2015

The mood at the Democrats’ Jefferson Jackson Dinner last weekend was electric. Each campaign went all-out to provide Democratic activists an entertaining spectacle and show of organizational strength. How did it compare to the many Republican multi-candidate events that Starting Line has also attended? To use a phrase of the former GOP front-runner, those Republican…

Usually when a campaign puts together a memo for their top donors you try to highlight your accomplishments and project momentum. Perhaps that’s what Jeb Bush’s top advisers thought they were doing with the internal campaign briefing that got leaked to U.S. News and World Report yesterday, but even a brief look at their Iowa…

A group of about 100 central Iowa activists packed into a bar in Beaverdale last night to take in the latest GOP free-for-all on TV. The crowd was mostly Democrats (invited by the Make It Work organization), watching a Republican debate, but they still hoped to hear the candidates go on record on a number…

Guest post by Sean Bagniewski I can still remember it. I was standing in line at the grocery store and got a call from my friend, Brenda Kole, who had been helping with Hillary Clinton’s exploratory committee. She asked if I remembered a film crew who had stopped by my house several weeks before to…

A crowd of thousands erupted in cheers for underdog U.S. Senate candidate Tom Fiegen when he took the stage at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner on Saturday night – not so much for him, but for the Bernie Sanders sign he hoisted into the air. Fiegen says it was unplanned theater, an impromptu gesture to emphasize…

The time for deciding in the Iowa Caucus is upon us after two weeks of important developments in the Democratic primary. The first debate gave voters a closer look at how the candidates compare to each other. Vice President Joe Biden declined to run. Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee dropped out. Hillary Clinton easily handled…

Guest Post by House Democratic Leader Mark Smith Our system of government is set up with a series of checks and balances. Right now, Iowans picked a divided government, which means we have to work together to move our state forward. After 21 years in office, Governor Terry Branstad apparently doesn’t understand that. He is…

The 2015 Jefferson Jackson Dinner is now officially in the books, after a full day of rallies, sign wars, pre-concerts and speeches from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley. The entire affair was a hell of a lot of fun, even if it didn’t measure up to the majesty and drama of the epic…

The pre-JJ festivities fun continued throughout the late morning and afternoon on Saturday. All three Democratic campaigns brought their supporters and staffs out to make shows of organizational strength before the night’s dinner. We covered the morning activities in this earlier post. This afternoon Katy Perry held a concert for Hillary Clinton (with Bill Clinton…

It’s the biggest day of the Iowa Caucus campaign for Iowa Democrats, with the state party’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner set to be held in Vets Auditorium tonight. The speaking schedule has been trimmed considerably, as Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee both dropped their bids earlier this week, and Joe Biden decided not to jump in…