The leading Democratic presidential candidates showed up for the Iowa Democratic Party’s big Jefferson Jackson Dinner Saturday night.
Five of them gave really good speeches.
Barack Obama’s was excellent.
It was one of the best of his campaign. The passion he showed should help him close the gap on Hillary Clinton by tipping [...]
Hillary Clinton picked up the AFSCME endorsement on Wednesday.
That’s a good thing for her. It helps her get the focus off her below-par debate performance Tuesday night.
It’s also good news for her in Iowa because in an Democratic family fight, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees endorsement [...]
Tuesday’s night’s debate among the leading Democratic presidential candidates was the most spirited one so far in the 2008 campaign.
Several of the contenders lit into the frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, who did not have a good night.
John Edwards emerged as the evening’s most effective and articulate challenger to Clinton. She turned [...]
State Democratic chairman Scott Brennan is recommending the Iowa Democratic caucuses be held the night of Thursday, Jan 3.
A spokeswoman for the party said today the party’s state central committee will hold a telephone conference call Sunday night to ratify the recommendation. Ratification is expected.
The decision by the Democrats comes [...]
The eight leading Republican presidential candidates met Sunday night in Florida for another debate.
There were several winners and no big losers.
John McCain had the best night. Rudy Giuliani also turned in a good performance and newcomer Fred Thompson did much better than he did in his first gabfest.
The Sunshine State [...]
The Iowa Republican straw poll has claimed another victim: The Associated Press is reporting that Kansas Senator Sam Brownback plans to drop out of the Republican presidential race on Friday.
The likely beneficiary of his departure in Iowa will be Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Prior to the August straw poll, the two [...]
Iowa Republicans are planning to hold their caucuses on Thursday, Jan. 3. Democrats haven’t set a date.
They should hold theirs on a different day, like Saturday, Jan. 5.
The two parties have delayed setting a time for these big events because they’re worried about other states trying to crowd them. Time [...]
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney are the frontrunners among likely Iowa caucus-goers for their party’s presidential nominations, according to two new Iowa Polls published today.
That’s bad.
Huh? Isn’t it good to be the king? (As Mel Brooks might ask.) Or queen? Not in Iowa caucus fights where the key [...]
Barack Obama cloaked himself in John Kennedy’s legacy Tuesday as he sought to retake the initiative in the Democratic presidential campaign.
Invoking Kennedy imagery is a delicate thing for any politician to do but Obama succeeded in pulling it off.
The Illinois senator used the fifth anniversary of an anti-war speech he [...]
They held a debate among Republican presidential candidates over minority issues Thursday night and the big loser was the GOP.
The party’s top tier candidates - Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain were no-shows at the All-American Presidential Forum on PBS.
That left the field to the second tier [...]
Hillary Clinton turned in a weak performance at a New Hampshire debate Wednesday night as her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination finally started to scuff up the frontrunner.
And Clintons refusal to discuss the options shed consider for making Social Security sound was the sort of tepid mush that has [...]
Barack Obama was the big loser in Thursdays debate among Democratic presidential candidates.
He wasnt there.
Its hard to understand why a guy who is as articulate and poised as he is doesnt like getting on the same stage with his opponents but that’s the way it seems. By not agreeing to [...]
Indianola, Ia - A record 12,000 Iowa Democrats lined up for red meat here Sunday at Senator Tom Harkins 30th annual steak fry.
First, there was the piece of overcooked meat each person got for their $30 ticket. Then there was plenty of overheated rhetoric from the six leading Democratic presidential [...]
One thing we learned during Bill Clintons presidency was to study and parse his words carefully.
Apparently well need to do that with his wife should she become president.
Just a week after signing a pledge to respect the four early primary and caucus states by not campaigning in Florida and Michigan, [...]
Fred Thompsons announcement speech Thursday in Des Moines was underwhelming.
The former U.S. Senator and movie actor formally announced his long-awaited candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination at the Des Moines Convention Complex. It wasnt very impressive.
The crowd of a few hundred didnt seem enthused. Thompsons oratory didnt soar but was [...]
John McCain and Mike Huckabee were the victors in Wednesdays debate among Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire.
McCain was frank and candid and often sounded like the straight-talking John McCain of the 2000 campaign. He earned praise from Rudy Giuliani and Huckabee during the debate.
Huckabee showed well when he stood [...]
The war among the states over the Democratic presidential nominating calendar cranked up a notch Friday when the four states granted permission to hold early contests asked the partys presidential candidates to pledge not to campaign in other states.
Party officials in Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina took aim [...]
