Stories

Pointing to his “steadfastness in the face of uncertainty, his clear-eyed vision for a more just America and his potential for rallying the country to do great things,” The Des Moines Register’s editorial board has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was greeted like a rock star when she entered Hy-Vee Hall Saturday afternoon, carrying the message that the presidential contest in Iowa is far from over.

Lines to get into the rally stretched nearly three blocks. The fire marshal closed the entrance after 10,000 people were inside. An unknown number of supporters had to be turned away.

Those who did get inside were told that no matter what the polls say, Republicans have to keep the faith.

With 11 days left in the presidential campaign, there is no more valuable resource than the candidates’ time.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has a lead of anywhere from 10 to 29 points in every Midwestern state, according to the latest Big Ten Battleground States poll.
In Iowa, Obama leads Republican John McCain 52 to 39. The last Big Ten poll had Iowa as virtually tied at 42.7 percent for Obama and 42 percent [...]

Iowa Democratic Party Chariman Scott Brennan and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin yesterday called on the presidential campaign of John McCain to stop two robo calls in Iowa that they call “sleazy” and “tasteless.”

In a report describing the electoral map facing Republican presidential candidate John McCain, CNN Chief National Correspondent John King said two top McCain strategists and advisers told him the campaign is all but writing off Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado.
“Gone,” was the word one top McCain insider used to describe those three states.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain spent $352,000 on television advertising in Iowa the week following the Republican National Convention compared to $148,000 by Democrat Barack Obama.
The figures, compiled by the Wisconsin Advertising Project, show that just over half the $15 million spent nationally by both campaigns between Sept. 6 and 13 went to the battleground [...]

The Iowa Democratic Party has launched a Web site hammering Republican presidential nominee John McCain on issues like ethanol subsidies and the Farm Bill.

The site, called McCain vs. Iowa, will be “strictly issues-focused and will be updated regularly with Iowa specific information to be used by Iowans as they make their decision come November,” according [...]

Speaking at the grand opening of the Tom Latham for Congress and Victory 2008 headquarters in Ames, Pawlenty said Sen. John McCain has a long record of wisdom and judgment, something Obama can’t match.

“We do not want the next president to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the world we live in,” he said.

At least 20 employees of the Iowa Democratic Party have been demoted or fired and a coordinated state-wide campaign was essentially disbanded, replaced by a focus on the presidential bid of Sen. Barack Obama.
Details are sketchy, but the changes could have an impact on November's legislative races, with field staff that was previously working [...]