For well over a decade Democratic politicians have been hesitant to take on the NRA, burned too many times by electoral losses in swing districts and states caused in part by the gun rights organization's influence among rural white voters. But after years of...
The press risers and tables were packed at the Republican Party of Iowa's Growth And Opportunity Party this Saturday, but one media outlet wasn't able to get inside: The Daily Show. Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann decided to deny Trevor Noah's team access to the 10...
At a press conference this morning, Governor Terry Branstad reportedly said he favors the use of eminent domain in certain circumstances, including for pipeline projects. The biggest project currently under consideration in Iowa is the Bakken oil pipeline, which...
The Republican Party of Iowa's Growth And Opportunity event on Saturday was meant as a sort of replacement for the Iowa Straw Poll, and judging from many of the candidates' speeches you'd think they were still in that August mindset. Few of the White House hopefuls...
Iowa Republicans got into the full spirit of Halloween this weekend, with a number of activists donning some creative and creepy outfits at two recent events. Rand Paul held a Halloween costume party in the back room of Buzzard Billy's in Des Moines on Friday...
The Des Moines restaurant scene has seen an explosion in fine dining options, craft breweries and quirky specialty joints in recent years. Reporters and campaign staff traveling to Iowa's capitol for the Iowa Caucus often come away pleasantly surprised. Sometimes,...
The mood at the Democrats' Jefferson Jackson Dinner last weekend was electric. Each campaign went all-out to provide Democratic activists an entertaining spectacle and show of organizational strength. How did it compare to the many Republican multi-candidate events...
Usually when a campaign puts together a memo for their top donors you try to highlight your accomplishments and project momentum. Perhaps that's what Jeb Bush's top advisers thought they were doing with the internal campaign briefing that got leaked to U.S. News...
A group of about 100 central Iowa activists packed into a bar in Beaverdale last night to take in the latest GOP free-for-all on TV. The crowd was mostly Democrats (invited by the Make It Work organization), watching a Republican debate, but they still hoped to...
A crowd of thousands erupted in cheers for underdog U.S. Senate candidate Tom Fiegen when he took the stage at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner on Saturday night - not so much for him, but for the Bernie Sanders sign he hoisted into the air. Fiegen says it was...
