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While Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tests the Republican waters for a possible White House run, Democrats are attacking, even this early in the nominating process, The Daily Beast reports. During the junior senator's recent three-day trip to Iowa, where the first presidential caucuses will be held in 17 months, the Democratic National Committee sent out 10 press releases about Paul's activities and speeches, the news site reports. A senior aide for Paul views the press releases in a positive light for the senator. "What it can tell you as a political observer is that they recognize what we're trying to...

Brooklyn, Iowa — The battle for control of the U.S. Senate could come down to a dispute between two neighbors in this heartland hamlet over four plump, wander-prone hens. This spring, Pauline Hampton’s chickens roamed onto Bruce and Carolyn Braley’s vacation property on tranquil Holiday Lake. Hampton said she did not know this until she walked over one day to offer Carolyn a dozen fresh eggs. To which she said her neighbor replied, “We aren’t going to accept your eggs — and we have filed a formal complaint against you.” Carolyn took her complaint to their neighborhood homeowners’ association board...

IOWA CITY – Rand Paul’s swing through Iowa this week serves a dual purpose. On their face, all of his visits seem designed to help Iowa Republicans win this November. Behind the thin veil, the true intention is to provide an early boost to the Kentucky senator’s presidential aspirations in our first-in-the-nation caucus state.Rand Paul is reaching out to candidates and voters that his famous father never would have. Ron Paul lent his backing to a very select few Iowa candidates. Rand Paul is not nearly as fastidious.His father never endorsed conservative stalwart Steve King. Although they agree on most...

Immigrants Erika Andiola & Cesar Vargas recently approached Representative Steve King at a fundraiser in Iowa and criticized him for pushing a law that would take away their “Dream Act” status. Instead of shrinking away, Rep. King patiently explained his point of view on why people shouldn’t advocate for lawlessness when our laws are a feature of American prosperity that they enjoy, but don’t respect. His key comment: “Do you want to live in a country that respects the rule of law, or don’t you?” The confrontation could have gotten ugly very quickly, but Rep. King stuck to his guns...

Sen. Ted Cruz arrives in Iowa this weekend riding a wave of political momentum after clashing with GOP leaders in Washington over immigration legislation.Cruz, a Republican from Texas, is emerging as a favorite of conservative activists, who every four years play an outsized role during the Iowa caucus, the first contest of the GOP presidential primary. He bolstered his reputation as a Tea Party rebel over the last two weeks by repeatedly meeting with House conservatives who forced GOP leaders to rework an emergency bill aimed at stopping unaccompanied minors from streaming across the Texas border.  Anti-establishment conservatives in Iowa are...

Gannett newspaper, link only: Ted Cruz to attend influential Iowa bash on Saturday

VINTON | Gov. Terry Branstad is getting some brickbats from political opponents for his insistence that Iowa shouldn’t be playing host to unaccompanied illegal immigrant children, but none of that was evident on the campaign trail Tuesday. Asked whether the state should welcome the children, Branstad offered his empathy for the “illegal entrants” along with criticism of the Obama administration’s failure to secure the nation’s borders. “They have also failed to keep us informed,” he added, a reference to the federal Department of Health Education and Welfare not telling Iowa that more than 100 children who entered the country illegally...

In a campaign swing resembling that of a presidential candidate, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul plans to make a three-day trip across Iowa next week, another indication that the libertarian-leaning Republican is gearing up for a 2016 presidential run. Paul will be in Iowa from Aug. 4-6. He will make appearances at Iowa GOP offices in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines, according to a spokesman for his organization, RandPAC. He will also attend fundraisers for congressional candidates Steve King and Mariannette Miller-Meeks and the Cerro Gordo GOP. The senator will visit the Von Maur Corporate Headquarters...

Recent polls show a tight contest in the Iowa Senate race to replace retiring liberal Democrat Tom Harkin (D), so leave it to the Daily Beast to hype a video clip it recently unearthed to insist that it is evidence that Republican nominee Joni Ernst as a nut who betrays a "shocking ignorance" [see image below page break] about constitutional law regarding the Tenth Amendment and state nullification of federal law. That's how Ben Jacobs painted the military veteran and Republican state senator, suggesting her answer to a question posed to her at a September 13, 2013 event was an...

Iowa Democratic Senate hopeful Bruce Braley has shaken up his campaign, parting ways with admaker Larry Grisolano and pollster Diane Feldman after Republican Joni Ernst emerged from the primary with more momentum than anticipated, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. The mid-summer move by Braley quietly took place roughly a month ago, according to two of the sources, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak about internal campaign maneuvers. The pair were replaced sometime in June by admaker Saul Shorr and pollster Geoff Garin, both of whom have worked on a number of Democratic Senate campaigns. The race is...

 by Gina Cassini | Top Right NewsIt's not a good year for anti-gun nuts to make their case against concealed-carry handguns.First of course we have the businesses who stupidly banned such guns from their establishments, from Jack In The Box to Target to local restaurants -- and immediately were victimized by armed criminals who knew they would face no resistance. Then we saw the bar owner who openly welcomed customers packing guns, and saw a huge boost in her business. Now comes the incredible story of a concealed carry permit holder in Iowa who helped police nab five men who led officers on...

