Wake up already, Iowa Republican leaders: this election is over. Donald Trump will never recover from the revelation of the 2005 tape that shows his abhorrent views on women and sexual assault. Yes, we've all thought any number of his earlier outrageous, sexist and...
It's the time of year when all of the competitive state legislative campaigns start rolling out their television ads. Most of these candidates only have enough money to go up on air for the last several weeks, and the quality of their ads often vary widely. Some...
Voters are used to seeing political TV ads that stretch the truth around election season, but State Representative Chris Hagenow's recent commercial on education funding could win an award for dishonesty. In an ad that shows his children getting ready for school,...
“That’s Clinton’s position, that’s my position, that’s not Donald Trump’s position.” Bernie Sanders repeated that line often during his visit to Drake University’s campus yesterday in an effort to win back his disaffected former supporters. He continually implored...
Now that we're several days into early voting, clear trends are beginning to emerge around the state. Early voting and absentee requests in targeted swing legislative districts are nearly twice that as non-targeted districts. This is to be expected to an extent, as...
Far from both parties’ activist cores and the state political press, a Northeast Iowa legislative race might hold the key to which party controls the Iowa House next session. The Decorah-based House District 55 features an open seat where both parties have fielded...
Few words of politics were uttered as Cedar Rapids prepared for and experienced the floods of 2016. But the makings of Iowa's next governor may have been forged in the tense week as the city battled back the second-highest ever crest of the Cedar River. Cedar...
Hillary Clinton visits Iowa today, the day that early voting begins in the state. Her rally is at a plaza in downtown Des Moines that's just a stone's throw away from the Polk County Auditor's office, where in-person early voting is held from now to the election....
As the Cedar River slowly raised foot-by-foot to flood levels these past few days, political campaigns in Eastern Iowa slowed to a halt. Iowa's largest river winds its way through many of this year's biggest electoral battlegrounds in the state, from Charles City...
I watched the first 2012 debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in the basement of a fellow campaign staffer's supporter housing in Cedar Rapids. Everyone was disappointed in Obama's widely-criticized first outing. Before that night we knew we had a...
