Evans: It’s time to overhaul, or end, the caucuses

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For 40-plus years, Iowa has been pulling the wool over the eyes of the free world every four years. It is time our state’s political leaders put aside their love of the national spotlight and retire the much-ballyhooed Iowa caucuses – or overhaul the process to address the obvious flaws that exist with the event. I say that, not because some people think Iowa is the wrong location for the first stop in the process of choosing the Democrats’ and the Republicans’ nominees for president. Randy Evans STRAY THOUGHTS Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register.

Democratic Party of Iowa

Evans: Iowa’s Caucuses Need To Be More Inclusive

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Some of my friends who are Democrats are asking Iowa party officials some very uncomfortable questions these days. I applaud these people for standing up. Their questions go something like this:

Is the Iowa Democratic Party more concerned about keeping the Iowa caucuses first in the nation in the presidential nomination process, even if the caucus structure prevents countless Democrats from participating? Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS
Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He is a former editorial page editor and assistant managing editor of The Des Moines Register.

free speech

Evans: Banning Fair Visitors For Speaking Up Is Wrong

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This year’s Iowa State Fair received spotlight attention from coast to coast, thanks in large measure to the presence of just about everyone with an itch to be the next United States president. Shoe-horned into this Norman Rockwell-esque portrait this year was an unfortunate incident that showed an embarrassing lack of understanding and appreciation for the important role freedom of speech plays in our state.

2020 presidential race

Long Line Of Presidential Candidates Trying To Emerge In Caucus-State Iowa

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Former Vice President Joe Biden drew more people but Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a presumptive long-shot in a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, still was able to rouse Democrats and generally curious Iowans who heard both men speak at the Iowa State Fair Thursday. Such is the landscape in Iowa, the state with the nation’s first precinct caucuses that start gauging real delegate support for selecting a party’s 2020 presidential nominee: first-time national candidates, in this case seeing an opportunity to defeat a controversial Republican president in Donald Trump, vie with national figures more familiar to voters to gain support for higher office. Iowa gets them all before the winnowing process begins. Bullock told fairgoers the election must be about more than defeating Trump. “Look, I’m a pro-choice, pro-union, populist Democrat that won three eletions in a red state, not by compromising our values but by getting stuff done,” he said.

opinion

Evans: Let’s Stick To Issues And Forget The Labels

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If you had your ear cupped just right and were listening closely Sunday afternoon, you might have heard my head explode. The pressure inside the old noggin has been building for months, thanks to what can be called politics as usual in Washington, DC, and Des Moines.

political division

Civil Discourse Deferred When It Comes To Politics In Caucus State Iowa

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IowaWatch interviews in three politically diverse counties in the state that hosts the first-in-the-nation presidential precinct caucuses revealed that, while residents there say civil conversation about politics is a common goal, polarization remains a powerful force that can halt any chance of some Iowans even wanting to talk about politics at all.

presidential politics

Presidential Primary Two Years Away But Heat Already On In New Hampshire

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Distant Dome is co-published by InDepthNH.org, which made this story available to IowaWatch, and Manchester Ink Link
The New Hampshire Presidential Primary may be two years away, but in the current political climate it is never too early to begin the groundwork for a run. March was a good example. During the month, President Donald Trump returned to New Hampshire for the first time since his election. He made two stops, one at Manchester Community College to unveil his program to fight the growing opioid addiction epidemic, and Manchester Central Fire Station where the “safe station” program began. Three days later Vice President Mike Pence was in the Granite State as the featured speaker at a program to tout the GOP tax reform/cut package passed last year.