2019
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The Cavalry Arrives For Democrats’ Special Election Candidate
No matter what happens on the March 19 special election in Cedar Falls, you certainly can’t say the Democratic Party didn’t do what they could to hold Senate District 30. Presidential candidate after presidential candidate has visited Black Hawk County over the past month to rally volunteers and voters, mobilize students to vote, and knock…
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Ep89: Beto’s In, Eastern Iowa Visits, Joni Ernst’s “Paid” Family Leave
The Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard is joined by State Representative Lindsay James to talk about candidates’ visits to Eastern Iowa, Elizabeth Warren’s ability to stay in the news, some Statehouse topics like the Ag Gag law, and Joni Ernst’s new “paid” family leave program.
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Forget The “Socialism” Labels, Let’s Stick To Policies
If you had your ear cupped just right and were listening closely Sunday afternoon, you might have heard my head explode. The pressure inside the old noggin has been building for months, thanks to what can be called politics as usual in Washington, D.C., and Des Moines. So, my friends and relatives were not surprised…
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John Delaney Can Unite Us Against Trump
A guest post from Joan Amos, recent chair of the Lucas County Democrats According to a Monmouth University poll from February 4, 2019, most Americans want to elect a new president who will put Donald Trump’s era of scandal and division behind us. That should be nothing new to most of us. But the poll…
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Gillibrand Plans Mississippi River Trip Through Counties That Flipped Iowa
Kirsten Gillibrand will take a tour next week through the Eastern Iowa counties that gave her predecessor in the Senate so many difficulties in the 2016 presidential campaign. The planned trip for next Tuesday and Wednesday takes Gillibrand along the Mississippi River, hitting Dubuque, Davenport, Muscatine, and Burlington. She makes a stop in Ottumwa before…
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Ep88: Sanders’ Return, His New Rural Pitch, Iowa Poll Results
The Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard is joined by Patty Judge to contrast Bernie Sanders and John Hickenlooper’s appeal and message. We also discuss Sanders’ new approach to rural America messaging, and we look at the latest Des Moines Register Iowa Poll.
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Ankeny 8th Grader Organizes Des Moines Youth Climate Strike
This Friday, March 15, tens of thousands of the world’s students will strike for climate in 80 different countries. This is predicted to be the largest global environmental protest in history. It was all ignited by Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish student, last summer. Thunberg has become a world-renown climate activist after speaking at the…
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Iowa Should Not Go Back To Its Death Penalty Days
Currently under consideration by the Iowa Republican-controlled legislature is the reinstatement of the death penalty. The General Assembly abolished the death penalty in 1965 under the leadership of Governor Harold Hughes. Across the nation, there are currently 30 states which still allow for it and 20 who do not. In my view, there are many…
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Beto O’Rourke Recruits Top Iowa Consultant, Plans Trip
Beto O’Rourke is moving ever closer to an official presidential campaign launch, and he now has a top Iowa political operative to steer his efforts here. CNN reported that Norm Sterzenbach has been assisting O’Rourke’s initial Iowa outreach here, something Starting Line’s sources also confirmed. It’s a major pickup for O’Rourke, a likely 2020 candidate…
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Sanders Returns To Iowa In New Role: Front-Runner
In many ways, it felt like Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign never ended. At his stops in Iowa this week following his official 2020 launch, Sanders rallied the faithful in packed rooms to get on board with his second run for the White House. In speeches that clocked in at just over an hour’s length, all…
