Stories

New York Senator Hillary Clinton was joined by her mother and daughter last night at an event  in Williamsburg, Iowa which was marred only by the exodus.  A dangerous icy mist produced slippery roads and frosted windshields as candidate, press, and local traffic drove to their next stops. 
Sen. Clinton and family were headed east [...]

After his speech on community service Wednesday Barack Obama took some questions from the predominately collegiate crowd at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

In this video Cornell student and birddogger Abigail Pedersen talks about the issues that concern her and shares her opinion about Barack Obama’s response to her question on HIV/AIDS.

Watch Obama’s response in [...]

In his speech entitled, “A Call to Serve,” Illinois Senator Barack Obama recounted his experience as a community organizer and he asked those in attendance at the Cornell College campus in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, to start serving their communities. 

He said when he began his own service in Chicago he found, “a community that embraced [...]

State Rep, Donovan Olson, D-Boone, became the 12th Iowa legislator to endorse Barack Obama’s presidential campaign today.

Obama ranks second among Democrats in Iowa legislative endorsements, trailing Hillary Clinton who has 16.  Joe Biden is close behind with 10.

Not to be outdone, the Biden camp announced they will have “a significant endorsement” at a Des Moines [...]

College students for Obama, right?  And health care workers for Hillary?  Not in the Taylor family. 

Christine Taylor and her mom, Pauline, agree on their political party, but they prefer different candidates for president.  Christine likes Hillary for her emphasis on health care, especially for children.  But her mom will be caucusing for Obama.

Pauline Taylor has [...]

Forest Whitaker has won numerous awards and achievements for his acting and directing roles in film and television.  He was in Iowa City to represent Barack Obama at the Johnson County Democratic BBQ on Saturday.  He gave a speech that enumerated his reasons for supporting Senator Obama’s bid for the Democratic presidential candidacy.

The Hollywood actor [...]

There aren't very many African-American farmers in Iowa.
Nonetheless, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is leading a call to help thousands of them in southern states who for years were discriminated against as they tried to participate in federal agriculture loan programs. And Grassley, a Republican, has a key Democratic senator as an ally in his efforts: [...]

Not all of the people at the Harkin Steak Fry were on stage with Senator Tom and Ruth Harkin.  There were about 12,000 others wandering around eating steak (or chicken), waving signs, lots of waving signs, and cheering for candidates.

In these videos you’ll witness the sign wars, meet the people who drove across the state [...]

Six democratic candidates spoke at the Harkin Steak Fry fundraiser this year in Indianola.  Each candidate was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin. 

Click here to see video reactions from the Iowa audience.

In reverse order, excerpts from the candidates’ speeches are below the fold in this post.

To follow our coverage of Sunday’s Harkin Steak Fry as it unfolded, click here.

INDIANOLA – Hillary pulled out the best line of the day.

Obama’s team orchestrated some powerhouse optics.

Edwards did that lawyer-leaping-from-the-John-Grisham-novel-to-face-the-forces-of capitalism’s-excesses-for-those-Americans-bogged-in-the-backwater thing,

The candidates had their moments, some big ones at that.

But the win at U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin’s Steak Fry, the trophy on [...]