An old political issue got new fire Thursday when a Polk County district court judge struck down Iowas law banning gay marriage.
Judge Robert Hanson said the law specifying that marriage in Iowa can only be between a man and woman is unconstitutional.
The ruling assures a 2008 legislative and fall campaign [...]
Chris Dodd picks up the endorsement of the fire fighters’ union tomorrow.
That will give the unknown Connecticut senator the biggest single boost his long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination has received to date.
Both Dodd and the International Association of Fire Fighters were pointing out today that the group’s [...]
Winners: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden.
Losers: Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich.
A Wash: Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Chris Dodd.
Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden each did their presidential campaigns some good in Sunday morning’s debate on ABC-TV.
Obama withstood a grilling on his foreign policy positions and whether [...]
Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson opened the Iowa chapter of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination with a trip to the Iowa State Fair on Friday.
He sat down for an interview and in between sips of ice-water he said it wasn’t too late to be getting into the GOP [...]
Mitt Romney may have won the Iowa GOP straw poll Saturday in Ames but it was a bit of a hollow victory. That’s a sign he may not be the prohibitive front runner in Iowa after all.
Only 14,302 people voted in the poll, far less than the 23,685 who cast [...]
Ames, Ia. - Iowa Republicans are pouring onto the sweltering Iowa State University campus today for the state GOPs straw poll money-raising event.
Judging by the signs and banner-waving efforts outside Hilton Coliseum, Ron Paul’s supporters have won the visibility wars. But several of them indicated they aren’t from Iowa which [...]
Iowa party officials are likely to be forced to change the date of Iowa’s caucuses, now scheduled for Jan. 14, 2008.
That’s because Republicans in South Carolina are planning a press conference for Thursday and the word is they’ll announce they plan to hold the GOP primary there on Saturday, Jan. [...]
Following the bridge collapse in Minnesota, the big story in the U.S. these days is fixing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
So, it was a natural to ask the Republican presidential candidates about it during their debate Sunday.
I took my cue from Minnesota’s Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He seems to have been [...]
There are two important developments in the Democratic presidential campaign in Iowa:
1. Barack Obama flubbed an answer on when he’d use nukes.
2. A new poll shows a dead heat for first place in the state.
All of which is good news to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
When asked about terrorist targets in Afghanistan [...]
And the winner of the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama dust-up over talking to our enemies is…..
John Edwards.
And maybe Bill Richardson and Joe Biden.
Whenever the frontrunners in a primary contest decided to get into it with each other, the real winners are often the back in the pack candidates in the race [...]
Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby’s decision not to seek re-election to the Iowa Senate does three things:
It leaves Iowa with one less important woman political leader. She is believed to be the first woman to serve as a party floor leader in the Iowa Senate.
It will cause the remaining Republicans [...]
Americans were treated to two things Monday night: A Democratic presidential debate and a debate featuring online video questions prepared by the questioners themselves.
The debate was standard. No big news in it. Hillary Clinton did well. So did Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd - an important break for their [...]
John McCain came to Iowa Sunday afternoon - traveling commercial and with only one aide - to signal supporters and Iowa Republicans he’s still in the 2008 presidential race, despite the recent flubs and stumbles.
And he told reporters he intends to win the Iowa GOP caucuses in January.
“I am happy [...]
One of Hillary Clinton’s biggest impediments to winning the Democratic presidential nomination is the feeling some Democrats have that she can’t win the November election.
Call it the “I like Hillary, but…” syndrome. It becomes an important issue in the 2008 Iowa caucus fight because this electability question has become a [...]
Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to open a two-day, eight stop campaign swing through Iowa on Wednesday.
It’s a sign he and his people finally get it.
They get they can win Iowa. And they get they’ve got to spend time in the state to do it. Until now, there’s been doubt the [...]
The whirlpool that is pulling down John McCain’s presidential campaign appears to have claimed two more victims on Monday.
Marlys Popma, one of the most respected organizers of social conservatives in state GOP circles, announced she is leaving McCain’s Iowa staff. (Then she said she might stay.) Tim Miller also quit [...]
Republican Congressman Steve King said Thursday he is thinking of challenging Democratic Senator Tom Harkin in the 2008 election.
King is also keeping the door open to challenging Democratic Gov. Chet Culver for re-election in 2010.
King made the comments during a taping of Iowa Public Television’s Iowa Press program [...]
Score one for Hillary Clinton.
The New York senator turned in the single most impressive performance during a debate among the Democratic presidential candidates Thursday night in Washington, D.C.
