It's not a real election until Talk Radio says so..
Last week, Elizabeth Warren announced a Presidential Exploration Committee and a high profile visit to Iowa.
That’s a game changer right there.
The right- leaning local talk station headlines it with a “First Serious Candidate visit” blast.
Which was surely news to Cory Booker and others. They also helpfully explained she her visit was mere miles away from Pocahontas County.
More insightfully, a local talking head/ former Republican state congressperson said there are three groups of Democrats and those groups are forming around Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke so Warren might end on the outside looking in.
True enough, maybe, though Warren did speak to packed houses (and a picture of her event in Time magazine looked like a rock concert) so let’s not jump to conclusions.
It’s a field of 25 to 40 potential candidates that will likely scatter once some big names get in.
In the meantime, the annual Progress Iowa dinner was held in mid December is a nice media moment for some of the more obscure names in the field.
Indeed, the visit got some coverage in the Register.
250 people attended which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is still a significant amount for a spot in the meaningful dates along the caucus cycle. In fact, the Washington Post reports that this crowd was only half of that when last held with headliner Bernie Sanders.
I don’t expect these four headliners as a group to change the game. That said, it’s an important appearance and surely one candidate could grab a progressive platform and make a difference like a Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel. Besides, if not 2020, there’s always 2024.
For California congressman Eric Swalwell, he followed the Register coverage with a headline in a major Western Iowan paper.
Swalwell was born in Western Iowa, so that’s the scoop. The Daily Times Herald makes the point that Swalwell was born in the heart of Steve King country. His county went 60% for King in the last election and thus arguably the reddest area in the Nation.
Swalwell shared a story where he talks about moving to a county in California that has the highest fast food restaurants per capital and “no Fortune 500 companies to speak of.”
The Western Iowa paper focuses on his policy on liberal topics like gun control and Medicare for all. Still, he has a message that should resonate with everyone. Swalwell says that he is tired of seeing old jars hollowed out with a picture of a sick person asking for money to help with medical expenses.
I do have a friend who attended a Swalwell event and said he thought he was a good guy, but that's about all I got out of him.
The other three speakers were Andrew Yang, Jeff Merkley and Pete Buttigieg.
Yang said Trump won because automation replaced manufacturing jobs. He says his idea of a universal basic income of $1000/month will help stabilize the economy as retail and trucking become automated.
I have seen some activity on social media for Yang. I don’t know numbers but if he has some dedicated followers, then you never know what to expect.
The Register said Jeff Merkley focused on the “corrupting influence of money, gerrymandering and voter suppression “. They didn’t give much more details but The Nation featured Merkley last week and it sounds like he wants to abolish the Electoral College among other things.
Merkley was a strong voice in the immigration battle that came up in Texas and has taken Trump to task a few times. Unfortunately, Merkley’s local paper made the point that Merkley’s potential run has been hampered by his name being left off of several important 2020 polls.
Merkley says he has family backing to run for President so it sounds like it may be a done deal.
Pete Buttgieg was the fourth speaker. The Register mentioned this was his first Iowa trip since he announced he would not seek another term as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The Register recapped the Buttgieg back story- openly gay, former officer in the US Naval Reserve. Indeed, that’s generally what happens when covering Buttgieg.
It’s hard not to like the story of an energetic millennial who’s served his country. The Washington Post has an editorial last week that said he should be the rock star candidate that Dems want Beto O’Rourke to be. They covered how he took a town in South Bend that had been down since Studebaker went under.
In any case, the future of the Dem Party might be here, so I wanted to capture the moment.
Caucus season news now transitions from monthly to weekly to almost daily.
If you missed it, Tom Steyer has taken his name out of contention while upping the Impeach Trump ads on Iowa television. Since Warren announced her exploratory committee, so has Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Sherrod Brown. While the newssites are marking those four “in” the election, Tulsi Gabbard and Julian Castro have made actual official announcements that they are running.
