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Iowa will retake its position as number two in the nation for wind energy production by the end of 2015, organizers of the Iowa Wind Power Conference said on Wednesday. The state's wind industry will accomplish that by generating 5,700 megawatts of electricity. Moving...
Like a swarm of minimum wage-raising locusts, Democratic candidates will barnstorm Iowa cities over the next five days, hitting many Labor Day-related events. Bernie Sanders is first up with a two-day swing through mostly eastern and southeastern Iowa. Martin O'Malley...
Of all the Republican candidates to visit the Iowa State Fair this week, John Kasich certainly stood out in his speech at the Soapbox. Speaking inside to a decent-sized crowd of about 150 (the Soapbox, which he chose not to stand on, was moved inside due to threat of...
Liberals have had a bad summer. One of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, Beau Biden, suddenly passed away. Jimmy Carter has brain cancer. Hillary’s email problem drags on, while Bernie cannot escape Black Lives Matter protesters. Jon Stewart retired and Donald...
Face painters, a giant American flag, Disney characters and Maya Angelou's old tour bus. Ben Carson's "Family Fun" night in downtown Des Moines certainly wasn't your typical Iowa Caucus event, resembling a carnival more than a regular presidential campaign stop. There...
Democratic candidates have brought up climate change often in their Iowa Caucus pitches the past few months, but this week saw the issue front and center with new proposals and visits by candidates and issue groups. Martin O'Malley introduced a climate and clean...
For Iowa Democrats still coming down from the exciting high of the Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids this Friday, good news: you've got two more fun events to go to in August. Coming up on August 14th will be the Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake. Then two weeks later,...
I'll be honest: last week I had a different idea of how I was going to rank this. I planned on taking the bold step of putting Bernie Sanders at number one, making the argument that if the Iowa Caucus were to be held today, he'd win it. Despite the Clinton organizing...
As Iowa's second-largest city, Cedar Rapids plays host to presidential candidate visits very frequently. Known as the City of Five Seasons (the fifth being enjoying the other four, which is just plain weird), there's plenty to see and do here. In recent years the...
Christmas in July is a popular contradiction; have a Christmas party while the temperatures are soaring and lemonade is the beverage of choice. It is an ironic celebration because, as Bing Crosby told us, Christmas should be white, and in July, everything is green. In...
Determined to not be out-organized in the Iowa Caucus again, Hillary Clinton's Iowa campaign has been hard at work for months, constructing an impressive statewide grass-roots organization in every county. Those efforts are showing results as the Clinton campaign has...
Presidential candidate Marco Rubio should be pleased with his recent visit to Des Moines. Young professionals packed the house at the Exile Brewing Company to hear him speak July 7. Later that day, nearly 200 people turned out to State Representative Chris Hagenow's...
A few months ago, Democrats eagerly waited for Hillary Clinton to announce her campaign for president of the United States. Clinton has an impressive resume and name recognition, and many pegged her as a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination. Any suggestion that a...
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held the first rally of her 2016 campaign on June 13th, but her day was far from over after the widely-viewed speech in New York City. That same day, she traveled to Sioux City, Iowa, where she attended a house party and gave a...
Dave Price, one of Iowa’s resident political experts, recently penned an article for Politico entitled “Is Iowa Over?” In his article, Mr. Price suggested that this caucus season “looks different” and that various Iowans are worried that our first in the nation...
"Lemonade for Bernie!" read the sign held by some pint-sized entrepreneurs across the street from Bernie Sanders' event in West Branch on Friday night. The Senator from Vermont happily obliged the young girls as his red SUV pulled up on the tree-lined street. Sanders...
Good morning readers! As always, a lot happened in the political world this week. Enjoy our Sunday Grab Bag of shorter takes on a number of Iowa and national political topics: Democrats and Allies Unite in Pink for Education The stalemate over education funding at the...
It's been a busy month for Bryce Smith. The owner of an Adel bowling alley was among five other small business owners to talk with Hillary Clinton at roundtable meeting in Norwalk on her first official campaign swing. His name and issues were the first mentioned by...
When Ruth Lapointe of Mason City, Iowa started her clerkship in the Iowa House for Rep. Chris Hall this legislative session she never imagined she would be fighting for a bill surrounding an issue so close to home. The bill, House File 3 (HF3), was proposed to improve...
Hillary Clinton hoped to "start small" with her inaugural Iowa trip for her 2016 campaign, but that didn't stop excited crowds from swarming her during two "off-the-record" drop-bys in Mt. Vernon and the Iowa Statehouse. Clinton briefly stopped at a coffee shop in the...
Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb displayed his military-like efficiency during an Iowa swing at the end of last week, marching through an impressive and diverse number of events throughout the state from Thursday through Sunday. Among other events, he met with...
As the race for the White House begins to heat up on the Democratic side, politically-engaged Iowans' phones will soon start ringing with calls from potential presidential candidates. Which people are contacted and swayed will go a long way in determining how well...
Gary Kroeger made it official last night: he is a candidate for Iowa's 1st Congressional District, set to face Monica Vernon, Ravi Patel and possibly Swati Dandekar for the Democratic nomination. He announced his campaign to a crowd of supporters in Cedar Falls last...
Ted Cruz took his post-announcement tour to Iowa this week, hitting Sioux City, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines during Wednesday and Thursday. Starting Line followed the Senator for the last of those three events. Here's what I took away from it: 1....
With his early campaign launch last week, Ted Cruz has captured the majority of the media's presidential race attention the last two weeks, for better or for worse. Actually, mostly for worse for the Texas Senator. And that's a big problem for him, because if his...
1. Iowans Insist on One-on-One Time with the Candidates - Nearly a quarter of a million people turned out for the 2008 Democratic Caucus, when Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards faced off. Every single one of them did not shake hands with or personally...
Iowa Democratic activists hungry for a caucus conversation got a full serving of progressive populism from Martin O'Malley during his two-day Iowa swing this week. The former Maryland Governor and Baltimore Mayor railed against Wall Street greed and income inequality...
Consisting of the Iowa cities of Bettendorf and Davenport, and the cities of Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline in Illinois, the Quad Cities provide a unique facet to Iowa geography. Combined, the cities are about three-fourths the size of the Greater Des Moines...
The next great Republican cattle call is this weekend at GOP mega-donor Bruce Rastetter's Ag Summit in Des Moines. The event will discuss issues affecting Iowa and the nation's agriculture with a number of likely Republican presidential candidates and other Iowa...
NBC's Parks and Recreation's seven-year run ends tonight with their series finale. Leslie Knope's drive, decent humanity and love for her town built a loyal following of fans for the show. However, one thing always bothered me: the cost of her campaign for City...
