2015

Nearly a month after Governor Terry Branstad issued his controversial vetoes, the reviews are in and they’re unanimous: Iowans are pissed off. The vetoes that eliminated $56 million for K-12 education, effectively closed two mental health facilities, and wiped out one-time assistance to several universities have struck an angry chord with Iowa voters like few…

Do you enjoy Starting Line? Of course you do! So help us keep this site sustainable by donating to us to help cover costs and keep us running. As you can tell, Starting Line has been a labor of love for me. No other job I’ve worked on has been as fun or has made…

Philanthropist Donald Trump was in Iowa last Saturday, where he gave prepared remarks about America’s post-colonial experience in Southeast Asia, with specific emphasis on the role of naval forces and the impact of a particular soldier’s five year interaction with the indigenous population. In light of the ubiquitous attention focused on Mr. Trump’s well-received speech,…

Three retired generals, including Wesley Clark, visited Des Moines on Wednesday to make the case for the Renewable Fuel Standard, linking its success to America’s national security. On a trip through Iowa as part of the Vote Vets campaign, the three laid out the real world impacts they’ve seen caused by an over-reliance on foreign…

For Iowa Democrats still coming down from the exciting high of the Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids this Friday, good news: you’ve got two more fun events to go to in August. Coming up on August 14th will be the Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake. Then two weeks later, Progress Iowa hosts…

Back in December the Des Moines Register’s chief political reporter, Jennifer Jacobs, released much talked-about lists of the 50 most wanted Iowa Republican and Democratic activists for the Iowa Caucus. They were good lists, even if people passionately debated over who was on it. But we felt like Jacobs missed out on an important aspect…

“We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too.” That’s what RNC Chair Reince Priebus said back in 2013 after the party’s second-in-a-row presidential election defeat. They determined their standing among minority communities was badly tarnished and Priebus vowed to address it. We’re only several months…

Democrats got their first announced candidate for the 3rd District on Monday morning as Desmund Adams officially launched his campaign. Criticizing what he called the “Do-Nothing Congress,” Adams offered up his own personal upbringing and his experience in the business world as a way to bring new leadership to the office Republican David Young currently…

I’ll be honest: last week I had a different idea of how I was going to rank this. I planned on taking the bold step of putting Bernie Sanders at number one, making the argument that if the Iowa Caucus were to be held today, he’d win it. Despite the Clinton organizing advantage, the sheer…

No need to bury the lede here: Hillary Clinton didn’t win the Iowa Caucus with just one speech, but she came damn well close on Friday night. Her feisty, passionate barrage of policy issues, one-liners and hits on Republican candidates stood out amongst the crowd on an exciting night full of great moments. Clinton didn’t…