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Iowa Tag

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 11, 2016 10 Comments
Hillary Clinton was rushed by an animal rights protester during a campaign event in Iowa this week. The protester, who was a young woman, was taken down by Secret Service and carried out of the venue by police. CBS News New York reports:
VIDEO: Animal Rights Protester Tackled By Security Trying To Rush Stage At Hillary Clinton Rally A woman was tackled by security as she was trying to rush the stage at a Hillary Clinton rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 05, 2016 2 Comments
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad confirmed he will sign a bill that will not allow public companies to do business with firms involved in Israel boycotts. Iowa's Senate passed House File 2331 last week in a 38-9 vote. The legislators hope the bill counters "efforts of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement." Palestinian groups began the movement in 2005 as a way to money and goods from Israel. "I just think it is wrong to be boycotting our friend and ally, Israel," declared Gov. Branstad. "There is a lot of opportunity for us to do business with them, and I don’t believe we ought to be penalizing Israel, of all countries. They are one of our best friends and allies. This is something I strongly support."

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 30, 2016 5 Comments
Now that the Iowa caucus is getting close, things are starting to heat up between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In an interview with Lester Holt yesterday, Hillary took a few shots at Sanders. Via NBC News:
Ahead of Iowa, Clinton Says She 'Can Actually Produce Results' Hillary Clinton, locked in a dead heat with Bernie Sanders three days before the Iowa caucuses, betrayed little sign of nerves in an interview with NBC News Friday, saying she relished the scrutiny that a close fight will bring her rival. Clinton also accused Sanders of "trying to go negative" with ads accusing Wall Street of trying to buy off politicians — spots that didn't name Clinton, but aired after she left Iowa Wednesday to raise money at a Philadelphia investment firm.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 29, 2016 18 Comments
Bernie Sanders has done plenty of favors for Hillary in this election cycle but instead of having his good will returned, he's coming up against the Clinton smear machine. A rumor is circulating that Sanders supporters are planning to win the Iowa caucus by flooding it with college students from out of state. The rumor is nothing more than a delivery system for the smear which would give Clinton supporters an opportunity to taint a Sanders win in the state. Chuck Ross reported at The Daily Caller:
Sanders Is Furious At David Brock, Hillary’s Loyal Servant And Spin Master Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ripped into David Brock, the head of the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, Correct the Record, after being asked about rumors on Thursday that his campaign was planning to bus out-of-state students into Iowa to take part in Monday’s caucuses.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 27, 2016 12 Comments
This is one of the more unusual campaign closing statements. Mike Huckabee in the past has had the pulse of Iowa. But he's been relegated to the undercard debates recently. So here is a rather "interesting" closing video. It focuses more on the Democrats than his Republican competitors. [Apparently singer Adele objected to the use of her song, even though sung by someone else, so the ad was taken down.] What gives?

