Iowa Caucus

Much like Jay Inslee became the preeminent voice in the Democratic Party on climate change, Michael Bennet of Colorado has presented himself as the leading expert on public education. He spent yesterday in Iowa at a series of education-related roundtables and policy roll-outs, drawing on his experience as the former superintendent of the Denver Public…

Letter to the editor from Eliseo Flores of Des Moines, a recent graduate from Grandview University and summer intern for Julián Castro. Photo of Flores and his grandmother. “There is no substitute for hard work.” I remember these words ringing in my head throughout my childhood. As I grew up seeing these words in action,…

A letter to the editor from Susan Wulf Osvald of Exira, Iowa. No other person running for president has spent as much time in Iowa as John Delaney. He made his second visit to Audubon County, one of Iowa’s smallest in population, when he came to Exira, my hometown, for a picnic and policy discussion…

A guest op-ed from Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Over Labor Day, I heard from Iowans in Cedar Rapids who’d been impacted by devastating floods, and connected the dots to our bigger climate crisis. As State Senator Rob Hogg put it: “Could we have had a flood like this without climate change? Sure. But climate change is…

As the old Iowa Caucus saying goes, once the Pumpkin Spice Lattes go on sale, it’s decision time for Iowans. Or, wait, is the traditional dividing line Labor Day? Well, anyway, the point is that we’ve clearly moved into a new, more serious phase of the presidential race. We’re well past the “early” stage, voters…

As the Democratic primary shifts into high gear for the final months before the early states start voting, we can expect candidates to draw sharper contrasts with one another and some attack ads to start airing. Just don’t be surprised if you don’t see much of that back-and-forth happening between the women senators in the…

The health care discussion in the Democratic presidential primary has been dominated by Medicare for All. Candidates are asked to pick a side, tell voters how they would pay for it and how universal coverage would affect the country’s private health insurance industry. But there are many other aspects of health insurance, access and services…

A union family helped propel Minnesota senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar from the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth, Minnesota, to Yale University and Chicago Law School. Union members helped make her the Hennepin County Attorney and a United States senator. Now running for president, Klobuchar has made labor issues a central part of…

Dave Stephen, a carpenter from Cedar Rapids, enjoyed his day off on Monday by attending the Hawkeye Area Labor Council’s Labor Day Picnic at Hawkeye Downs, where five presidential candidates mingled with the crowd. His wife, Margie Stephen, has already retired. She’s a long-time union member and former machinist. Dave hasn’t retired yet, he said…

Workers will be able to join a union if the want to under 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke’s six-point labor plan that he recently released while in Iowa. According to O’Rourke’s 21st Century Labor Contract that he will enact between workers, employers and the federal government, all workers:  Will be able to join a…