Iowa Caucus Guy's 2024 Blog

In my spare time, I like to write about politics.  I am selfish so it has always been more of a hobby than something I put too much effort into, but I do like to share some tales.   This summer is primetime for candidate appearances as the Presidential field is wide open and I wanted to share this. I do go to the local parade and of course, check out the political content of the day. The last couple of  years, politics filled the air and not in a good way.  There was definitely an air of contention and one side versus another.  I actually was at a smalltown parade that went nationwide viral for a Hillary for Prison float. So, i just wanted to say that this year went back to that pre-2020 feel of patriotism and the political mood was more of Pride than Hate. There's no real debate in the Democratic side of things.  There are opposition candidates but they are outsiders. The real interest was the Republican side.  Now, everything here is circumstantial.  I won't pretend that one

My cousin twice removed (grandfather’s cousin) was an important person in Illinois politics.  He served until the near dinosaur age of 73. He likely lost because his opponent was a runner. The link between activity and potential performance as a politician is high.  What better way to show energy and stamina than sports. John Hickenlooper in 2019 participate on RAGBRAI- the famous bike ride across Iowa. He was not the first politician to do this but you likely know how successful he was if you think back to the “Hickenlooper 2024 Presidential Reelection Campaign”  Marco Rubio routinely played football in backyards (literally almost my backyard) and we only know of one time that he accidentally hit a kid in the face . Life comes at ya fast, kid Bill Clinton famously jogged everywhere.  Last election cycle, Andrew Yang went to Iowa State and had a fundraising Campaign basketball game. The 2024 cycle is not lacking. Axios reports there’s more than Biden biking and Trump golfing.  C

There are some truths that I hold about Donald Trump.  One of these is that there are two people who should be given credit for the Trump Presidency  One is Vince McMahon.  Whenever Trump might be out of the spotlight, McMahon found a spot for him- whether it was 1988 and 1989 when Wrestlemania 4 and Wrestlemania 5 were held at Trump Plaza or 2007 when Trump was part of the main event of Wrestlemania 23.  Die a hero or live long enough to become the villain  The other is John Rich, the country singer who became famous in the bands Lonestar and Big and Rich. Rich won 2011s Celebrity Apprentice Season 4. The Apprentice has been hot when it debuted in 2004 but cooled after a couple of years. CA4 (which was the 11th overall season) was the season that jump started the series again- climbing up to 46 in the TVRatings- the highest ranking since 2005. Rich was a compelling contestant on a colorful cast with people like Gary Busey, Lil Jon and Lisa Rinna.  Simpler times He won the season and

Debate rules have made things complicated. Now, I generally think the more voices the better, but you have to cut things off somewhere. Besides poll numbers and a pledge to back the eventual nominee, there is a requirement of getting 40,000 individual donors to their campaigns from at least 200 unique donors per state in 20 or more states.  The last time I wrote I mentioned Gov Doug Burgum had incentivized donors to donate $1 and get a $20 gift card You can decide if that is a good or bad idea but he did accomplish the goal.  I will leave it to you to decide if Perry Johnson has a better or worse idea.  Perry got an initial big boost at the CPAC conference. But where he was a lovable lone rogue challenging Trump and DeSantis in March, five months later, there’s a whole list of non traditional candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder, Ryan Binkley and so on.  Perry has tried to attract supporters with an online Reality Show themed campaign and some bold moves like a Super Bowl

We probably wouldn’t agree on politics, but I have fallen a bit in love with Gov Doug Burgum  I used to joke he wasn’t even the Dakota governor most likely to become President. You see, because there are two Dakotas and Kristi Noem was a much discussed potential presidential candidate and no one could name the governor of North Dakota. But Burgum went big into Iowa and he went old school, talking economy instead of the usual “My opponent sucks so you don’t need another reason to vote for me”  I like Burgum’s ads. He’s leaning into that Western thing looking like Matthew McCoughnay, and I am all in “All Right All Right All Right”. I mean it’s lighting and makeup, Burgum in real life is more likely to resemble Eugene Levy than McCoughnay, but that’s ok, I like Levy too  You just gotta keep livin' man. L-I-V-I-N  On paper, Burgum isn’t an obvious candidate. He is a first term governor who won his party’s nomination even when the Party would have probably preferred someone else.  But w

I always like to write about the Iowa Caucuses and specifically, the wonderfully weird events that come out of them.  In lieu of longform blogging, I am going to share periodical bits that I will call Caucus Bytes.   And there is no better spot to start this election cycle than Vivek Ramaswamy.  In a Republican race that is seemingly still open to three or four front runners, Ramaswamy is finding a slot. I read an article this June in Politico that talked about his interest in Eminem  “I saw myself, honestly, making it big through American capitalism, and that’s why the Eminem story spoke to me,” Ramaswamy, now 37 years old, said in an interview. A friend, who watched him rap at some point in his twenties, provided footage of it.  Which of course, we all love music, but it doesn’t end there.  Like Beto O’Rourke, Ramaswamy made something of his interest. Rapping in front of a crowd of 3000 in Harvard prior to a Busta Rhymes show, he found his niche.  Over the next four years, Ramaswa