September 2015

It was an exercise in endurance slogging through the three-hour GOP debate last night, but no one could possibly look away. The Republican debates this year have quickly become must-watch TV, drawing in record audiences. The viewership from last night is estimated at 22.9 million, “NFL-level ratings” as they’re calling it, CNN’s most-watched program ever.…

About 15 minutes before the main Republican debate on CNN last night I got a poll call testing various messaging points on both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They only said it was from a “national data collection firm,” and I somehow forgot to inquire further at the end of the call which company was…

It was a relatively ho-hum affair for most of President Barack Obama’s visit to North High School in Des Moines, where he briefly laid out new college affordability proposals before taking questions from the audience. With Education Secretary Arne Duncan at his side, Obama fielded a wide variety of issues from students and parents, including…

Former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack has thrown her support behind Monica Vernon for the 1st District Democratic primary today, as have two new labor unions in the last week. It’s a few more additions to the long list of public endorsements Vernon has received, who may soon run out of well-known Iowans to back…

Senator Bernie Sanders has gained on, or maybe even caught, Hillary Clinton in Iowa as in the rest of the country. The Selzer poll showed Clinton with a seven point lead and most recently a Quinnipiac poll showed Sanders ahead by one in Iowa. In contrast, other late August Iowa polling shows Clinton with a…

The increased calls for America to accept more refugees fleeing from terror and violence in the Syrian civil war really got one Iowa Republican State Senator’s blood boiling this week. Senator Jason Schultz from Western Iowa went on Jan Mickelson’s radio show on Thursday to blast Senator Chuck Grassley’s recent suggestion that Iowa could take…

Now that we’re past the Labor Day holiday, often used as a marker for both voter interest and campaign phases, let’s pull out our crystal ball and predict what key factors and storylines will affect caucus night for the Democrats: Is Sanders’ Campaign The Howard Dean Of 2004 Or The Barack Obama Of 2008? Insurgent…

If you’re looking for a prescription to combat the ills of climate change, climb on up to the top of John Forbes’ pharmacy in Urbandale to see the 90 solar panels he’s installed to power his business. Once it comes online next week, the panels should power 80% to 85% of his Medicap Pharmacy electricity…

After five days on the road with the top three Democratic presidential candidates, I’m back at home decompressing and sorting through all the interesting tidbits that didn’t make it into my main posts. Here’s some good odds and ends of what I saw out at eight Sanders events, four Clinton events and an O’Malley one:…

Update 9/8: The O’Malley campaign released a list of 17 Iowa endorsements the day after Labor Day, framing it as part of their entrance into a new phase of campaigning in the Iowa Caucus. A handful of these names were already known from a while ago (well, to me anyway), but there’s several important new…