Des Moines, IA.—The Republican Party of Polk County will host a Summer Sizzle & Straw Poll on Sunday, August 24 from 5-8 p.m. at the Izaak Walton League Center, 4343 George Flagg Parkway, Des Moines. National, state and local candidates are also invited to participate in this summer fun-filled event. The Special Guest Speaker for the evening will be Dr. Ben Carson in his first public Iowa visit of 2014 as he criss-crosses the nation. The Republican Party of Polk County will also conduct a Presidential Straw Poll as part of the evening’s festivities. As the largest county in Iowa,...

A relative of an elderly Omaha woman who was raped and killed last year said Saturday that the brutal crime may have been prevented if the United States strictly enforced immigration laws. “What we’d like to have is the federal government to secure our borders,” said Bill Hartzell, 60, of Council Bluffs. “There’s a chance my grandmother would be still alive if our borders were secured.” Hartzell is the husband of Teresa Hartzell, a granddaughter of 93-year-old Louise Sollowin. Sollowin died three days after Sergio Martinez- Perez, a Mexico native in the U.S. illegally, broke into her South Omaha home,...

Every election cycle tells a story, but the storyline for the 2014 general election is still being written. Republicans have longed believed that 2014 would be a Republican year in Iowa, especially with the absence of a presidential candidate at the top of the ticket. Strong fundraising from Democrats seeking federal office, especially Congressman Bruce Braley who wasn’t challenged for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Tom Harkin is vacating, made it look like Iowa was leaning Democrat in the 2014 U.S. Senate race. A month into the general election, Braley’s campaign seems adrift, and Republican...

Updated 1:23 p.m. | Sen. Ted Cruz once again met with a group of the House’s most conservative lawmakers Wednesday morning to discuss potential legislative responses to the flood of children crossing the border. Cruz met with “more than 20″ House Republicans Wednesday morning, according to Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, to discuss a supplemental package meant to address the influx of unaccompanied minors at the border. “I didn’t have a hard count, but I know that it was more than 20,” King said. According to the Iowa Republican, lawmakers had breakfast and listened to Cruz’s take on the crisis. “The...

Looking ahead to 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the odds on favorite against Vice President Joe Biden among Iowa Democrats for her party’s nomination. But, she would find a general election matchup against either Kentucky Senator Rand Paul or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie very competitive. Clinton edges former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and has an early lead over Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. There is a wide gender gap in these matchups. Although each of the potential Republican candidates has a more positive than negative rating with GOP...

DES MOINES, Iowa–Staci Appel, the Democratic nominee for Iowa’s Third Congressional District, wouldn’t say whether some of the tens of thousands of Central American children dumped at the U.S. border should at some point be able to come to Iowa. Appel expressed empathy for the children involved but said the federal authorities first need to investigate the circumstances of the children. She said, “I’m thinking as a mom it’s terrifying for some of the children to be there and be alone.” But she added, “We have to work through the processes, the procedures of how it works to find out...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is visiting Iowa for the fourth time in eight months, hoping for a second chance to win over Republican voters who delivered him a stinging caucus loss when he ran for president two years ago. Perry, 64, hasn't said if he plans to run again in 2016. But he's clearly considering it and is meeting Saturday and Sunday with veterans and conservative activists in the northern Iowa communities of Algona and Clear Lake. Perry has been raising funds for GOP candidates and seeking advice from political insiders since November. He is signaling he's committed to the...

MARION and DAVENPORT – Anyone who tells you Chris Christie’s presidential aspirations are in trouble might think differently if they saw how Iowa Republicans reacted to the New Jersey governor on Thursday. Locals jam packed a Cedar Rapids-area restaurant in the mid-afternoon just for the chance to shake Christie’s hand. Then he wowed a crowd of 300 in Davenport with a motivational speech that had attendees buzzing. “He sort of rallied the troops for Governor Branstad, which he did a fantastic job of,” said Jeanita McNulty, who lives in rural Scott County. “And then, I think he was here to...

Making his first trip to Iowa in more than 940 days, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared, "I don't care about being loved. I care about being respected." "I tell them what I think and then everyone else will get to decide. They don't go in there and say, "Are you conservative enough? Are you liberal enough? Are you moderate enough?" That's not what people say, " he said. "They say, "Do I trust him? Can I count on him to tell me the truth? Is he somebody who can be a competent steward of our country's future?""