Tag: Iowa

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Iowa’s Sioux City Journal & NH Concord Monitor Endorse Hillary Clinton For President

Following up on the endorsement by The Des Moines Register, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton scores two more newspaper endorsements.

Echoing the Des Moines Register, both focus on how qualified Hillary is to be President, and her unmatched breadth of experience.

I’ve been worried that the polls were shifting in Bernie Sander’s direction of late in Iowa, so I’m happy to have any help.

According to Nate Silver’s 538 website, since 1988 an endorsement by the Des Moines Register averages a 3% difference in the total vote. That could make the difference in the upcoming Democratic caucus’s.

From the Sioux City Journal:

Without question, the 68-year-old Clinton possesses a breadth of experiences in public life unmatched by her Democratic opponents. In the “arena” at the fulcrum of national and international events since the ’90s, Clinton requires no on-the-job training. She understands issues and knows leaders, both domestic and foreign, and appreciates the processes and peculiarities of the federal government from the perspective of both the legislative and executive branches.

From children to families to health care to human rights, including women’s rights, to marriage equality, Clinton champions issues and positions true to traditional Democratic principles. She bolsters her domestic credentials with foreign policy experience as America’s chief diplomat.

From New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor:

Only one Democratic candidate for president is truly qualified to hold the job: Hillary Clinton.

No contender’s resume can come within miles of matching Clinton’s. She’s ready to take up the nation’s top job on day one and her knowledge of domestic issues and foreign policy is encyclopedic. There is also a strong chance, should Clinton become president, that the poisonous partisanship that’s paralyzed Washington will be diminished rather than increased. Why? During her eight years as a senator from New York, she proved her ability to find common ground with Republicans, accords that allowed needed legislation to advance.

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Iowa’s Largest Newspaper Endorses Hillary Clinton: “The Presidency Is Not An Entry-Level Position”

The editorial board of the Des Moines Register has endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the upcoming Democratic Iowa caucus’s.

The presidency is not an entry-level position. Whoever is sworn into office next January must demonstrate not only a deep understanding of the issues facing America, but also possess the diplomatic skills that enable presidents to forge alliances to get things done.

By that measure, Democrats have one outstanding candidate deserving of their support: Hillary Clinton. No other candidate can match the depth or breadth of her knowledge and experience.

As first lady, she worked tirelessly on health care reform and, with bipartisan support, created the Children’s Health Insurance Program that provides coverage for 8 million children.

As a senator, she reached across party lines and joined forces with conservatives, including Sen. Lindsey Graham and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to fight for job creation and universal health care.

She is not a perfect candidate, as evidenced the way she has handled the furor over her private email server. In our endorsement of her 2008 campaign for president, we wrote that “when she makes a mistake, she should just say so.” That appears to be a lesson she has yet to fully embrace.

Her changing stance on gay marriage, immigration and other issues has invited accusations that she is guided less by personal conviction than by political calculations. She refutes that, and argues persuasively that a willingness to change one’s thinking on specific issues, while remaining true to what she calls “the same values and principles,” is a virtue, one lacking in most politicians.

In the final analysis, Iowa Democrats will have to choose between the lofty idealism of Bernie Sanders and the down-to-earth pragmatism of Hillary Clinton. For some, this will be a choice of whether to vote with their hearts or their heads.

Clinton has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hardworking public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad. She stands ready to take on the most demanding job in the world.

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Nate Silver’s 538 Website Predicts Wins For Cruz And Clinton In Iowa

Nate Silver, famous for successfully projecting the winner of all 50 states and the District of Columbia in the 2012 presidential election, predicts that Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton will win their respective caucus’s in Iowa.

From Politico:

Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz have the greatest chances of winning the Iowa caucuses two weeks from Monday, new polling-based forecasts from FiveThirtyEight show.

Cruz has a 51 percent chance of winning Iowa when national and state polls as well as endorsements are taken into account. In that forecast, Donald Trump trails Cruz with a 29 percent chance of winning Feb. 1.

A look at just state polls shows a much closer race between Trump and Cruz, giving the business magnate a better chance of winning by 2 percentage points, 44 percent to Cruz’s 42 percent.

All around, Hillary Clinton is believed to have an all-but-certain victory over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa.

The polls-plus forecast gives Clinton an 82 percent chance of winning, while Sanders comes in at 18 percent. That margin narrows dramatically with a look at just Iowa polls, with Clinton leading Sanders 66 percent to 34 percent.

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Iowa: Mike Huckabee Loses His Cool Defending Duggar Family

As we all know, Mike Huckabee enjoyed aligning himself with the Duggar family due to their popular TV show 19 Kids & Counting, and their very anti-gay “Christian” views.

Even when the story came out that son Josh Duggar had molested several of his sisters while they were little, Huckabee tried to keep his friendship with the family. But eventually, he pulled away when the story continued to snowball as it was revealed Josh had spent thousands on pornography and lap dances.

At a town hall in Iowa last night, Huckabee flipped out when a woman asked why he “supported child abuse” for so long by supporting the Duggars.

Huckabee loses his cool here, gets into it a bit and eventually has the woman removed.

Huckabee is averaging about 2.4% in advance of the state’s upcoming caucus’s.

