Iowa Caucus Guy’s Presidential Election Blog

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...

2020 is soooo boring! I mean, we haven't had the Iowa Caucus, the New Hampshire Primary or Super Tuesday yet, but what everyone wants to know about is 2024. I mean, we have been talking about these same candidates for a year, let's get to the good stuff. Well, that is probably not true.  I think most people hate the eternal election cycle.  It's the media trying to fill the need for constant information. In any case, I suppose you can't top a headline like Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump lead 2024 polls  for clickbait. Now, there will be a Republican Primary next month.  I heard it would be an up/down vote on Trump, but the Register is saying it will be a straw poll.  In any case, William Weld and Joe Walsh (who campaigned in Iowa this weekend) will challenge, and it will be uphill as the Donald had at least 76% of party support per November polls. An even longer shot is Rocky de la Fuente, running as a Republican, after a 2016 Democratic primary race...

As we get under 45 days until the Caucus, all systems are go! Elizabeth Warren looks like she may have a head-to-head battle with Pete Buttigieg, so she's changing up her strategy. Essentially going from a planned stump speech of 45 minutes to a quick 8 minute intro and open up for questions . It has its risks, but the major advantage is getting to talk to people, and that is really how the Caucus gets won. Similarly, Klobuchar's endgame is to interact with Iowas. For years, Senator Charles Grassley famously makes a stop in every county in Iowa, to the point, that it has become called "The Full Grassley" and Amy is going to do it . The news isn't that she is going to do it (she planned to do it before the caucus), but will do it by year end. John Delaney, to date, is the only candidate in this cycle to accomplish that. Indeed, this is shaping up to be a campaign coming down to a close finish to the wire. I must make mention of some of the sparring betw...

One of the most memorable moments of this Election Cycle is a video of a bunch of awkward Bloomberg supporters shuffling back and forth in a gymnasium to a parody of Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger". Surely, you have seen it. If not, you can watch it here (It's short): The thing, of course, is that it's completely fake. I mean, you knew it had to be right?   Sure enough all roads led back to Nick Ciarelli, who has writing credits for Comedy Bang Bang, Funny or Die, Clickhole and Onion News Network. There's a reason why we believe it, though, right?  Overenthusiastic and overworked campaign volunteers, matched with out-of-touch suits trying to capture the next viral moment.  Reminiscent of those Wal-Mart pre-shift team chants . The news, of course, to me isn't that the video of Pete Buttigeig fans dancing to High Hopes went viral, it's that something else didn't beat it out. The September Steak Fry in Des Moines was just filled with ...

With a week like this, the Joe Biden campaign looks to be in trouble. I won't say that I am terribly surprised, as many of the local Democrats that I talk to have been reflecting that as well. Later in this post, I can get into those whys. Biden still leads the National polls. It can be said fairly confidently that even in the last month, he has had up to 35% of National Democrats. Not only that, for the most part, he is comfortably ahead of second place which is either Sanders or Warren, depending on the poll. Yet, we know, it's not a National vote. We may also agree that winning Iowa does not guarantee anything, but we do agree that with the early states, momentum shifts. I can't help but think of 2008.  At this exact time, Rudy Guillani led National polls with similar numbers. He would spend the next month neck and neck with Mike Huckabee nationally, and then quite suddenly, faded. I thought of 2004, too, but that's a bit longer back, so I had to go back ...

Joe Biden announced his "No Malarkey" Bus Tour campaign this week. It is trending on twitter, and not in a good way . Yes, it sounds old-fashioned, but in a post-Trump, post- Beto Rated PG (well, mostly ) campaign, it is better to play it safe.  Remember Cory Booker saying "Dagnabbit" in the third debate . We present 10 alternatives that he might have considered (or perhaps, if you are running against Biden, you may want to use. NO......... 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.  8.  9. 10. 

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...