Iowa Republicans, Seeking To Gain A Senate Seat, Struggle Against Disarray
By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, April 8, 2:47 PM
DES MOINES, Iowa — It was a day Iowa Republicans had long dreamed of when their Democratic nemesis, Tom Harkin, announced he was retiring from the Senate. But that day was in January, and as the Midwest winter now gives way to spring, Republicans here find themselves in a surprising predicament - still trying to come up with someone to run for the job, and struggling to avoid becoming another example of the party’s disarray after its presidential defeat.
Ever since Harkin, who had held the office since Ronald Reagan was president, provided an opening for the GOP, the party has bounced between two options for the Senate seat: candidates who could win but won’t run, and candidates who could run but, party officials fear, couldn’t win.
Meanwhile, the state party apparatus has become a reflection of the GOP’s bitterly divided factions. Now led by followers of libertarian Ron Paul, the organization has quarreled with Iowa’s senior Republican eminence, Gov. Terry Branstad, and disputed his strategy for state government and party affairs.
“The Republican Party in Iowa is in turmoil, with no clear leader for the future and no consistent governing philosophy,” said Doug Gross, a Republican fundraiser and confidant of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/iowa-republicans-seeking-to-gain-a-senate-seat-struggle-against-disarray/2013/04/08/96dc2b4e-a075-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html
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