Clinton was crisp, cogent and methodical in her answers. She understood better than any of the other candidates the need for [...]
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani showed up 50 minutes late for a speech in Des Moines Wednesday.
That’s rude.
Giuliani and his people offered no explanation for why a speech scheduled for 10:30 a.m. didn’t come off until 11:20. The speech was a fine address once he gave it - it [...]
You can tell Hillary Clinton’s campaign in Iowa is a little worried: They’ve opted to play an important card early by bringing in former President Bill Clinton next month to campaign for his wife.
The former president is popular among caucus-going activist Democrats. Having him come into the state to campaign [...]
Rudy Giuliani told the Iowa Republican Party on Wednesday he won’t be competing in the party’s big Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames.
Good for him.
A few hours later, John McCain said he wouldn’t compete either.
Good for him.
The Ames straw poll has become a shake-down of candidates that, for some, has [...]
There wasn’t a clear winner in Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate but there was a clear loser - President George W. Bush.
All the candidates did well and made no gaffes or style stumbles. The front-runners - John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney - were articulate and presidential-looking. But single digit [...]
John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the winners of Sunday night’s debate among Democratic presidential candidates in New Hampshire.
Edwards probably did himself the most good. That’s because national polls show him running in third place behind the other two so any time he scores well in a [...]
Cedar Rapids, Ia. - The Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to debate tonight in New Hampshire but five of them headed here Saturday evening for a little practice.
Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Joseph Biden headlined the Iowa Democratic party’s annual “Hall of Fame Dinner” and they [...]
The big questions in Iowa GOP politics these days are over how, or what, Fred Thompson would do in the state’s Republican presidential caucuses.
The former Tennessee senator and movie actor is taking steps to enter the race and he could do well in Iowa - provided he puts some effort [...]
Senator Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she is “unequivocally committed to competing in Iowa” despite a top aide’s memo suggesting she bypass the state’s caucuses in favor of campaigning in other key states.
Clinton, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said in an interview she’s not read the memo and had [...]
AP has a story saying some of Hillary Clinton’s top staff want her to bypass the Iowa caucuses in favor of campaigning in other states.
Mike Henry, the deputy campaign manager, wrote a memo earlier this week arguing for the campaign to withdraw from the caucus fight, according to the wire [...]
Two new Iowa Polls published today indicate the big story to come out of the Iowa caucuses next January could be the defeats of the frontrunners in both parties.
On the Democratic side, John Edwards leads Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton among likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers. He gets 29 percent of [...]
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver says none of the presidential candidates criss-crossing the state are breaking through with caucus-goers of either party because they haven’t found a way to end the war in Iraq.
The Democratic chief executive made the comments in an interview Wednesday with Des Moines Register reporters and editors.
Asked [...]
Several Republican presidential candidates did themselves some good Tuesday night when they turned in strong performances during a campaign debate in South Carolina.
It’s possible for a debate to have several winners and this one did.
*Mitt Romney had the best overall performance. He was cool, concise, and showed an executive [...]
Rudy Giuliani made an unexpected trip to Iowa Sunday night to apologize to an Olin farm couple for the poor way his campaign treated them.
The apology must have worked. His campaigned announced that Deborah VonSprecken will now chair his presidential campaign in Jones County.
Giuliani’s trip - there was no pre-visit [...]
He shouldn’t. And I don’t think he is, or will.
The New York Times reports today that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani may de-emphasize the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Instead, the paper reports he’s thinking of opting for more [...]
John McCain won Thursday’s debate of Republican presidential candidates.
He was forceful and re-ignited that independent spark many voters came to love in the guy in 2000 but that’s been absent in 2008. His campaign’s been in a funk lately with poor fund-raising and a candidate who looked tired.
But he did [...]
The first nationally televised debate of the Democratic presidential campaign of 2008 was held in South Carolina Thursday night.
The back of the pack candidates - Chris Dodd, Joseph Biden and Bill Richardson - did themselves more good than front-runners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.
Dodd looked and sounded the [...]
Iowa Republicans and Democrats are struggling with their presidential candidates but for different reasons:
Democrats seem torn among several candidates they like. Republicans seem unhappy with their current crop.
The contrast has been evident in the past week. Several Democratic presidential candidates wrapped up a weekend of campaigning in Iowa on Sunday. [...]
Will the Virginia Tech shootings prompt politicians to enact more gun control laws?
Probably not.
According to a Pew Center poll published taken earlier this month and before the shootings, “over time, Americans (have) become less disposed to support gun control measures than they were in the years surrounding the Columbine school [...]
