to oust Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack.  However, he lost overall to Marianette Miller-Meeks of Ottumma.  Teahen's work with Freedom Festival and the Red Cross with disasters nationwide is well known in Cedar Rapids, but his name recognition did not factor into many votes elsewhere among the district.   Miller-Meeks will continue to run an organized and strong campaign.
   My goodness!  I have run across some bitter Hillary Clinton supporters! They say Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to hold the Presidency and said they will consider voting for McCain.    Sounds silly to me!   Policy differences between Clinton and Obama are tiny compared to the Republican John McCain so I don't understand their issue.   I don't have a problem with any of these candidates, but Clinton supporters need to quit being sore losers, quit spinning the facts, and get over it.  The process is ending and you need to come to terms with the outcome.  
   

Obama and Clinton campaign supporters in Michigan and Florida are set to have a rally Votergate 08 SuperRally.  Here’s the deal: In 2007, Democratic leaders in those states broke national political party rules against holding their primaries before February 5^th.  Those states were concerned about not having the  significance of the Iowa Caucuses or the New Hampshire Primary.   These states deliberately scheduled their votes with the full knowledge that the Democratic Party would not recognize their results. Only Hillary Clinton was on the Michigan ballot, but none of the candidates campaigned in that state.   350 delegates are at stake.

    Senator Tom Harkin recently made a statement on WMT that if we don’t honor the rules, then rules will never mean anything again.   Howard Dean, Democratic national Committee Chair recently told CNN , "The rules were set a year and a half ago. Florida and Michigan voted for them and then decided that they didn't need to abide by the rules. When you're in a contest you do need to abide by the rules.”   Senator Clinton now wants some sort of compromise where delegates will be seated.  Of course she does, if primaries were held in that state, she’d probably win.

 However, I don’t want to blame party leaders entirely in those states. The legislature in Florida passed this on as an overhaul of their election process (and you remember the Florida mess).   Moving up the primaries was their undertaking.   According to a May 2007 Fox News Report, “Florida lawmakers have repeatedly said they will not cower in the face of sanctions from the national parties because they believe choosing the next president is more important than sending delegates to a convention with a preordained outcome.”  The same is true in Michigan, when the Governor signed that bill.   Michigan and Florida are trying to call the bluff of the Democratic party, knowing the importance of those respective states.

Whatever

    MY TAKE:   the organizers of this Votergate 08 SuperRally need to quit saying that ‘all voices should be heard and all votes should matter’.  Michigan and Florida voters will have their say in November and not before.  This is a nominating process, put together by organizing bodies of respective political parties.    Political parties are coalitions of political factions and ideas.  If we didn’t have political parties, we could have 30 people running for President.  What kind of elected official would we have at that point.  Our laws over the years have embraced the current two party system.     There is no law that says you have to be a member of a political party, but those that are choose to participate in nominating congests.   Every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 will get the opportunity to vote for President in November.    Now that Michigan and Florida know the outcome of their blunder, blame the Democratic state parties and their respective legislature, and not the other states and voters that followed the rules.