February 2016
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DCCC Sees Monica Vernon As Strongest Candidate In 1st District
There’s still four months to go in the Democratic primary for the 1st District, but party leaders seem to see Monica Vernon beginning to pull away in the race. Late last week the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Vernon to their targeted Red To Blue candidate program, a list of their top prospects in the…
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With Caucus Over, Big Priorities Ahead For Iowa Democrats
As the final rumblings over the caucus process slowly die out, Democrats have a chance to regroup and refocus on what their priorities moving forward must be. Iowa Democrats are at their weakest point in years after two consecutive midterm blowouts, but there’s plenty of opportunities in 2016 and beyond to regain the advantage. Starting…
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Chuck Grassley Vows To Play Politics, Obstruct Supreme Court Process A Year
The death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia sent shock waves throughout the political and judicial world on Saturday afternoon. The conversation online revolved around condolences and the surprise of the longtime jurist’s passing for all of about ten minutes before the focus turned to politics. Senate Republicans made clear very quickly that they had…
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Republicans Breaking Rank On Medicaid, Retiring Over Education
Governor Terry Branstad’s deeply unpopular Medicaid privatization plan and Statehouse Republicans’ under-funding of Iowa’s public education is starting to take a toll on GOP unity. It’s rare nowadays to see dissension among the ranks on high-profile issues at the Capitol, but three Senate Republicans turned the vote to cancel the Medicaid contracts into a bipartisan…
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Dear Clinton Backers: For The Love Of God, Don’t Talk About Superdelegates
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9 Hillary Clinton loses big in one of the first two states? Check. Her opponent is an outsider to her left who builds a youthful movement to overwhelm Clinton’s establishment support? Check. Clinton’s message…
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GOP Results In New Hampshire Gives Democrats Sigh Of Relief
For a week there, it started to look like Democrats’ worst case scenario might come true in the presidential primary: Marco Rubio was poised to quickly dispatch the other mainstream candidates in New Hampshire, leading to a fast consolidation of center-right voters that could defeat Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. Instead, Rubio short-circuited and dispelled…
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Sunday Grab Bag: GOP Results, Marco Roboto And IDP Under Siege
Good afternoon readers! Starting Line is still slowly getting back into a normal routine after a considerable amount of naps and late mornings this past post-caucus week. This next week I’ll make a return to the Statehouse and do a few reports of what’s driving the discussion there. For today, a few thoughts on the…
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Finkenauer Friday: Welcome To The Democratic Party, New Caucus-Goers!
I want to set aside all the social media debates for the next few minutes and refer to Feb 1st, not in terms of a presidential caucus, but rather, as the night you became an Iowa Democrat. Honestly, I’m so excited to have you. As I’ve heard throughout the state, it sounds like our new members are…
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Much Of Caucus Criticism Misplaced Or Misunderstood
Guest post by John McCormally The Register’s recent editorial “Something smells in the Democratic Party,” perpetuates misinformation about the historically close Iowa caucuses. Here’s the truth: The results were really close. When the results are so close, every little thing seems like a big problem. In reality, problems were minimal. There were 1,681 caucuses, and…
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Iowa Winners And Losers From The 2016 Caucus
The Iowa Caucus is done and over with, but the ramifications of the final results will live long for the national campaign, but also on what happens in Iowa after. Reputations have been made and tarnished during the caucus every cycle, and consequences over who backed who will continue to last into later Iowa elections.…
