Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:01:40 +0000

Rick Santorum defended his record as a pro-life politician Tuesday night. (CNN) - Rick Santorum is fighting back against charges that he's a "pro-life fraud." The former senator from Pennsylvania, and possible 2012 Republican presidential candidate, appeared before an influential Christian group in Iowa on Tuesday night and spent much of his speech defending his record of [...]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:07:56 +0000

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is being attacked in an anonymous recorded telephone message hitting some Iowa households Monday afternoon. (CNN) – The jostling for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is already well underway. Apparently the dirty tricks are, too. An anonymous recorded telephone message began hitting some Iowa households Monday afternoon attacking former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick [...]

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:04:59 +0000

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is mulling a presidential bid. (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the latest potential presidential candidate to schedule a springtime sojourn to Iowa. The Des Moines-based Polk County Republican Party announced Thursday that Gingrich will be the guest speaker at the group's annual Robb Kelley Victory Club Dinner, named in [...]

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:00:57 +0000

Tim Pawlenty will return to Iowa in April. Washington (CNN) - Tim Pawlenty's shadow presidential campaign continues. The Minnesota governor will return to Iowa on April 17 as the keynote speaker at the "2010 Iowa Taxpayers' Day," a Des Moines event put on by Iowans for Tax Relief. Iowa's Republican gubernatorial candidates will also be at the event. It's [...]

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:25:21 +0000

Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad announced Thursday that he will try to get his old job back in 2010. Washington (CNN) – Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad formally announced Thursday that he will try to get his old job back in 2010. The Republican, who served four terms as governor of the Hawkeye State from 1983-1999, [...]

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:29:21 +0000

Palin's favorable numbers among Iowa Republicans are strong, says a new poll - though one in four members of her party there have doubts. (CNN) - Sarah Palin's book tour brings her to Iowa in two weeks. If the former Alaska governor and last year's GOP vice presidential nominee decides to return to Iowa down to [...]

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:56:10 +0000

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Christie Vilsack, the wife of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, announced Monday that she will not challenge Republican Charles Grassley for his Senate seat in 2010. "I am flattered and humbled by the requests from Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans to consider running," Vilsack said in a statement released Monday. "My careful [...]

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:43:39 +0000

Huckabee's book tour will take him to two crucial primary states. (CNN) – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will visit the key Republican primary states of Iowa and South Carolina next month during a tour to promote his new holiday-themed book. The Fox News talk show host has planned a three-stop swing through Iowa on Nov. 8 [...]

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:25:16 +0000

Former Sen. Santorum, pictured here in a 2006 file photo, is headed to Iowa Thursday. WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Sen. Rick Santorum will make a foray into 2012 campaign territory Thursday, when the Pennsylvania Republican heads to Iowa to deliver a sharp critique of President Obama's first nine months in office. Santorum acknowledged interest in a possible [...]

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:43:50 +0000

The vice president will be the special guest at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner. WASHINGTON (CNN) - Joe Biden's headed back to Iowa. Wait - this isn't a flashback to 2007, when then-Sen. Biden was making his own bid for the White House. The vice president will be the special guest at the [...]

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:58:10 +0000

Comic-turned-Senator Al Franken drew big laughs at an annual Iowa fundraiser Sunday. INDIANOLA, Iowa (CNN) - Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, the former comedian who has largely put the funny business on hold as he plays catch-up due to his late arrival in Washington, proved to a Iowa crowd Sunday that he's still got it. The "Saturday Night [...]

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:26:26 +0000

Comic-turned-Senator Al Franken drew big laughs at an annual Iowa fundraiser Sunday. INDIANOLA, Iowa (CNN) - Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota, the former comedian who has largely put the funny business on hold as he plays catch-up due to his late arrival in Washington, proved to a Iowa crowd Sunday that he's still got it. The "Saturday Night [...]

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 22:51:24 +0000

Sen. Tom Harkin recently became the chair of key Senate committee led by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy until Kennedy fell ill with brain cancer. 'It now falls to me to pick up the torch,' Harkin said Sunday. INDIANOLA, Iowa (CNN) - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat who recently filled the late Sen. Ted [...]

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:02:50 +0000

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:11:06 +0000

Sen. Grassley held a town hall in Iowa Wednesday. (CNN) - Now it's the Republicans' turn to face the health-care debate back home. Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley held the first of four town meetings in his home state Wednesday, welcoming what he called a much larger crowd than the usual political gathering. "We're here at a [...]

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:10:29 +0000

The Iowa Republican Party wants Sarah Palin to visit its state. (CNN) - Who wouldn't want a big name to headline a major fundraiser? And the Iowa Republican Party is going after one of the biggest draws right now, Sarah Palin. As first reported in the Des Moines Register and confirmed by CNN, the state GOP is [...]

