SEE NEW POSTS

It's not just Democrats. The Trump campaign is also in Iowa. WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — President Donald Trump’s re-elect campaign held a press conference here on Monday afternoon to preview its strategy and talk about the “trial run” nature of the Republican caucuses ahead of the general election battle to come. Campaign manager Brad Parscale said the caucuses would be the “first test” of the grassroots army the campaign has built, adding that “it’s time to take the training wheels off.” More than 80 surrogates, including Cabinet members and former White House officials, will be fanned out across the Hawkeye state at different caucus sites Monday evening. That’s very different from their approach last cycle when, as Eric Trump, the president's son, said, “We literally didn’t know what caucuses were.” (Reminder: Trump finished second in Iowa in the 2016 primary but won the state by 10 points in the general election.) Asked what he thought of the Democrats competing on Monday, Parscale predicted, “I think Bernie will do well.” He maintained the president has no preference for his opponent. “He’s ready” for any of the candidates, Parscale added. “If Biden doesn’t win big, he’s probably in a lot of trouble,” Donald Trump Jr. said, before saying he’d enjoy the potential matchup. “That is a fight I would pay a lot of money to see.” “We don’t take a single vote for granted,” Trump campaign senior adviser and daughter-in-law Lara Trump said. “We take this election seriously.” Midway through news conference, a protester stood up and identified himself as an “American Jew” who was unhappy with the president and started shouting at Trump Jr. about anti-Semitism. The man was immediately escorted out by security, as Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., started a “Four More Years!” chant among the surrogates. “We’ve gotten used to this,” Trump Jr. said, talking over the protester and touting the Trump administration's actions to support Israel, such as moving the embassy to Jerusalem. During his remarks, Trump Jr. took shots at Michael Bloomberg’s height and Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukraine. Trump campaign officials also touted the president’s recent trade deals and slammed the media’s “obsession” with the impeachment “sham.” Trump is not facing a serious challenge from either of his primary opponents— former Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld— but both are still actively campaigning against him. So why go through all the effort? As a Trump spokesman put it, “Is there anything we don’t go big on?” Share this -







Where to find Iowa race results Caucus doors close — and the action begins — at 8 p.m. ET. We'll have live updates as soon as results start coming in, plus maps and county breakdowns, right here. Share this -







The view from the Warren camp DES MOINES, Iowa — For the Warren campaign in Iowa, it's all about high turnout, a ground game built around a wide engagement of voters, and winning on state delegate equivalents, per a senior Warren adviser I spoke to Monday afternoon. On turnout: The campaign built its ground game around engaging as wide a range of voters as possible, never making assumptions about where they’d find those supporters. The senior Warren aide said they could see turnout as high or higher than the record in 2008, but declined to give specific numbers. This plays into the closing argument we've been hearing from Warren on unity. As one Warren aide told me over the weekend: Among those they've identified to caucus for Warren and who also caucused in 2016 split evenly between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Rep. Pressley: Warren's aspirations are attainable Feb. 2, 2020 09:04 Warren is trying to bridge the "moderate" and "progressive" lanes that we like to frame things in, but voters aren't necessarily thinking of it that way. This senior adviser also notes the reputation of the Warren organizers, some of who have been on the ground here since March 2019, will be a big boon. Warren's team sees their people as motivated and energized — with surrogates, like Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., visiting field offices throughout the day Monday to keep supporters engaged, amid the final get-out-the-caucus canvassing push. And they argue that Warren was able to stay connected to Iowa despite the impeachment that kept her in Washington through tele-town halls, local TV and radio appearance, and national interviews — and that she was able to establish some momentum, if not in polling consistency, with things like The Des Moines Register endorsement and backing from notable Iowans. Share this -







Iowa precinct leaders report problems with app for reporting results At least a dozen precinct leaders across Iowa are having issues downloading or logging into a new smartphone application used to report the caucus night results, potentially delaying the counting of the first round of results. Chairs of four different counties said they had precinct leaders who experienced issues with the app, from receiving an error that their login wasn’t recognized to missing a cutoff time for downloading it. At least one — Laura Hubka, chair of the Howard County Democrats — said she declined to use the app. The app is optional to use but was the preferred method for sending in results, according to the Iowa Democrat Party precinct leader manual. Those who can’t use the app will use pen and paper and call a dedicated hotline to report the results. Mandy McClure, the Iowa Democratic Party communications director, said in a statement, “The IDP is working with any precinct chairs who want to use the optional tabulation application to make sure they are comfortable with it. We've always been aware that many precinct chairs prefer to call in results via a secure hotline, and have systems in place so they can do so." Brett Niles, chair of the Linn County Democrats, said eight of his 86 temporary caucus chairs weren’t able to log in to the app. He reported hearing of “sporadic” issues in other counties. “You’ve got volunteers spread out through the entire state. It’s tough to make sure everyone does as they’re supposed to,” Niles said. Benjamin Pu contributed reporting. Share this -







Iowa Democrats look to ease concern about location changes Iowa Democrats are trying to assuage concerns that around a dozen precinct caucus locations are changing at the last minute. The party has been tweeting out various location changes for several caucus sites ahead of Monday night’s caucuses, which begin at 8 p.m. ET. These abrupt changes have sparked concerns about caucusgoers who may not be aware of the changes and therefore will show up at the wrong place, along with criticisms online that the changes are happening in an effort to tamp down turnout for certain candidates. Kevin Geiken, executive director of the Iowa Democrats, said on Twitter that these changes are typical for caucuses. "Caucus location changes are possible due to unforeseen circumstances like capacity reasons, environmental factors beyond our control, and more," he said. "We will always update you and the campaigns as soon as we know to ensure transparency and accessibility." Caucus location changes are possible due to unforeseen circumstances like capacity reasons, environmental factors beyond our control, and more.



We will always update you and the campaigns as soon as we know to ensure transparency and accessibility. #IACaucus #IowaCaucuses https://t.co/jD4swU5rRw — Kevin Geiken (@kevinofIA) February 3, 2020 There are more than 1,600 precinct sites across Iowa on Monday, as Iowans make the first step toward selecting the presidential nominee. Share this -







Klobuchar puts Trump's impeachment trial at center of high-stakes closing pitch BETTENDORF, Iowa — This isn’t how Sen. Amy Klobuchar thought the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses would go. Instead of long stretches on the road for the kind of grassroots, folksy campaigning she perfected running for office next door, in her home state of Minnesota, Klobuchar spent the last two weeks in Washington, consumed by President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. In her final, frenzied spin across Iowa over the weekend, the senator offered a simple closing argument: The allegations against Trump — and the furious partisan fights stirred by his impeachment — are exactly why she's running. “I really see this election and my candidacy as really an extension of that, because what this is, this election, yes, it’s an economic check,” she told voters Saturday in a bike shop that served as overflow for the hundreds of people packed into a brewery next door. “But more than that, it is a decency check.” Read the story. Share this -