Still not enough candidates to choose from? The first Draft Beto event is scheduled for this week.
That’s a game changer right there.
The right- leaning local talk station headlines it with a “First Serious Candidate visit” blast.
Which was surely news to Cory Booker and others. They also helpfully explained she her visit was mere miles away from Pocahontas County.
More insightfully, a local talking head/ former Republican state congressperson said there are three groups of Democrats and those groups are forming around Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke so Warren might end on the outside looking in.
True enough, maybe, though Warren did speak to packed houses (and a picture of her event in Time magazine looked like a rock concert) so let’s not jump to conclusions.
It’s a field of 25 to 40 potential candidates that will likely scatter once some big names get in.
In the meantime, the annual Progress Iowa dinner was held in mid December is a nice media moment for some of the more obscure names in the field.
Indeed, the visit got some coverage in the Register.
250 people attended which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is still a significant amount for a spot in the meaningful dates along the caucus cycle. In fact, the Washington Post reports that this crowd was only half of that when last held with headliner Bernie Sanders.
I don’t expect these four headliners as a group to change the game. That said, it’s an important appearance and surely one candidate could grab a progressive platform and make a difference like a Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel. Besides, if not 2020, there’s always 2024.
For California congressman Eric Swalwell, he followed the Register coverage with a headline in a major Western Iowan paper.
Swalwell was born in Western Iowa, so that’s the scoop. The Daily Times Herald makes the point that Swalwell was born in the heart of Steve King country. His county went 60% for King in the last election and thus arguably the reddest area in the Nation.
Swalwell shared a story where he talks about moving to a county in California that has the highest fast food restaurants per capital and “no Fortune 500 companies to speak of.”
The Western Iowa paper focuses on his policy on liberal topics like gun control and Medicare for all. Still, he has a message that should resonate with everyone. Swalwell says that he is tired of seeing old jars hollowed out with a picture of a sick person asking for money to help with medical expenses.
I do have a friend who attended a Swalwell event and said he thought he was a good guy, but that's about all I got out of him.
The other three speakers were Andrew Yang, Jeff Merkley and Pete Buttigieg.
Yang said Trump won because automation replaced manufacturing jobs. He says his idea of a universal basic income of $1000/month will help stabilize the economy as retail and trucking become automated.
I have seen some activity on social media for Yang. I don’t know numbers but if he has some dedicated followers, then you never know what to expect.
The Register said Jeff Merkley focused on the “corrupting influence of money, gerrymandering and voter suppression “. They didn’t give much more details but The Nation featured Merkley last week and it sounds like he wants to abolish the Electoral College among other things.
Merkley was a strong voice in the immigration battle that came up in Texas and has taken Trump to task a few times. Unfortunately, Merkley’s local paper made the point that Merkley’s potential run has been hampered by his name being left off of several important 2020 polls.
Merkley says he has family backing to run for President so it sounds like it may be a done deal.
Pete Buttgieg was the fourth speaker. The Register mentioned this was his first Iowa trip since he announced he would not seek another term as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The Register recapped the Buttgieg back story- openly gay, former officer in the US Naval Reserve. Indeed, that’s generally what happens when covering Buttgieg.
It’s hard not to like the story of an energetic millennial who’s served his country. The Washington Post has an editorial last week that said he should be the rock star candidate that Dems want Beto O’Rourke to be. They covered how he took a town in South Bend that had been down since Studebaker went under.
In any case, the future of the Dem Party might be here, so I wanted to capture the moment.
Caucus season news now transitions from monthly to weekly to almost daily.
If you missed it, Tom Steyer has taken his name out of contention while upping the Impeach Trump ads on Iowa television. Since Warren announced her exploratory committee, so has Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, and Sherrod Brown. While the newssites are marking those four “in” the election, Tulsi Gabbard and Julian Castro have made actual official announcements that they are running.
Still not enough candidates to choose from? The first Draft Beto event is scheduled for this week.
Comments
Post a Comment
Contact us