The Republican presidential candidates didn’t generate much excitement in Des Moines Saturday night.
Nine of them showed up for a big GOP money-raising dinner and none turned in a stellar performance. Perhaps it was the hall - the Polk County Convention Complex has poor acoustics that eat political speeches. Perhaps it [...]
Iowa plays host to an important Republican political event Saturday afternoon when ten of the leading - and not so leading - 2008 GOP presidential candidates appear at what’s called a “cattle-show” in Des Moines.
They come at a time when many in the GOP seem in need of a little [...]
Republicans in the Iowa Senate are playing an unfortunate game, one that hurts Iowa.
Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby, a Marion Republican, is saying GOP senators are likely to take down one of Democratic Gov. Chet Culver’s appointments to the Board of Regents when confirmation votes are held later this week.
Earlier [...]
It looks like Democratic Senator Tom Harkin will get a pass from Republicans when he runs for re-election in 2008. No big-name Republican challengers have emerged, just some unknowns.
Evidence for that came this weekend when Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley couldn’t name anyone who is thinking of taking on his [...]
As we all know, the 2008 presidential campaign has heated up faster than any previous ones. A presidential campaign is always an intense, high-stakes affair and this year the contests for the nominations are wide open in both parties.
Democrats especially are hot to retake the presidency. Several Republicans also want [...]
Two key state lawmakers said Friday they won’t recommend an increase in the tax next week when they present a plan to their colleagues to raise more money for road work in Iowa.
State Representative Geri Huser, an Altoona Democrat who chairs the House Transportation Committee, and Representative David Tjepkes, the [...]
Tom Vilsack is going to get a little help from Hillary Clinton’s campaign in paying off his presidential campaign debt, according to The New York Times political blog.
The Times reports today the former Iowa governor’s debt from his short-lived presidential campaign is about $430,000 and the Clinton campaign has [...]
Sometimes events in politics transcend politics. John and Elizabeth Edwards’ latest bout with her breast cancer is one of those.
The 2008 Democratic campaign for president held its breath for a couple days this week waiting for the results of additional tests she underwent after feeling a pain in her side. [...]
Democrats running the Iowa Statehouse are moving on a bill to allow election day voter registration in Iowa. Republicans are upset and for good reason: This bill could help cement the Democratic majority in place for years to come.
Current law requires registrations be completed 10 days before an election.
Under [...]
The Iowa Legislature needs to take another look at its ethics rules in the wake of Sen. Matt McCoy’s indictment Wednesday on federal extortion charges.
At issue in the case is whether McCoy used his position as a senator to extort money from a former business partner. McCoy has denied the [...]
Barack Obama is getting good crowds in Iowa. Perhaps too good for his own good.
Or the good of the caucuses.
The problem was on display Saturday in Dubuque when the Illinois senator was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of about 2,300 at the Loras College Fieldhouse. It was a large crowd [...]
This is funnel week in the Iowa Legislature. It’s a week when all non-spending or tax bills must be approved by at least one committee in order to remain alive for the session.
Bills either get funneled to the next level in the process, or they die. It’s a tool lawmakers [...]
We all know the 2008 presidential campaign has started earlier than most others and that the country could see the nominations locked up by about this time next year.
Then what? The long-campaign could turn into a tedious affair that overblows a lot of trivial things during the next 18 months [...]
Iowa was hit by a snowstorm over the weekend. The way the politicians are acting you’d think it was Hurricane Katrina that smacked us.
The weekend storm was just that - a storm. A good old fashioned Iowa snowstorm. It knocked out power to some. It broke trees and contributed to [...]
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack plans to drop out of the 2008 race for president later this morning because he lost the 2007 money primary.
His move will make the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses just a bit more important to the other candidates.
Key insiders cited Vilsack’s inability to raise enough cash [...]
Barack Obama seemed a little off his game Wednesday night at a town hall meeting in Des Moines.
The Illinois senator, who is seeking votes in Iowa’s presidential caucuses next year, was flat and his answers meandered at times. While he made no mistakes or gaffes, it was clear he was [...]
Senator John McCain opened his 2008 presidential campaign in Iowa on Saturday with a somber town meeting dominated by the Middle East and the war in Iraq.
No music. Not much cheering. No waving of signs or other hoopla. His cute one-liners that were funny in some of the senator’s past [...]
Barack Obama is off to a stellar start in Iowa.
The Illinois senator had what is likely to be the largest kickoff ever seen for any candidate in the history of the caucuses.
His crowds in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo were huge - two or three thousand per event. In Ames, about [...]
