Stories

Voters concerned about federal agriculture policies will gravitate toward Barack Obama, said Nebraska senator Ben Nelson at the Iowa State Fair Thursday.

As he shepherds and tracks several energy bills being funneled to committees in the state Legislature before next week’s cutoff date, Sen Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, praised Gov. Chet Culver’s energy policies:
“Governor Culver has done an outstanding job on his advocacy for what he calls the next-generation energy economy … There might be some people [...]

Almost 50 people gathered at the University of Iowa on Friday to discuss the two things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite company: religion and politics.

Political science professor Cary Covington’s presentation on “God Talk on the Campaign Trail” outlined how he sees the pendulum of religious favor swinging back to Democratic presidential candidates, [...]

It’s almost “Vertical Day” for Mike Huckabee’s campaign.  “Vertical,” or “V” Day, will be a 24-hour online conversation hosted by Mike Huckabee at his website starting Monday morning.

I’m not a political scientist, but I don’t know why they didn’t think of this sooner.  I would think that verticality–we’re talking positive, upward motion–is the best kind [...]

Sen. John McCain’s “No Surrender” tour roared into Waterloo on Wednesday.  The Republican presidential candidate appeared onstage with veterans from Iraq and Vietnam at American Legion Post 138.  McCain strongly voiced his concerns about leaving Iraq during the tour stop. 

He opened with a joke before settling into a serious defense of the current strategy in [...]

Sen. John McCain was in Gladbrook, Iowa, Sunday evening campaigning at a house party.  He spoke on the lawn at the home of Lynn and Claire Handorf and then took questions from the audience and press.

Regarding last week’s Polk County ruling that allowed at least one gay couple to marry in Des Moines, McCain [...]

One of Iowa’s most well-known writers, Chuck Offenburger, a Republican, has an insightul piece on the straw poll on his Web site in which he makes the case that no members of his party in Iowa should vote for John McCain, Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson because they skipped the festivities in Ames last Saturday.

“As [...]

Polk County G.O.P. Chair and blogger Ted Sporer has a sharp run-down on the winners and losers of Saturday’s straw poll in Ames over on his site. Most intriguing is his report of growing hostility to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on the part of potential caucus-goers:
By his absence, Rudy Giuliani was the biggest [...]

State Rep. Rod Roberts, a Carroll Republican and assistant House minority leader, today urged GOP presidential candidate John McCain to keep battling for votes “even though he’s had a bit of a challenge in the last week or so.”

Roberts has been an early and strong supporter of McCain in the 2008 race. Roberts recently appeared [...]

A new Mason-Dixon poll released Tuesday shows the top-three Democratic contenders are in a close race in Iowa, with a surprising 27 percent of voters declaring themselves “undecided” nearly seven months before the nation’s first presidential caucus.  On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain seems to be tanking, with just 6 percent of Republican [...]