I live in Des Moines surrounded by Dems so the survey results of Iowa repugs is scary. They really do live in a alternate reality, fed by right-wing talk radio and right-wing churches.

[link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2018/12/17/trump-iowa-republicans-2020-election-white-house-democrats-campaign-romney-sasse-rubio-kasich-flake/2312476002/|]

This quote, from a Special Ed teacher, shows how immoral right-wing Christians are.

"Poll respondent Nicole Clark, 31, of Indianola is a special education teacher in suburban Des Moines (aka Waukee) and a registered Republican. She said she definitely supports Trump’s re-election, but thinks challengers should be welcomed. “I am a conservative Christian, and I feel like he will stand up to some of the liberals’ moral agenda,” Clark remarked. “Yes, the liberal agenda is to take God out of everything.”

That margin of 35,009 votes meant Cindy Axne got elected to Congress, even though the Republicans kept every other county in the 3rd District red. It meant that we flipped Republican seats in the suburbs for Karin Derry, Jennifer Konfrst, Heather Matson, and Kristin Sunde. It meant that we helped elect Michael Fitzgerald, Tom Miller, and Rob Sand to statewide office. And it meant that we held on to every incumbent seat in Polk County.

So, how’d it happen? First, we had exceptional candidates. All four of the pick-up races were women and the women of Polk County were more mobilized than ever before. The volunteer campaign teams behind these candidates were some of the sharpest I’ve ever seen. We’ll spend the next several months talking to those teams about what they did well, how we can even better support them, and how we can replicate their results.

The new Polk County Democratic Party helped those numbers too. Our aggressive voter registration efforts helped us beat the Republicans in 3rd District registration in October. Our countywide mailer brought in thousands of absentee ballots. Our 19 billboards on Election Day directed voters to our Polk County homepage which had every polling site in Polk County along with the number for our Polk County hotline (ie my cell phone number). Our three day ballot chase operation with more than 100 volunteers made more than 7,000 calls, picked up every ballot, transported every voter, and answered countless questions in several different languages.
...

Sean Bagniewski
Polk County Democratic Party Chair

"35,009. That’s how many more Democratic than Republican votes came out of Polk County for the Governor’s race on Tuesday night. It’s the highest margin from Polk County in our history. Although it wasn’t enough to overcome numbers in the rest of the state, it blew the doors off our historical numbers for both gubernatorial races AND presidential years. That means we even beat the margins that President Barack Obama carried Polk County with in both 2008 and 2012
Polk County Democratic Margin Over Republicans (Presidential or Gubernatorial)
2018: 35,009 (gubernatorial)
2016: 26,312 (presidential)
2014: -8,586 (gubernatorial)
2012: 32,369 (presidential)
2010: -538 (gubernatorial)
2008: 31,316 (presidential)
2006: 21,075 (gubernatorial)
2004: 9,390 (presidential)
2002: 20,377 (gubernatorial)
2000: 9,688 (presidential)"

I'm so proud of our Polk county Dems.

"U.S. Sen. Cory Booker repeatedly brought more than 1,100 Iowa Democrats to their feet Saturday night with a rousing call to get their party and country back on track.
The New Jersey Democrat, a possible 2020 presidential candidate, used a preacher’s cadence to fire up activists at a Des Moines fundraiser for the state party.
"Stay faithful. Stay faithful. Stay faithful," he said, quoting a mantra he learned from a mentor in a subsidized housing complex in Newark."

Article here: [link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/07/iowa-sen-cory-booker-democrats-speech-2016-election-donald-trump-iowa-caucuses-president/1552663002/|

From Scholten's latest email...

We have three important items to share with you today:
1) Moveon has teamed with Ben & Jerry’s to create new flavors of ice cream based on a few selected candidates across the country, and J.D. has been chosen as one of them! Vote for J.D. and name the new flavor [link:https://act.moveon.org/survey/benjerrycontest/|]
________________________________________
2) Steve King won’t do public events, doesn’t hold Town Halls, and refuses to debate or show up for the people of this district. In contrast, J.D. is currently doing his THIRD 39-county tour! He’s holding a Town Hall in every county in the district because voters deserve the opportunity to hear from those running to represent them.
________________________________________
3) Two days ago, we announced our goal of raising $100,000 over the last ten days of the month. After two days, we’re at $19,161! Help us finish the final quarter of this race strong with a contribution of whatever you can today! [link:https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jdgoal|]

Thank you.
Standing Tall for All,
Team Scholten

The father of slain University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts lashed out Saturday at those who are using her tragic death to promote their own political agendas. To do so is “despicable” and “heartless,” Rob Tibbetts wrote, throwing Donald Trump Jr.’s own words back at him in an opinion piece in the Des Moines Register.

Tibbetts said the family was “grateful” to those who respected their pleas to not turn his daughter’s death into a political confrontation.

“Sadly, others have ignored our request,” he wrote. “They have instead chosen to callously distort and corrupt Mollie’s tragic death to advance a cause she vehemently opposed.”

Des Moines Register article here: [link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/09/01/mollie-tibbetts-father-common-decency-immigration-heartless-despicable-donald-trump-jr-column/1163131002/|

This is a comprehensive article on the impact of climate change in Iowa but it is often worse for other states. It also mentions that farmland destroying urban sprawl causes the results of the storm to be that much worse.

The article really pulls it all together.

"Iowa is 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer since 1988, according to an Associated Press analysis of weather data. Northwest Iowa has seen the greatest increase in temperature at 1.67 degrees, and the southeast has seen the smallest at 0.8 degrees, the data show."

"Farming, historically important in Iowa and making up about a quarter of the state economy, could be among the industries hardest hit. Imagine corn trying to pollinate in a 108-degree oven...It's a no-brainer. Pollination can’t occur at those temperatures...and if you raise the temperature in those hog buildings by 13 degrees Fahrenheit in the dead of summer, no amount of additional air movement by fans is going to cool them. They'll have to look at adding air-conditioning," Takle said.

[link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/08/09/climate-change-iowa-hotter-temperatures-more-frequent-intense-storms/863249002/|

She is one of those fast talkers who makes up shit at 90 MPH and hardly takes a break and overtalks.

Emily's list has a great track record in Iowa so far this year. Let's hope the new set of endorsements lets Iowa Dems take back the house or senate.

"The pro-choice organization previously endorsed six legislative candidates in the primaries back in May, as well as Deidre DeJear for her secretary of state contest. All but one (Janice Weiner lost to Zach Wahls) won their primaries."

More here: [link:https://iowastartingline.com/2018/07/25/emilys-lists-endorses-slate-of-iowa-statehouse-candidates/ |

"Best get your tickets now for the annual Iowa Democratic Wing Ding Dinner on August 10 because it’s going to be a wild night. With the unexpected news that Story Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti will attend – and that he’s thinking of running for president – the speaker line-up got quite interesting. Expect an extra contingent of national news reporters to be hanging out in the booths at the Surf Ballroom to take in the curious move from the high-profile thorn in President Donald Trump’s side."

More at the link:
[link:https://iowastartingline.com/2018/07/27/the-wing-ding-dinner-is-gonna-be-lit/ |