Dreams of Eisenhower in Trump’s mad reality
Whether followed tweet by tweet, or consumed in more middle-aged fashion on cable TV loops, the Republican free-for-all is showing kids exactly how to fight a bully. Don’t run to the [...]
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Posted March 02, 2016in Political Mercury
Posted February 24, 2016in Political Mercury
Cedar Rapids mayor’s think tank could be gov-run prelude
Wanting to hear a debate over abortion or gay marriage? You won’t get any participation from Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett and his fledgling think tank, Engage Iowa, a conservative-leaning [...]
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Posted February 10, 2016in Political Mercury
Ernst vs. Vilsack: An all-Iowa vice presidential debate?
Iowa, the center of the political universe for the presidential parties’ nominating contests, should be pivotal in the November general election, too, not only as a swing state, but as home [...]
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Posted February 03, 2016in Political Mercury
What I learned with Jim Hightower
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker and author Jim Hightower, 73, of Austin, Texas, one of America’s most well-known populist voices, has spent four decades battling what he calls the “Powers [...]
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Posted January 27, 2016in Political Mercury
Oscars and Republicans, the $27 man and no beer for Huckabee
Jamie Lee Curtis, a Golden Globe-winning actress, said that had she been nominated for this year’s Academy Awards she’d attend rather than joining the boycott of some in the film industry protesting [...]
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Posted January 20, 2016in Political Mercury
Why Trump is better than Cruz for rural Iowa
The Iowa caucuses give the rural Midwest — not just Iowa, but a sweep of the Northern Plains — leverage. And unlike oil-slicked Texans, we are up front with how we use [...]
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Posted January 13, 2016in Political Mercury
Corn wars: Branstad vs. Cruz
Dr. Allen “Duke” Anneberg has showed up at dozens of events for Gov. Terry Branstad around Carroll County over the past four decades. The retired Carroll physician often registers his fervent [...]
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Posted January 06, 2016in Political Mercury
Bernie: Inside the campaign of an iconoclast
Bernie Sanders rolled his Navy-suit-covered forearm and extended it. The Democratic presidential candidate paused, looked at the right arm and summoned a searing childhood memory. Members of Sanders’ family — [...]
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Posted December 23, 2015in Political Mercury
Is King secretly telecommuting as Texas congressman?
Somewhere between the western Iowa town of Kiron and Washington, D.C., Steve King lost his way. And he apparently woke in Texas, with barbeque sauce smeared on his cheeks, the [...]
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Posted December 16, 2015in Political Mercury
Trump tags Cruz as ‘anti-Iowa,’ hostage of big oil
Cruz wants to end ethanol mandate rural leaders see as key Rising with a record-breaking Iowa Poll surge over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz says he doesn’t want to [...]
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