Iowa Caucus Guy’s Presidential Election Blog

How many candidates are there? This campaign has so many candidates that even the candidates don't know all of the people who are running. This blog's primary focus has always been the lighter side of the Election of 2020, and with that, let's go! 21 candidates were at the Iowa State Fair, and the Des Moines Register decided to quiz fairgoers (and candidates) if they knew who was in the race. At that time, there were 24 who were considered "major candidates". Fairgoers could, on average name 7 or 8. Candidates interviewed could name on average 16.5. No surprise, Joe Biden was the most well-known, and Wayne Messam the least well-known. Andrew Yang was the most in tune, remembering Messam and all the others, forgetting only Steve Bullock (and he got Julian Castro with some help). Pete Buttigieg and Michael Bennet also took part and named 16. Bill DeBlasio named 11. Anyway, I talked about the State Fair Kernel Vote before, one of the many questi...

I have talked a bunch of Iowa politics this year with very many interesting people. One story that sticks out was from someone who would know.  When Donald Trump flew to Iowa to campaign for President in 2015; everywhere, he went, Democrats (as well as Republicans, of course) would line up to have their pictures taken. This seems like the wrong week to bring up that memory, but I think it illustrates a fact.  The caucus is weird. I try to focus on the weird side.  Occasionally, I get sidetracked with serious content.  Anyway, let's clear some of this out. One of the funnest stories was that the Iowa Cubs, the Des Moines based Triple A minor league team re-branded one night as the Iowa Caucuses. I would have loved to gone, but it was the team's last home-stand for the season, and sold out, standing room only. NBC reported:  The team’s jerseys will feature blue sleeves with white stars in the style of the American flag. The name “Iowa Cauc...

For years, Iowa's longtime Senator Tom Harkin had a fundraiser called the Steak Fry. Harkin has retired, but the Steak Fry continues. In 2007, it was the moment where Obama launched a meme, even if standard practice for years, it was that you hold your hand over your heart for the Pledge, not the National Anthem. For the last couple of years, it has featured a host of people who were speculative Presidential candidates or considered future Party stars- Cheri Bustos, Tim Ryan, Seth Moulton, Jeff Merkley, Pramila Jayapal, and an actual bonafide 'first in the race' candidate John Delaney. This year, as those made their mind up, there were 17 actual candidates.  In fact, the only major candidate not to attend was Delaney, whose daughter was getting married that weekend. I called it "Democratic Wrestlemania" I thought it was clever, until the local NBC affiliate called it Caucus Coachella. That's a good one. It should be remembered, of course, ...