Tag: Iowa

But the audience of nearly 1,000 people was engrossed as Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and presidential hopeful, did what she does best: “nerd out,” as she puts it. While other Democrats have focused on sweeping themes of unity or change, as Senator Kamala Harris of California did on Sunday at a campaign kickoff rally, Ms. Warren is making a personal and political wager that audiences care more about policy savvy than captivating oration. “But voters — especially voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and other states that have the ability to get to know these candidates well — they want to hear real solutions, and that means a certain level of detail and not just platitudes.” On one level Ms. Warren is running as herself: a former Harvard law professor who likes getting into the weeds of policy. “Policy details in politics works the same way. “Do I have any net metering wonks out here? Thank you for sponsoring the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2018,” Mr. Goetz said. “Yes, it’s a nerd thing,” Ms. Warren responded, drawing laughter from the crowd. “It’s absolutely a nerd thing.” By playing up her instincts as a wonk, Ms. Warren is trying to define herself and her candidacy on her own terms before Democratic rivals try to cast her in a more unflattering light. Past presidential candidates in both parties have grappled with this. “Elizabeth Warren is trying to position herself as the ideas candidate of the field, and thus far, in the early going, she’s winning that,” Mr. Shakir said.

CNN's Sara Sidner reports on Rep. Steve King (R-IA) holding a town hall where he said his controversial white nationalist comments were misrepresented. #CNN #News

Senator Gillibrand has created an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for a Presidential campaign, and has kicked off that campaign (or that groundwork-laying at least) with a trip to Iowa.

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand hosts a 2020 presidential campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network…

Now, as Iowa Public Radio's Katie Peikes reports, King's constituents in western Iowa are pondering his political future. Today, they're talking about Steve King. DENNIS TOEL: You know, there's no freedom of speech anymore. PEIKES: But their friend, Walt Kleinhesselink, is not so sure. PEIKES: King has represented this corner of Iowa since 2003, easily winning re-election every time until last November. He's made comments about the freedom of black people. PEIKES: A couple of tables away, Bre Ellis says she agrees with King's strong anti-abortion positions and support for gun rights, but she doesn't like the terms King defended like white supremacist, white nationalist and Western civilization. BRE ELLIS: I think that, at one time, Western civilization was an OK term to use. PEIKES: After the New York Times interview ran, King said he condemned white nationalism and supremacy, although he insists he's still a defender of Western civilization. For NPR News, I'm Katie Peikes in Sioux City, Iowa.

We gathered several of our political reporters — Jess Bidgood, Liz Goodwin, Victoria McGrane, and James Pindell — to answer questions via Slack Monday about her nascent campaign: When Elizabeth Warren entered the race, she faced some criticism about her candidacy — everything from her DNA test release to questions about her ‘likability’ (more on that later). Since we’re talking about Massachusetts... What other ways, if any, does she bring up her life here? Bidgood: She has talked a lot about beating Scott Brown in 2012. This person, like most if not all Republicans, really does not like Warren. When you talk to the people who appear at her rallies, what do they say about her “likability”? Pindell: Democratic voters I talk with are really struggling with the “I want a progressive fighter who understands I want to punch Trump every day” and then someone they think will have a persona of calm that can tactically appeal to some Trump voters. Goodwin: It feels like a lot of voters are willing to vote for whoever is getting the most traction and seems to have the best shot at beating Trump. Getting in so early was partly a nod to her wanting to get the meter started on these donations. (Of course, other candidates will have the same challenge.) McGrane: Warren, interestingly, has done some work on outreach to voters of color in the past couple of years as Jess wrote about.

Rep. Steve King's 2020 primary challenger, Iowa Republican state Sen. Randy Feenstra, talks to CNN's Don Lemon after King was removed from committee assignments following racist comments he made in an interview with The New York Times. #CNN #News

Who’s going to be our nominee in 2020 and how do we beat Trump is something every Democrat wants to talk about “I do think our election cycles are very long and I don’t think that’s great,” admits the affable Delaney. They don’t actually think they pick the president. Clinton entered the race a month later, followed in June by Trump’s now infamous descent on a Trump Tower escalator. “That would fundamentally change how the American people think about these issues and think about their leaders and think about common ground,” he says. Asked if Sanders or Warren can win the nomination, he replies carefully: “I think that someone who comes forth and wants to build a big tent party has a better chance of winning. Elizabeth Warren is running – here are 10 others who may seek the Democratic nomination Read more “If we as a Democratic party say we’re going to become the party the American people are looking for, which is a party that’s honest, civil, respectful, focusing on common ground, positive, optimistic and has big ideas about the future and welcomes progressives, centrists and disaffected Republicans, I think we’ll run the table in 2020. I tend to think that the American people in general and the Democratic party voters in particular make a deeper analysis of who they’re looking for. “You could have someone who’s an African American running for president who doesn’t stand for any of the things that the Democratic party stands for. I just don’t think the Democratic party is going to vote for someone because of the colour of their skin. They care about their vision for the future.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren kicked off her 2020 presidential primary campaign over the weekend barnstorming 5 Iowa cities and taking questions from Iowa voters. Lawrence highlights some of the questions voters wanted to know and discusses voters’ reactions with Boston reporter…

“The law of unintended consequences acts again,” Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report said Friday about California’s decision to move its primary from June to March 3, 2020. That means early voting in the primary will begin Feb. 3, 2020 — the same day Iowa Democrats and Republicans have their precinct caucuses. “Will it dilute Iowa and New Hampshire?” he asked, referring to Iowa’s leadoff caucuses and New Hampshire’s leadoff primary. “If you’re going to have people, millions of people from coast to coast voting during the month of February, having a win, coming in first or second on Feb. 3, hey, that would be a pretty good thing to happen,” Cook said Friday during the taping of this weekend’s “Iowa Press” for Iowa Public Television. “So I don’t know that it erodes Iowa’s importance at all,” he said, adding that it likely will add a “weird dynamic” to the nomination process. Cook also predicted that Iowa is likely going to be in the “leans Republican” category going into 2020. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunities for Democrats. Voters in states characterized by small town, rural populations generally are trending more Republican, but Cook noted Iowa went from having three of four GOP U.S. House members to electing three Democratic representatives Nov. 6. He believes there is a realignment taking place in American politics as highly educated, high-income white voters move away from the Republican Party toward the Democratic Party. Cook doesn’t see that changing because of gerrymandering of congressional and state legislative districts or the new media culture that is “creating these ideological echo chambers on each side that is increasing the intensity of polarization to a point that we never saw back in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.”