Tag: Iowa

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GOP gains ground on Dems in voter registration in key states

“basket of deplorables

By HOPE YEN

Sep. 14, 2016 3:43 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have gained ground on Democrats in registering voters in three battleground states and kept their razor-thin advantage in Iowa — encouraging news for Donald Trump eight weeks before Election Day.

Republicans added hundreds of thousands of voters to the rolls since 2012 in states including Florida and Arizona, and narrowed the gap in North Carolina, according to data compiled by The Associated Press. In Iowa, Republicans prevented Democrats from surpassing them, aided by a court ruling upholding a ban on voting by ex-felons, who often register as Democrats.

As Election Day approaches, voter registration drives are in full swing.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is staging registration rallies and appealing in particular to non-whites and young people, who are more likely to vote early — if they vote at all. Trump is relying mostly on a base of white voters, urging supporters to be vigilant for voter fraud and “rigging.”

https://bigstory.ap.org/article/d1c611a35aa5488789e0ad0cf4f2e818/gop-gains-ground-dems-voter-registration-key-states

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Virtual tie raises doubts: Can Hillary Clinton close the deal?

Hillary-Clinton

By John Whitesides8 hours ago

Hillary Clinton at her caucus night rally in Des Moines. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By John Whitesides

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton’s struggle in Iowa to fend off underdog Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, reignited questions about her ability to close the deal with Democratic voters and turned up the pressure on her high-profile White House campaign.

The Democratic presidential front-runner, whose campaign ran off the rails in Iowa in 2008 against Barack Obama, was dealt another setback on Monday in the Midwestern state that begins the 2016 race for the presidency.

The former secretary of state, Clinton, 68, was pushed to a virtual tie with Sanders, a 74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont.

Next up is New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9. Sanders has been leading in opinion polls there and has an advantage because it neighbors his home state. A Clinton loss would start to set off alarm bells with her supporters.

“She has had every possible structural and organizational advantage and Sanders fought her to a draw,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.

“This is almost a moment by moment rerun of 2008,” Schnur said. “The difference is her competition is not as tough this time.”

Clinton insisted at her post-caucus rally that she was the candidate who could unify her party and prevail against a Republican challenger in the Nov. 8 election but the sense of disappointment was palpable.

Her subdued, six-minute speech contrasted with the ebullient tone of Sanders’ 16-minute speech.

https://news.yahoo.com/virtual-tie-raises-doubts-hillary-clinton-close-deal-085603229.html

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Coin toss broke 6 Clinton-Sanders deadlocks in Iowa — and Hillary won each time

Gold Coins

Published: Feb 2, 2016 8:19 a.m. ET

While it was hard to call a winner between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last night, it’s easy to say who was luckier.

The race between the Democrat presidential hopefuls was so tight in the Iowa caucus Monday that in at least six precincts, the decision on awarding a county delegate came down to a coin toss. And Clinton won all six, media reports said.

The situation came about in precincts where Sanders and Clinton were running neck-and-neck, but there were an odd number of delegates, so they couldn’t be evenly split between the two. That was the case in precincts in Ames, Newton, West Branch, Davenport and two in Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reported.

Univision reporter Fernando Peinado caught one of the Des Moines coin tosses on video:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coin-toss-broke-6-clinton-sanders-deadlocks-in-iowa-and-hillary-won-each-time-2016-02-02

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Iowa Will Gauge Ardor to Upend Politics as Usual

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By PATRICK HEALYJAN. 30, 2016

DES MOINES — The presidential race hurtled over the weekend toward a watershed moment: voting that will start to reveal the true depth of Americans’ desire to cast aside traditional politicians and Washington-style compromise and embrace disruptive outsiders appealing to their passions.

After a year of countless and often conflicting polls, more than 250,000 Iowans are expected to attend caucuses on a relatively mild Monday night and render judgment on insurgent candidates who would bar Muslims from the country (Donald J. Trump), oppose concessions to Democrats (Senator Ted Cruz of Texas) and pursue a high-tax, big-government agenda (Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont). Voters are poised to bring order to the race, or reorder politics, as in no other recent election.

Money, experience and endorsements — advantages that usually turn candidates like Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, into inevitable nominees — will be tested against the potent messages of rivals promising upheaval.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/us/iowa-will-gauge-ardor-to-upend-politics-as-usual.html

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Feel the Bern Sanders and Clinton Neck-And-Neck 2016 Races in Iowa, New Hampshire

Bernie Sanders

by MARK MURRAY

Three weeks until the first presidential nominating contest, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are running neck and neck in Iowa, while Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are also locked in a tight race in the Hawkeye State.

What’s more, Clinton and Sanders are within the margin of error in New Hampshire, while Trump has built a 16-point lead in the same state.

Those are the results of two brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls – the first NBC/WSJ/Marist early-state surveys of 2016, which for the first time measure likely voters.

