Stories

Former Iowa GOP Rep. Jim Nussle faced two positive Senate panels last week considering his nomination to be director of the Office of Management and Budget.  However successful the hearings were, the vote on his nomination is still in jeopardy because of Senate negotiations with the White House over three critical fiscal year 2008 appropriations [...]

Dave Price is a relatively new addition to the political reporting scene in Iowa.  Still, he and WHO-TV in Des Moines seem to have carved out a niche that none of the other Des Moines stations has found in a beat reporter: a TV journalist who almost exclusively covers politics.

“Someone who works for local TV [...]

Lt. Gov. Patty Judge announced Thursday that the administration of Gov. Chet Culver was taking no position on whether or not campus police officers should be armed at Iowa’s three state universities.

At a Statehouse press conference, a security panel set up by Culver released its findings on arming campus police officers and improving campus security, [...]

In what may be seen as a move to force him to declare his candidacy earlier than intended, Iowa GOP Executive Director Chuck Laudner said today that former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson’s name would be included on the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll ballot.  Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa has more here and here.

Thompson’s campaign [...]

In the first six months of 2007, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama received almost 1,900 contributions from Iowans supporting his bid to win the Iowa Caucuses and become the Democratic nominee for president.

The Obama campaign reported that since announcing his presidential candidacy earlier this year, Obama had received donations from 1,864 Iowans. Of those donations, 1,737 [...]

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad announced that former Rep. Jim Nussle’s confirmation hearing on his nomination to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget would be held next Thursday, July 26.

“This hearing will provide Mr. Nussle with an opportunity to address Members of the Budget Committee and answer questions about [...]

[Commentary] State House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, is worried about the state budget.  In mid-June, Rants posted on his personal site a blog entry detailing new “budget woes” that the Democratic majority could soon be facing on capitol hill.  Democrats don’t seem to be too worried.

According to Rants, a recent Legislative Fiscal Committee [...]

On the floor of the U.S. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said that Senate Republicans were “protecting the president rather than protecting our troops” by denying a vote on an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that would require troop redeployment in Iraq.

As a result, Reid threatened that if Republicans continued to filibuster the [...]

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign picked up two more endorsements today.  He received support from State Sens. Bill Heckroth and Tom Rielly.

Rielly’s endorsement was made in a campaign stop last week.

Heckroth hails from Waverly, and Rielly hails from Oskaloosa.

Today’s endorsements mark the fourth and fifth legislator endorsements for Obama.  Heckroth and Rielly join fellow senator [...]

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s  bid for the presidency today.

“I’ve known Hillary for a decade and talked to her at great length about Iraq.  She is the one candidate who understands the need to get Americans out of harm’s way and end this war in a way that preserves some [...]