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:04:55 +0000

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's term expires in 2011. WASHINGTON (CNN) – Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has a busy week of political travel ahead of him, sparking chatter that he's collecting chits for 2012 presidential run. Barbour - a widely-respected figure among party insiders who will wrap up his second term, conveniently, in 2011 - is visiting a [...]

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:51:11 +0000

(CNN) - The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rejected a state law Friday that banned same-sex marriage. Iowa now will become the third state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage, after Massachusetts and Connecticut. Friday's decision upheld a 2007 ruling by a lower court that Iowa's 1998 law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples went against [...]

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:11:43 +0000

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal heads to the state that kicks off the presidential primary season. (CNN) - Bobby Jindal's in Iowa today. Louisiana's Governor will make a stop in Cedar Rapids to tour some of the damage from devastating floods earlier this year. He'll also participate in a fundraiser with some of the victims from the [...]

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:15:01 +0000

Harkin retains his Iowa senate seat. (CNN) - CNN projects that four-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin will defeat Republican Christopher Reed in the Senate race in Iowa. CNN projections are based on exit poll data from key areas.

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:11:00 +0000

Gov. Palin said Saturday that Sen. Obama has a big government agenda. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (CNN) - Campaigning Saturday in Iowa, a state where polls show Barack Obama enjoying a healthy lead just 10 days before the election, Sarah Palin warned that putting Obama in the White House along with Democrats running both chambers of Congress [...]

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:52:51 +0000

Sen. Obama waved before boarding his campaign plane Thursday after an event in Indiana. (CNN) – As Election Day inches closer, Barack Obama continues to hold a significant lead over John McCain, according to CNN's average of several recent polls. The Illinois senator now holds an 8-point lead over McCain in the latest CNN poll of polls, [...]

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:30:12 +0000

A pastor at a McCain rally said non-Christians are hoping for an Obama win. DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNN) – A minister delivering the invocation at John McCain’s rally in Davenport, Iowa Saturday told the crowd non-Christian religions around the world were praying for Barack Obama to win the U.S. presidential election. “There are millions of people around this [...]

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:38:13 +0000

(CNN) – Hillary Clinton is stepping up her efforts to push her supporters to vote and campaign for Barack Obama. “As we continue to read the headlines about our troubled economy, the stakes of this election only get higher,” Clinton said in a Friday message. “Today I am asking all of you to hit the phones, [...]

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:09:20 +0000

New polls show a shift in one battleground race. (CNN) — Barack Obama appears to be holding on to a significant edge in Iowa in new poll numbers released this weekend, but his advantage over John McCain in Minnesota, which hosted the Republican convention earlier this month, seems to have evaporated. Obama, who won the Iowa caucuses [...]

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:45:11 +0000

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team. (CNN) - With Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama set to answer questions from Pastor Rick Warren at a forum on Saturday night, issues of faith dominated political headlines Friday. In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, White House Correspondent Ed Henry reports on McCain's [...]

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:30:39 +0000

The CNN Election Express is heading across the country. DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – We’re back where it all began. Iowa’s caucuses kicked off the presidential primary season back on January 3. And Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa altered the landscape in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. The CNN Election [...]

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:30:20 +0000

The CNN Election Express is heading across the country. ABOARD THE CNN ELECTION EXPRESS IN ILLINOIS (CNN) - We’re heading west, making our way through what can safely be considered Obama Country. The Democrat’s presumptive presidential nominee also has a day job, and that’s Senator from Illinois. Before that Barack Obama was a longtime state [...]

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:30:12 +0000

McCain visited the flood-stricken town of Columbus Junction, Iowa Thursday. (CNN) - John McCain's campaign is striking back after a top staffer for Iowa Governor Chet Culver said Thursday that the Democratic governor had unsuccessfully asked the Arizona senator to avoid making a scheduled campaign trip to the flood-ravaged state. Patrick Dillon, Culver’s chief of staff, [...]

Fri, 02 May 2008 13:15:39 +0000

McCain found his springtime Iowa swing a far more pleasant trip. DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – Ah, Iowa. Where the grass is a green, the temperature is a balmy 72 degrees, and a triumphant Sen. John McCain stands before a Republican audience as his party’s standard-bearer. Yes, the landscape of the Hawkeye State has changed considerably [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:15:02 +0000

(CNN) – Iowa has spoken, after nearly a year of campaigning by a crowded presidential field. In Monday’s The Best Political Podcast, Chief National Correspondent John King reports on the Iowa caucuses. Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider delves into CNN’s Iowa entrance polling data and explains what caucus goers liked about Sen. Barack Obama and former [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:00:28 +0000

(CNN) - The candidates, the press corps, the national parties may all be griping about 2008's incredibly early and compressed primary calendar - but it seems the rest of the country may not share those complaints, according to a new survey. A Gallup poll released Friday found that 49 percent of the country thinks it's a [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:33:28 +0000

Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd abandoned their campaigns. (CNN) - Delaware Sen Joe Biden and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd abandoned their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night. "I count the past year of campaigning for the presidency as one of the most rewarding in a career of public service. Unfortunately, I am withdrawing from [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:08:22 +0000

Who will get second place in Iowa's Democratic caucuses? (CNN) - John Edwards is neck-and-neck with Clinton for second place, because 19 percent of Democrats said in entrance polling that it is most important to them to choose a candidate who "cares about people" – 45 percent of that demographic went to the former North [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:00:06 +0000

CNN's Mike Roselli captured the mood at camp Clinton Thursday night. DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – Long after the local and national TV outlets had turned away from her headquarters, Hillary Clinton was still going. She worked the stage full of supporters that had assembled behind her. She hugged and shook hands with prominent backers [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:52:25 +0000

CNN is projecting this split of Iowa's 45 Democratic delegates, based on tonight's results: Barack Obama: 16, Hillary Clinton: 15, John Edwards: 14

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:52:20 +0000

CNN is projecting this split of Iowa's 37 Republican delegates, based on tonight's results: Mike Huckabee: 17, Mitt Romney: 12, Fred Thompson: 3, John McCain: 3, Ron Paul: 2

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:29:29 +0000

Dodd will reportedly drop out of the race. A senior campaign aide tells CNN that Sen. Chris Dodd is abandoning his campaign for president - an official announcement is expected shortly.

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:25:04 +0000

Caucus goers enter the Lovejoy Elementary School in Des Moines. The Iowa Democratic Party said that with 96 percent of the precincts reporting, they were seeing record turnout, with 227,000 caucus attendees. In 2004, their turnout was about 125,000 caucus goers. The Iowa Republican Party is also projecting record turnout, with 120,000 people taking part in the [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:30:53 +0000

Mitt Romney spoke in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday. DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN)– Supporters of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are trickling in to the campaign’s Iowa headquarter in West Des Moines. It's a very subdued crowd here, some still watching big TV screens, others just walked away from them after the results were projected. An adviser to [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:25:43 +0000

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – So far, the press has spent hours watching aides tweak the podium and pace the press area, here in the ballroom at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines. The ballroom is SMALL and will pack fast once supporters filter in - one assumes the temperature will rise from chilly comfortable to summer [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:20:56 +0000

(CNN) - I’ll be doing on-air “analysis” for CNN through the evening. In preparation, I‘ve been doing what I’ve always done as a reporter when I’m not out talking to people in person - working the phones. Usually I do that in my office in midtown Manhattan, a [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:35:06 +0000

Obama continues to face questions based on internet rumors (CNN) - As he made a last-minute push for votes in Des Moines, Barack Obama was still finding Iowans curious about e-mailed rumors about his religion – or, for one voter, his alleged lack of one. Zanata Moore-El asked Obama if he was an atheist. "I'm a [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:30:42 +0000

(CNN) – Joe Biden is definitely a part of the conversation out in Iowa. Quite honestly, it seems to me that he doesn't have a hard time convincing voters that he is the best candidate for the job - the tough task is convincing folks that he is viable. But his camp seems [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:29:08 +0000

(CNN) - Ironically, I think the most brilliant thing any Democratic campaign has done is the work that Sen. Clinton's team has done - intentionally or not - to lower expectations. If she wins tonight, it's an upset almost; she's the only of the majors who can survive third place. She has a [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:28:53 +0000

(CNN) – If Obama wins, he will likely do so on the strength of a broad coalition - Democrats and Independents, people new to the process, young and old. This will enable him to start settling "the electability" argument right away, and to move harder on experience. –CNN's Donna Brazile [...]

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:27:01 +0000

(CNN) - Tonight, we should pay attention to how well Edwards and Huckabee do. They've made Iowa somewhat of a referendum on populism. Virtually any result is interesting: if either wins Iowa with a populist message, the remaining members of the field have to move in their direction to pre-empt. If [...]

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:30:14 +0000

(CNN) - There's a lot to watch in Iowa, of course, but I'm going to be keeping an eye on the results from tiny Warren County (pop. 44,000), which includes several suburbs south of Des Moines. Since 1980, Warren has been an uncanny bellwether for the results statewide, and this holds true for both [...]

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:06:00 +0000

What kind of speech will Hillary Clinton give from this stage tonight after the caucus returns come in? (Photo Credit: Mike Roselli/CNN)

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:30:08 +0000

Suzanne Malveaux investigates how the Iowa Democratic Party will tally results from the caucuses on Thursday night.(Photo Credit: CNN) (CNN) - Once the caucusing is done, the results have to be tallied in the first voting of the 2008 presidential primary race. In this report, Suzanne Malveaux explains the Iowa Democratic Party's system for tabulating results [...]