Des Moines
I saw a very effective anti-Ron Paul ad on the air last night, but I don’t know who was responsible for it. It was about gay marriage, which Paul tolerates because he doesn’t believe the state should involve itself in marriage. This is somewhat akin to supporting human sacrifice among the Christian Conservatives out here, …
Newton, Iowa
David Richardson, clad in his black leather Led Zeppelin jacket, rode his bicycle into the middle of the Iowa Speedway in Newton. There were no drivers on the track, but there was a different kind of race under …
Sioux City, Iowa
It took about 375 events, but Rick Santorum is finally Iowa’s man of the moment. A candidate who once seemed permanently relegated to campaign footnotes is commanding crowds befitting a front runner and …
Des Moines
A quiet day here before Monday’s grand campaign finale for Iowa. After Saturday night’s Des Moines Register poll solidified the top tier– Romney, Paul and Santorum–the question becomes: what next? Answer: South Carolina. Next week’s New Hampshire primary is expected to be a Romney walkover–and it may well be, especially …
At most of Ron Paul’s events in Iowa this week, little was said about the bad press that has buffeted him outside his intimate town halls. While Paul and his fans were decrying the secrecy of the Federal Reserve, the national media highlighted a past scandal, new criticisms and constant slights from his rivals.
“He’s a threat to …
Today’s most important event won’t happen until 7 p.m. tonight when the Des Moines Register publishes its final Iowa caucus poll. Normally, I wouldn’t place this much importance on a poll, but the Register’s is an exception, traditionally the most nuanced and accurate of all such surveys. In 2008, for example, it predicted an Obama …
Ames, Iowa
Winning over Iowa’s fickle voters is hard enough without spoiling their fun. On Friday afternoon, Rick Santorum pulled into a Buffalo Wild Wings sports bar here to perform the ritualistic, shared-identity pander of …
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Des Moines, Iowa
Rick Santorum was a surprise hiding in plain sight. All year, as rivals peaked and plummeted and the glut of televised debates offered a national megaphone, Santorum ran a textbook local race, doggedly criss-crossing Iowa’s remote precincts in a pickup truck, meeting small clusters of voters to enumerate his merits. …
Des Moines, Iowa
For Mitt Romney’s campaign, there’s no question whom this election is really about. “Let’s be real clear, Barack Obama came out to Iowa and he talked about hope and change,” New Jersey Gov. Chris …
Sometimes politics can be very cruel. Michele Bachmann is in the midst of the most embarrassing last week in Iowa that I’ve ever seen a candidate experience. Her campaign co-chair dropped her for Ron Paul two days ago. And Friday’s NBC/Marist poll brings more bad news. She’s dead last, the only candidate in single digits. But worse, …
Patch captures a great moment between siblings in Concord, New Hampshire, where Romney sons/L.L. Bean model lookalikes Matt and Tagg were asked whether their dad would release his tax returns during the election:
Matt Romney: He’s certainly not afraid of anything, not hiding anything — you know, I heard someone suggest the other day
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Truly a standout year for the rhetorically challenged:
And before you get upset about oopses or omissions, we did a separate list of debate moments.
