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A guest post from Paula Meyer of St. Ansgar, Iowa. She's one of John Delaney's Iowa campaign co-chairs. I first heard John Delaney speak in Washington, D.C. in 2013 about his ideas to create and fund an infrastructure bank that would pay for over $1 trillion of...
It's a little under a year out from the Iowa Caucus, and presidential candidates are already inundating the state to make their pitch to local activists. What's particularly fascinating from these initial visits is that the Democrats' campaigning and event styles are...
Sean Bagniewski was elected as one of the youngest chairs in the history of the Polk County Democratic Party in March of 2017. As his first term comes to a close, he authored this series of four articles for Iowa Starting Line on what has worked well in Iowa’s largest...
Don't let Democrats running for president get through the Iowa Caucus without developing a real message for rural America, Tom Vilsack and a rural-focused issue group is suggesting to Democratic leaders in the state. "Every one of us should be taking this mantra to...
She’s the presidential candidate that you may not have heard about, but millions of others outside the usual political circles have. Marianne Williamson, who has over 2.6 million Twitter followers, a collection of best-selling books, and frequent guest appearances on...
If anyone doubted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ability to challenge and crush Donald Trump, the wall debate should leave little question. Pelosi dominated the debate and it ended with Trump folding after holding government employees hostage for a record 35 days. She...
Both Senator Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley voted to lift sanctions against three Russian companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Why did Iowa’s senators vote to assist Deripaska, once Russia’s wealthiest man with...
The future of the University of Labor Center remains in doubt after the University cut off funding last summer. For Iowans not involved in labor unions, they may not realize the value of the Labor Center at the University of Iowa. They may have the impression that the...
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made her inaugural visit to Iowa this weekend, forging through a snowstorm to meet local Democratic activists here for the first time. She delivered an impassioned speech at the Iowa Women's March, shared a beer with Des Moines...
We Americans are an impatient bunch. We typically don’t like to wait in line --- unless there’s something we truly want, like much-sought-after concert tickets or whatever this year’s Tickle Me Elmo gift was on Black Friday. That’s why the scene last week was unusual...
What is Grinnell College thinking in its fight with its own students over a labor rights dispute? The liberal arts school located in the middle of Iowa has refused to bargain with the student workers union on campus and is trying to quash its effort to cover more...
Senator Cory Booker is lending a hand to a Democratic candidate for county supervisor in Iowa. Booker recorded a minute-long endorsement video for Royceann Porter, a Teamsters organizer and community leader who's running in the special election for a Johnson County...
Iowa Starting Line Podcast host Pat Rynard discusses the changing voter trends in Iowa's blue-collar counties along the Mississippi River. Joining us are Burlington Hawkeye reporter Libby Meyer...
Senator Joni Ernst had a busy Thanksgiving break, forwarding her national political ambitions at the expense of Iowa's reputation. Ernst spent part of Sunday in Mississippi, campaigning with Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in the runoff race against Democrat Mike...
We Iowans like to think of ourselves as the true occupants of middle America, the geographic and societal equivalent of Baby Bear’s porridge. We are not as conservative as some sections of our country, nor as liberal as other sections. We don’t have the wealth that...
A guest post from Brian Bruening, chair of the Clayton County Democrats in Northeast Iowa. It’s easy to get caught up in national Democratic excitement after the November 6th election. We flipped two house districts in Iowa as part of the Democratic wave the crashed...
The postmortems of the 2018 election are still being written, but that's not stopping anyone from speculating and planning for Iowa's 2020 Senate race. That's actually typically what happens immediately after any election - winners plot out their next longterm moves...
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds received $50,000 in a campaign contribution from Rex Sinquefield, a wealthy Missouri Republican who has waged an all-out war against that state's public pension system. The Reynolds donation was the only contribution to an Iowa candidate...
I think I was in third grade in my rural Iowa classroom in 1962 or 1963 when my teacher Mrs. Schneckloth gave our class an assignment that probably changed my life forever. She asked us to find a magazine with a photo, or an image of an historical event, paste it to...
While some of Democrats’ biggest national names crisscrossed Iowa in recent weeks to boost local candidates and prepare for 2020 runs, a small gathering in Polk City on Sunday night saw another side of the developing Democratic presidential field. Marianne Williamson,...
Thousands of Iowans are casting their ballots every single day as we enter the final 20 days of the campaign. Democrats started out with a big lead, but it's recently narrowed to what the party has typically seen in the past. We’re now at a pretty decent place to...
Guest piece from New Jersey Senator Cory Booker on his recent trip to Iowa. It was an honor to be in Iowa last Saturday until Tuesday of this week, traveling across the state in support of your incredible ticket of Democratic candidates. What I witnessed lifted,...
When Senator Cory Booker took the stage at Iowa Democrats' largest event of the year last night, emotions were running high in the room of over 1,100 party activists. Most were still seething or depressed over the Brett Kavanaugh vote that took place just hours...
Democrats are often criticized for lacking a clear, concise message. Gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell has overcome that critic by uniting Iowa Democrats by focusing on just a few key priorities. He has made health care reform, jobs and education funding the focus...
The steaks might have been warm at today's second annual Polk County Democrats Steak Fry, but not much else was. A steady rain began falling on the field at Des Moines' Water Works Park shortly into the second speaker's turn on stage. A crowd of over 500 cold and wet...
With the exception of the agricultural sector, Iowa’s economy is doing very well as evidenced by an extremely low unemployment rate of 2.6%. The stock market is booming due to increasing corporate profits, yet Iowa employees’ wages and salaries are stagnant. Factoring...
For Starting Line's fourth piece about important swing districts in the battle for the Iowa House, we look at three blue-collar seats spread around the state. Democrats are mostly on defense here, and they really can't afford to lose much in their effort to pick up a...
The steady march of White House hopefuls visiting Iowa for the State Fair this past week and a half has finally ended. They got their corn dogs, made their speeches, did a few press hits and chatted with activists. But how many made a lasting impact on their chances...
Iowans will head to the voting booth three months from today on November 6 to vote in one of the most consequential elections in the state's history. How are each of the major contests shaping up at this stage, two months after the primary and following a relatively...
Yesterday was not a good day for America, to put it lightly. After President Donald Trump's disastrous press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country's attention shifted to Republican lawmakers and leaders, wondering if this was finally the bridge...
