2019
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Biden Earns Endorsement From Top Iowa Labor Leader
Bill Gerhard, President of the Iowa State Building and Construction Trades Council, announced his endorsement of Joe Biden for President today. “Born into a working class family in Scranton, Joe Biden will always stand with labor because at his core, he’s one of us,” said Bill Gerhard of Iowa City in a news release. “Whether…
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One Caucus-Goer At A Time, Harris Climbs Back In Iowa
Kamala Harris returned to Iowa this week on a mission: rejuvenate a stalled campaign. The lead-off caucus state is a natural place to stage a comeback, though her new rally playlist specifically directs you to “don’t call it a comeback” via a LL Cool J song. As Harris herself explicitly explained to the crowds in…
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Iowa Dems Blast Pence On Market Disruption, Disrespect To Farmers
Recent weeks have been full of disappointment for Midwest and Iowa farmers and ethanol producers. Amid ethanol and biofuel facility closures, farm bankruptcies and continued economic fallout from a trade war with China that seems to have no end in sight, the Trump Administration has made more empty promises, and even gone as far as…
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Booker On SCOTUS Case: LGBTQ Workers Should Be Protected
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about whether employers are allowed to discriminate against their employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The trio of cases concern two gay men and a transgender woman, all of whom argue they were illegally fired. The argument hangs on how the justices choose to interpret…
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Joni Ernst Refuses To Condemn Soliciting Foreign Interference
Three times in a row yesterday, Sen. Joni Ernst dodged questions about whether it’s appropriate for a president to ask a foreign power to investigate a political rival. After a round of questions from a CNN reporter looking for a “yes” or “no” answer from Ernst, the senator walked away and talked with a few…
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Warren’s New Environmental Plan Addresses Iowa’s Poisoned Water
While nearly all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have released climate plans, and some frame their policies in the context of social equity, Elizabeth Warren today released a separate plan specifically about environmental justice. The Massachusetts Senator directly addresses rural Iowa’s poisoned drinking water and the state’s recent flooding in her plan, which focuses on tightening…
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The Climate Phrase Tom Steyer Doesn’t Want To Hear
When Tom Steyer visited Crescent last week to tour damage of western Iowa’s third round of major flooding in six months, he was asked a climate question beginning with the clause, “If the science is true … ” Steyer, a Democratic presidential candidate and former California businessman, had a visceral reaction to the statement because he…
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Ep121: Kamala Harris Interview, Biden Campaign Strategy
Pat Rynard talks with Senator Kamala Harris about her new paid family medical leave policy, Trump’s actions in Turkey and Syria, and impeachment. Plus, we interview Greg Schultz, the national campaign manager for Joe Biden’s campaign about their strategy in the final four months before the Iowa Caucus.
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AFSCME Readies For Third Year Of Union Recertification Votes
AFSCME’s public sector union workers will cast their votes for the third year in a row next week to recertify their unions. This year’s voting cycle runs from 8 a.m. Oct. 15 through 9 a.m. Oct. 29. Iowa’s public sector union workers have been forced to recertify their unions every year since 2017. That year,…
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Iowa Sets Up A Never-Ending Reign Of Grassleys
Sometimes when an article on Senator Chuck Grassley’s legacy is written, you’ll see the old photo of him on the left from 1959. That’s from when Grassley was all of 25 years old, entering the Iowa House for his first of eight terms before getting elected to the U.S. House and later the U.S. Senate.…
