Posted July 27, 2016in Political Mercury
Ladbrokes, a Goliath bookmaker in the United Kingdom, and organizations like it, lay odds on almost anything. If visiting London, you can bet on the U.S. presidential election, who will win [...]
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Posted July 20, 2016in Political Mercury
With the mercury rising on political and racial tensions in the United States, hitting levels perhaps not seen since 1968, Gov. Terry Branstad is in Cleveland for the Republican National Convention. Former [...]
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Posted July 13, 2016in Political Mercury
Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, a prominent voice on international trade in Iowa, immediately spied the export value of the mobile veterinary units at a Lake City manufacturer. She talked business [...]
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Posted July 06, 2016in Political Mercury
Vilsack, the highly effective U.S. secretary of agriculture and former two-term governor of Iowa, possesses a remarkable command of the labyrinth of programs and benefits that river out of the hulking [...]
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Posted June 29, 2016in Political Mercury
What’s the difference between Donald Trump and Earl Butz? Short answer: Trump’s comments about Mexicans and a Mexican-American judge and “my African American” are worse than Butz’s joke — or, [...]
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Posted June 22, 2016in Political Mercury
Like a marshal in a dusty Old West village, city officials from the western Iowa town of Carroll issued a lawbreaker an ultimatum. Leave town in three days. [...]
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Posted June 15, 2016in Political Mercury
In his nearly 60 years of public service — having first been elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1958 — U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley has run on tickets with many [...]
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Posted June 08, 2016in Political Mercury
(Note: Douglas Burns wrote this column prior to Tuesday’s primary. It remains relevant for three reasons: First, Rick Bertrand could have pulled off an upset. Second, if Bertrand’s numbers are [...]
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Posted June 01, 2016in Political Mercury
Congressional candidate Jim Mowrer on May 26 showed a professional political bearing that escaped his two rivals for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s 3rd District, a sweep of the rural [...]
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Posted May 25, 2016in Political Mercury
Patty Judge wouldn’t reveal the internal poll numbers inspiring that twinkle in her eye. But the veteran Iowa politician, the former lieutenant governor and state secretary of agriculture, says she’s a [...]
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