2015

A little under eight years ago, a crew of Western Iowa Hillary Clinton staff and their best volunteers gathered after finishing their final task in Iowa, corralling Iowans into the Clinton corner at precincts across the county. Crowding around the TVs in a German beer hall where the campaign launched their caucus day efforts out…

After serving Cedar Rapids as a State Representative and a State Senator for 13 years, Senator Rob Hogg now sets his sights on the U.S. Senate seat up in 2016. “We badly need Congress to work again,” he explained as his motivation to run. “For our state, our people, our country, and our future.” Hogg,…

Any candidate running for president would love to have this long a list of legislators backing them in the caucus. 40 legislators put their names to a call for candidates to support a plan to generate 50% of energy from clean and/or renewable resources. Also earlier this week, Iowa’s former senator Tom Harkin wrote an…

Jim Webb announced this afternoon that he is dropping his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. He has also bailed from attending the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner this Saturday, a chance to speak in front of thousands of activists and the entire national press. He says he’ll consider over the next…

Guest post by Kurt Meyer A year ago, I joined the Board of Directors of Americans for Democratic Action, a national organization committed to liberal politics, liberal policies, and a liberal future. The ADA, founded in the 1940s by an impressive coterie that includes Eleanor Roosevelt and Hubert Humphrey (my political hero!), strives for social…

The countdown has begun! NBC reports Vice President Joe Biden will make a decision on a presidential run in the next 48 hours. I personally have been extremely skeptical of all the Biden rumor articles over the past three days. If you look closely at their sources and claims, it’s all pretty weak. But whatever,…

We’ve spoken here before about the benefits that more debates would provide to each presidential candidate (even Hillary Clinton) and the Democratic Party as a whole. Many of those advantages were played out last week, with a debate drastically different than the Republican ones, where Democrats sparred in a congenial, yet passionate manner on policy…

Guest post by Jamie Fitzgerald While speaking recently at a neighborhood association meeting, I was asked why voters have to fill out a request for an early ballot for every election. The obvious response was – “That’s what the Code of Iowa requires us to have voter do in order to receive a ballot.” Not…

Carly Fiorina had a good September: she raised a significant amount of money after her strong performance at the second Republican presidential debate, she was praised by many GOP’ers for being a female in the fight against Planned Parenthood, and she attracted big crowds in Iowa and New Hampshire throughout the month. But now that…

Lincoln Chafee made his official debut to the nation on CNN’s debate stage Tuesday night and … it didn’t go so hot. He received only about nine minutes in speaking time – far less than the other candidates – and yet didn’t even need that much to show how deeply out of his league he…