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NPR and other media outlets have aired interviews with Iowans on why Iowa always gets to go first. Who goes second gets far less coverage, but the same logic presumably applies. If what some Iowans say is representative of at least half of its residents, most are an arrogant bunch. More disturbingly but not surprisingly, Iowans are not logical. The Iowa is Best 'Rationale' Like most empty political rhetoric, there is usually a big disconnect between rhetoric and the real world. The rational f

Though a majority of likely voters say they will be tuning in to President Obama's final State of the Union address on Tuesday night, most doubt the speech will accomplish much at all. According to the results of a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, 69 percent of likely U.S. voters say they are likely to watch or follow news reports about Tuesday's State of the Union, including 43 percent who say they are very likely to do so. By contrast, just 30 percent say they are unlikely to watc

In recent news, Ohio state officials told Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley that he could not be on the Democratic primary ballot. The petition to be on the ballot required 1,000 valid signatures from a single county. O’Malley submitted 1,175, but only 772 were considered valid. Both of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are on the ballot. Presidential primaries are often reserved only for partisan candidates, but that does not nec

The spirit of America is strong; the state of our union is fragile. That is my conclusion after 100 days driving 14,128 miles through 34 states as an independent candidate for President of the United States. I met with over 1,000 people individually and in small groups. I mostly stayed away from big cities and college campuses. I had learned on two short campaign trips before this long one that very few Americans understand there are independent candidates running for office so I got in the ha

Historically, presidential races have come down to only a handful of toss-up states being the difference between victory and defeat -- the red/blue map has become fairly well-defined. Enter John Bel Edwards (D) who won the governorship of Louisiana on November 21 by a fairly resounding margin, capturing 54 percent of the vote. State governorships can give a glimpse into the 'at-large' intentions of a state, but this is hardly a sure thing in politics. Louisiana has a long history, since WWII,

Since his election to the House Speaker position on October 29, 2015, with necessary support from Tea Party supporters (the Freedom Caucus), Paul Ryan stated that he is hopeful about finding common ground with House Republicans. Speaker Ryan wants to convey the message that Republicans have a vision and can govern. He is aware of the reputational damage to the Republican brand from a lack of vision and partisan gridlock that dominated Congress since Republicans took control of the House in 2011

Republicans and Democrats in the Wisconsin legislature are snarling about 3 bills that propose the dissolution of the state's Government Accountability Board (GAB). The board currently oversees the state's election and campaign finance laws. The bills call for the Board to be axed and replaced with two separate entities -- an elections commission and an ethics commission. Currently, the board is nonpartisan and comprised of 6 former judges appointed by the governor from nominations submitted by

Last week, California Republican Kevin McCarthy abruptly scratched himself from the list of Republican members of Congress seeking the Speaker of the House position. McCarthy, widely hailed as a more moderate Republican (we gave him a Crowdpac score of 5.2), was the clear favorite to replace Ohio Republican and current Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Now that he’s out of the way, winning the Speaker’s position is any man’s game.So, who else is vying for this now wide open position?Nearly hal

There was general consensus among the public that Carly Fiorina won the first GOP "happy hour" debate and the poll numbers showed it. Now, even with high poll numbers, Fiorina is at risk of being relegated to CNN's undercard debate in September. "Despite being solidly in the top 10 by every measure, the political establishment is still rigging the game to keep Carly off the main debate stage next month," Fiorina's deputy campaign manager, Sarah Isgur Flores writes. According to Fiorina campaig

With the health care debate taking center stage during the first half of primary season, the field of Republican candidates is overwhelmed with proposals aimed at repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), but often with no specific plan to replace it. Only Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio have put forth semi-specific plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. On the other side of the aisle, Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and