Article & Journal Resources

Iowa is home to the Field of Dreams, the location of the 1989 movie of the same name. The film introduced the phrase “build it, and they will come” into the nation’s lexicon and, while sometimes over-used, it’s as good an explanation as any for what’s happening in the state as the 2008 caucuses loom.

Build it the candidates have, at least most of them. While some of the big names like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain made strategic decisions to basically skip the state, or at least de-emphasize its importance to their campaigns, most have put their all into it. Months filled with stump speeches, question and answer sessions and the ingestion of just about any kind of food you can think of that could possibly be served on a stick at the state’s fairs, they have “built it.”

But will “they” come? Campaign operatives and political observers of all stripes have spent the better part of the last two days chewing over the results of the Des Moines Register poll which, if accurate in its findings on turnout, signals a dramatic shift in voting behavior in the state. The most striking findings were among likely Democratic caucus goers. The poll showed that, among those who said they were likely to caucus, 60 percent would be attending one for the very first time and 40 percent were identified as Independents.

For a process in the past dominated by a relatively small core of party activists, having so many first-timers and independents would be nothing less than shocking. Campaign operatives quickly questioned the poll’s turnout predictions, with even the Barack Obama campaign sounding cautious about a poll which showed their candidate with a sizable lead. Pundits are quick to point out that other polls, taken around the same time, show the race much closer.

Much of the debate has been about the intricate details of polling – which lists are used, how independents are identified, etc. But those arguments may be missing the bigger picture, which is that it is not inconceivable that the presidential campaigns have “built” something unique in Iowa.

For Obama, first-time Independents have been a focus of his outreach efforts, for Clinton, it’s been first-time women. With the unprecedented micro-level of targeting individuals for the caucuses – and more time spent at it than ever before – it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that this year’s voters would look quite a bit different than they have in the past.

“Iowa? I could have sworn this was Heaven,” said Ray Kinsella’s ghostly father in the movie. It may be a line that ends up in someone’s victory speech tomorrow night.

For DOJ watchers wondering whether Michael Mukasey would be a "loyal Bushie" or independent from the White House, there's some evidence today that would point to the latter.

The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation and appointed an outside prosecutor to handle the probe into the CIA's destruction of video tapes showing detainee interrogations. Mukasey said that a joint preliminary inquiry by the DOJ's National Security Division and the CIAs inspector general determined there is a basis for initiating a criminal investigation of this matter.

Meet John Durham (pictured), the first assistant U.S. Attorney in Connecticut, who has been appointed an Acting U.S. Attorney to lead the investigation. He will report directly to the deputy attorney general. The probe would normally be handled by the U.S. attorney in eastern Virginia, where the CIA headquarters are located, but the office recused itself. Mukasey said the move was made in order to avoid any possible appearance of a conflict with other matters handled by that office.

Durham played baseball at Colgate University -- Go Red Raiders! -- and received his J.D. from Connecticut Law. He worked first as a local prosecutor in Connecticut before moving to the DOJ's organized crime strike force, which was later folded into the local U.S. Attorney's offices.

This isn't Durham's first high-profile assignment from Main Justice. In 1998, then-AG Janet Reno appointed Durham to explore allegations that FBI agents and police officers in Boston have been in bed with the mob. Click here for a hagiographic 2001 profile of Durham from the Hartford Courant. Said Boston lawyer Anthony Cardinale of Durham: "I've been up against them all over the country and I'd put him in the top echelon of federal prosecutors. He's such a decent guy you can't hate him." Said an FBI agent: "There is no more principled, there is no more better living, there is no finer person that I know of or have encountered in my life."

With those quotes seven years old, we wanted to see if he was still such an awesome guy. So the Law Blog checked in with Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general in Connecticut, who also sung Durham's praises. "He is relentless and tireless in pursuing every lead and every bit of information that could open avenues for prosecution but he is also a prosecutor of absolute integrity who will never shade or distort a piece of evidence to achieve some desired result," said Blumenthal, who has worked with Durham on numerous cases. "He lets the chips and the facts fall without any predisposition and often agonizes about what's legally right and fair."