What Didn’t Work: Jay Inslee, Seth Moulton Withdraw

On By Pat Rynard

The great winnowing has begun. With the August 28 qualification deadline for the September debate fast approaching, we’re starting to see several candidates deal with the stark reality that they simply have no hope of winning this primary. Even if you can find a way to break out in the race outside the debate, missing it makes it very hard to convince your top donors to keep investing. On Wednesday evening, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee called it quits, deciding instead to run for reelection. Congressman Seth Moulton bowed out this morning, saying the race had boiled down to a […]

Bernie Sanders: Political Revolution Will Sway Senators

On By Pat Rynard

For Bernie Sanders, the campaign he’s built won’t end if he makes it into the Oval Office. There’s a lot he’ll still be asking of the movement he’s mobilized, though a President Sanders would be turning his supporters’ focus away from $27 donations and toward lobbying their members of Congress. “We’re trying to do things really quite differently than other presidents have done,” Sanders reiterated to Starting Line in an interview this week. The easiest path to implementing his vision for health care, the environment, worker rights and more would be with a Democratic-controlled Senate — and perhaps an elimination […]

From Skeptic To Whole-Hearted Warren Democrat: My Caucus Choice

On By Guest Post

A guest piece from I-35 School Board Member Josh Hughes. When Elizabeth Warren announced her candidacy, I was initially dismissive. I was open minded about the field but not actively considering her. I met with a Warren organizer named Morgan mid-spring out of courtesy and came away impressed by the scale of the campaign’s efforts in Iowa. I still wasn’t actively considering Warren, but I took notice of her passion and grit, as well as the early enthusiasm I was seeing from her campaign staffers and growing crew of volunteers. She moved into my top five. Around this time, Elizabeth […]

Beto O’Rourke Returns To Iowa With Renewed Focus, Passion

On By Nikoel Hytrek

Beto O’Rourke returned to Iowa Tuesday evening with a fiery message to restart his campaign for president. The event was called “An Iowa Conversation: Standing up to Trump,” and during the event O’Rourke continued to condemn white supremacy. O’Rourke took a break from the campaign trail after a terrorist shooter killed 22 people at a Walmart on August 3 in his hometown of El Paso. That mass shooting, the deadliest in the United States this year, was a focal point of O’Rourke’s appearance. O’Rourke focused specifically on the amount of hate pointed at immigrants as the cause of the shooting. […]

Biden On Trump In Iowa: “Easy To Be A Bully” When Others Getting Hit

On By Josh Cook

Around 75 people showed up at Sunset Ridge Farm this afternoon to hear Vice President Joe Biden speak earlier today. Biden framed the 2020 race as “the most important election any of you have ever voted in, regardless of how old, or young, you are.” Biden hit many of his frequent talking points, including the divisiveness of Donald Trump and his rhetoric, increasing racial tension under Trump’s leadership, the energized resurgence of white supremacy, the cost and importance of education, teacher pay and gun violence. “We can overcome four years of Donald Trump, it will be difficult, but if we […]

Gillibrand Plans School-Based Health Centers For Rural Children

On By Paige Godden

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand rolled out a new plan today to create School-Based Health Centers that will provide children in rural Iowa and across the nation with mental health care services that are currently lacking. A few Iowa schools have already tried to launch similar programs, but they aren’t fully funded and they don’t necessarily meet every child’s needs. Indianola brought in licensed therapists as early as 2017, but the district had some issues with keeping their providers early on. The district has since become one of more than 50 Iowa schools to begin working with Integrative Counseling Services, which is […]

How Democrats Addressed Native American Issues At Historic Forum

On By Nikoel Hytrek

Several common themes emerged from the first day of the Frank LaMere Native American Presidential Forum, but the top one was that a government’s priorities can be determined by where it puts its money, and each candidate promised money to address issues faced by Native Americans across the country. For the first day of the Frank LaMere Presidential Forum, four Democratic candidates appeared at the Orpheum in Sioux City. There, leaders from tribes across the United States asked the candidates questions about important issues facing Native American communities. Organizers said it was the first forum of its kind, and all […]

Iowans Find Emotional Refuge In Pete Buttigieg

On By Elizabeth Meyer

Living in a country with a president who thrives on division can be emotionally taxing for Americans seeking a better way forward. That was the message several voters conveyed over two days of Pete Buttigieg campaign events last week in Southeast Iowa. “This helps,” said Joan Crowe, of rural Lee County, describing the despair and hopelessness she has felt during President Donald Trump’s administration. “Listening to people talk wisely and kindly, and noticing how many are here a whole year and two-three months before we will vote.” Crowe was awaiting Buttigieg’s arrival at a park along the Mississippi River in […]

Pete Buttigieg’s Plan To Protect Pregnant Women In Rural Areas

On By Nikoel Hytrek

As the conversation about health care increasingly includes rural areas, the topic of maternal health is showing up in more places, too. This past week, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg released a health care plan targeted at rural America. In it are several provisions that provide increased support for pregnant and postpartum women. “It’s time to usher in a new era for rural America,” the plan reads. “That work begins by deploying investment and innovation to secure the health of all rural residents.” First off, Buttigieg plans to address the problem of declining numbers of providers for all kinds […]

Matson: Why I’m With Booker, A Candidate That Inspires

On By Guest Post

Guest post from State Representative Heather Matson of Ankeny. As a state legislator, and as an Iowa caucus-goer, I have been privileged to meet and get to know several of our Democratic presidential candidates. I first met Cory Booker last fall while he campaigned for Democratic candidates here in Iowa. During his events, as well as the multiple conversations we’ve had over the last several months, I have been struck by his thoughtfulness and attention to detail. I have noticed how often he asks Iowans for their opinions and how intently he listens to our ideas. I’ve realized that Cory […]