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 19, 2016 79 Comments
As Donald Trump ramps up his attacks on Ted Cruz, the Washington Post is reporting that "The Republican establishment really, really doesn't like Ted Cruz."  This premise is nothing new to those of us who have been following Ted Cruz's career in the Senate and his presidential campaign, and to many serves as a feather in Cruz's cap.  The vitriol against him, though, is becoming quite pronounced . . . and not just from Trump. WaPo writes:
There's an assumption among casual consumers of politics that establishment Republicans loathe Donald Trump. Not really true.  Yes, they worry about what Trump might do downballot to the GOP if he is the nominee. But most view him with some mix of puzzlement and fascination. The Republican establishment saves its actual hatred for one man and one man only: Ted Cruz.
The evidence WaPo trots out is Iowa governor Terry "ethanol" Branstad.
Witness Terry Branstad, the four-term governor of Iowa and, without question, the face of the Republican establishment in the state. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he wants to see Cruz beaten in the Iowa caucuses in 13 days -- a remarkable admission by a sitting incumbent of such long standing.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 16, 2016 24 Comments
The new Michael Bay film "13 Hours" is out now and is by all accounts, an accurate portrayal of the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya. In a move that is as funny as it is politically savvy, Donald Trump is making sure the voters of Iowa get a chance to see it. The Des Moines Register reports:
Trump rents Iowa theater to show Benghazi movie Donald Trump has rented space at an Urbandale movie theater and will give Iowans free tickets to a showing of the Benghazi movie that critics of Hillary Clinton have been eagerly awaiting. “Mr. Trump would like all Americans to know the truth about what happened at Benghazi,” the GOP presidential candidate’s Iowa co-chair Tana Goertz said Thursday night.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 30, 2015 4 Comments
Democrat presidential candidate Martin O'Malley held a campaign event in Iowa Monday and one single person showed up. In O'Malley's defense, it was snowing in Iowa but still... one guy? Here's the worst part, the guy left uncommitted. Nick Gass reported at Politico:
One person shows up to O'Malley event in Iowa, remains uncommitted Amid a vicious winter storm on Monday that forced some presidential campaigns to cancel their scheduled stops in Iowa, only Martin O'Malley decided to press on. And one man at his last event, the only person to show up, in fact, "was glad to see me," the former Maryland governor said. But he still would not commit to caucus for O'Malley.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 12, 2015 44 Comments
I noticed this Facebook comment on the page of a local Ithaca liberal Democrat, on a post criticizing Donald Trump:
Donald Trump looks like the warm-up act. Whoever follows him from the Republican party looks reasonable (and sane) by comparison.
The commenter didn't use the term, but she was describing how Trump has moved The Overton Window. The Overton Window has been described as follows:
The Overton window is a political theory that refers to the range (or window) of policies that the public will accept. The idea is that any policy falling outside the Overton window is out of step with public opinion and the current political climate, and formulated to try and shift the Overton window in a different direction, or to expand it to be wider.
Has Trump moved the Overton Window? That's a theory advanced the other day by David French at National Review (h/t Instapundit):

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 05, 2015 103 Comments
Last week,  Quinnipiac reported poll results for Iowa that showed Ted Cruz surging to 23%, only 2 points behind Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal reported:
A new Quinnipiac University poll of likely Republican caucus goers showed Mr. Cruz with 23%, behind only New York real estate developer Donald Trump, with 25%. That is more than double Mr. Cruz’s showing of 10% in the university’s October poll. Mr. Trump gained five points from October.
Today, Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, tweeted the following: https://twitter.com/RichLowry/status/673236631231533056 More Twitter responses:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 15, 2015 22 Comments
When Donald Trump first launched his presidential campaign, he looked like a man who was on a mission to become King of the Media Circus. He was boisterous, bold, and didn't hesitate to take his opponents and detractors to the cleaners on a daily basis. Surely, this was some sort of stunt or vanity campaign, right? Then, of course, the poll numbers started hitting the airwaves, proving that what he was saying and doing was resonating with voters and the American people at large. Now, a new report from NBC News shows that the Trump campaign has decided to put its money where its candidate's mouth is, and launch a "formidable" ground game in the cycle's most crucial primary state. Other candidates shied away from Iowa, not wanting to peak too early; Trump, on the other hand, made multiple, high-profile and highly-attended appearances in the state, and has now embedded 12 paid staffers---more than any other candidate currently campaigning in Iowa---to put boots on the ground and start doing the grunt work that actually wins elections.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 14, 2015 60 Comments
Governor Scott Walker was interviewed by CNN's Jake Tapper yesterday. The segment began with Walker's dropping poll numbers in Iowa but went on to cover a wide range of topics. Early on, Tapper refers to a column from National Review which charges the Walker campaign with being too lax in response to questions on big issues. That article can be read here. Later, Tapper brings up an op-ed Walker wrote for Hot Air about Obama's weak leadership in the face of violence against police officers. You can read that here. Jake Tapper is widely considered one of the most objective journalists in the mainstream media but as you watch the video below, you'll find him full of leftist talking points. The Koch brothers come up more than once, Walker is forced to defend himself as a career politician as if Hillary and Sanders aren't. Tapper also questions Walker about women's rights, Planned Parenthood, the Syrian refugees and more.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 29, 2015 11 Comments
We know from recent polling that Hillary Clinton is in trouble in New Hamspshire. Now she has problems in Iowa, according to a Des Moines Register poll released Saturday night:
Liberal revolutionary Bernie Sanders, riding an updraft of insurgent passion in Iowa, has closed to within 7 points of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race. She's the first choice of 37 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers; he's the pick for 30 percent, according to a new Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll. But Clinton has lost a third of her supporters since May, a trajectory that if sustained puts her at risk of losing again in Iowa, the initial crucible in the presidential nominating contest.... "This feels like 2008 all over again," said J. Ann Selzer, pollster for the Iowa Poll.
The trendline is horrible for Hillary:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 15, 2015 4 Comments
The event that once marked the official beginning of GOP presidential run will not take place this year. "We set the table and they didn't come to dinner," Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann reported The Des Moines Register. The Iowa Straw Poll was far from an accurate scientific poll. Declaring the champion the candidate who spent the most to win, candidates vying for national publicity would drop major bank for the "______ wins Iowa Straw Poll" headlines and the subsequent appearance of a legitimately strong campaign. In 2011, Mitt Romney declined to participate and this year, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Mike Huckabee announced they too would bypass the Iowa fun. The straw poll was one massive fundraising event for the Republican Party of Iowa. It's not entirely surprising campaigns recognized skipping the over-hyped pay-to-play event might be a better utilization of their time and resources. Howard Kurtz explained the Iowa Straw poll sham during his broadcast in May: According to the Des Moines Register, there were three reasons the straw poll was nixed this year:

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 21, 2015 12 Comments
MSNBC's Morning Joe recently asked a panel of Iowa Democrats to cite something, anything, that Hillary Clinton accomplished in her role as secretary of state. The silence was deafening. Daniel Halper of the Weekly Standard:
Iowa Dems Can’t Name an Accomplishment Secretary of State Hillary Clinton In a video played this morning on MSNBC, Iowa Democrats were not able to name an accomplishment of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential frontrunner... "I really can't name anything off the top of my head," one voter says after letting out a long sigh. Another asks the interviewer, "Want to give me a minute? Give me two minutes."
Watch the video below:

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 16, 2014 10 Comments
Liberals in politics and media are placing all their eggs in Hillary's basket for 2016 but remember: When it comes to presidential elections, Iowa is a very important state and as Lee Rood of the New York Post points out, Hillary may have a problem:
Is Iowa already sick of Hillary Clinton? DES MOINES, Iowa — If you’re a die-hard Democrat in New York hoping to overcome the disappointment that was Nov. 4, you’re worried. But here in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation caucuses are a mere 14 months away, some are breaking into a cold sweat. Most party leaders here will assure you all conversations about the 2016 presidential nomination still begin and end with Hillary Clinton. The former first lady and secretary of state is a sentimental favorite. Though she has not formally announced her candidacy, her well-oiled super PAC may be the most deeply rooted ever at this stage in the Hawkeye state. “I don’t know of any party regulars or activists who are really pushing anyone else,” says Jerry Crawford, who co-chaired Clinton’s 2008 campaign in Iowa and helps lead Ready for Hillary in the state. But that may be the problem. Familiarity breeds if not contempt, then frustration.
Do you know who else isn't excited about the prospect of a Clinton run? Joe Biden.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 24, 2014 9 Comments
Early voting is looking good for Iowa Republican Joni Ernst. In fact, it's looking better than usual. Kirsten Hunter of the Washington Free Beacon reports that even CNN is acknowledging the trend:
CNN: Iowa Early Vote Data Shows Unprecedented Republican Numbers Elated Republicans are celebrating the unprecedented success of U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) in Iowa’s early voting. Iowa Republicans banked a surge of early voters this week, a practice usually dominated by Democrats in the state. Ernst’s unprecedented success is also the result of her opponent, Rep. Bruce Braley’s, failure to mobilize Iowa Democrats despite receiving support from high-profile figures including the Clintons and the seat’s current holder, Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa). “Braley hasn’t run a great campaign,” said CNN reporter Peter Hamby. “Look at the early vote numbers in that state. Democrats in the last two or three cycles have really done well by running up the early vote number.” Hamby elaborated that Republicans are at a “parity” with Democrats after assessing this week’s early Republican votes. This “has never happened before,” Hamby said. “Braley wants that number to be higher.”
Here's the video segment: This surge may explain why liberal news sites are attacking Joni Ernst for expressing her completely Constitutional views on the Second Amendment.
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