October 2018
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Bernie Sanders Rallies The Base With J.D. Scholten
Bernie Sanders got the band back together at his rally in Sioux City for Steve King opponent J.D. Scholten yesterday evening. A crowd of 500 people, many of whom caucused for Sanders three years ago, packed an auditorium at Morningside College to hear the senator’s familiar lines about economic inequality and universal healthcare. At this…
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Which Iowa Counties Are (And Aren’t) Turning Out Big For 2018
Thousands of Iowans are casting their ballots every single day as we enter the final 20 days of the campaign. Democrats started out with a big lead, but it’s recently narrowed to what the party has typically seen in the past. We’re now at a pretty decent place to start digging into the numbers more…
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New Report Shows Climate Change Raising Iowa Temps, Rainfall
You’ve probably heard the story of the frog in boiling water. If you drop a frog in boiling water he will jump out. But, if you place a frog in cool water and slowly bring it to a boil, by the time the frog realizes the danger he’s cooked. Most of the world (with the…
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Ep65: 2nd Governor Debate, Northern Iowa Politics With Kurt Meyer
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard recaps what moments stood out to him in last night’s gubernatorial debate between Fred Hubbell and Kim Reynolds. And we interview Mitchell County Democrats Chair Kurt Meyer about what he’s seeing on the ground in Northern Iowa.
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How John Delaney Is Directing His Iowa Efforts To Down-Ballot Dems
If Democrats learned anything from the past decade, it’s that holding the presidency while losing statehouses, governor’s mansions and Congress greatly limits your ability to accomplish anything. So, it’s been a delicate balance for 2020 hopefuls as they visit early states like Iowa. You want to introduce and promote yourself, while still helping out the…
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Rod Blum Closes Ugly With Race-Baiting Ad
Rod Blum isn’t very subtle with his closing message for his reelection campaign. A new TV ad that appears to have started running today repeatedly hits challenger Abby Finkenauer for saying, “I legislate with my heart too much.” But it’s the first few seconds that will grab people’s attention and could cause backlash. Right after…
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Trump’s Immigration Plan Is The Wrong Fix In The Wrong Place
The Trump Administration would have you believe that the folks that slip over the boarder are murders, rapists and generally bad people. What statistics really show is that only a vey few meet that criteria, and by percentage, dramatically less then our own citizenry. A very large number are families with children who are looking…
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Jack Whitver Is In Trouble
Republicans may yet lose two senate majority leaders in the same year. That’s seems to be the goal of the Senate Democrats as the party launched a massive ad blitz today to take down Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver in his Ankeny district. Amber Gustafson, a gun safety leader and community volunteer, debuted her first…
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Ep64: Record-Breaking Fundraising & Joan Marttila Interview
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard breaks down the massive fundraising numbers from Iowa’s Democratic congressional candidates. And we interview Joan Marttila about her campaign for House District 94.
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Billboards Target Cownie, Carlson For Votes On Injured Workers
Iowa GOP Representatives Peter Cownie and Gary Carlson engineered passage of a drastic change to Iowa’s workers’ compensation law in 2017. Their major revisions make it much more difficult for injured workers to obtain benefits and severely restricts the total amount of benefits injured workers can receive. Progress Iowa, an Iowa worker advocacy group, has…
