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BET hosted the #AllVotesMatter Townhall featuring presidential candidate Ben Carson at Drake University on Friday. Onstage with Dee-1 and Chris Prudhome, Carson answered questions submitted via Twitter. While the audience was instructed to refrain from making noise during the event, some attendees were not satisified with Carson’s answers. Here are some of the reactions to the event: ON […]

On Oct. 3, the 3 million-strong teachers union known as the National Education Association (NEA) endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. With the American Federation of Teachers endorsement and the NEA endorsement Clinton has almost half of the nation’s union members support, 6 million of about 14.6 million. The NEA decided to support Clinton early in […]

From Jim Webb to John Kasich to Pogo Reese, we’ve seen quite a range of candidates this election cycle. While this covers almost the entire spectrum of presidential candidates, one type of candidate is still to be discussed: man’s best friend. Standing at just over 1 foot tall, Griff is one candidate that should not […]

As a presidential candidate, it is incredibly important for one to know their audience and how to articulate their own values and goals in the context of the event that they are speaking at. This is not to say that a candidate is expected to merely say what any given audience wants to hear, but […]

Despite 10-degree weather and light flurries falling from the sky, a line of people formed outside the John Wayne birthplace and museum, in Winterset, Iowa,  to see Donald Trump. Men, women and children appealed to the people waiting by selling Trump buttons, t-shirts and ‘Make America great again’ hats. “We shall overcomb, guys,” a child […]

With the caucus just a few weeks away, candidate appearances are going to start picking up in Iowa. Over the last few months writing for this blog, I’ve been to my fair share of campaign events. Sometimes you walk into a room and sit at a conference table with six other people for a conversation […]

Donald Trump began his presidential campaign as a reality star candidate and has quickly and unexpectedly morphed into the Republican party’s frontrunner in national polls. At 7:30 on a Friday morning, several friends and I packed into a car and drove to Urbandale’s Living History Farms to figure out what makes a Trump supporter a Trump […]

The Iowa caucuses kick off the nomination process in the presidential race – this year’s caucus will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1. Across the state, dedicated Iowans will make the trek to their local precinct despite possible snowy and freezing weather conditions. The first-in-the-nation caucuses become a media spectacle of the entire […]

By Sarah Fulton Sarah Fulton is a senior Journalism and History double major at Drake University. She is a research assistant for David Redlawsk, Harkin Institute Mabry Fellow and Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and Director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. This post synthesizes her reactions following the caucus campaigns this past fall semester. Every four years since 1972, in the early part of the year, the nation has focused its attention on the small state of Iowa. As the first in the nation nominating event the Iowa caucuses hold a near mythic reputation. They are touted as the first step in winning a presidential nomination. Tradition has it that there are only three tickets out of Iowa and if presidential hopefuls want to be seen as a contender they had better grab one.  Fail in Iowa and the race is over. This level of mythos raises some questions. Why does this small, unrepresentative state hold such power? There are 49 other states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 29 of them have larger populations. New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina also vote early, and while New Hampshire has some history, where […]

By Joe Weeg, a prosecutor for the Polk County Attorney’s Office for the last 31 years, now retired and writing a weekly column for Cityview called Joe’s Neighborhood. Hushed voices float up the few stairs to the cafe where large windows look out onto the wintry parking lot and the newly built Chic-fil-A. Concrete and January. The two seem to belong together. The acrid smell of coffee tickles the back of your throat as you wait in line. Row after row of books and magazines and calendars and games are spread out below. The books are the draw. And the crowd is affected by their presence. Perhaps Sister Mary Marla is watching to make sure everyone is behaving. Perhaps not. Although everyone keeps their voices hushed on the off chance. Nathan Luethje works the cafe inside Barnes and Nobles on University Avenue in West Des Moines. Smiling slowly. Laughing softly. Talking gently. Every customer is greeted. Everyone is chatted up. Everyone is welcome. He moves from food to coffee to the cash register, keeping a steady rhythm. A low hum of efficiency. “Luethje. It sounds Italian. It’s not. It’s Lithuanian or German depending on who you talk to in my […]