(h/t JMG)

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New Poll Shows Tight Races In Iowa & New Hampshire

According to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, the races for presidential hopefuls in Iowa and New Hampshire are getting tighter.

The poll addressed both Likely and Potential voters

Among likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa:
Sen. Ted Cruz 28%
Donald Trump 24%
Sen. Marco Rubio 13%
Ben Carson 11%
The rest, who cares…

Among potential Republican caucus-goers in Iowa (larger group of possible voters):
Donald Trump 26%
Sen. Ted Cruz 24%
Sen. Marco Rubio 13%
Ben Carson 11%

Among likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa:
Hillary Clinton 48%
Sen. Bernie Sanders 45%
Martin O’Malley 5%

Among potential Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa:
Hillary Clinton 49%
Sen. Bernie Sanders 43%
Martin O’Malley 4%

Among likely Republican caucus-goers in New Hampshire:
Donald Trump 30%
Sen. Marco Rubio 14%
Gov. Chris Christie 12%
Sen. Ted Cruz 10%
Gov. John Kasich 9%
Gov. Jeb Bush 9%

Among potential Republican caucus-goers in New Hampshire, the numbers are unchanged for these candidates.

Among likely Democratic caucus-goers in New Hampshire:
Sen. Bernie Sanders 50%
Hillary Clinton 46%
Martin O’Malley 1%

Among potential Democratic caucus-goers in New Hampshire:
Sen. Bernie Sanders 50%
Hillary Clinton 44%
Martin O’Malley 4%

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Donald Trump Reminds Iowa Ted Cruz Is Cuban

With Sen. Ted Cruz leading in polls before the upcoming Republican Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump took time to remind folks that Cruz is Cuban.

“In all fairness, to the best of my knowledge, not too many evangelicals come out of Cuba, OK? Just remember that, OK? Just remember. In all fairness, remember that folks. When you’re casting your ballot, remember.”

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New Campaign Ad From Ted Cruz – “Victories”

New campaign ad from GOP White House hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz utilizes no spoken dialogue, just images and references to court victories (2nd Amendment, Ten Commandments, Mojave Memorial Cross, “Under God” in Pledge of Allegiance) he enjoyed as a private attorney and as Solicitor General of Texas.

The ad will apparently run in Iowa, where Cruz is currently leading the packed Republican field of candidates, through January 3rd.

I’m no fan of Cruz, but I give props to the folks who came up with the ad. Effective in it’s simplicity.

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Shakeup In Iowa – Sen. Ted Cruz Surges 21 Points

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has surged an impressive 21 points in the latest The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll, leaving real estate mogul Donald Trump ten points back in second place.

Sen. Ted Cruz – 31%
Donald Trump – 21%
Dr. Ben Carson – 13%
Sen. Marco Rubio – 10%
Jeb Bush – 6%

After those five, it really doesn’t matter much, does it?

From the Des Moines Register:

“Big shakeup,” said J. Ann Selzer, pollster for The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll. “This is a sudden move into a commanding position for Cruz.”

And there are signs Cruz may not have peaked in Iowa yet. Another 20 percent of likely caucusgoers say he’s their current second choice for president. Cruz hits 51 percent support when first- and second-choice interest is combined, again leading the field.

With Cruz’s popularity and his debate proficiency, “it’s certainly possible that he could win Iowa big — very big,” said Frank Luntz, a Nevada-based GOP focus group guru who follows the Iowa race closely.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Donald Trump wasted no time tearing into Ted Cruz:

“I don’t think he’s got the right temperament. I don’t think he’s got the right judgment.”

“You look at the way that he’s dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there, frankly like a little bit of a maniac. You’re never going to get things done that way.”

“You can’t walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people,” Trump said.

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Iowa Hotel Manager Calls 911 Upon Seeing Transgender Women

Just to let you know how far we have to go.

An Iowa hotel manager was so overwhelmed by the fact that two transgender women checked into his hotel, the manager called 911 as if it was an “emergency.”

The ACLU has filed suit:

“911, what’s your emergency?” There are a lot of situations that may warrant calling 911. But seeing a transgender person is not one of them. But that’s exactly what a hotel manager in West Des Moines, Iowa, did when Meagan Taylor and her friend, both Black transgender women, checked into the hotel.

There was no emergency. Just two young women stopping for the evening at a hotel. The caller complains that they are “unusual” because they are “two males, but they’re dressed as females with ‘male IDs’ and ‘dressed a little over the top.’” Even the dispatcher is somewhat incredulous that this would prompt anyone to call 911. She questions why the caller is suspicious and the caller explains, that “I just want to make sure they’re not hookers either.”

Meagan and her friend were not men dressed as women. They are women who triggered a set of racialized and gendered assumptions about who is appropriate and welcome in public space — still not transgender people of color in far too many places.

“When this all happened,” Meagan wrote. “I knew exactly what it was: the racial profiling, the transgender profiling, the harassment…I knew why it was happening, and I knew it wasn’t right. I knew something had to change. To experience so many levels of discrimination makes you feel like less of a person. I want to stand up for myself and other Black and transgender people. And so I did.”

The two women were on their way to a funeral. They just wanted a place to sleep.

You can listen to the 911 call here.