Recent News

It looks like a quiet Christmas on Iowa’s campaign trail

Iowans will have some political respite around Christmas: The nonstop presidential candidate blizzard is forecast to die down for three days straight.

We haven’t had a three-day candidate-free spree since Thanksgiving, The Des Moines Register’s candidate visit tracker shows.

Donald Trump, the national front-runner, keeps his big lead in two of the three early states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, but now Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has moved past Trump into a lead of his own in Iowa.

Poll: Christie up to 4th place in New Hampshire

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ascended to fourth place among likely New Hampshire primary voters, according to a Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll released Thursday.

Trump takes small dip in post-debate poll

Donald Trump continues to lead his Republican presidential rivals by double digits in a new national poll, though he has taken a small dip after their latest debate this week.

Trump is supported by 36 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning voters in the Morning Consult poll taken in the two days immediately following the Tuesday night debate in Las Vegas.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio turned in another credible debate showing, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also took advantage of his return to the main GOP debate stage and former Florida Gov. Jeb Brush turned in the kind of performance that many had been waiting for. In a survey of Republican political Insiders by Ballotpedia, 31 percent judged Rubio to be the “biggest winner” of the December 15 GOP presidential debate in Las Vegas conducted by CNN, while 21 percent awarded that title to Christie, and 21 percent gave the nod to Bush.

In typical post-debate coverage and analysis, most observers offer multiple “winners” and “losers” based on a variety of factors. Some of last night’s declared “winners” are no stranger to the label.

However, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was criticized for lackluster performances in previous debates, is being widely praised for his showing last night. From National Journal:

Winners and Losers in the Las Vegas GOP Presidential Debate

Bush finally seemed to find his voice Tuesday night. But was it too little, too ... Read More >>

ll right, with the last Republican presidential debate of 2015 tonight, we’re approaching a period when the Republican primary should really start to get going — when the field should start to consolidate. So to get a sense for how the dominoes may tumble, we’re going to play “Dropout Draft.”