Iowa Caucus Guy’s Presidential Election Blog

What does an election year without campaigning look like?  The Des Moines Register covered this as a front page Sunday article, with the revelation that the Democrats were campaigning virtually and the Republicans using a hybrid of traditional in-person campaigning and digital campaigning.   Of note, Trump won Iowa fairly easily in 2016 by a 51-42, but polls put him in a tighter race with Biden 44-43. Also of note, there were 31 counties in the state (mostly Eastern Iowa) that had voted for Obama twice and voted for Trump. A big mistake for Hillary who more than anyone should have known “It’s the economy, stupid”.   Dems have played a virtual game. That has been my experience. Much of the pre-caucus ground game seems intact and the Register lists Rep Ruben Gallego (AZ), Sen Amy Klobuchar and former Gov Terry McAullife as some Dems who have been actively campaigning for Biden.  On the Republican side, it is hard not to look at what’s going on without a bit ...

This blog has taken on a lot of topics including time travel to the future , today we are headed back to the past.  I think every state has one, but in Iowa, the live action re-enactment museum is Living History Farms .    A place that recalls the state’s early history.  I would argue at this point, Living History Farms (and on site restaurant Machine Shed) is now a big part of Iowa history itself.  For example when Sarah Palin stopped for a Saturday dinner there six months before the 2012 caucus.  Then, of course Rick Santorum joining in on a game of 19th Century Baseball . Living History Farms isn’t the only place in the country that plays 19th Century rules baseball, but I suspect places that play it are a small list and it’s worth watching, at least once.  These are highlights on a long list of moments that occurred at Living History Farms and they   include nearly every major candidate of the last 20 years- Huckabee, Perry, Carson, Walke...

A major focus of this blog has been music and today, we feature Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian Nominee for President. Of the current crop of candidates for President, she is the only one I have seen speak in person, when she attended the Iowa Libertarian Party debate and convention. I was impressed right away with Jorgensen who more than held her own with some of the most charismatic and outspoken speakers in the country like activist Adam Kokesh and comedian Mark Whitney.  (I shared my thoughts on Jorgensen at the time here  and here .) Although I do spend enough time on Twitter where the Libertarian voice can often muddle its own message, I am struck by a few things about the Jorgensen campaign. One was that the Primary candidates all advised that they would  support whoever the nominee was. With a variety of candidates, many of them outspoken activists, coming to the party from various viewpoints, I had my doubts. Sure enough, these leaders have backed Jorgensen. Primary ca...

 For this year, to be such an unusual one, this seems like the most uneventful campaign in recent memory.  My intent for this blog has always been to highlight one of three things- unusual stories, musical stories and local stories. Even with virtual conventions being the norm, the two leading candidates were the obvious ones, and it would be hard to find an  American who hasn't formed an opinion of both long ago.  Nor is it a very musical election.  In a primary that featured musician Pete Buttiegeg, singer Marianne Williamson, and indie rock fans like Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang, not to mention brief musical  diversions like Melissa Ethridge, the Isiserettes drum corps and TikTok, the two parties pick the two least musically inclined candidates possible. So, Kanye West running for President checks off a lot of those boxes. He said many times that he would run. At the 2015 VMAs, he said he would run in 2020. In May of 2018, he said he planned a run in '...

 I started the VoteYerMusic project as a quick and fun idea to ask Presidential candidates what kind of music they liked. There's two reasons right?  Music is universal.  I believe this.  Give musicians Mike Huckabee and Pete Buttigieg a couple of instruments and they will bond.  The second reason is that Leaders should be accessible.  I can understand that Leaders may get a lot of requests, but if they can't take time for an easy question, what does that say about some of the real concerns. I questioned many candidates during Primary season and was pleased by the response.  While many campaigns stopped this Spring, the ideas of these candidates are out in the public discussion.  Some of these candidates have launched new endeavours.  ( Dan Behrman is running for Governor of Texas, Keenan Wallace Dunham is running for Senate in North Carolina.)   As a process, VoteYerMusic has been a vehicle for candidates without a Mas...

Many moons ago, I dreamed up a plan to ask all the presidential candidates to tell me what their favorite music was. Now, I am not being serious when I say you should vote for someone who likes the same music as you.  Granted, there have been worse people reasons people have voted than "He's a fan of the band Tool", "I like Neo-Soul, too", or "This candidate really appreciates classical music". My goal is really to celebrate our similarities as Americans, not our differences, and on occasion, it may be a candidate that you are not familiar with, but you might really like. Anyway, you can check the responses here by clicking on any of the names below: Currently running for US President in the General Election  Veterans Party Max Abramson Write-In Andy Williams Jr Former Primary Presidential Candidates, currently running for another office Libertarian Party Dan Taxation is Theft Behrman  (currently running for Governor of Texas in 2022) Keena...