Let me first remind people of what it was like when Barack Obama came to Davenport.

Now let me remind people what the Iowa Independent had to say about the Biden/Palin debate:

Palin's forced folksiness falls flat in VP debate
By Douglas Burns 10/3/08 12:53 AM

For her part, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin - speaking with the programmed cadence of a GPS navigation system -- used forced folksiness to deliver crammed material in the manner of a  high schooler looking to score a good grade on a Spanish test. The kid may escape with a B-minus, but he wouldn't be able to order a cup of coffee in Spain a week later...

With weird winks and homespunisms, Palin worked in several "you betchas" and "darn rights" and even a "shout out" to family in an effort to appeal to just folks.

As a small-town Iowan I didn't find it genuine at all. She actually talked down to us, figuring that references to hockey moms and the hacknayed phrase "Joe Six Pack" and her self-application of the word "maverick" would hold more sway with than a discussion of the issues...

Remarkably, Biden, thought to be the coldblooded product of two many years in the U.S. Senate, had the most genuine moment of humanity in the debate when he briefly choked up about car accident three decades ago that claimed his first wife and a daughter and left his sons injured.

"The notion that somehow, because I'm a man, I don't know what it's like to raise two kids alone, I don't know what it's like to have a child you're not sure is going to -- is going to make it -- I understand," Biden said.

Forced, condescending "folksiness" vs. genuine, honest, caring intelligence. That was the core of the debate from the eyes of the Iowa Independent.

So now McCain is coming to Iowa to try and convince America's heartland that they want to vote for more Bush failures. I say let's send the message that Iowa rejects the Bush/McCain agenda.

Please donate through my Iowa Act Blue site in McCain's honor. In particular I ask people to donate to the Iowa Democratic Party, or to Elesha Gayman, who represents Davenport in the state legislature, or to Becky Greenwald, who is running in one of the two remaining red congressional districts in Iowa. Elesha Gayman is a good progressive who is working very hard to represent her constituents. Some big corporations have been targeting her, so she needs grassroots support. Help her out! And Becky Greenwald is running against Tom Latham in the IA-04 district. Latham is one of the Katrina 11, the 11 Republicans who eagerly supported no-bid contracts for Halliburton but voted against aid to Katrina victims. Becky Greenwald is an excellent candidate who would be a huge improvement over Latham. I am giving to all three in honor of McCain's visit. Please join me.