Iowa Caucus Guy's 2024 Blog

There of course more then the two political parties and the third largest party is also having an election to name its nominee.  The Iowa Fair Soapbox has had a few independents and lesser known names over the years, and this year Libertarian Chase Oliver spoke on the box.  It was also the first time the famous Iowa State Fair corn kernel poll included a Libertarian race to go with the two major parties.  Oliver was covered in all the local media- Des Moines Register, Iowa Public Radio  and so on. The Register giving him the headline “Armed and Gay” - a perfect riff on the classic line “I want my gay neighbors to be able to protect their weed with their guns”.   Most people would recognize Oliver from his run for US Senate from Georgia in 2022. Oliver received 2% of the vote and simultaneously got blamed for stealing votes from either Herschel Walker and/or Raphael Warnock depending on the hour.  Oliver spoke largely a message somewhere between the two...

There are two races going on and although the Iowa Dems seem to be either uninterested im or fumbling through the old “first in the nation” thing, there is a race.  Robert Kennedy Jr and Marianne Williamson are offering a challenge to incumbent President Biden. Kennedy did make a trip to Iowa, and whether his supporters are to the left, right or something else or just curious, he drew quite a crowd when he visited Des Moines on August 12. RFK Jr filled the 6500 square foot coffee shop Smoky Row with about 300 people who showed up to listen.  Chuck Offenburger, the respected Iowa journalist wrote in his blog that he saw a lot of new faces that came out to the event. Offenburger also noted that Dennis Kucinich is Kennedy’s campaign manager. “Your dad was one of my first political heroes,” I told RFK Jr. in a brief meeting Saturday night. “I hung out with his campaign a couple days in the spring of ’68. So how are you like him, and how are you different?” He stepped back, ran ...

This blog is here to capture some of the unusual moments of the Iowa caucus race.  Sometimes unusual means human.  Sometimes it is hard to determine when politicians are being themselves or trying to look like it.  Iowa is dotted with events like Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride- an event where candidates get on Harley’s and the Iowa State Fair where the photo op is almost universally running the grill.  This weekend , guns were involved.  A bit down on the list of big fundraisers, the Jasper County trapshoot is certainly one of the most colorful ones. Four candidates went to the trapshoot in the county that went 60-38-2 for Trump. Mike Pence was the biggest name. Pence has been working the “common man” angle and I forget his youth with his white hair. He shot 13 of 25 pigeons unofficially (including the first and last).  Asa Hutchison is a noted duck hunter so this is in is wheelhouse and he told donors that he looks forward to being on the second debate stage...

This blog is about the weird and unexpected things that happen on the campaign  The news was this morning that Trump handed out pizza and signed a woman’s breast (more accurately, a tank top).  That’s it.  That’s the post.  Now, according to YouTube comments (of which there were at least 60k views), it was the owner’s daughter.  It was certainly consensual between adults.   I was hoping it was a place that I had been, but it wasn’t (and finding the name took a little doing) - Treehouse Pub and Eatery in Bettendorf  Anyway, this was covered by everyone (Guardian, Fox, BBC, Daily Mail) with the reporting on expected lines (BoingBoing called him “lustful”, Conservative outlets said “he delighted fans”)  In accordance with the old indecency laws, I probably should provide some meaningful content, so I will offer this: Fox Business also rolled out this Iowa poll:   Trump 46%  DeSantis 15%  Haley 11%  Scott 7%  Ramaswamy ...

I have been writing about campaign ads, which can be fun or silly or both.  But for me, there is one ad that owns this election season.  It was run by the Club for Growth, the sizeable PAC that came to prominence in 2004, and although it doesn’t seem to support a candidate, it is a jab at Trump.  Its not the only ad that was like that.  Another ran from a PAC funded by Charles Koch that backed Ron DeSantis and consisted of suggestions that the Republicans should nominate someone else, as Trump was polling way behind Biden.  You can watch the Ad at the NBC News link here Ad : Middle aged white man (walking, piddling around his garage, starting a lawnmower). “I loved Donald Trump (so much that) I didn’t get invited to (my sister’s) Thanksgiving. He was attacked all the time and it seemed like, you know, it just seemed non-stop. The drama ... He’s got so many distractions. The constant fighting — something every day — and I’m not sure he can focus on moving the co...

Today in “I watch Political ads so you don’t have to”, I’m covering Ron DeSantis. I heard the buzz about DeSantis and I seriously thought the nomination was his. To be fair, some times timing is everyone and in the case of Rick Perry, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg and so many others, it just doesn’t work out.  DeSantis’s first ads displayed him as the Warrior against the Woke. While I think that a certain part of the crowd appreciated it, I found it weird DeSantis (or at least his supportive PAC) was focusing on his fights against Disney, Target and Bud Light.  It just seemed so odd against the backdrop of say, Doug Burgum, you know, actually accomplishing something.  Did it move the needle? “Florida is where Woke goes to Die”.  Trump made fun of it, while the rest of us yawned. While that ad felt definitely had a sense of modern day division politics, the next ad I saw felt like a throwback.  DeSantis -being an electrician apprentice, serving in the Navy, a...

Today’s post is going to be about the Candidate’s Presidential Campaign ads.  Here’s the thing, I have to watch these ads, so you now have to read about it  I am going to talk about Nikki Haley, who definitely has been running a campaign that could pull a surprise if something goes awry for other candidates.  Nikki looks Presidential in her ads but dang, if they didn’t give her the most cliche words to describe her.  Nikki is “tough as nails” and “smart as a whip” Seriously?!? Did they forget “Her biggest weakness is she cares too much”.  Her focus is on China and her ads when they aren’t throwing out generalities is that we shouldn’t let China but land in the US But in her latest ad, her focus is on her latest issue which is Competency Tests for Presidential Candidates who are 75 and older.  I mean, I suppose that’s what happens when you are losing to a 77 year old I mean I am not sure why she didn’t just say Competency Tests period if you are going down t...

From 2007 to 2014, Vickie Guerrero was a main character on the wrestling program WWE Smackdown.  She was first known because she was Eddie Guerrero’s widow, but she ended up being one of the biggest heels (wrestling term for “bad guy”) and hates performers of her time. This may sound like an insult to a non wrestling fan, but it’s a tremendous compliment to a wrestling heel.  Vickie with her shrill voice, would show up to heckles and boos, and her signature sentence became “EXCUSE ME!” which was said loudly and caused an even bigger uproar.  The post I am writing today is not about Vickie Guerrero. My last post about the 2024 election was about particular hecklers. I don’t think people should heckle politicians, but more than anything,  I think politicians should be exposed to large crowds. The Iowa Caucus, as confusing and hated as it might be, seems to be one of the few times left that politicians don’t communicate via a screen. The Iowa State Fair is probably t...

I am using this blog to capture some of the weirdest moments of the 2024 Iowa Caucuses  This one is a short one and has to do the uniqueness of the possibilities that come out when candidates have to face a hostile audience.  Politico reports from Menlo, Iowa (pop. 345) Chanting “Ron DeFascist” and “pudding fingers” on a megaphone while ringing cowbells, two protesters effectively cut short the Florida governor’s first campaign stop of the day at a large roadside rock painted for war veterans.   Now, I don’t necessarily think we should heckle candidates but I am including this for a reason. It was the second notable disruption of a Republican presidential candidate by the left in Iowa this week, after a Democrat on Thursday asked Mike Pence at the Iowa State Fair, “Why did you commit treason on Jan. 6?” At the DeSantis event, Kara Ryan of Des Moines said she and her aunt, Heather Ryan, were there on behalf of a political action committee called “Bitches Get Stuff Done,” ...