Tag: The Des Moines Register

Nati Harnik/Associated Press Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Bernie Sanders lead a new poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers released this weekend, underscoring how the nomination process for the Democratic Party has, to this early point, been defined by the two figures with the largest national profiles. The poll, which was conducted by The Des Moines Register and CNN, had Mr. Biden as the top choice for 27 percent of respondents, leading all candidates. Though Mr. Biden’s advisers have signaled that he intends to run for president, he has yet to announce his candidacy. Mr. Sanders, who kicked off his campaign recently in New York City, was the top choice for 25 percent of those asked. Only 5 percent of likely caucusgoers now call him their first choice for president — down from 11 percent in December. [Join the conversation around the 2020 race with our politics newsletter.] It remains to be seen if that will translate to hardened support, particularly in one of the largest, most wide-open and diverse Democratic primary fields in history. The next closest figure to Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders, according to the poll, was Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who was among the first to announce her presidential candidacy. Ms. Warren was the top choice for 9 percent of respondents, followed by Senator Kamala Harris of California, who was favored by 7 percent of respondents and had soaring favorability ratings. Other candidates — including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — have struggled to make an imprint, the poll found.

The father of Mollie Tibbetts has spoken out against Donald Trump and other Republicans using his daughter’s death in support of “views she believed were profoundly racist”. Iowa conservative seeking to gain from Mollie Tibbetts case fails to make ballot Read more In an opinion piece for the Des Moines Register, Rob Tibbetts also said an op-ed for the same paper by the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, was “heartless” and “despicable”. The man charged in her death, 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is suspected of being in the US illegally. Rob Tibbetts wrote that while he supports debate on immigration, some politicians and pundits went too far in using his daughter’s death to promote political agendas. “Despite what some Democrats may wish in the depths of their hearts, Mollie was murdered by an illegal alien and her murder would never have happened if we policed our southern border properly,” the president’s son wrote. Recorded phone calls citing Mollie Tibbetts’ death in a push for white supremacist views began on Tuesday, just days after her funeral. The calls questioned whether his daughter would feel the same if she were still alive and describe Rivera as “an invader from Mexico”. Allow us to grieve in privacy and with dignity. At long last, show some decency. On behalf of my family and Mollie’s memory, I’m imploring you to stop.”

A long-running tradition in Iowa politics, the Soapbox this year will feature candidates running for Congress, governor, secretary of state, secretary of agriculture, auditor and treasurer. Saturday, August 11 11:00 a.m.: Democrat Rob Sand, running for state auditor. Swalwell serves as California's 15th District representative and chaired the Martin O'Malley PAC's Young Professionals Leader Circle in 2014. Gannon currently works as a farmer on his family’s 900-acre century farm near Mingo, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, and served with former President Barack Obama's Iowa campaign. Sunday, August 12 None scheduled. Monday, August 13 10:30 a.m.: Libertarian Jake Porter, running for governor. 4:00 p.m.: Republican Paul Pate, running for state secretary of state. Wednesday, August 15 10:30 a.m.: Republican David Young, running for Congress in the 3rd District. 4:00 p.m.: Republican Christopher Peters, running for Congress in the 2nd District. Scholten, running for Congress in the 4th District.

President Donald Trump will meet at the White House with a group of 13 farm-state Republican senators and representatives to talk about trade. "We just opened up Europe for you farmers," Trump told backers in Iowa before traveling to a reopened steel plant in Illinois to say that tariffs on steel and aluminum are leading to revivals of those industries. Farmers, however, have criticized Trump tariffs affecting their products, and Republicans are concerned that a depression of agriculture votes could cost the GOP control of Congress in November. They say that Chinese retaliatory tariffs in particular are hurting prices for soybeans, pork and other agricultural products. China and European countries have retaliated with their own tariffs on U.S. products, Trump acknowledged, and farmers in particular are saying that the penalties are hurting sales. More: Trump says US, EU reach agreement to work toward 'zero tariffs' More: Trump says 'vicious' China targeting U.S. farmers on trade, urges critics to 'be cool' Republicans and others have told Trump that the tariff wars are starting to hurt business people, including farmers and other key sources of votes in the November congressional elections. They could also hurt Republicans at the ballot box, no small thing as the GOP faces the possible loss of House and Senate majorities in the November elections. Trump visited Iowa and Illinois a day after proclaiming new talks with European Union officials about eliminating all trade barriers between the U.S. and Europe. He also said officials would try to "resolve" existing steel and aluminum tariffs, as well as "retaliatory tariffs" in general. "If this farm aid is real and gets delivered, there may not be an issue at all," she said.

Brianne Pfannenstiel has been promoted to become the Des Moines Register’s chief politics reporter. In her new job, Pfannenstiel will cover all things politics — from the 2018 Iowa governor’s race and congressional midterms to the important decisions of the Iowa presidential caucuses. Pfannenstiel has worked for the Register since February 2015, covering four legislative sessions, a multitude of presidential campaigns in the 2016 caucus cycle and, most recently, the governor’s race. “Having worked with Brianne, I know she will excel at this job,” said Rachel Stassen-Berger, the Register’s politics editor. She impressed us all.” Pfannenstiel graduated from the University of Kansas in 2010, double-majoring in journalism and Italian language and literature, and has also covered politics in the Kansas City area. She replaces Jason Noble, who resigned to become communications director of Let America Vote. Please add Brianne to all your political lists, feed her your news tips and welcome her to the new job. Her email address is bpfannenst@dmreg.com, and you can find her on Twitter @brianneDMR. The Register will be hiring a Statehouse reporter to replace Pfannenstiel. Look for that posting on the Gannett job board or email Stassen-Berger an expression of your interest, your resume and your best clips at rachelsb@registermedia.com.

According to an opinion column in the Des Moines Register, a polling firm is testing U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke's name recognition among Republican voters in Iowa. The piece, published Tuesday by Iowa View contributor Steve Sherman, says the calls could be related to Zinke testing the waters for a 2024 presidential run. The calls could indicate the 2024 "White House sweepstakes has started very early, and that Zinke is known in D.C. as somebody with White House ambitions," Sherman wrote. Before becoming Interior Secretary, Zinke represented Montana in the U.S. House from 2015 to when he resigned the seat to take the Interior job in 2017, shortly after winning re-election. He also served in the state Senate. “We’re looking ahead trying to see who the heir apparent is after Trump. If you fundamentally believe the Republican Party has changed and Trump is not an anomaly, someone like Ryan Zinke could be that person. Based on our polling he’s extremely popular among Republican voters in Iowa. The interior secretary is someone to watch,” Gravis told Sherman.