Podcast 462

Ted Cruz Wins Iowa. The first votes in the nation for the 2016 election cycle are finally in. With election results muddled, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are within two votes of each other. On the Republican side Texas Senator Ted Cruz has won the Iowa Precinct Caucuses, beating the pollster and pundit favorite Donald Trump. The Bob Davis Podcasts spent the last two days of furious retail campaigning with two completely different politicians. For HP CEO Carly Fiorina held a breakfast town hall meeting at a diner in Waukee, Iowa, on Sunday January 31st, and this podcast takes you inside that event. On Monday, the Bob Davis Podcasts spent the day with the Ted Cruz campaign at the last stop for Cruz in his 99 county tour of Iowa. Cruz capped off his campaign on a sunny, warm day in Jefferson, Iowa and we take you inside that event as well. Cruz’ victory suggests there is hope yet for grassroots politics in the United States. If true, it backs up what some of the guests on these podcasts have said about the value of the Iowa Caucuses. On the other hand, Ted Cruz is one of the most disciplined candidates out there, even refusing to talk to the media or answer any questions about the now infamous ‘shaming mailer’ all the pundits thought would surely mean a Cruz loss in Iowa. Surprise! It may have worked! Ted Cruz Wins Iowa. Something of a surprise, but not to his supporters. As we post this podcast Mobile Podcast Command is bugging out, and headed for Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and finally North Carolina, where politicians, pollsters, pundits, and some of their caravan of followers are headed for the next primary. On the other hand, there’s only one Iowa. Bonus round! Actor Richard Dreyfuss makes a cameo appearance in this podcast. Thanks Mr. Dreyfuss! Sponsored by Hydrus, Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate,

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Podcast 461

All About Iowa. Do you want the Iowa Caucuses to determine which presidential candidates are ‘viable’? In a state of slightly more than three million people, party leaders expect one hundred fifty thousand to show up to caucus, slightly more than in the 2012 cycle. Over the last year Iowans have been sliced and diced by pollsters, pundits, political psychologists, and sociologists. Anyone who attends political events – and there have been hundreds of them since last year – will see famous candidates, film stars, and national TV stars. It’s a spectacle, a circus, and a show being put on for one state. As the hours are counting down to the caucus Monday, February 1st, the Bob Davis Podcasts attends a Marco Rubio rally. One side of the room is reserved for the stage, the other for media. In between, are the Iowans, ready to comment when reporters approach them. Of course reporters will approach, like fish feeding at the water’s surface. ‘Who will you caucus for?’, ‘What do you think of Donald Trump?’. The answers to these and many other scintillating questions will be filed, dissected, and added to the national story line. All About Iowa. Fasten your seat belts. A rural backwater, albiet a very nice one with very nice people, is about to decide which candidates are the most viable. At least that’s how they see this process. After Monday’s caucus, the story lines will change, predictions will be adjusted, and some campaigns will never recover. Is this how we want to elect a president? While there is much to celebrate in the American political system, as I attend events and cover the caucus and the events leading up to it, what comes through louder and clearer is the dark and potentially dangerous relationship between big government, big media, politicians, pollsters and the population of a single state that has insinuated itself into the political process in an unprecedented way. All about Iowa? Indeed. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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Podcast 456

Bad Omen. A special primary election in Minnesota’s 35th Senate District results in 60 percent of the vote for RINO Jim Abeler over the Tea Party and Republican Party endorsed candidate Andy Aplicowski and may be a bad omen for the general election in 2016. The Iowa Precinct Caucuses are on February 1st. Minnesota’s caucuses are on March 1st. With the national media reporting on the Republican Party ‘Civil War’, and the impact of the Tea Party in that ‘civil war’ it looks like the Tea Party is all show, and no go. Tea Party groups can’t seem to get out the vote for ‘principled’ conservatives. Is this a bad omen? Is it possible voters don’t agree with the Tea Party message? Are the Tea Party groups lazy? Or, maybe Tea Party groups are just ignorant of what real political organizing requires. If this happens nationwide in 2016 then the so called ‘grassroots surge’ of ‘principled’ conservatives in the Republican Party, supported by Tea Party chapters all over the country, may be one of the biggest busts, and thus one of the biggest stories of 2016 bad omen, or not. Offering excuses doesn’t cut it. Win, or go home. Sure, the story line of the Tea Party as kingmaker serves the mainstream media’s interests now, but if the Tea Party can’t produce results what the media gives will be taken away, mercilessly. What’s wrong? This might be considered a harsh analysis for some, but when the Tea Party candidate loses by sixty percent of the vote, it’s a criticism that should be heard and a story that’s not being told. Is there something these groups can do to improve their performance? What happens if they keep failing to win? Sponsored by Hydrus, Pride of Home and Luke Team Real Estate.

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