Here are some excerpts from an interview I did with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama Saturday evening. We chatted on his bus as it traveled from Cedar Rapids to Waterloo.
(Note: He may be a “rock star” of this campaign but on this leg of the trip, he was traveling in a [...]
Barack Obama plans to formally announce his candidacy for president today in Springfield, Ill.
One day. One big event.
Then the Illinois senator plans to skip across the state line into Iowa for appearances in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Ames today and Sunday.
Two days. Three big events. (Plus a whole lot of [...]
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack has slipped in the most recent poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers.
It may explain why he starting to sound like the Howard Dean of 2008 as he steps up his criticism of the Iraq war by calling upon Congress to cut off funds for [...]
Gov. Chet Culver said Friday that in addition to increasing the cigarette tax by $1 per pack, he also supports allowing communities to enact tougher local smoking ordinances.
“I’m for local control,” he said during a taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program. While much of the debate in the [...]
Delaware Senator Joseph Biden talks too much. His high volume of words per minute just increases the odds he will say something wrong.
What Democratic activist/donor/strategist wants to bet on nominating Biden when he has shown a real proclivity to put his foot in his mouth?
The most recent gaffe came in [...]
John Kerry’s decision not to make the 2008 Democratic presidential race had to have been a tough one. But it was the only realistic one.
The Massachusetts senator was only getting about 3 percent in polls of likely Democratic voters, well behind three or four other candidates.
Kerry had been [...]
President Bush’s “State of the Union” speech to Congress Tuesday night often sounded more like a “State of Iraq” address.
His focus on the war and his new plans for winning it eclipsed other things he was proposing and gave a sobering hue to the event. But that’s fitting. Our union, [...]
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has announced he’s forming an exploratory committee in order to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
So how well will he run in Iowa? Maybe not so well. And maybe it doesn’t matter.
On paper, Richardson should be a formidable contender. He’s an affable former congressman and [...]
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning a presidential campaign trip to Iowa next weekend, an aide said Saturday.
Which is good for her. She’s got work to do in the Hawkeye State.
The announcement of a visit here came on the same day Clinton announced she was forming an exploratory committee to [...]
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack trails badly in a poll of likely New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary voters released Thursday.
Vilsack got 1 percent of the vote in the survey conducted by Zogby International.
The poll of 502 likely Democratic primary voters was taken Jan. 15-17 and has a margin of error of [...]
Tuesday’s indictments in the CIETC case underscore the worst of government - and the best.
At one level we saw a former Des Moines city council member, good old Archie Brooks, and the employees of the Central Iowa Employment Training Consortium indicted for things like conspiracy, fraud or obstruction of justice. [...]
Over the weekend, Iowa Republicans concluded a spirited internal battle for chairman of the state central committee. While the in-house strife for the GOP looks bad, the fight was good because it shows Republicans are starting to take stock of just what went wrong in 2006.
Ray Hoffman of Sioux City [...]
It was a pleasant day of new things in Iowa Friday. A new governor was inaugurated in a new arena by a new chief justice.
Chet Culver’s big day was a proper affair, filled with all the lovely pomp and tradition that have marked the arrivals of new governors since Iowa [...]
President Bush gave a good speech Wednesday night. The only problem is it comes about two years late.
Americans are tired of this war. Bone tired. This latest Iraq strategy most likely assures a Democrat will win the White House in 2008.
American voters hinted at that in November, when they gave [...]
It started out as one of those “first women” deals. Marsha Ternus, the new chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, is the first woman to hold that job and on Wednesday she gave her first Condition of the Judiciary speech to the governor and Legislature.
So lots of people showed [...]
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack turned part of his final Condition of the State speech on Tuesday into a presidential campaign address by launching a harsh attack on the Iraq war.
Vilsack, who leaves office on Friday after 8 years as governor, used his swan song to try to position himself as [...]
The Iowa Legislature convenes today. Right after the election, the road lobby surprised many by starting a full-court press for a gas tax increase during session.
Unlike the anti-smoking lobby, which has been agitating for a cigarette tax increase for several years, the road folks popped this one on voters and [...]
Gov. Tom Vilsack said Wednesday the Board of Regents should dramatically increase the salary being offered and go recruit the best new president they can find for the University of Iowa.
Folks in Iowa City are in a dither over the messed up selection of a new president for the school. [...]
The idea of getting Britney Spears to help kick off the 2008 Iowa caucuses is as bizarre as her personal life.
It would denigrate and cheapen what should be the serious business of selecting candidates for the American presidency.
The proposal started with a group of Des Moines business and tourism types [...]
