Iowa Caucus

The Iowa Caucus is done and over with, but the ramifications of the final results will live long for the national campaign, but also on what happens in Iowa after. Reputations have been made and tarnished during the caucus every cycle, and consequences over who backed who will continue to last into later Iowa elections.…

I was excited when I saw Hillary Clinton’s final Iowa schedule. Sunday, her last day of full campaigning in the state, took her through Western Iowa, her stronghold of support from 2008. It was where I worked for her in 2008 in Council Bluffs, so I thought it would be a nice bit of nostalgia…

Throughout this week Starting Line will take a deep dive into the Iowa Caucus results and what it all meant, analyzing turnout patterns and what it means for the candidates’ support moving forward. I’m still recovering from being up until 4:30 in the morning to write up the final results (and, you know, the entire…

It took until the wee hours of the early morning, but at 2:27 AM the Iowa Democratic Party released a statement on the “historically close” results of the 2016 Iowa Caucus. Hillary Clinton had taken the lead and won the caucus with 699.57 state delegate equivalents, with Bernie Sanders totaling 695.49 state delegate equivalents. Martin…

It happens every caucus cycle. A campaign worried about a disappointing showing near the end of the race starts to raise questions about the legitimacy of the caucus process. In 2008 Hillary Clinton backers famously spun bizarre theories about how Barack Obama’s campaign bused in thousands of supporters from Chicago to swamp eastern Iowa precincts.…

In many ways, it feels like 2008 all over again. Despite a seemingly-insurmountable early lead, Hillary Clinton finds herself in a neck-and-neck race. An exciting, upstart Senator campaigning upon optimism and change challenges her from her left. And the choice has boiled down once again for Democrats as hope versus pragmatism. But Clinton is not…

Standing up on a chair for one of the last times in his Iowa Caucus campaign, Martin O’Malley implored his volunteers on Saturday night to see their tough fight through on Monday. It was the end of another long day of non-stop campaigning for the former governor, who kept his personal energy high in the…

Guest post from Tracy Sefl I’ve been in political communications for years. And believe me: campaigns make plenty of noise. But the best candidates do more than just talk; they stop and listen to everyday people. If Bill Clinton was “Explainer-in-Chief,” then Hillary Clinton may well be “Listener-in-Chief.” She’s that kind of candidate—the type that…

Starting Line has gotten a huge influx of national readers in the last few weeks, coming to us for some behind-the-scenes insight on what’s going to happen in the Iowa Caucus. I first just want to say thank you to all of our great readers and social media-sharers. It’s been an incredible journey and a…

Guest post from Andrew Deen Caucuses were the original method for selecting candidates until the primary was introduced in the early 1900’s, but this doesn’t mean caucuses lost all their importance. Fourteen states are scheduled to hold caucuses this year with the first event right around the corner on February 1st in Iowa. There cannot…