Podcast 459

Rolling The Dice In Iowa. This was a day in which Donald Trump pulled out of the ‘sanctioned’ Republican debate. Des Moines was beset with a plague of TV trucks, politicians and rallies. Drake hosted two of these events, and after The Bob Davis Podcasts were denied media credentials for the ‘sanctioned’ Republican debate, we took to waiting in line for our tickets like everyone else. Rand Paul’s event at Drake was smaller – no lines snaking around the block – but no less enthusiastic. Paul appeared, and spoke for about 25 minutes about liberty, freedom and The Bill of Rights, saying ideas bring people together, and the concept of freedom seems to be very effective in this effort. Aly Eichman, volunteering for Paul joins the podcasts to talk about Paul’s impressive precinct organizing effort, which has netted the Senator as many as one thousand precinct chairs statewide. Remember the Iowa PRECINCT Caucuses? Will that kind of organizing make a difference? Then there’s Donald Trump who made sure thousands of people had tickets to an event in an auditorium that accommodates somewhere around 750 to 800. Was it a brilliant move? Will it mean Trump will win Iowa? Standing in line for two hours with Iowans was an eye opener, as well as a hand and feet freezer. Many of the people waiting to see Trump don’t plan to caucus for him. It seems they just want to see Trump, like they might come to see Justin Bieber. Here again, we’ll see. The more time spent here, the more one concludes this really is rolling The Tumbling Dice. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars! 

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PODCAST 460

Travel Madness. When is a presidential campaign like traveling? When things don’t go as planned. Which is pretty much what travel is. Live coverage of the ‘Primary’ season in Election 2016 starts with a late trip to Iowa, arriving in Des Moines at midnight, on the eve of the presidential debate that was supposed to happen, except for Donald J. Trump throwing a wrench into the plans. At the same time, this wayfaring podcaster struggles to pull all the nifty new elements added to podcast command together. At the time I did this podcast — 1 in the morning — I had just learned by unlimited data plan did not allow for a hot spot, a system I plan to use to upload podcasts from wherever, whenever. Having purchased a brand new iPhone 6, and as excited as a kid playing with a new video game, I was very disappointed to say the least. Not being one of those people who throw company names around, and complain, I decided to wait until morning and call my friend at the store, which at the time of this writing I have done. Some adjustments later, and guess what? Houston, we have remote upload capability! The election, and all those working to bring this debate to Iowans tonight seems to be going through the same kind of process. You can plan forever, but when things start going wrong you have to just work through the problems. A theme in these podcasts is the fact that the media has gone off the rails covering this election. It seems like the Media has become the story, which may be one of the reasons Trump is pulling the plug. Or at least he says he is pulling the plug. Fox News said this morning they expect only about 1-2 million viewers for the debates here tonight if Trump doesn’t show up, and that’s what’s important right? Not the voters of Iowa, who tend to throw the established ‘prognosticators’ for a loop in every cycle, right? Not the issues, which is what the vaunted Fourth Estate is supposed to be reporting on, right? So, word to the wise. Plan, but prepare to change and adapt. Sponsored by Hydrus Performance, Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate. 

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Podcast 391 – Walker’s Announcement

Walker’s Announcement. The Bob Davis Podcasts first official campaign 2016 coverage, and now from here it’s on to Davenport, Iowa, where the Walker campaign starts an RV trip through the state. Why Scott Walker? Because it is a neighboring state, and its close. Why Davenport? Same reason. This was the first time covering a presidential announcement for someone who is considered a ‘front runner’, in the Republican Party, if such a thing exists, given the score or so politicians running on the Republican side. This was a campaign announcement loaded with red meat for standard republicans, but the three thousand or so supporters in Waukesha — a strong Republican suburb of Milwaukee — loved every minute of it, from the Lieutenant Governor, to Congressman Sean Duffy’s wife, Rachel Campos Duffy, who threw barb after barb at Hillary Clinton. It’s way more fun to be inside the story than to watch it on TV. You’ll hear the whole gamut in this podcast, from the handful of protesters with bags over their head because they are ‘ashamed’ of Walker, the media trucks, local and national media segregation, and how hot it was in there, to the Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8’s Diesel idling for eight hours while its owner connived to get press passes. While the left loves to hate the Wisconsin Governor, both Republicans and Democrats would do well to take him seriously. As his campaign likes to point out, he has beaten what he calls ‘big government special interests’ three times in the last five years, after they have thrown everything they had at him. He might just be the wild card in this republican primary season. Then again … The most fun? Watching a major CBS reporter melt down with the guys in New York, while the First Lady of Wisconsin was introducing her husband. “I don’t care, I’ve got to have that cut!”, he shouted at one point, provoking laughter from the folks in the back row. Reporting live from these events is kick ass. More to come … from Davenport, Iowa. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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