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/poll-neck-neck-2016-races-iowa-new-hampshire-n493361

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USA TO ISSUE MORE GREEN CARDS THAN POPULATIONS OF IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, SOUTH CAROLINA COMBINED

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USA TO ISSUE MORE GREEN CARDS THAN POPULATIONS OF IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, SOUTH CAROLINA COMBINED
by BREITBART NEWS2 Aug 2015

The overwhelming majority of immigration to the United States is the result of our visa policies. Each year, millions of visas are issued to temporary workers, foreign students, refugees, asylees, and permanent immigrants for admission into the United States. The lion’s share of these visas are for lesser-skilled and lower-paid workers and their dependents who, because they are here on work-authorized visas, are added directly to the same labor pool occupied by current unemployed jobseekers. Expressly because they arrive on legal immigrant visas, most will be able to draw a wide range of taxpayer-funded benefits, and corporations will be allowed to directly substitute these workers for Americans. Improved border security would have no effect on the continued arrival of these foreign workers, refugees, and permanent immigrants—because they are all invited here by the federal government.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/02/exclusive-usa-to-issue-more-green-cards-than-populations-of-iowa-new-hampshire-south-carolina-combined/

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Poll: Scott Walker and Rand Paul up in Iowa, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie lag

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Poll: Scott Walker and Rand Paul up in Iowa, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie lag

Scott Walker and Rand Paul are ahead of the GOP pack in Iowa, while Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Ted Cruz are lagging behind at single digits, according to a new poll released Saturday.

The survey conducted for Bloomberg Politics and the Des Moines Register showed Walker at 15 percent among Republican caucus-goers, Paul at 14 percent, and Mike Huckabee, the 2008 victor in Iowa, at 10 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was the first choice of 9 percent of respondents.  (Zapler/Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/2016-elections-iowa-scott-walker-rand-paul-jeb-bush-chris-christie-114796.html#ixzz3QaliKPNT

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Scott Walker WOWS them in Iowa

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Scott Walker WOWS them in Iowa

By Cameron Joseph

DES MOINES, Iowa — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) delivered a fiery speech in Iowa on Saturday, wowing the conservative crowd with a passionate argument for small government and his own lengthy resume.

The Wisconsin governor, in rolled-up shirtsleeves, paced the stage as he blasted big government and touted a long list of conservative reforms he’s pushed through in blue Wisconsin.

The governor also showed a rhetorical flourish that’s largely been absent from his previous campaigns, drawing the crowd to its feet multiple times.

“There’s a reason we take a day off to celebrate the 4th of July and not the 15th of April,” he said, almost yelling as his voice grew hoarse. “Because in America we value our independence from the government, not our dependence on it.”

Walker’s speech had something for every element of the activist crowd. The governor touted his three victories over Democrats and recall win as well as his state-level education reforms. Each new policy he helped pass drew cheers: Voter ID laws, education reforms, tax cuts and defunding Planned Parenthood.

The biggest question for Walker as he ramps up for a race is whether he has the fire in the belly and political skills to stand onstage against the other candidates. And in his first major Iowa address, he may have done a lot to dispel notions that he lacks charisma.

When he said he won reelection as Milwaukee County Executive in an area where President Obama won by a two-to-one margin, some in the audience gasped.

“If you get the job done the voters will actually stand up with you,” he said before contrasting his record with Washington’s deadlock.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/230636-walker-shows-fire-in-iowa

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Scott Walker to Iowa to Speak at Freedom Summit

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Scott Walker to Iowa to Speak at Freedom Summit

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will speak at the Iowa Freedom Summit at the end of January hosted by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and Citizens United, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.

“Governor Walker looks forward to sharing the story of Wisconsin’s successful reforms and common sense message with grassroots conservatives,” Walker’s spokesman Tom Evenson told Breitbart News.

Citizens United president David Bossie added that he’s thrilled Walker will join the already impressive lineup of speakers.

“Congressman Steve King and I are thrilled Governor Scott Walker, a leading conservative voice, plans to attend the Iowa Freedom Summit,” Bossie said. “The Iowa Caucus is the first step for any conservative running for the Republican nomination and we are pleased Governor Walker appreciates and respects its importance.”

Walker, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, has held off the left for years amid numerous attempts by Democrats to take him down. During his tenure as governor, he’s cut unemployment in Wisconsin substantially—it was 7.8 percent when he took office and it’s currently down to 5.2 percent. He cut taxes by $2 billion, including lowering property taxes in the state compared to their rise of 27 percent in Wisconsin in the decade before he took office. Taxpayers have saved an estimated $3 billion at the state and local level, too, thanks to Walker’s collective bargaining reforms—the catalyst which caused the institutional left, organized labor, and democrats to target him. He also froze tuition for all University of Wisconsin system students for two years and is aiming to do so again for another two years because of the system’s surplus.

The Iowa Freedom Summit event takes place on Saturday Jan. 24, 2015 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. “The Freedom Summit will focus on how we can get America back on track by focusing on our core conservative principles of pro-growth economics, social conservatism, and a strong national defense,” the event’s website states.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/01/08/exclusive-scott-walker-to-iowa-to-speak-at-freedom-summit/